Chapter 4

"I think Miss Day has a thing for you," Jess told Kiaan. She was still in shock over the fact Kiaan had answered a question in class for the first time, let alone the reaction it got. Miss Day seemed to hate the students. Why she had become a teacher was a mystery to Jess, who figured the woman would be better suited to just about any other job. She was one of those 'cool' adults who had tattoo's, piercings, biker boots and a permanent derisive scowl.

"I think she's just a leftie," Kiaan smiled. "Those guys do hate a racist."

"Your right, she's taken a pop at Grace in the past. Not that many people got the reference," Damien confirmed. Jess wasn't sure what he was referring to but trusted his word. He was probably the smartest kid in their class.

"Here," Caine said, taking Kiaan's phone from his hands before he could mount a protest. Kiaan flashed an uncomfortable smile as Caine took a picture.

"We need to show the world the new you," he said, typing into Kiaan's social media profile before passing back the phone.

Caine was still smiling as Ricky Jameson grabbed him by the hood of his fur-lined parka and dragged him backwards. Ricky and his gang of followers shoved and pushed him as he calmly attempted to walk away from them, herding him toward the bathroom.

"What should we do?" Damien asked, looking to the others. The three of them wouldn't even be able to take on Ricky alone. The guy was a monster, plus he had three mates with him. The boys would be outnumbered as well as smaller and weaker.

Out of nowhere, Jess got a clever idea; call it divine inspiration or peaking under pressure.

"I've got this one guys, wait here," she told them.

Adjusting her collar, she strutted into the boy's toilet exuding confidence that seemed to come from another plane of existence. She'd never felt so sure of herself before in her life.

"Hey Ricky," she shouted.

The had Caine pinned to the floor and were dishing out punches and kicks. Ricky and the other boys turned their attention away from beating Caine and gawked at her.

"I have a proposition for you," she said.

"Oh yeah," Ricky asked, looking her up and down. As he scanned her body his eyes lingered around her legs and her breasts.

Despite being hated by pretty much everyone in this dump, Jess knew she was attractive. She'd been pretty enough to make it into the popular group before Catriona turned on her and ruined her life.

"You seem to enjoy inflicting pain on others so I'm guessing you're either a sadist or a dick. You're not a dick are you, Ricky?" Jess asked.

Ricky said nothing, just made a confused face as she went on talking.

"You see, I kinda like pain, so I'd happily be your willing victim unless, of course, you prefer taking out your frustrations on Caine?"

"What?" Ricky grunted, screwing up his face. He really was a dumb sack of shit.

"I'll let you do whatever you want to me if you leave Caine alone. Okay?" Jess said. "You'd rather get your thrills hurting a girl, right? Unless you're gay. It didn’t escape our notice that you picked the prettiest boy in the school..."

It was a psychological trick using the word ‘our’ instead of ‘my’ to make him think everyone was talking about his choice of victim. To make him feel under scrutiny and watched by his peers.

"I'm straight. There's nothing sexual about this," Ricky defended himself.

"Oh, right." Jess scoffed. "Like it doesn't make you hard. Why else would you do it?"

Jess managed to keep her face straight and her voice firm throughout, despite her thudding heart and shaking hands. The words and even her tone of voice felt disconnected, like she was channelling some badass version of herself. Some future incarnation that had grown tired of putting up with other people’s crap.

"So? Do we have a deal?" Jess asked, staring him down. "I'll let you do whatever you want to me."

"Say yes, man," one of his cronies whispered.

"Yeah, come on, she's hot," another joined in, regarding Jess with hungry, predatory eyes.

"Erm, yeah, okay, whatever," Ricky grumbled. He didn’t look happy about it. In fact, he looked furious.

Jess smiled. Her heart felt like it might burst right out of her chest, but her plan had worked.

She knew Ricky wasn't a sadist. He was, in fact, just a plain old douchebag. But like most guys his age, he was susceptible to peer pressure from his mates.

"Message me whenever you're in the mood," Jess said as she tapped her foot, indicating that they were done and should leave.

Ricky took the hint, leading his boys from the toilet. She could hear them whispering about her as they passed but knew they wouldn't do anything about it. Lads like that were all talk and no action. She highly doubted Ricky would contact her at all, let alone to take her up on the offer.

Once the door swung shut, she ran over to Caine, helping him from the urine and tissue covered floor. The ammonia smell of urine was so strong she had to breathe through her mouth.

"Yuk," she cried, making a sour face.

"Bad, isn't it?" Caine agreed. "That was pretty brave, Jess. Where'd that come from?"

"I don't know," Jess admitted, feeling a tingle of pride. "It just came to me. You know, the shit builds up more and more until you just... explode."

Jess did her best to explain it but fell short. It was like the bravery had come from somewhere else—a nifty idea born from an entity not quite separate but not entirely tangible. She wasn't sure how to explain this to Caine, or how it would sound. Pretty weird, most likely.

"You were amazing." Caine smiled. "But... what if he holds you to it?"

"He's a lame sack of crap," Jess scoffed. "I doubt he'd know what to do with me."

"I hope you're right," Caine said, eyes big with worry. "I wouldn't want you getting into deep water on my account."

Jess took a piece of wet tissue and wiped the cut under Caine's eye as gently as she could. "Trust me. I can handle Ricky the Pricky."

They found the others outside the bathroom, huddled with their faces drawn in worry. Caine gave them a bright and enthusiastic recount of events, making Jess blush as the guys gasped in awe.

"Where did you get the idea to do that?" Kiaan asked, mouth agape as he stared at her like she was wonder woman.

"It just came out of nowhere, like magic," she said. The word was out before she could filter herself.

"Magic!" Damien cried. "It's the spell working. I can feel it."

Jess smiled. Maybe he was right. Or maybe it was the effect of having a supportive group to draw strength from.

Throughout the rest of the day, Jess had the sensation of being watched. As she left the front doors by main reception, she caught Ricky staring at her. Turning away, she left the building and crossed the road. She heard footsteps and turned to find he'd chased her.

Panic rose in her throat as he stared her down with an angry scowl.

"You're going to pay for making me look stupid," he spat. "Don't think I'll go easy on you because you're a girl."

Jess hugged herself, standing in the snow as he stomped away.

'So much for magic.'