It happened in slow motion and in a blink of an eye. Of course Damien could break the laws of physics. He was in front of Jenna looming over her before I could stop him. He grabbed her desk to lean in close. Her eyes grew round, and she drew back, obviously scared. His expression was murderous, and in his case, there was a very good chance that it wasn’t hyperbole.

“Was it you?” he demanded again.  

I followed him and tried to stay calm. “Damien, stop,” I said.

Jenna’s eyes flicked to me and widened more when she saw my black eye.  

“It was you,” he said and shoved the desk away. He pulled Jenna out of her chair by the lapels of her jacket. She cried out in fear.

I put a hand on his arm. “Hey, stop,” I said. 

My words seemed to have no impact. Damien’s face twisted in rage, and he threw Jenna into the wall. She crashed into it with another cry, but this time it was from pain. 

“Damien!” I shouted, rushing to her side. I crouched down beside her to see if she were hurt.

He closed in on us. I put myself in front of Jenna to block him. “Move out of the way, Sarah,” he said, panting.

I shook my head. “No, Damien. You need to calm down. Go sit down.”

His jaw dropped. “You’re going to protect her? She hurt you!”

Jenna whimpered behind me. 

“Damien, sit,” I repeated, mentally flinching at how that sounded. He wasn’t a dog.

He wordlessly yelled and grabbed me, swinging me away from Jenna. He let me go and turned back to the cowering girl. He raised his arm. His hand was clenched in a fist. I didn’t think. I threw myself at him. We crashed to the floor. It was a total confusion of limbs for a few seconds. Damien’s arms went around me. Our legs tangled together. I landed on top. I looked down at him for a moment in panic. He stared up at me in surprise. I got onto my knees and crouched over him. We stared at each other, and I wondered if he’d take a swing at me. 

The text message alert broke whatever strange pall that had fallen over us. But it wasn’t Damien’s phone that had beeped. I turned and watched Jenna pull out a phone and look at it. She gasped and lowered it. Her eyes met mine. I didn’t understand the sudden horror that crossed her face. I watched in confusion as she got up and stepped forward. She swung back her leg. I still didn’t understand. The leg swung forward and Damien sat up and pushed me away. Instead of my head, Jenna’s foot connected with his back.

The room gasped. Jenna stumbled back, falling down. Her face covered in abject terror now. I could only stare. Why had she tried to kick me? Damien stood up silently. There was a smile on his face. It looked murderous.

 

“Jenna Hannigan, you are under arrest.”

I turned and had never been so happy to see security. Three black clad security officers ranged out in front of the class. Their guns were holstered, but they had their hands on the pistol butts. Damien turned to the security force in annoyance. 

“I’ll take care of her,” he said.

My eyes widened. I got up, but I didn’t know what to do. I looked at Jenna helplessly. She’d tried to attack me again. But it still made no sense. Whatever text message she’d received was somehow involved.

“Please, sir. Let us take care of this,” the lead guard requested. 

Damien took a menacing step toward Jenna. Would security stand by while he attacked her? I was afraid the answer might be yes. I grabbed Damien from behind and pulled him back. “Get her out of here,” I said. 

He struggled to throw me off. 

“Sarah, what are you doing? Get off me!”

I pressed my body into his and leaned in close to his ear. “Quit it. I need you to do something for me,” I said softly. He stiffened, but his struggles slackened.

The security guards worked fast. Two grabbed Jenna by the arms and hauled her out. She hung between them limply. The third one backed out, keeping a wary eye on us, closing the door after him. Once they were gone, I let Damien go. He jerked away and turned to me with a glare.

Prof. Engler cautiously took up position at the front of the class again, but no one paid any attention to her. All eyes were on Damien and me. He noticed all of the attention, and his face twisted in disgust. He grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the room. I didn’t resist. Once we were out of the classroom, he let me go. He put his hands on his hips and paced the width of the hallway. “What do you want me to do to her?”

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Without an immediate answer, Damien came to stand in front of me. His gaze was blank. 

“How’s your back?” I asked instead.

“Fine. I doubt I’ll even get a bruise.”

I nodded in relief. “You didn’t have to do that.”

He snorted. “What do you want me to do? She’s getting expelled even as we speak. What else do you want?”

My eyes widened. “What? But—“

“She struck me,” he said.

Funny how kicking Damien garnered immediate expulsion while giving me a black eye didn’t even warrant detention. Then again, “I’ve hit you before. Why am I still here?”

He blinked and looked away. “That’s different.”

“How? I’ve hurt you plenty of times.” It probably wasn’t smart to remind him of this, but I was honestly curious.

He crossed his arms. “It’s different because I say it’s different. If you weren’t going to ask for Jenna to be expelled, what did you want?”

“I want to know who sent her a text right before she kicked you. I think the text was what made her do it.”

“So you think other people want to hurt you?”

I froze with my mouth open at the question. I hadn’t really thought of it that way. I didn’t know why anyone would want to hurt me. “Can you find out what’s on her phone?” I asked, deciding to ignore the question for now. 

He nodded. “Fine. I’ll ask security to confiscate it and find out what’s on it.”

“Does she really need to be expelled?” I asked.

He frowned as he looked at me. 

“If someone’s making her attack me, they should be the ones expelled not her.”

“If she can’t stand up for herself, what use is she?” he countered, and that was an interesting thing for him to say. It might account partly for my continued attendance at Noble.

“Let’s not do anything until we know what’s on her phone,” I said.

He sighed. “Fine. Do you want to come to security with me?”

I opened my mouth, but I didn’t know what to say. After my last visit to security’s HQ, I would rather avoid the place, but I really did want to know Jenna’s story. I might be willing to brave it, but what about class? I stood there indecisively. My eyes darting around as I considered my options. 

Damien made the decision for me. He turned me toward the door and pushed me forward. “Go back to class, I’ll tell you whatever I find out.”

I resisted. “Are you sure?”

He gave me a push. “Yes, go back to class.”

I opened the door and slid back in. Everyone openly stared at me as I went back to my seat, even Prof. Engler. I sat at my desk and looked at the empty chair beside me. I was already regretting my choice. I was afraid to find out what exactly Damien would do on his own. 

Prof. Engler resumed her lecture, and I let myself fall into the ebb and flow of Middle English. 

When the bell rang, Damien still hadn’t returned. I didn’t know how long whatever was happening with Jenna would take. I hoped he did keep her from being expelled. I just knew that she wasn’t entirely to blame for her actions. Someone was making her attack me. We had to find out why and how. I went to Spanish class and sat by myself. I found myself watching the door when I should’ve been listening to Prof. Nuñez. Whenever anyone passed by, I sat up straighter, expecting Damien. But it was never him.   

When the bell rang, I packed my things slowly, still hoping for Damien to appear, but he didn’t. When I exited the room though, I was surprised to find Andy and Tom waiting. 

“Damien’s in the security office,” I told them.

They took up positions on either side of me. “We know. He asked us to walk you to lunch.”

I frowned. “I don’t eat in the cafeteria.”

“Fine, we’ll walk you wherever you need to go.”

“There’s no need,” I said.

Tom grinned and held up his phone. A text from Damien was displayed. *Go everywhere with her. Don’t leave her alone. I mean it. Don’t let her talk you out of it.*

I read the text in exasperation. “This is ridiculous. I don’t need bodyguards.”

Andy shrugged. “Not our call. If Damien says go with you, we go.”

“But why? Why do you listen to him?”

“Uh, because he’s a West.”

“And we’re not,” Tom finished.

I shook my head. I looked closely at the two sophomores. They just grinned back. They weren’t going to be dissuaded. “Fine, but you can’t come into my home.”

I couldn’t believe Damien had assigned me bodyguards. Things had certainly changed between us.