Averie frowned when she saw the sign pointing to the room where the LGBTQ+ society was meeting. Someone had drawn a big ‘S’ in front of it—as if street fighting was a sexual orientation. By the time the girl had finished wiping off the scribble with a wet wipe, the society meeting had already started. 

Averie knew that officially, she shouldn’t even be here, being neither a student at Fairlight nor adhering to her promise of staying away from the society that Ryvan had forced her to make. But the girl had sworn to herself that she would never watch anyone being bullied like herself. 

“So what do you actually want to do with these fucktards? You didn’t really think this through, did you?” Leander sneered, his head tilted away. 

“First we teach these losers how to fight,” Colton suggested. “Then we fight.” 

It would have made more sense for them to join a sports club, Averie thought as she joined the meeting. Perhaps rugby or boxing.

It was a spacious and bright seminar room; the tables had been moved aside to create an open space in the centre. Leander casually sat on one of the tables while Colton stood near the whiteboard at the front of the room.

“I don’t see how that’s gonna be fun but whatever...” The tattooed student pointed to two of the society members standing closest to him, a tall guy and a brunette wearing a purple dress. “You two, show me what you’ve got.”

“Excuse me, I am the president of this society and we don’t—”

“Ain’t nobody is talking to you,” Colton cut off the society president. 

There were about 20 attendees scattered across the room, all of which looked at each other helplessly. Nobody dared to oppose the thugs—their best bet was to alert the security staff but the door of the seminar room was closed. As a result, the society members could only hold their breath and hope the tension would pass. 

Leander demonstratively threw a few punches into the air. Despite his broad stature, his punches were swift and precise, serving as a reminder not to oppose him. “You idiots, copy me.”

Averie scanned the room. If the two thugs were distracted, perhaps there would be a chance to get away and find help. For now, the blonde decided to follow their instructions—nobody would get hurt from air punches after all. Colton even went around the room correcting the students’ postures as if teaching had been his true calling all along. 

“What about you?” Colton stood in front of the purple-dress girl who hadn’t joined in. 

“- I don’t want to hit anyone or be hit,” the brunette replied weakly, her voice shaking.”

“Maybe you need a live demonstration… You know, whether they are girls or guys, I beat them up all the same.” Colton rolled up his sleeves. “Isn’t that what you freaks call feminism?”

“Actually it’s called gender equality. It means that rights and opportunities should not be affected by gender.” Before anyone could act, Averie had moved between Colton and the girl. “Feminism describes the ideology and movement that advocate equal rights for women.”

Surprised by the resistance and the verbal onslaught, Colton let off the purple-dress girl. “Who are you, bitch and who asked you to recite the fucking dictionary?”

Averie gulped. With the 1,80-metre-tall threat in front of her and his partner in crime closely behind him, she struggled to maintain her composure. With her knees weak like pudding, the blonde put all her effort into forcing her voice to sound firm and calm, the opposite of her inner state. “My name is Averie and I won’t tolerate your behaviour.”

Looking down at her, Colton was even more intimidating. “And why should I care about that?”

“Because if you can’t respect others, there is no place for you here.” 

Predicting where this would lead to, Leander quickly tried to take control of the situation. “Colin- ah Colton, you can’t— Let’s just ignore this bitch!”

At the same time, another student tried to intervene, perhaps another senior member of the society. “This is not—” But he didn’t come any further as Colton lashed out. His fist cleanly hit Averie’s stomach and the girl crouched in shock. 

She hadn’t thought the bully would actually follow through and hit her. At the same time, it was clear that Colton had held back substantially as the pain was mild and quickly subsided. 

Leander facepalmed. “Colton, why do you always do this shit? Taren will kill us for sure this time… Seriously mate, you need some anger-management therapy.”

Meanwhile, Averie was not prepared to let it end like this. If violence was the only language this idiot understood then she would answer in the same way. 

Physical strength was not her forte but determination could make up for that. Imitating Colton, she desperately threw her fist at him and much to her surprise, the punch connected.  

Being smacked into the face with full force, even a giant like Colton couldn’t avoid being thrown back. “You fucking bitch!”

There was no sound in the room, only Leander’s derisive laugh filling the silence. “Too bad I didn’t take a photo of that!” There were even tears in his eyes. “What an idiot you are…”

“Shut up asshole,” Colton grumbled, his gaze fixed on Averie. Rage flickered in his eyes like hellfire and his facial grimace was that of a ferocious monster released from its cage.  

Standing in front of a demon ready to unleash his wrath at her, Averie was horrified at her actions. Where had her slim hands found the bravery to strike back? Colton would devour her whole and it was too late to even make funeral plans. 

Yet it was too late to back down. Acting fearful now would only make matters worse. 

“You—!” But before Colton could continue, another voice cut him off.

“What is going on here?”

Thank God! Someone must have taken advantage of the distraction and gone to get help. Averie looked at her angel-like saviour, a lecturer it seemed, who entered the room boldly and without fear. 

Luckily Colton had enough sanity left in him to back down in the face of a campus authority. “Nothing,” he grunted. 

“Just doing some exercises,” Leander explained to the middle-aged lecturer, then he continued directed to the society members, “Don’t forget to practice your punches! They’ll be on the test next time.”

With Colton in tow, the bully left the room, passing the lecturer without another word.