Chapter 138 Safe from the Fall

Chapter 138 Safe from the Fall
Elena POV

The post-PE whistle blew. I unzipped my duffel bag, shoved my towel inside, and pulled the strings tight.

My chest still felt constricted from the lingering whispers floating through the halls all morning. I didn't want to linger. I just wanted to get home.

I swung the strap over my shoulder and made a quick beeline for the double doors leading to the main corridor.

I didn't even make it three steps.

A wall of four girls suddenly stepped directly into my path, blocking the exit. Leading them right at the front was Mia, her arms crossed over her chest, a nasty, smug grin plastered across her face.

"Where do you think you're going?" one of the girls, a tall track runner, snapped, taking a step into my space. "What are you doing messing around with both Liam and Daniel?"

My heart slammed against my ribs. My hands started shaking, so I gripped the strap of my bag tighter to hide it.

"I don't like any girl who acts big," another girl chimed in, stepping up right beside Mia. "Why do you even think you deserve the both of them?"

I backed up half a step until my spine hit the lockers. Cold anxiety shot straight through my blood, making my throat go completely dry.

"Yeah, what does she think we are?" a third girl sneered, shaking her head. "Invisible?"

I swallowed hard, forcing my shaking chin up. My lips parted, ready to yell at them to move out of my way, ready to fight back—

Before I could force a single word past my teeth, a hand reached in from the side and gripped my wrist.

Alicia, one of our quiet classmates who sat near the back window, stepped smoothly between me and Mia. She gave the group of girls a icy glare, flipped her long hair over her shoulder, and pulled me right past them before they could even react.

"Hey! We weren't done talking to her!" Mia yelled behind us.

Alicia ignored them completely, keeping her grip tight on my arm as she marched us down the hall, out the side doors, and straight into the quiet courtyard behind the library.

We sat down on a stone bench under the shade of a large oak tree. My knees were still shaking, and my stomach was tied in tight knots.

Alicia reached into her bag, pulled out an unopened bottle of water, and pressed it into my shaking hands. "You should have just walked away the second they came over to you."

I cracked the plastic seal, taking a quick, desperate gulp of water.

"If you give them a response or react to everything they say, the case will only get longer," Alicia said, resting her elbows on her knees. "They'll just think they've found easy prey."

The knot in my chest loosened just a bit. A small, genuine smile touched my lips as I looked at her. "Thank you, Alicia."

"Oh, before I forget," Alicia said, unzipping her canvas shoulder bag. She pulled out a sleek, black paperback novel and handed it directly to me.

I looked down at the cover. The title was printed in sharp, bold silver letters: The Reaper Who Is in Danger.

My eyebrows pulled together, and a flicker of unease rippled through me. "Why are you giving me this book?"

"I've seen the way you normally read this exact series," Alicia said with a light shrug. "And I saw Mia give you something like this last week." She leaned back against the stone bench, looking straight into my eyes. "Besides... I really want to be your friend, Elena."

I stared at her, holding the book tight in my lap. Doubt and hesitation held me back. After everything that had happened today, the rumors on the whiteboard, the harassment in the halls, I didn't know who to trust anymore.

"Why do you think being my friend is a good thing?" I asked softly, my voice laced with caution. "You don't even know who I really am."

Alicia didn't blink. "So tell me."

I paused, looking down at the book cover before raising my eyes to search her face. "What if... what if you realized that I had magic powers? What if I was completely different from other students, or even other human beings? What would you do? How would you react?"

Alicia stared at me for a split second, then let out a sudden, loud burst of laughter.

"If you actually possess powers like that," Alicia joked, nudging my shoulder with hers, "at least you can use your magic to save me from my wicked aunt!"

A sudden laugh escaped my chest, breaking all the tension that had been building up all day. I shook my head, laughing right along with her as the weight on my shoulders finally began to lift.

After the bell rang, I packed my new book into my bag and started heading down the main central staircase toward the ground level, flipping through the opening pages as I walked down the steps.

"Elena!"

I froze halfway down the flight of stairs. My head snapped up, and the moment my eyes caught Liam standing at the top landing, a wide smile instantly spread across my face. A happy laugh bubbled up in my throat.

"Liam!"

Before I could take another step up, Liam's face shifted into pure shock. His eyes widened, and he screamed at the top of his lungs, "Elena! Step aside! Right now!"

Panic spiked through my blood. I didn't ask questions—I lunged violently to my right, slamming my back flat against the concrete side wall.

A split second later, a heavy body swept past the exact spot where I had just been standing.

THUD! CRASH!

One of Marcus’s main henchmen tumbled violently down the rest of the stone steps, his limbs flailing, before hitting the bottom floorboards flat on his stomach with a heavy groan.

My breath caught in my chest. My heart hammered wildly against my ribs, and my whole frame trembled. If Liam hadn't yelled... I would have been the one tumbling down those hard concrete stairs.

Liam sprinted past me down the steps, his boots pounding heavily against the stone. He stopped right over the guy sprawling on the ground, leaning down with a dark, threatening glare.

"You should consider yourself lucky today," Liam growled, his voice dropping low and dangerous. "Because you might not get another chance."

I stood on the stairs, clutching my book tightly to my chest, staring at the guy groaning on the floor.

The guy slowly pushed himself up on one elbow, wiping a streak of dust off his cheek. He looked from Liam over to me, a sinister grin spreading across his face.

"It seems we saw something wrong," Marcus's friend rasped out.