Chapter 24: Unsettling Saves

Melissa's POV.

The way Landon stared at me made me wonder if I did something specifically to offend him, as I was trying to understand why he was speaking to me in such a tone when I was trying to be polite.

"Look, Lisa, we shouldn't even be talking. I know I came to you first, but let's keep our distance; it'll be safer for both of us that way."

He said this to me with a plain look on his face as he walked past me three steps.

"Do I not have the right to understand why you are being tough right now when you were the one who came to me trying to advise me on how to handle this situation?"

My voice was calm. I had no reason to be angry at him if he made a step towards helping me and all of a sudden decided to pull out; I did not have the right to be angry at him for that.

"I don't know what happened; I don't know what I was thinking. I probably shouldn't have come to you in the first place. Whatever issues you have with Lex, go on and sort it out in your own ways; you both just keep me out of it."

"Why am I beginning to feel like this is not even about me? Did you ever fight with Lex? Why does this feel like a transferred aggression?" I asked, taking some steps closer to him.

"Maybe because it is?"

Now, that was not his voice; that was another familiar voice, and just as I turned my gaze in the direction of the door, there he was standing there with a smirk on his face and some unserious look that made me wonder if you ever took anything seriously.

"Nick, that's you, right, Nick?" I asked as if trying to confirm if that was really his name even though I had no doubts because I completely remember his support for Lex.

"Yeah, that's me, Nick, and I happen to be best friends with this guy. I hope he is not giving you troubles?" He asked, walking over to Landon's side.

Troubles? Talk about troubles—there's one person who gives me too many troubles, and that question wasn't coming from the right group.

"What did you mean by this being a transferred aggression? I would like to know why he would be angry at me for something I didn't do."

My gaze kept moving from Landon to Nick before steadying on Nick for him to respond to my question.

"Actually, it is about you in a way, but he did not have the fight with you; he had the fight with Lex, and that is why he's being sassy today. But don't worry, we're going to fix it, and we'll all be good again."

The things he said sounded serious, but the tone at which he narrated them and the expression on his face made it seem like a joke.

"Oh yeah, you guys should fix it, and Landon," I called out his name, turning around completely to face him this time. "I actually think we'll do well with that distance thing. I hate it when someone makes me feel uncertain."

Not giving him a chance to respond to my words, I walked away, taking the direction of the stairs as I walked up without sparing him a glance.

It was just crazy to me how one moment a person would act so cool, and the next moment they are acting like they made a terrible mistake coming close to you before. I completely understand that we were not close, but he wouldn't have come to me trying to talk me into fixing this whole mess when he was just going to keep his distance the next day.

"I bet you had a great conversation with Landon down there?" Selena, who suddenly cornered me in the hallway, stared at me with an angry look on her face as she held up a pile of books.

"I know nothing about what happened down there between you and Landon, believe me, but what I am sure about is that I am not the one you should be mad at right now because I did nothing wrong to Lex, and it is totally unfair that you are trying to take it out on me when he is the one who deeply offended me."

It was the both of us standing alone in the long hallway, and I didn't want to fight. I knew with the way she was staring at me that she could do anything to me at that moment, and I just was not in for it; I wanted peace, absolute peace.

"You think I am going to believe you over Lex? Lex isn't the type to tread on places that he hates, and he hates it when people from those places come trying to piss him off, which you completely did. I told you before that as long as you remain Lex's enemy, you are my enemy, and you just worsened that day by insulting me right there in front of every other student."

"I didn't insult you, Selena. I only thought that you might need the advice because you acted like one who..."

"Oh, shut up!"

Her interruption was so loud it made me flinch as I took three steps away from her, staring at her from a safe distance.

One thing kept replaying in my mind, and it was the fact that I couldn't lay a finger on her. I had made a mistake by hitting legs, and I couldn't make it worse than it was already.

As a matter of fact, I don't even know what Lex was going to do about the fact that I hit him, and now I had another problem on my way.

"If there is one thing I ever loved so much, Lisa, it is tough challenges, and right now you seem to be a challenge for me. How about I show you what your real place is?"

Before I could comprehend those words, she was already raging towards me, and just when I thought to take a step back and try to run, she grabbed me by my hair, pulling me forcefully to the ground as I hit my upper body down on the hard floor in a second.