Chapter 138 Not Your Fight

Chapter 138 Not Your Fight
Skylar's POV

“Give me my book!”

The noise stopped me in my tracks. I turned the corner, moving towards the noise.
A crowd had already gathered in the middle of the hallway, near the lockers by the science wing.

I pushed through the edge of the crowd and saw him first….Elias, sprawled half against the lockers, his glasses knocked sideways and a stack of books scattered across the floor around him. Marcus Doyle stood over him, gripping the front of his shirt.
Elias usually sat 2 seats away from me at Literature.

“I told you it was an accident,” Elias said.
Mason shoved him back against the lockers. "Say that again," Marcus said, grabbing a fistful of Elias's shirt and hauling him upright. "Go on, say it again."
"I said I didn't see you," Elias gasped, his hands coming up weakly, he wasn't even trying to fight back. "It was an accident, I didn't plan to…."
Marcus growled in his face. “Then maybe you should watch where you're going.”
“I didn't even see you.”
“That doesn't change the fact that you hit me.”

Elias looked down at the books on the floor. “I already apol….”
Marcus hit him again before he finished the sentence. A brutal jab that snapped Elias's head sideways, and the crowd around them made that low and ugly sound crowds make when they're more entertained than horrified.

I pushed through the last few people in front of me, grabbing Marcus's arm before he could swing again. "Hey, that's enough."
He turned ready to hit whoever touched him but his expression changed the second he saw who'd grabbed him. "Skylar." He glanced at me, but his hand remained on Elias's shirt.

I pointed to Elias “Let him go.”
“This has nothing to do with you.”
“It does when you're threatening someone over an accident.” I kept my grip on his arm. "Let him go, Marcus.”
"This isn't your business." He shook my hand off, though his tone had already softened compared to what it had been aimed at Elias a second ago. "Kid ran into me on purpose. Somebody's gotta teach him some manners."
"He's got a black eye already forming. I think the lesson landed."

A few people laughed, Marcus's jaw tightened, embarrassment creeping into the anger now that the crowd's attention had shifted toward me instead of him. "Stay out of it."
"I'm already in it." I stepped in front of Elias, who was still trying to gather his books off the floor with shaking hands. "Walk away, Marcus.”
For a moment, I thought he actually might. But his face suddenly hardened.
“You always think everybody has to listen to you.” He scoffed.
“I don't think that, I just think you're acting like an idiot right now.”
A few people laughed, enjoying the drama.

He frowned. “Watch your mouth.”
“Or what?” I dared.
He stepped forward, his hand coming up like he meant to shove me out of the way to get back to Elias.
Someone's hand closed around Marcus's wrist before it could land anywhere near me, twisting it back at an angle that made Marcus cry out.
I turned to the person behind me…..”Ryan.” I whispered.
"Don't." He said coldly. "Don't you ever raise your hand near her."

"Ryan, I wasn't even going to…."
Ryan hit him before he could finish, a hard, clean punch that snapped Marcus's head back, sending him stumbling into the lockers. “You should’ve backed away.”
The crowd went dead silent for a few seconds before erupting, their phones already coming up, everyone angling for a better view.
"Ryan….." I reached for his arm, but he was already moving past me, grabbing the front of Marcus's shirt and slamming him back against the metal.

"You think it's funny, throwing your weight around on someone half your size?" Ryan's voice had lost all of the charm he wore like armor most days. "Try it with someone who'll actually hit back."
Marcus swung wildly, catching Ryan across the jaw.

I watched Ryan's head turn with the impact. He smirked, like he's been waiting for an excuse to continue the fight.
He drove his fist into Marcus's stomach, doubling him over, then again across his face.
The crowd's noise climbed louder, someone shouting for a teacher, someone else just filming.

"Ryan, stop!" I screamed but I doubt he heard me through the noise.
He didn't stop, he hit Marcus again, and I watched, some ugly, unfamiliar satisfaction rising in my own chest at the sight of it, at watching someone finally answer for the kind of thing Elias probably dealt with every week.
It took a minute for me to get back my senses. “What am I doing?” I shook my head and pushed between the people surrounding them, grabbing Ryan's arm with both hands.

"Ryan, that's enough, stop it!" I threw my weight backward, dragging him a few steps away from Marcus, who slid down the lockers, blood at his lip. Some students moved towards him, trying to help him up.
Ryan tried to pull away. “Move, Skylar.”
“No.” I kept both my hands locked around his arm, pulling him further back, away from Marcus,
"Let go of me, Sky," Ryan said, his voice still rough with adrenaline. “He touched you.”

“And the fight is over, you've made your point. Walk away.”
He looked at me, breathing hard.
I tightened my grip on his sleeve. “Come on.” I pulled him away from the crowd down the side hallway until the noise behind us faded.
He let me drag him the rest of the way, though I could feel how tense his whole body still was.

The moment we turned the corner, I released him. “What is wrong with you?”
He stared at me in disbelief. “What's wrong with me?” He chuckled. "What the hell was that?" His hand came up, frustration radiating off him in waves. "What were you thinking, walking up to Marcus Doyle like that?"
"He was hurting Elias…."

"That's not your problem to fix." His voice rose and he stepped closer. My back met the wall behind me before I even realized I'd moved. "You don't just walk into something like that, you don't know what someone like Marcus will do when he's angry."
"I had it handled." I frowned.
"You didn't have anything handled." His hand came up beside my head, bracing against the wall, caging me in without actually pinning me there. "He almost put his hands on you. Do you understand that? He almost…."

"But he didn't." I lifted my chin, refusing to let the edge in his voice rattle me.
Ryan dragged a hand over his face. “Skylar, you can't keep doing this, throwing yourself into other people's problems. You never think.”
I raised a brow. “And you can? Because you decided to turn it into a full brawl instead.”
His jaw tightened. “He touched you.”

I stared at him. “Why do you care so much? It's not like it's your job to protect me.”
He looked away before turning back. Then he gave the answer he'd been using for years.
“Because you're like my sister,” he said.
“If anything happened to you, your parents would blame me, and mine would kill me for letting it happen. So yeah, I care.”

Something twisting uncomfortably in my chest at those words. "Right." I pushed his arm down, slipping past him, refusing to let him see whatever was showing on my face. "Your sister…..Of course."
“You know that doesn't mean you get to control me.”
He laughed. “I didn't say I wanted to control you.”
“Well, you act like it.”
“I act like someone who doesn't want to see you get hurt.” He shrugged.

“Whatever…” I walked away without looking back.