"Hey!" I feel someone shake my shoulder and I turn to face them. "Get up! We're gonna go see Vance! He's back," It's Matthias. I crane my neck to look out the window. It's completely dark, likely not even past three in the morning.
Vance, Matthias, and I walk together along the beach shore, catching up and stuff. "You shoulda seen Matthias the other day!" I tell Vance. "Oh? What happened?" "He beat this other guy in a fight so bad!" "Yeah, that sounds like Matthias. He's kinda a big deal around here. Surprised the kid even challenged him." Vance remarks. "He didn't. You should have heard the stuff he said to his dumb friends—it was disgusting," Matthias shudders. "They were making gross remarks about Jiara again. Why can't they just leave her the hell alone?" He pauses, looking up at the brightening sky. "She's just so amazing. You know—Jiara's, y'know, the kind of girl you get into fights for."
Jiara's, y'know, the kind of girl you get into fights for. His words echo in my head all throughout the day. So he really does have a thing for her. I should just give up and leave Jiara the heck alone. I mean, sure, she's the most gorgeous, funny, kind person I've ever come into contact with, but I shouldn't do that to Matthias. I can't. He's too kind.
First class of the day and I'm already completely drained. I trudge to my locker, avoiding the frightened gazes of my classmates in the hallways. Matthias waits by my locker, leaning against the cool metal. He smiles at me when he sees me approaching. "Hey! Alexei!" I nod at him. "Let's skip. Vance is waiting out back for us." I grin and follow him to the back of the school.
I notice two strange things: Vance holds a knife that definitely isn't for cooking in his hand, and there's an assortment of dangerous weapon-like items (and a couple real ones too) lying on the ground. Huh. I wonder what they're for. Vance waves at us. "Let's go to my place. My mom's never around. If she is, she won't care," Matthias offers. We follow him there, bringing the items with us.
"So—Alexei. You said you can fight," Vance says to me. "Prove it. Pick a weapon." He sets the pile of weapons down on the ground and I begin to look through it. I pick out a small gun and hold it up. "Oh, I'll prove it to you," I say, looking up at Matthias and Vance. "I'll do much more than that."