III. (Chapter Preview Blog Series)

THE FRESHLY MOWED GRASS still has the dew of the morning dripping off of every blade. I lay there on the lawn between the school and Aries High’s famed Arena. The sun is sitting above it as the clouds inch nearer. With my phone at the ready, I snap a picture just as they cover half of the sun.

Perfect photo for something in the school paper about the Arena.

Honestly, I’ve never been inside Aries Arena and I don’t ever plan to be. I definitely skipped that part of the school tour. Call it ability-envy. The only thing I know about it is that they modeled it after the Colosseum in Rome before it got busted. I also know that it’s used for Fragment Fights; school exam fights and our Fragment Fighting sports team, the prized jewel team of Aries High School. Having no powers, there’s really no need for me to be in there. I definitely don’t need to see a shiny showcase of powers.

Inside the school, the rest of my peers get to enjoy the start of the year assembly–something I elected to skip this year. No matter what school I’ve gone to, it’s all the same information and I don’t need it drilled into me anymore that it has been. Especially after already getting homework from Ms. Marple, my witch-y English teacher.

“A piece of required reading from N.A. author, Mark Twain,” she said. She didn’t need to explain again that N.A. was short for a Non-Aura individual. “You’ll all be reading, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.” Her scratchy voice still echoes through my ears.

The sprinkling of light rain begins to caress my skin and make patterns on my iridescent-blue lenses. I close my eyes and spread my arms and legs. I could stay out here all day… but I should probably get in before the lunch bell rings. Especially if they’re going to be serving mozzarella sticks today. I jump to balance on one foot, swiping my bag off the ground, a little bothered when I realize I let it get wet.

As I walk toward the school, I see a goth-clad trio leaning against the wall outside the glass doors. Those are the Shadow-Fragments, their Auras as dark as their eyeliner. The three stooges of Aries High, as I like to call them. The three approach and stop me in front of the doors, the ringleader front and the center glaring at me through her purple, spiked pixie-cut.

“Valkara.” I nod.

“Look who’s back,” she says, “It’s Jock.” Her and the other two laugh hardily. “Sorry, I mean Judd! I know how you hate labels.”

I shrug. “Call me whatever you want.” I let my sunglasses slide down the bridge of my nose and wink. “Just don’t call me late, please! Everyone else is just early, promise.”

As I pass around them, I finger gun at them clicking my tongue. “Love the reverse-pentagram chain, Arkayd, very edgy.”

Valkara locks hands with her linked-sister with black shoulder length hair and plum-colored bangs, blocking my path. Where Valkara fancies chains all over her split skirt, Liliana is much more of a belt girl. The open part of her shirt around her chest being decorated in them in the shape of a reverse-pentagram. Not to mention the two hanging from her hips; one black, one red and a skull holding them together. They definitely aren’t holding up her black and purple tutu, though.

Arkayd, the shaggy-haired brunette boy in a black buckle trench-coat, pushes me back into the murky, wet air. Continuing to push in front of him antagonistically, he walks forward following.

“You’re not going anywhere.” He snaps his fingers as a spark of purple flashes from them and from under my feet, knocking me off balance.

“Arkayd,” Liliana tugs on the ring of her collar looking up at her boyfriend. “Deal with this dude and his trash jokes.”

He falls into a fighting stance three feet from me. And I haven’t been in a Fighting class since middle school. As Arkayd spins, the back of his steel-toe (steel also on the heel) boot connects with the side of my head, throwing me into the significantly wetter grass, carrying the scent of the swamp that surrounds Comet Cove with a splash.

“Dang, dude!” I pick myself up, grabbing my dirty sunglasses off the ground hoping they’re not broken. Their reflection shows blood falling from my head with the rain. “I was just going inside, I barely even saw you guys out here, what did I do?”

“You exist.” Arkayd throws a punch I’m able to avoid.

“How dare you even ask a question like that.” Valkara adds as her and Liliana laugh it up.

Shaking my head and being done playing their game, I make my way to the school entrance. “I’m outta here.”

“Not.” A loud snap sounds from behind me followed by a purple flash.

A giant metal structure plants itself into the ground in front of me. I guard myself from even more water splashing up at me. Turning, I see an infuriatingly smug smile on Arkayd’s face with his hand in the air. The plane this engine came from catches my eye, careening over our heads until it crashes with an audible explosion in a distance from city borders.

“Give me a break, dude! Did you have to almost kill me by jinxing a plane?”

He doesn’t say a word, then again, he generally says as few words as possible.

“I haven’t trained all summer,” I continued. “I have literally nothing to dish out at you at the moment.”

“He was just blocking your path, crybaby.” Liliana mocks.

“How many people were on that plane?” I question.

A careless shrug comes from Arkayd as he, yet again, gets into stance. “Fight me. I know the deal.”

If Arkayd decides he wants to have a fair fight with me, the deal would be no powers. It’s never easy keeping up appearances, especially when there’s opportunistic Shadow-Fragments willing to fling their powers around without a care of who they hurt in the process. Thankfully, Arkayd is more open to a fair fight than the other two, and when I clearly “haven’t trained my abilities”, I’m his hand-to-hand exception. It’s been that way since I met the dude.

The smirk on Arkayd’s face persists, making the vein in my forehead vibrate. I circle him as he matches my pace. Purple sparks fly from his hands as he pops his knuckles, almost making me second guess this decision. Not that they’re giving me any alternative.

“First day of school and you’re already starting in,” I say as we close in, face to face. There’s that damned half-smile again. I ricochet a punch off his face bouncing his head back and forth before he falls to the ground. “That’s for my busted forehead.”

The pain in my knuckles scream that I haven’t had enough hand-to-hand combat training to deal with this. For some reason I didn’t think I’d have to, especially not right away. I guess I forgot Shadow-Fragments exist.

A distant set of gasps sound from inside the school’s entrance doors with a crowd of faces watching in.  Arkayd gets back to his feet and wipes the blood off the corner of his lips as they cheer for the fight’s continuation. Arkayd gestures for me to approach with both hands. He evades two more blows with skill and my head is knocked back by a single punch, but I’m able to keep my balance.

My right hook flies forward as he guards with his shoulder, then my left, hitting his ribs. One, two, three blows to his ribcage before he raises his stance and throws me over his shoulder. He circles me again, looking to the approval of his posse. Before even getting my feet under me properly I dart for his midsection, taking him down to the ground.

“Sam!” Casey’s voice cuts through the murky air grabbing my attention instantly.

Arkayd’s palm collides brutally with my left shoulder—my bad shoulder—popping it out of socket as I roll over onto the drenched grass. He jumps up to meet his friends as Casey, Raneé, and a tall, messy dark-haired, pale boy in thick glasses.

“Patrick, what are you doing here?” I sit up groggily, looking over at the Shadow-Fragments. I turn to him urgently. “Dude! you need to get out of here! What are you even doing here?”

“Oh look who it is.” Valkara sways toward us, jingling like a rattlesnake, the other two following closely behind. “The geek will amuse us much more than you!”

“You’re excused, Jock,” Liliana adds.

“Stand back!” Raneé stands in guard of all of us. “He’s here with me.”

Valkara’s violet eyes glow with a ring of red around the irises. Her swaying becomes more of a dance as her arms follow her hips. She lifts her hand and gestures to come hither. Patrick’s eyes turn to match hers as he stands and steps in her direction.

“Hey, quit it!” Raneé takes a water bottle out of the front pocket of her cropped turquoise hoodie.

She pops open the water bottle as she gestures a floating glob out of it. As she pulls it back and whips it forward, crackling the stream at the Shadow-Fragments’ feet.

Valkara’s focus is lost as Pat falls back. “Geez, Raneé, why does something always happen when I’m around you?”

“Wait a second, it’s raining.” Casey points out.

“I know what you’re about to and I can’t manipulate rain.” Raneé looks back and she continues deterring the Shadow-Fragments. “I can only concentrate on more still water.”

The stern voice of Principal Johnson—Coach Brown standing next to her—catching the attention of all of us. We turn instantly. “Misses Raneé Leonhardt, Valkara Grimmith, Liliana Graeae. Misters Arkayd Grendel, Casey Burke, Samael Judd.” Her face is that of irritated disappointment when she looks especially at Pat. “And you, Mr. Patrick Maloney. I’m especially shocked to see you involved in unauthorized school fighting. The seven of you, to Brown’s office!”

The kids in the window disperse in disappointment. As we follow behind the enraged adults, I ask Casey to pop my shoulder back into place.

He pulls on my wrist, holding my chest back. “Ow, shit!”

“Mr. Judd!” Johnson speaks each syllable separately when she spins to face me, but says nothing more before turning to open the doors as the Shadow-Fragments giggle at my dismay.

Coach Brown’s office is the scariest place to be when one is in trouble. Yes, above the principal’s office. The thing that makes it worse is both Coach Brown and Principal Johnson both being here at once. Coach may not have the power of expulsion or anything, but even if he did, he wouldn’t use it anyway. His belief? Students should work off their punishments, and very often, his ideas are pretty brutal.

There’s a number of things that are also making this trip even more suspenseful; three sets of hostile eyes staring back at me and my friends as well as the silhouettes of Brown and Johnson conversing on the other side of the shaded window. Patrick is sweating bullets by the time they make their way through the door.

Coach Brown happily gestures Johnson in and offers his seat, which she accepts, taking uncomfortable notice of how it squeaks. Coach stands by her side with his arms crossed as if he were a bouncer in a past life.

Silence ensues for several seconds until Liliana asks, “Why are we in the gym office? None of us have anything to do with the worthless sports that go on in here.”

“Fighting training is the only useful gym class at this school.” Valkara adds.

“Worthless?!” The vein on Coach’s head pulses before Johnson raises a hand to halt him.

He’s likely still irritated from when the Shadow-Fragments started a petition to shut down all sports in the school except Fragment Fighting. They did in fact get the appropriate amount of signatures. Thankfully for us, Walter Finley—father of Jake, James, and Gabriella—is not only the wealthiest man in Comet Cove, but a member of the Comet Cove school board. Sports, especially basketball and cheerleading, are very important to his children, so he funds the school sports programs often. He absolutely didn’t let the cancellation happen. We could definitely do without our soccer team, though. They’re not all that fantastic.

“Unauthorized fighting on school grounds. Destruction of school property. Destruction of a plane in flight!” Johnson exclaims, rising from the desk and hitting her fists on it for the last statement before taking her squeaky seat again.

“That doesn’t answer the question,” Arkayd says flatly.

Johnson’s bronze skin—naturally tinted in a beautifully delicate shade of gold—and clean-shaven head becomes a shade redder with anger.

“You’ll all be fighting in the Arena.” Coach blurts out.

“What?!” My peers and I are standing in unison. All except Raneé, who stands with glee.

“We’ve both decided your punishment,” Johnson starts, “Mr. Finley and the rest of the school board agree.”

“It was only necessary to meet in my office as I’ll be seeing a couple of you on the courts Friday.” Brown glares at both Casey and I. “On that note, tryouts have been moved to next Friday due to this incident.”

“What?!” Casey and I dart up again.

“What does this have to do with that?” Casey finishes.

“Sit down Mr. Burke, Mr. Judd.” Johnson demands.

The Shadow-Fragments giggle again—how annoying—until Valkara speaks up in an innocent voice, “Coach… sir? We’re innocent in all this, Sam antagonized us,” as she does her fake crying.

“I doubt that.” Raneé folds her arms and rolls her eyes.

“He was sitting outside all assembly, he attacked us when he saw us walking outside.” Liliana adds.

What the—?! Way to rat me out you worthless cowards.

“Let me tell you why that’s bull.”

“Judd!” Coach calls.

“Sorry, ‘crap’,” I say more consciously. “I did skip assembly, but they were sitting outside and all I did was make a comment and they attacked!” I try to explain. “I’m lucky my bad shoulder is okay. My fo’head, though! Is not!” I reveal the blood on the white towel I was given to dry off with.

“Thank you for admitting your guilt, Mr. Judd.” Johnson nods. “But I don’t recall seeing Mr. Grendal’s, Miss Graeae’s or Miss Grimmith’s faces in the crowd, either.” Johnson’s photographic memory is what got her into the principal’s office a year after teaching here at Aries. The three slouch in their seat as she continues. “Why is it always you three getting into trouble? You cannot use the Shadow-Fragment excuse!”

“Why not?” Arkayd questions.

“Our Auras are inherently dark, aren’t they?” Liliana adds.

“A dark Aura gives you no excuse to break school rules.” Johnson presses.

The three slouch even further. The Aura of a Shadow-Fragment is dark in nature, making them generally pretty aggressive and antagonistic. Johnson is a rarity that believes that they can still be rule-following, law-abiding citizens. Heroes even, if they do decide to go that route.

“You lot are very lucky that it was only a cargo plane filled with Fragments, no Non-Auras involved.” Johnson tightens her grip on her entwined fingers upon the great oak desk.

“Are we being expelled?” Casey’s face becomes flush with utter fear.

Johnson takes in a deep breath and loosens her grip. “No,” she assures simply. “Luckily, there were no fatalities. The Cleaners have taken care of the plane, the engine and, thanks to Mr. Finley, all expenses have been paid.”

The Cleaners… not many of us have seen them. There are a lot of rumors and myths about them. One being that they’re gremlins, and if you happen to lock eyes with one, it’s a death omen. That one is my particular favorite. The only thing anyone knows for sure is that they work for The H.W.S., and they’re extremely fast at their job of cleaning up messes and destruction caused by Fragments.

And the H.W.S., the Heroes Who Serve, are a team of hero Fragments meant to investigate Fragment matters and protect the Earth. Each continent has their own team and a section of the company they lead. The North American team is also led by the one and only pompous ass, Northfist. The rest of the team is also pretty strange in my opinion, but I don’t care much about them or the whole H.W.S. thing.

“We’re very lucky Comet Cove wasn’t exposed to Non-Aura’s,” Coach reminds us. “It was reported to the general N.A. public as just a terrible malfunction.”

“This close call is precisely why we’ve decided you will all fight in the Arena,” Johnson tells us.

“If you wanna fight in school, you’ll fight on school terms,” Coach adds.

Raneé is giddy with pure excitement as Arkayd says, with a Joker-sized grin, “To the death?”

“It will absolutely not be ‘to the death’!” Johnson finger-quotes. “Normal Aries Arena rules. It ends when one team is knocked out via the life-counter or gives up.”

“I won’t be doing either!” Raneé stands with her fist balled tightly in the air.

“Miss Leonhardt, please sit down,” Johnson says again.

“But wait, I thought the Arena was only for varsity, exams, et cetera.” I try to sound smart and get out of this.

“We’ve decided to make an exception for you seven,” Johnson speaks as Raneé tries to sit still in her delight. She cannot. “Anyone who sits out will swiftly be expelled.” Everyone gasps and Coach whispers in Johnson’s ear.

“It’s been brought to my attention that there are an odd number of you,” she then says. “One of you will have to sit out.”

Casey’s hand shoots up faster than even Pat’s can. “I’m trying this new pacifist route.” He chuckles.

“Hmm…” Johnson rubs her chin between her pointer and her thumb. “So be it, Mr. Burke, you’ll sit out.”

What? You traitor!

“The fight will take place during after school classes on Friday and I will be coaching this fight.” Coach Brown isn’t the normal Fighting coach or teacher, so I have to wonder if he even knows what he’ll be doing. Not that I have any clue.

The Shadow-Fragments look in our direction again with the most sinister of smiles. This is the first time I’ve known how Pat feels around them. Raneé breaks the silence with over-excited clapping.

Casey punches my left shoulder and says, “I got your back, bro.”

How though?! Also, ow!

I rub my hurting shoulder and shoot him a glare.

“Principal Johnson!” Pat stands with an unexpected amount of guts. “I will not participate in this pointless dribble!”

“You’ll participate, boy, or you’ll be expelled!” Coach’s pointing finger is practically touching Pat’s nose. “Burke, you’re excused.”

Pat’s face is that of horror. His head falls into his hands as he drops back into his seat sobbing and complaining to himself.

“Now get to lunch.” Johnson stands from the desk, leading us all out the door. “There’s not much time left.”

The Shadow-Fragments hiss at us as they push their way out first. Then Pat, crouching to be under Raneé’s arm. Coach stops me before I can leave and in turn, Casey next to me.

“Not showing up means no basketball, no letter jacket, no Aries High at all,” Coach warns.

I may have had second thoughts about joining the team this year, but to have the decision taken away from me completely, I think not. The “no letter jacket” thing is what is what is bringing me to my final decision.

I will be at tryouts next week!

“I’m all in, sir,” I say nervously.

“Good on ya’, bud!” Coach pats my back and lets us out.

As we walk down the side of the double-courted gym we’ll hopefully soon be practicing in, I wait for the teachers to close the door before saying, “Shit! What am I going to do?”

“Same thing as last year, just… bigger.” Casey smiles and pats my bad shoulder again.

“Can you stop with my shoulder? It still hurts. Hope you have a long range.”

“Oh, I do.” Casey winks.

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IV. Chapter Preview Blog Series) >>

Thank you for reading,

~ J. D. 💙🖤

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