Chapter 28: As Long As I Am Here, No one Can Hurt You

~“As long as I am here, no one can hurt you.”—Billie Eilish.~

Chapter Theme Song: “Everything I Wanted” by Billie Eilish.

HARMONY

Blaze sets me down on my bunk bed before he strides off to the bathroom. My mind starts to replay the gut-wrenching scene that just unfolded, and goosebumps prickle my skin.

Blaze would have killed Mr. Jones, no doubt about it. His eyes were cold and lifeless, devoid of any mercy or humanity.

His eyes usually have this emptiness that leaves me puzzled, but the darkness in them today pushed me into a state of fear.

They were different, and it scared me.

Even though Mr. Jones deserved punishment for what he tried to do to me, I didn’t want Blaze to lose himself in the process.

The thought of him killing his professor and ending up in prison for life is terrifying.

I would never see him again, and I’m not sure how I’d handle that, given how emotionally attached I’m becoming. He’d probably take a piece of me with him.

I need to stop this. I shouldn’t get too attached to him; it’s not safe. Besides, he’s already shared his thoughts on love. He’s been upfront with me, so if I end up hurt, it’s my fault, right?

He comes back with a wet cloth and sits in front of me. His brow is still furrowed in anger, and his eyes still hold that dark intensity.

“Where did he touch you?”

I swallow. “Just my arms...”

He takes my hand in his and starts to wipe down my arm to my palm. I’m not sure why he’s doing this.

“Why are you—”

“I don’t want his touch on you,” he explains, his eyes meeting mine. “I don’t want to know that his touch is still on your skin. Do you understand?”

I nod, blushing uncontrollably.

When he says things like that, it’s hard not to fall head over heels for him.

I lower my gaze as he continues. His touch is gentle as he moves the cloth along my skin, and I wonder if he’s this considerate with everyone.

Before I can stop myself, the question slips out.

“Do you care for everyone like this?”

He stops what he’s doing and keeps his head down. I try to read his expression but fail.

I can never tell what he’s thinking, and that’s frustrating. If I could, then I might uncover all the secrets and scars he’s hiding from me.

“No. I don’t usually care for anyone...ever.”

He lifts his head and holds my face, tilting it so he can see the bruise on my other cheek. He sighs and grabs the first aid kit from the bed next to him. “I told you to stay away from him.”

“Yeah, but...he overheard me badmouthing him and said he needed to talk to me about it or else I’d get kicked out of English.”

Blaze looks at me like my answer was incredibly dumb, and now that I think about it, it does sound ridiculous.

“You wouldn’t get kicked out that easily. What exactly did he hear you say?”

“That he’s...boring.”

Blaze hisses. “No one gets kicked out for something like that. He was just trying to trap you in his sick plan. You fell for it, Harmony.”

I sigh, nodding in agreement. “I can be really naive sometimes, I guess.”

“Don’t say that. You’re not naive.” He grabs a cotton ball from the kit. “You’re just....innocent.”

I focus on my fingers, then a thought strikes me, and I look up at him again.

“Uhm, by the way...how’d you find me?”

He takes a deep breath, and just as he’s about to speak, there’s a loud knock on the dorm door.

“I’ll get it.” I stand up and head toward the door while Blaze rummages through the first aid kit.

I open the door to find two security officers standing there, and I tilt my head in confusion. “Can I help you?”

“Is Blaze Xander in there?” one of the men, who has a bald spot, asks.

I narrow my eyes at the question. ~What do they want with Blaze?~ “What?”

They push past me rudely and enter the room. Blaze rises from the bed, seemingly unfazed by their presence.

“We received a report that you have a knife in your possession?” the heavier-set officer says. “Please come with us for further investigation at the chairman’s office.”

I gasp. “What?”

Blaze laughs, catching everyone off guard. It’s not the time for laughter, but Blaze Xander has a knack for finding humor in the most serious situations.

“Did that rapist tell you guys that?” he asks, casually shoving his hands into his pockets.

The men step forward, but I slide in front of them, earning synchronized eye rolls.

“What did he do? He didn’t do anything. And for your information, Mr. Jones tried to sexually harass me.”

“Do you have proof?” the heavier officer asks, and I furrow my brows in disbelief.

“I do actually, look at my face. He slapped me!”

The balding guard, who I just now notice is chewing gum, barely glances at my face before rolling his eyes.

“There’s hardly anything there. I’ve heard about kids like you who try to bring down a professor just because you failed a simple test.

“Mr. Jones has been working here for years and no one has ever filed such a report. Why would he touch you?” He chews his gum obnoxiously while he looks me up and down. “What’s so special about you?”

“Hey, watch your fucking mouth,” Blaze says, stepping forward, but I sigh and place my hand on his chest.

“It’s all good.”

The burly guard circles me, jostling my shoulder as he takes hold of Blaze’s arm. “You’re coming with us.”

Blaze chuckles, shaking his head. “Feels like I’m being arrested. Kinda interesting, but nothing I haven’t seen before.”

“What are you doing? Let him go! Mr. Jones is the one you should be after.”

“Sure, sure, just get back to your books, kid,” the guard with the bald spot retorts as they lead Blaze toward the exit.

He turns to give me a wink and a grin, and I can’t help but sigh. How can he be smiling at a time like this?

“Stay put on the bed, okay?” he tells me.

His eyes are trying to tell me something. His words sound like some kind of secret code. Is he hinting that there’s something on or under the bed?

The door shuts behind them, and I walk over to the bed, moving my pillows aside. There’s nothing there, so I kneel down and lift the quilt to look underneath.

Right away, I spot his knife tucked away in a corner, and I can’t help but smile.

He’s such a sly one.

BLAZE

“Get your feet off the table!”

I swear this guy lost his sanity when he lost his hair. Nobody tells me what to do.

My feet stay right where they are, comfortably resting on the shiny table, as I reach over to grab a piece of gum from a container on the chairman’s desk.

I unwrap the gum and pop it into my mouth, chewing it while the security officer glares at me with pure hatred. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think I’d slept with his girlfriend or something.

“Where’s the chairman? I really don’t have all day and the cafeteria stops serving burgers at one.”

His partner, a chunky guy with a buzz cut, steps through the glass door. “The chairman just finished his meeting. He’ll be here soon. Did you check his pockets?”

“Not yet, was just about to,” Bald Spot replies, moving closer to me.

He grabs my arm, and I shoot him a deadly side-glare. “Hey, hands off. You don’t want to do that.”

“Since when does Homewood admit criminals?” the chubby security guard remarks. “This kid’s a delinquent.”

I laugh and shake my head. “The word is pronounced ‘delinquent,’ not ‘delinquent.’ Jesus, how long have you been working at a university and you still don’t know that?

“You shouldn’t be corrected by a ‘delinquent’ who hardly ever goes to class, Peter Griffin.”

I watch as his face twists in confusion at the cartoon reference, and Bald Spot walks over to him and whispers in his ear, “He’s talking about the cartoon, ~Family Guy.~ Peter Griffin is the fat guy in the show.”

I laugh and shake my head. These guys are a couple of morons.

“Stand up, you troublemaker!” Peter Griffin grabs my arm and I yank it away.

“I said don’t touch me. Do it again and you’ll regret it.”

I stand up and the bald one clicks his tongue. “Back against the wall.”

I just glare at him. It’s going to take more than a command to make me do that.

The burly security guard steps forward and starts patting down my pockets. I push him away in anger and he stumbles back, but quickly regains his balance and points to his baton.

“You planning to hit me with that?” I laugh. “Go ahead, but make sure you either kill me or turn me into a vegetable. Because if you don’t, I’ll be coming for you.”

Seeing the serious threat in my eyes, he hesitates and slowly takes his hand off the black rod at his waist.

I smirk as I watch him. “Fucking coward.”

The glass door swings open, and a strong scent of cologne fills the air-conditioned room as it closes again. “What’s happening here?”

One of the guards lets out a sigh of relief. “Mr. Xander, thank God you’re here. This is the kid who—”

“Blaze?” The chairman, who also happens to be my uncle, looks at me warily.

I always try to avoid him at school because, just like my dad, he thinks he can talk some sense into me. Mr. Jones is going to pay for this.

“This is the guy we were telling you about,” one of the guards says.

My uncle rubs his forehead. “Leave us. He’s my nephew.”

The two security guards exchange surprised looks, and I can’t help but smirk. The looks on their faces are so priceless that I chuckle under my breath. Idiots.

“I’ll handle him,” he continues. “You two can go.”

They reluctantly leave, and I can’t help but smile. “Hey, Peter Griffin?” The chubby guard turns to look at me. “You should read a book after work. The word is delinquent!”

“Blaze, enough.” My uncle grits his teeth, and the guards shoot me angry looks, earning them a middle finger from me.

My uncle doesn’t see it as he sinks into his chair with a weary sigh. “Sit down.”

I let out a reluctant sigh and slump into the chair, leaning back lazily, but I don’t put my feet back up. I can’t deal with the nagging that would follow.

He’s just like my dad, both in looks and personality, and I know how annoying they can both be about something as trivial as me putting my feet up for comfort.

“Blaze. First you attacked someone in the cafeteria, and now you have a knife,” he starts. “When will you stop? I thought you had changed.”

~Changed? When did I ever promise these people that I’d change myself to please them?~

I puff out my cheeks. “I don’t have a knife.”

“Don’t lie, Blaze.”

“You can search me.”

He lets out a sigh. “I know you’ve hidden it somewhere.”

“Go ahead, search my dorm.”

He rubs his forehead, a gesture he’s repeated at least a hundred times since he found me in his office. Everyone knows I’m a handful, but they all still try to rein me in. They really shouldn’t bother.

“Get rid of it,” he orders.

I straighten in my chair. “What’s the big deal about a knife? Taking it away won’t stop me from stabbing someone if I want to. This is a school. I can always use pencils or pens.

“Taking away my weapon won’t solve the problem, will it?”

“Mr. Jones is a teacher!” he roars. “You threatened to stab your teacher. I should expel you from this school, Blaze.”

“Did the little creep tell you why I almost killed him?”

“No, but Blaze—”

“He was trying to harass someone. Someone I care about!”

His expression softens immediately, and he looks a bit taken aback by my words. I’m surprised myself. Did I just say that?

He knows that I usually don’t care about anyone. I know that too. But Harmony is the exception to my twisted disorder.

I let out a sigh. “You should fire him. Or I will kill him.”

“Blaze.”

“Fire him. That’s all I’m asking, if you don’t want blood on your school grounds.”

“I can’t do that,” he insists. “Do you have proof?”

“He slapped her in the face! There’s a mark on her cheek!”

“Yeah, but that’s not enough evidence; anyone could have done that, Blaze. I’m not saying it wasn’t him, but that’s a weak basis to work on.

“The staff room’s CCTV hasn’t been working for a while now, and it’s not easy to accuse someone with a good record as he—”

“As I thought...the law sucks,” I mutter. “And so does humanity. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

“Blaze—”

I rise from my chair, and he runs his hand through his hair. “Blaze! Don’t do anything stupid!”

I walk out and slam his door behind me. Oh, I won’t. I’m just going to pay Mr. Jones a friendly visit. After all, I didn’t get a chance to finish what I started earlier.