The Youngmaster
Aria shoved him, her own body rigid with a mix of fear and belligerence. "What the hell are you saying?"
He staggered, but only for a moment, his gaze never breaking from hers. "I said, I don't get drunk, no matter how much I try," he snarled, his voice a low, rough rasp.
She wet her lips, a nervous mannerism that contradicted her composure. She had to hear him say it again, the uncomplicated word, "sexy."
"Whoa," he said, a slight smile skimming his mouth. "You're not going to ask me to quit calling you that?"
She rolled her eyes, the gesture practiced. "Like I can make you."
"Do you have a ride?" he asked, brushing her off. "Because you're going to be surrounded."
He started counting. "One… two… three."
She laughed shortly. "What are you saying?"
"Four," he continued, his eyes sparkling with a gruesome sense of humor. "Five."
Just as the word left his lips, a voice called out from the darkness. "Young Master!"
Aria's eyes widened. A man appeared with a battalion of guards within a minute, all armed to the teeth and ready for an imaginary war. Kayden groaned, striking the heel of his palm against his forehead in frustration.
"Young Master, are you okay?" Noah rushed to his side, examining him for injuries. The guards lowered their guns.
"I didn't visit a war zone, Noah. I visited somebody," Kayden said, his voice laced with annoyance.
Noah's eyes fell on the bottles. "Kay, did you consume all of this?!"
"Stop shouting. You're messing with my head," Kayden slurred.
Noah sighed, like a frustrated parent dealing with an errant child. "Drinking this much is risky. We need to head to the hospital."
"I'm fine, Noah. You're being dramatic." Kayden's eyes met Aria's. "Come with me?"
"Who is she? Isn't she the girl who punched you?" Noah whispered to Kayden.
Kayden bit his lip to keep from laughing. "She can hear you," he said.
"Am I the only one, or do you both share the same emotionless face?" Noah whispered again.
"I rode with my aunt," Aria said, cutting off their silent exchange.
"No hug goodbye?" Kayden smiled.
Aria shot him a defiant smile and a single, raised middle finger before she strode away.
"A hug?" Noah asked, confused. "She's a girl."
"I know," Kayden replied, a small, genuine smile on his lips. "I just like to get her riled up."
The Cracks Begin
The Kings were a mess the next day. Their usual lively presence was replaced with tense silence. The students noticed, whispering among themselves about a fight.
"They had a huge fight last night," a student complained.
In their apartment, the fight was still fresh. Levi stormed into Kayden's room. "Where did you go?" he demanded.
Kayden, having just returned, let his bag fall onto his bed. "Somewhere. Does it matter?"
"Does it even matter?!" Levi's voice rose. "We're your friends! We've been friends since middle school, and we don't know anything about you. Not your favorite color, your birthday, your family! If this friendship doesn't mean anything to you, then let's just end it!"
The words seemed to hang in the air, bitter and slashing. Kayden's face was impassive, but his jaw was tense. He pushed his hair back and left, leaving Levi and the others to deal with the fallout.
The Showdown
Later, in the school cafeteria, Mabel and her friends walked in, eyes scanning the Kings' table instinctively. She and Berry moved ahead. The boys glanced up, except Kayden, who was too occupied scrolling through his phone.
Mabel, trying to impress him, stammered, "Is… is there a problem?"
"Spit it out," Nigel said irritably. "I'm trying to eat."
Berry pulled Nigel off, and Mabel was left alone with the remainder. "Kayden," she spoke, her voice barely a whisper. "Can we speak?"
Kayden raised his head from his phone, his eyes chilly and uninterested. "Are you high on bootleg marijuana?" he asked, his voice full of disdain.
Mabel's face fell. "I… I don't smoke."
"When did that start?" he asked, without a hint of laughter.
Mabel was shocked, humiliated in front of the entire cafeteria. Aria, sitting at her table, allowed a subtle smile to brush across her lips.
Later in class, a professor had an announcement. "Mabel Banks and Aria. To the podium."
Mabel's eyes widened in surprise. Aria sighed, stood, and walked to the front of the class. Her skintight jeans and crop top drew every gaze.
"Shake that ass, baby!" Karen whispered at their table.
"I swear I'm gonna fuck that ass," a boy in the back row whispered to his friends.
Kayden's head snapped up. His eyes, fixed on the boy, narrowed to deadly slits. A silent promise was made in that stare.
Aria was flawless. She solved the hard equation in minutes, while Mabel didn't even move, unable to begin.
"I don't have a 5.0 CGPA for nothing," Aria said, a triumphant smile on her lips.
"Always sassy," Kayden muttered under his breath.
Later that day, Kayden tracked down the boy who had uttered the obscene comment. He finally caught up with him in a deserted hallway, his friends having long dispersed.
"Kay… what's up?" the guy stammered.
"I have no business with your friends," Kayden said, his voice devoid of emotion. "But I do with you."
The friends scattered, and he stood alone to meet Kayden's pent-up anger. "You made a remark about fucking someone's ass," Kayden began.
"Aria?" the guy asked, a note of bravado in his voice.
Kayden grabbed him by the back of his neck, his hand a vice. He yanked him into an empty classroom, the door shutting behind them.
"I adore that you questioned me," Kayden murmured, his voice dangerously low. He slammed the guy's face into the metal grilles at the window, the cold steel biting into his cheek.
"You see that girl?"
"Aria," the man mumbled.
"You will never look at her again. You will never speak her name. Do you understand?"
"Why?" the man whimpered, a bead of blood falling from his busted lip.
Kayden's eyes turned glacial. "You don't ask me," he growled, his voice a low snarl. "I make the fucking rules." He slammed the man's face into the bars again, the metal smashing into his skin.