Gabriel's POV

The only thing I could think of was Sang Sorenson. The beautiful artist with the hair that drove me crazy. I was sure that it was natural. It has to be natural. I will die of it is dyed.

The bright pink had so many different streaks in it. There were different shades of pink, some lighter, some darker, some redder, some even purplish. I wanted so badly to touch it, to play with it, to claim it, but we were on a mission. We all have been holding back and reserving ourselves so we could blend easier. Not that it worked.

Mr.Blackbourne scared everyone who looked at him, yet all the females still threw themselves at him. It was entertaining, really. To watch him blow them all off especially the sluttier ones who you could tell weren't told no often.

Dr.Green, well, let's just say I wouldn't be surprised if he got arrested. Although, he has been restraining himself and he has been flirting less.

I could go on. Luke's pranks, North's bellowing, and more. We were all getting frustrated with how mellow and uniform we have to be to blend in and it was only the second day of the year. I was immediately labeled gay by the school's druggie, Greg. Originally, we had thought to recruit him to the Academy, but it was soon clear that he was not Academy material.

I walked down the hall not caring that I was late. My head was full of questions about Sang. I knew that I would do whatever to get closer to her and to get to know her. I don't know how I got so infatuated in just one period, but I could tell that I wasn't the only one.

Somehow startled out of my thoughts, I noticed that I took a wrong turn into an unused hallway. All the sudden, Greg and his friends jump out and attack me yelling profanities.

***

Sang's POV

My first instinct is to start humming, but I stop myself before I ruin my voice further.

I hurry to the music room so I am not even later, but, unfortunately, it is pretty far from the nurse's office. I cut through a hall that is no longer used. With less teachers, we don't use all the rooms which kinda sucks since we have so many students here.

I keep my eyes on my boots until a noise makes me jump.

"Where the **** do you the ****ing think you are going, faggot?!" Comes a low and raspy voice I know all too well.

Gabriel is pinned up against the locker by Greg who has a knife hovering close to his stomach and his forearm choking him. Greg's friends are watching excited for Gabriel to get hurt.

Star takes over.

"Greg, Greg, Greg," We sing out. Our voice is painful and raspy, but we need to be able to talk. Greg looks at us, his dark eyes traveling up is slowly, taking us in and making us want to puke.

"Always looking for Trouble. Well, you found us."

A scary smile splits our face.

Our smile can send shivers down the biggest and bravest man's back. Our smile can shame the Joker. Our smile is as scary as ****.

Greg pales a little. No one else would notice, but we do.

"Crazy *** *****! I don't have time to ****ing deal with your ****!" Greg yells trying to intimidate us.

We let out a laugh and punch him in the mouth. He flies backward narrowly missing stabbing Gabriel. Gabriel slumps to the ground looking conscious from lack of air

"Didn't anyone teach you to never cuss?!" Our voice is lower and raspier. You can barely make out what we are saying, but Greg and his friends understand everything.

Angry, Greg spits his tooth out, wipes his mouth, and lets out a feral growl. Him and his friends attack.

We run a ways down the hall so they come out us fewer at a time. We make quick work of taking down his stupid friends by tapping pressure points. There are no fancy moves necessary. They are easy targets.

Greg is completely pale now as we smile at him again with his friends unconscious at our feet. He tries to run, but we have had enough of him. Every year he tries to rape or beat students including us. Every year the teachers do nothing. Every year we merely use self defense and keep him away.

Not this year.

We tear after him moving at an inhuman speed. We grab him by his collar and thank him back. We land a roundhouse kick to his temple that makes him go out cold.

We are grateful that we always wear black shorts under our skirts and dresses.

He crumples to the ground. Hopefully, he isn't dead.

Just in time, we remember Gabriel. We sprint back to the nurse's office and fling open the door.

"Come," Is all we say.

***

Gabriel's POV

I was able to defend myself fairly well which surprised the **** out of Greg and his groupies. In the end, though, there were just too many and they all had knives.

Stupid *** Mr.B said that we weren't allowed to have weapons on our body at school. Real helpful, buddy.

My stupid *** phone flew out of my pocket when they jumped me, otherwise I'd be redlining the **** out of my brothers by now.

Greg has me pressed against the locker and his forearm is preventing me from breathing. I would've gotten out of his hold, but the knife poking my gut stopped me. I was losing focus when a beautiful voice caught my attention. Although it was slightly raspy, it was high and it has a ring to it kind of like a bell. Her voice was like the best symphony of bells.

I turned to see who it was and saw Sang looking forward out as Greg eye-raped her.

I heard her beautiful voice call out, "Always looking for Trouble. Well, you found us."

My first thought was Get out of here! Followed by, it sounds like she is hurting her throat. And why did she refer to herself as us? Then I sort of focused on the fact that she called herself Trouble. What a fitting name. I felt rage unlike any other when Greg started yelling at her, but Trouble dealt with him.

It was the most glorious punch ever. And I belong to a mafia.

As I lose conscience, my final thought is, Huh, I guess Sang doesn't like swearing.

***

Sang's POV

Dr.Green drops his work and we run out of the office area with him following. We make sure to run slow enough that he can keep up with us.

When we arrive, he gasps as he takes in the scene. At least there isn't much blood. Just some from when we punched Greg for swearing. We merely point out Gabriel. He pulls out his phone and presses a few buttons before going to work with Gabriel.

Soon, Gabriel's friends come running plus Mr. Weiland and Mr.Ronan and an unfamiliar man. We kick ourselves mentally. Obviously, they all know each other. Apparently, all the new teachers know this group of boys closely.

They explode in questions until North Star bellows, "What happened?!"

They all look at Dr. Green.

"I was in my office doing paperwork when Sang burst through and said 'come' I followed her and found all the bodies unconscious."

They all look at us now. We don't shrink away. We point at one of the hidden cameras that is placed in a corner and another near a window. They look surprised we spotted them, but they are obvious when you have eyes like ours.

We relax as Victor pulls out his laptop and announces he's pulling up the feed.

Star retreats, sure that I will be fine now.

"Thank you, Star," I whisper to her in our mind. She merely nods. Star is, after all, used to this.

I smile at them sweetly and point to the laptop.

We all crowd around Victor except for Mr.Toma and Mr.Weiland who are dealing with the unconscious bodies. I watch how Gabriel got in that position with Greg. Greg jumped him and started yelling profanities at him saying he was going to kill him. At first, Gabriel fought back and it looked like he was winning, but then Greg's friends came and helped. Gabriel did a pretty good job of defending him self, but they had surprised him and he was outnumbered.

Gabriel is up against the locker and you can see me walking up. My voice spills out of the computer. I wince at how gravelly my voice sounds. Next thing you know, I am punching a flying Greg and yelling with my broken voice.

I tune it out now. I already know what happened, after all.

The video ends and they all stare at me not saying anything.

"Well, **** ," states Luke simply causing the room to erupt.

"Well, **** is right!"

"Where did you learn that?!"

"Is that Greg's tooth?!"

"Why didn't you run?! You could have been hurt!" North Star shouts.

I scoff and point to the screen.

"Are you a ninja," Luke whispers with reverence in his eyes.

I shake my head and give him a big smile. I love how fun and playful Luke is. Luke beams back at me.

The questions start pouring in. I can't even understand them. I scrunch my face up and cover my ears.

The man I haven't met says, "Enough! Quit bombarding her! My name is Mr.Blackbourne, Ms..."

I point to my throat and shake my head.

"Sang," Victor says scornful. "I'm pretty sure everyone saw you yelling at Greg. We know you can talk."

I shake my head angrily. Hoping one of them knows sign language, I sign furiously, That was an emergency. I was hoping Greg could be talked out of hurting Gabriel, but I got kind of mad about his swearing.I

I am beyond losses at him just assuming that I was taking being injured!

Note to self:Double up on the happy pills this week...

Luke startles when he sees me signing and quickly relays what I say to them while giving me a look I can't understand.

Mr.Blackbourne is the epitome of perfection. His brown hair is short and all the same exact length. He is wearing a perfectly creased gray suit and a maroon tie. His steel grey eyes cut through the hall as they take on everything. I think I am supposed to be intimidated, but I all I can think about is fixing him.

Before I can stop myself, I reach out and mess up his hair. He looks startled. I smile at my work and give a proud nod. The people around me gasp and Mr.Blackbourne grits out, "What did you just do?"

I sign quickly, still smiling, I fixed you. Your welcome.

Like bursts out laughing and can't translate (or breathe really) so a stunned Kota translates instead.

The boys all burst out laughing. Mr.Blackbourne raises an eyebrow as his ears turn red.

Well, I sign, I believe I have class with Mr Blackbourne. Will you be there? I mean, so you need to finish up?

Kota translates again, seeing as Luke is still hysterical.

Mr.Blackbourne clears his throat and looks at me with a blank face. "Ms.Sorenson, correct?"

I nod. I guess my absence was noted. I hand him my late slip setting Luke off again and Paprika joins him this time.

I give them a confused look, before resolving to ignore them for the time being.

Mr.Blackbourne looks at me and says, "I think that would be best. Everyone, return to class. We will have a family meeting after school to debrief."

They all grumble about the lack of answers, but it is clear that Gabriel is fine. He will even be able to attend the rest of his classes. Mr.Blackbourne strides to the music room and I have to skip to keep up with him. He holds the door open for me and I beam at him in thanks.

Surprised doesn't describe how I feel. The room is completely empty of students.

Seeing my confusion, Mr.Blackbourne explains, "You were the only student to sign up for music. We have a few instruments. Is there any that you know already?"

I hesitate, unsure of what to do. I set my backpack down and pull out my trusty notebook and pencil. I write, I would love to learn how to play any instruments, but I am would prefer the violin or maybe the piano.

He nods and says, "Today I will fill out a form so you can borrow a violin and your lessons will start tomorrow."

I beam at him. I am so excited to learn how to play an instrument! Hopefully, I am not too old to learn how. You always hear about the famous musicians who start when they are really little.

His blank face turns a red and he clears his throat. "I am going to ask you a series of questions. I will try to keep them yes or no, but you will most likely need your notebook."

I nod to show I am paying attention.

"There is a lot that we don't know, Sang. You seem sort of strange," I nearly snort at that, "And this whole incident with Greg makes me even more curious. We will start out with simple questions."

He begins to ask me questions.

"Are you a senior?"

I nod.

"Are you seventeen?"

Another nod.

"Do you have any siblings?"

I hold up one finger.

"A brother?" He guesses.

I give him a shake of my head.

"A sister?"

I nod, happy that this game is working out okay.

"Is that your natural hair color? Gabe has been blowing up our phones asking about your hair."

I blink. I've only known him since lunch. I nod. I have never dyed my hair.

"It's naturally pink?" Mr. Blackbourne repeats incredulously.

I give him another nod. Since summer started.

"How long has it been pink?"

I write my answer down for this one.

My hair, ever since I was born, has changed colors with the season. Last spring it was yellow and the winter before that, it was dark green.

"And people don't notice this?" He asks skeptically.

People notice, they just don't care. They think that I am too weird so most people ignore me and act like I don't exist.

Like my father, I add in my head.

He looks kinda mad for some reason.

Mr.Blackbourne changes the subject and inquires, "Greg seemed to recognize you. Have you ran into each other before?"

Gabriel was not his first target. He often tries to rape, beat up, and/or seriously injure others. The teachers and principal don't really do anything so I stop him a lot of the time.

"Ah, yes. You stopping him. I think we were all a little surprised to see you knock out Greg and all his friends easily. Care to explain?"

I shake my head. There is no safe way to explain without explaining about Sarah and Star.

Mr.Blackbourne looks like he wants the answer and is unsatisfied with my head shake, but doesn't press the matter.

"What were you doing in the hall in the first place? Why were you late?"

I scrawl my answer on the back of the paper.

I was getting medicine for my throat that I had hurt yesterday. Dr. Green was going to give me some for later, but couldn't find the form that was needed. It took him so long looking, I decided to cut through the hall to get here quicker. I already felt bad for being late.

"Why weren't you here yesterday?"

I shake my head, again unwilling to answer.

Mr. Blackbourne has an indentation in his temple showing me that he is annoyed that I didn't answer, but again he doesn't press, making me like him.

"Well, Ms.Sorenson, class will be ending in just a second. Go ahead and gather your stuff and head to your next class. You have left me with a lot to process and I hope to see you tomorrow for class."

I decide to keep my notebook and pencil in my hands and pull my back pack straps on causing the pain to flare, but it is a dull pain because of the medicine.

The bell rings a second after I am in the hall and I hurry to my English class. I had Mrs. Heathrow last year. She teaches junior and senior literature. I like that I had her already because now she knows better than to try to teach me. I hate it when teachers try to teach me. Between Star, Sarah and I, we know a whole lot more than the teachers do.

I gasp. I am a genius! I just figured out why homework is called homework! It is an acronym for Half Of My Energy Wasted On Random Knowledge.

Seriously, how is it that I am the only person who recognizes how genius I am?

I decide to take a nap during her class. The least it can do is help me heal faster.

I sleep a deep and dreamless sleep until I am woken up by Sarah. Thankfully, she learned her lesson yesterday when I woke up yelling, and she woke me up gently today.

I lift my head and groggily get my stuff together. I slip my backpack on and the pain from the sores helps wake me up. I just have one more class today and then I get to go home and clean and then, if Master falls asleep, I can visit the woods and meet with my animals .

Nervously, I walk into the locker room. I am scared about the new P.E. teacher and the girls are never nice in the locker room. I stuff my backpack in my locker and grab my clothes. I ball them up in my hands and walk to the bathroom stall. I quickly change and make sure that I am not bleeding through my bandages and they are not showing.

I pull a pair of red shorts on and a grey t-shirt and gently out on a dark blue zip up athletic jacket that has white stripes going from the collar down the sleeve to the wrist. I change my combat boots for my pink running shoes and tie my long pink hair into a ponytail.I

Thankfully, the other girls leave me alone to gossip about the new students and teachers.

I walk out of the locker room and head outside where we gather for class. My classmates are milling around and talking. I notice Paprika, Silas, and Gabriel are in this class, but they don't notice me. I want to make sure Gabriel is alright, but I can't talk and I don't want to embarrass him by talking about how he got beat up.

A whistle sounds from a huge man with tattoos covering his arms. His eyes scan the class.

"I notice a lot of you were messing yesterday," he starts. Messing? "I will introduce myself for those of you who do not know me. My name is Coach Ravenstahl or Coach Raven. If you are in this class, you will get in shape."

He has brown eyes that are almost black, but not quite. His hair is brown and he speaks with a heavy Russian accent. Between his bulky, athletic figure, tattoos, and accent, the students are pretty intimidated and listen fairly well. I really don't get how they are scared, though.

"You have five minutes to stretch and warm up, then we will run five miles. If Sang Sorenson is here today, please see me."

My head snaps up at my name. I wonder why he needs to see me?

I walk to him and Paprika, Silas, and Gabriel make their way to us.

"You are Sang, da?" Coach Raven asks.

I nod my head in confirmation.

Paprika says, "She burnt her throat and can't safely talk yet."

Coach Raven says, "Mr.Rogers left an interesting more regarding you. He said that I must give you candy or some sort of treat at the end of class every day you try."

He gives me a pointed look as he waits for some sort of answer. Karen, who was listening nearby, helps me out.

"Sang is one of the fastest and strongest, but has no motivation. The junk food motivates her. If I were you, I would just go with it and ignore her. It's what we all do."

I nod my head again. For some reason, the four boys seem pretty pissed about something.

Karen is one of the few people that talk to me. She is really helpful about telling me the rumors about me that are going around. I love to hear them because I get to learn something new about myself every time!

"Well, Sang," Coach Raven starts softer this time, "I have a chocolate bar that I can give you."