Part Fifteen
“I want you boys to come straight to the library once school is out. Is that clear?”
“Yes, Uncle Rupert,” said Iam. “Can we get going now? We’ll be late for our first class.”
“Are you sure you’re ready for this, Xander?” asked Giles, concerned. “You can stay in the library with me.”
“I’ll be fine,” said Xander breezily.
“Alright, I’ll see you boys this afternoon.”
The group of bullies caught up with Xander and Iam at lunch. “Well, lookee, boys, it’s Xander! I haven’t seen you in *days*!”
“We’d better catch up on whatcha been up to, right, Xan?” said one of the bullies, throwing his arm around Xander’s shoulders.
“Who’s your friend? Oh, wait, I remember you. We, uh, talked on Friday,” sneered another.
“Go away,” said Iam angrily.
“Uh oh! Da wittle boy is gonna hurt us if we don’t leave,” laughed the leader.
“Oh, go shove your own soddin’ head down the toilet,” snarled Iam, punching the laughing boy and breaking his nose.
The other bullies stopping grinning and immediately began backing the two boys up against the wall. “Now what?” asked Xander.
“I don’t know,” said Iam shakily. “Just hit them!”
Two of the others stepped forward and grabbed Iam. “Get off! You smell worse than a rubbish bin!”
Iam was punched in the gut for his troubles, and the two stronger boys were soon beating on him.
“Hey! Leave him alone!” Xander launched himself at the two boys and kneed one in the groin. He fell away gasping, and Xander turned to the other. Who rammed his fist into Xander’s eye. Xander grunted in pain, but managed to push the boy away from Iam and knock him into the wall.
“C’mon, let’s get out of here. You’re gonna pay for this,” snarled the boy as he left. The others followed quickly.
“Iam! Iam, are you okay?”
“Yeah,” panted Iam. “Just have to get my breath back.”
“I think we should go see your uncle,” said Xander worriedly.
Iam touched the rapidly swelling area around Xander’s eye. “Sounds good. Let’s go.”
“Lindsey! I didn’t know you’d be picking me up,” said Jesse as he got into the car.
“Yeah, Mr. Cambridge said that since you’re going to be helping me at the office, I could pick you up every day.”
Lindsey maneuvered the car into the street. “How was your first day?”
“This school is strange. The kids are, um, different.”
“It’s a private school for rich kids. What did you expect?” Lindsey spared a glance at the passenger’s seat.
“I didn’t realize that at first. I thought I would just be going to a regular school, you know.”
“Doesn’t Mr. Cambridge want you to be a lawyer? This school has an amazing curriculum.”
“Yeah, I guess.” Jesse got an angry look on his face. “Since I’m his *son*,” he spat the word, “I’m supposed to follow in his footsteps.”
Lindsey pulled the car into a parking lot and turned to face the angry boy. “Hey, there’s not really much you can do about right now.”
“No, I guess not,” mumbled Jesse, turning away from Lindsey.
Lindsey reached over and tugged on Jesse’s arm until he faced the older boy again. “Stop that. Do what you can right now. Follow the rules, do what he tells you, and eventually you can do something about your situation.”
“You really think?”
“Yeah, you’re strong. You can beat him at his own game,” said Lindsey, repressing a sudden urge to touch the boy. “Now, we’d better get to the office.”
“Sir?” Lindsey stepped into the inner office.
“Shut the door, Lindsey.” Lindsey shut the door and faced Vincent. “I noticed you’re taking quite an interest in my son.”
“He reminds me of my younger brother.”
Vincent stared at Lindsey for a moment. “You can’t lie to me, Lindsey. You want him.”
Lindsey blushed, “That doesn’t matter. I would never act on my feelings.”
“Why not? The boy could use a good friend. I have a feeling his boyfriend isn’t going to be in the picture much longer.”