Firebug: Ch. 21 - The Queen Bee's Sting

Roman dropped Theo off back home a few minutes before dawn. There was just enough time for him to slip through the window and tiptoe to his room before he heard Thaddeus wake up and get ready for work. Theo laid in bed and stared at the ceiling until he heard his father leave the apartment, unable to stop smiling.

That entire morning, Theo floated along on cloud nine. Nothing could dampen his spirits, not even when he received his new class schedule. Just as Thaddeus had threatened, he no longer shared a single subject with Roman. Given all Roman's extracurriculars, they wouldn't even be able to have lunch together if they so wished. Theo didn't care, though. They still had the apartment, no matter what.

With a grin on his lips, Theo's fingers found the key hanging around his neck. Wherever he went, he couldn't help sliding it back and forth along its chain like a lovesick girl's locket. He was so wrapped up in his giddy thoughts - daydreaming about last night and all the nights to come - that he didn't hear the heavy heels clicking angrily toward his locker until it was too late.

"Hi, Teddy. Long time no see."

Theo whirled around with a jolt, tucking the key under his shirt instinctively. His locker slammed shut beside him at the same time, helped along by Luna's slender, perfectly manicured hand. Her other palm connected solidly with Theo's chest, pinning him in place with his back to the lockers.

"You've got some nerve," she hissed, digging her shiny pink talons into his sternum, "after what you pulled at the dance, I expected you to go crawling back to England. That's what anyone with half a brain would've done!"

Theo wet his lips nervously, but he held his ground. Now that the entire school knew about him and Roman, he had no reason to fear her wrath. Her anger was justifiable, though, and it wasn't in him to hold a grudge. Whether or not he liked her, he had to bury the hatchet. For Roman's sake.

"I'm sorry, Luna," he said, and he meant it. "We shouldn't have kept you in the dark for so long. It was wrong, and deceitful... and, in hindsight, Roman could've found a better place and time to tell you the truth. You deserved better than that."

"What I 'deserved' was to be crowned homecoming queen," she snarled, "...with my Ro-Ro beside me as king. Your stupid little stunt ruined my night; my three-thousand-dollar Jimmy Choos; my reputation! You... ruined... everything!"

Theo had - of course - heard that old adage about a woman scorned, but he'd never put much stock into it. Although Luna Corbin was the Mean Girl in Chief of Hill Academy, he truly believed she would have enough decency to accept that her ex-boyfriend could never love her once her temper eventually cooled. As awful as she'd been to Roman, surely some part of her cared about his happiness after being together for so long.

He had no idea how wrong he was until it was too late.

With a snap of her fingers, Theo was suddenly flanked by two very tall, hulking figures. By the time he recognized them as members of the school's American football team, their meaty mitts were upon him. With Luna's permissive nod, they stuffed a rolled-up gym sock into his mouth and dragged him off. The next thing Theo knew, he was thrown into the boys' loo. Three more blokes were waiting for him there: Jasper, and his two favorite knobs.

"Hey, Teddy Bear," the gangly redhead grinned - showing off the brand new, bright white implants in his upper jaw - as he cracked his knuckles. "You have no idea how bad I've been waiting for this."

Theo screamed into his makeshift gag, struggling against the hands holding him in place. Judging by the closed row of doors beside him, there were other blokes in there. Hopefully one of them would hear if he made enough noise, and do something to help. Jasper was already on the attack within seconds, though, his fist raised and aimed squarely at Theo's nose.

"Not in the face," Luna's sharp voice snapped from the doorway, halting Jasper's punch mid-swing. "Hit him wherever you want as hard as you want... just don't leave any marks that show."

Jasper rolled his eyes and growled in frustration, but shockingly he didn't argue with her. Half a second later he took aim again, this time at Theo's gut. And this time, the blow landed solidly.

All the air rushed out of Theo in a ragged wheeze, as if he'd been struck by a speeding bullet train. He never even had the chance to try and catch his breath, because Jasper's knuckles crashed into his stomach again an instant later. Soon, his two goons got in on the action, punching and kicking Theo in the gut, chest, and groin with reckless abandon. All the while, Luna watched on from the doorway with haughty disdain, not even flinching as they pummeled him. The brutal assault ended just as quickly as it began when the bell rang suddenly, lasting only a few minutes in total. Still, significant damage had been done within that brief span.

Theo hit the floor when the hands holding him let go, as he no longer had the strength to stand. His body automatically curled into a knot to shield his bruised organs, still coughing and wheezing as his assailants stepped over him. The lads hiding in their toilet stalls filed out not long after, too preoccupied with making it to class on time to stop and help. Or perhaps too afraid. Theo couldn't blame them for being frightened, of course. He'd been in their position before, and there was something to be said for self-preservation.

Once the coast was clear, Luna boldly sauntered into the loo. Her eyes were on the contents of her purse as she sashayed past the urinals, giving Theo a wide berth on her way to the sink. After freshening her lip gloss and checking her hair in the mirror, she finally scowled at Theo as if he were a wad of refuse at her feet.

"This is only the beginning, Teddy," she sniped, "...and I promise it'll get worse from here. Catch you later, Loser." As she turned to walk out, Luna drove the toe of her black Prada boot sharply into his balls. Twice. Then, with a swish of her mini skirt, she was gone.

When he could finally manage some semblance of a breath, Theo peeled himself off the floor with a hoarse groan. Using the sink for leverage, he dragged himself to his feet, coughing and spitting into the basin to clear the metallic taste from his mouth. He spared a few more moments collecting himself, splashing a bit of cold water on his face to aid his composure, then probed his aching ribs with a grimace. Nothing felt broken - thank goodness - but he was sure to be sore for the rest of the day.

As he leaned over, letting his face drip dry in the sink, a flash of brass dangling past his chin caught his eye. The key to the apartment had slipped out from under his shirt. He caught it quickly, running his trembling fingers over it reverently and kissing it to make sure it was real, then carefully tucked it back under his collar.

Then and there, he decided it didn't matter what Luna thought. He didn't care about her vendetta, how many wankers she set on him, or how badly they beat the stuffing out of him. He still had Roman's love, which no one could ever take away.

Theo finally limped into his first period class ten minutes after the second bell. His tardiness earned him a demerit - the first he'd ever gotten - but he was in too much pain to really care. His head landed on his folded arms the moment he took his seat in the back row, only half listening to the lecture. There would be more than enough time later for him to learn about Tolstoy when his intestines weren't throbbing.

"Mr. Quill!"

Theo's head snapped up so fast, the vertebrae in his neck cracked like dry twigs under a heavy boot. By the time the stars stopped their painful dance across his vision, he realized his new A.P. Lit teacher - Mr. Hastings - was scowling directly at him. He'd no idea what he'd done wrong, as the pain radiating through his core rendered his thoughts sluggish at best. The puddle of drool collected on his desk, however, gave him a strong clue.

"Forgive me if I'm boring you," Mr. Hastings grumped, "Perhaps you'd like to move up here-" he indicated an empty desk beside his own, clearly reserved for troubled students, "-so that you can actually stay awake?"

The whole class erupted in a fit of quiet snickers, causing Theo's face and neck to warm. Wiping up the drool with his sweatshirt sleeve, the blond dropped his gaze and shook his head in embarrassment.

"Sorry," he mumbled, "Th-That isn't necessary. I'm fine here."

"You misunderstand, Mr. Quill," Mr. Hastings folded his arms across his frumpy sweater vest, glaring over his square spectacles, "That wasn't a request. C'mon, scoot."

A chorus of "oohs" followed Theo as he gathered his belongings and stood. He'd miscalculated how much moving would hurt, though. The moment he was on his feet, the entire room shimmied about him. With one hand supporting his bruised gut, he took as deep a breath as he could muster without causing himself excruciating pain, shuffling down the aisle to the front of the class. He only made it halfway there before a foot suddenly jutted out in his path.

The next thing Theo knew, his face was flat to the carpet. Laughter rang in his ears, drowning out Mr. Hastings' attempt to restore order to the class. Part of Theo wished to lie there for the rest of eternity; it seemed better than facing his shame head on, and staying still was beneficial to his injuries. The rest of him was too angry and incensed to let him.

Before he could push himself up and see the owner of the brazen foot that had tripped him, he was offered a hand. Jasper's smiling face came into view after it, bringing Theo's rage to a boiling point.

"Sorry, Pal," the bully grinned, "It was an accident. You good?"

Theo swatted the hand away without a word. He was determined to get up under his own power, but the reality of his situation made it clear that he couldn't. Without waiting for permission, Jasper picked him up anyway, making a show of dusting him off once Theo was upright.

"Thank you, Mr. Pierce," Mr. Hastings said sharply, "If you're not hurt, Mr. Quill, please take your seat now. Everyone else, turn in your books to page 275 so we can finish our lesson on 'War and Peace'. Mr. Quill, why don't you read the first paragraph?"

Theo hurried to open his book to the appropriate page, still fuming about Jasper's behavior. After what he'd done in the loo, that immature prank just added fuel to his growing ire. Again, Theo forced himself to breathe, flexing his tingling fingers before running them down the page to the excerpt he was supposed to read.

The pain clouded his senses. It was all but impossible to see the words in front of him thanks to his blurring vision. After muddling his way through the first few sentences, a strong, acrid odor suddenly hit Theo's nose.

Something was burning.