Chapter 23

Jade walked to school holding Ariel's hand, his backpack full of textbooks, and both their lunches in the lunch bag.

"Are you sure about this?" Ariel pulled back at the entrance.

"I've never been more sure." They walked into school together, holding hands.

Ariel kept her head down, avoiding eye contact, but Jade stood tall as he always did.

I can feel even more stares than I normally get. But I guess they might not even notice me here; Jade stands out. He radiates like a model or celebrity.

They went to put the lunch bag in her locker, and Jade opened the one next to hers. "Wait, you got your locker beside mine, too?"

"I like to be thorough. What if they attack you while you're here and I'm not?"

"You can't be my body guard every hour of the day."

"I've done it for Orsted; why can't I do it for you?"

"Because I'm not your prince?"

Jade sighed and rolled his eyes. "Semantics. It doesn't matter who you are; I will choose who I protect." He pulled out a note and handed it to her. "My locker combination, in case you need to use it. They are quite unusual locks, and will take a bit to get used to." He motioned, turning the dial one way, then the other, then back again. "It'd probably be easier for us to use one locker, but they're quite small."

Ariel reciprocated and wrote her locker number on a paper for him. Might be easier to put in our phones, but I guess we can do both.

They walked to class together, and he stopped at the door, his eyes sweeping across the room, taking note of those who were already there. "Where do you sit?"

Ariel walked over to her seat in the third row near the door and placed her bag on it.

"Are there assigned seats?"

"No, but people like keeping where they chose earlier in the year. Sometimes they'll trade, though."

"Ideally, I'd like to sit beside you, but the best view would be the seat behind yours."

"Only the last class I'd say is a big problem with all three bullies in there."

"So the rest of your classes are okay?"

"Yeah." Ariel nodded. Mostly ignored, if anything.

Jade waited for the seats to fill and approached the girl who had the seat next to Ariel. "Excuse me." He leaned on her desk, his hair sliding down over his shoulder. "I'm new here, and would like to sit beside my friend. Is there any chance you'd let me have your seat?" He tilted his head to the side, eyes lidded.

"Oh." She blushed, staring at him. "O-okay." She picked her things back up and smiled at him. "I'm Piper, by the way. Let me know if you need anything."

"I'm Jade."

She nodded to him and scurried to the back row, biting her lip as she took the open seat behind him.

"I think you have the ability to charm any woman," Ariel whispered.

"And I didn't even use my powers." Jade sat down in the seat next to her, sitting up straight. "A lot of slouchers here..."

"Such is society."

"I hope me being here makes a difference."

"I hope you don't get too annoyed being here. School can be a bit much."

"I assure you, I've handled worse."

"You have lunch period next, right?" one of the girls in their second period class asked Jade.

"Yes," he replied and grabbed his things.

"Would you like to eat with us?" She motioned to her friend.

"Sorry, but I have permanent plans with Ariel."

Her jaw dropped. "Are you two dating or something? 'Cause you shouldn't let one friend monopolize you like that. It's not healthy."

"And what if we were dating?"

"Then... Why? You can do better."

Jade's cheek twitched. "The audacity. Who are you to act like you're better than her?"

She stepped back. "I'm... prettier, right?"

"Maybe in your own mind. Maybe to whomever you may end up with, but not to me. Ariel is beautiful on both the outside and the inside, unlike most people. You should take a step back from other people and look inside to find out what you truly represent, and whom you truly are. Belittling others does nothing but make you look petty. Be better than that. I'm sorry if this feels harsh, but it needed to be said." He tried to take a softer tone at the end.

Her lip quivered as she backed away more. "S-sorry."

"I'm not the one you should be apologizing to."

Eyes down-turned, she faced Ariel. "Sorry."

How do you even respond to that? Insult me, and then apologize?

She didn't wait for a response from Ariel; instead, she turned tail and bolted.

Feeling everyone's stares, Ariel made a quick exit, with Jade right behind her.

"Are you mad at me?" he asked as they headed to their lockers.

"You..." Ariel took a deep breath. "Thanks for sticking up for me, but berating her and trying to talk me up is a bit much."

"I wouldn't count what I did as berating; I could've been a lot harsher with her than I was. And all I did was tell the truth from my perspective. It's not good to let people talk down to you all the time."

"She wasn't talking directly to me, and when I talk back, things tend to get worse." The bullies definitely don't like when you stand up for yourself. Easy for them to pile on when they have friends.

Jade rested his hand on her shoulder. "But you're not alone now; you don't have to worry and stay quiet."

"I'd rather not cause a scene or make things tough on you."

"Did you forget? I'm here for the sole purpose of improving your life here and getting rid of the bullies. I'm sure we'll encounter them soon enough."

Ariel stayed turned towards their lockers. "But what happens when you're gone? I'll still be stuck here, and without you, things might go back to how they were, or worse." I'm horrible. This makes it sound like I'm trying to blackmail him into staying.

"We don't know if I'll find a way home, and if I do, I'll make sure you're strong enough to defend yourself by then. And I'll work on turning people on the bullies. It's hard to get people to stand up for others, but once one does, it's easier to follow suit. Once they admit what's going on, they won't be able to ignore it. Besides, if you wanted me to, I could even get rid of them."

Her eyes widened as she turned to him. "You don't mean what I think you mean, do you?"

"Have them expelled from the school? Why? What did you think I meant?" Jade smirked.

He said it like that on purpose! Either that, of I'm deranged and want them dead... Maybe dead is still too far; I just want them to have a taste of their own medicine. Even that feels like too much. I just want to be left alone.

"One step at a time, Ariel."

They grabbed their lunch bag and headed off to find somewhere to sit.

"Can you believe it?" Janice snarled, baring her teeth as she glared at Ariel and Jade from a distance. "He's here."

"Friend told me his name's Jade," Pat said.

"Jade? What a lovely name." She swooned and bit her lip as she stared at him. "If only if his choice in women were better. We should help him with that."

"But Ariel is kinda..." Cherry trailed off. "Never mind."

"Don't sympathize with her; that shows weakness. We still have the photos, right?"

"Of course."

"Then I guess we have some work to do. Let's follow them."