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Masha stalked up from behind, one hand stroking the bullwhip she kept looped at her hip. She leaned close to Mei’s ear and said in a menacing whisper, “Would you like to play, little ho?”
A dump of adrenaline cleared my mind, and I reveled in it. I pushed away my hunger, but I could almost sense it in the back of my mind, like a Pandora’s box, waiting for me.
I shifted my weight, parting my legs into a more solid stance. It was a subtle move, not so much that the Guidons would notice, but just enough to brace myself. At five two, I didn’t have as much weight behind me as the other girls and I liked to take extra precautions.
I flexed my calf, feeling the leather boot pull. My stars were strapped in there. Finally, I’d found focus. Like a battle calm.
But wait. I glanced at Mei. Where was her weapon? This damned headache—I hadn’t been thinking properly. I’d been so preoccupied, I’d forgotten to ask what her weapon even was.
“She’s a ho,” one of the Guidons said with a snorty little laugh. She was rewarded by a bunch of snorty little laughs from her friends and so she added in a lower tone of voice, “Ho, ho, ho. ”
What was this, sixth grade?
But then my roommate shocked me—shocked me more than I think I’ve ever been shocked.
Mei-Ling turned to me and in a cold, clinical voice asked, “Does she have a tic? She keeps repeating my name. ”
I momentarily forgot my chattering teeth and felt my eyes bug out of my head instead.
The Guidon stepped forward. Her cheeks were blotchy with outrage. “What did she say?”
I’d been wondering the same thing. I opened my mouth to speak, but had no clue how to de-escalate.
But then Mei piped up again, in a tone so flat she might’ve been discussing a specimen in a lab. “There are disorders that result in repetitive speech. You kept repeating, Ho, ho, ho, ho. I was wondering if maybe you had that problem. ”
I almost laughed. I was dying to let loose a hysterical half giggle. But this fire was lit and burning, and the slightest smile from me would only throw gas on it.
The Guidon stepped into Mei’s face. I tried desperately to remember her name so I could talk her down. Pamela, Paula, Patty…it was a P. “You’re my problem,” she snarled at us.
A thin switchblade appeared in P-whatever-her-name-was’s hand. As amusing as Mei was, I needed to bring this down a notch. I took a step toward Guidon P (Penny?) and put my hand on her arm. “Easy, cowgirl. ”
She flinched away.
It struck me that it was overly quiet, and I glanced at the other Guidons. “Let’s all stand down, ladies. ”
Masha’s expressionless face was completely unreadable. Weird. Usually she was the one front and center in the brawling, but something had her just as wary as me.
Mei said, “I can handle this, Acari Drew. ”
Was she totally clueless? Or would she turn out to be the gutsiest girl on the island? Either way, she took a notch up in my opinion. Though I did get the sense that this “look out for Mei” gig was going to be a whole lot more challenging than I’d originally thought.
Masha broke her silence and took a step forward. “I think I would like to see how you handle it. ”
Crap. This was going to escalate after all.
But then I noticed how Masha’s bullwhip was still holstered on her hip. Something had her feeling cautious. She usually took every chance she could to sling that strip of leather around.
I decided to take a gamble. Mei-Ling was about to get herself all kinds of messed up. I was supposed to protect her—even Alcántara had said so—and at the moment, I wanted to protect her. I didn’t have the stomach to watch these girls have at her.
“Hey, Masha,” I called. “I know you’ve got a big old girl crush on me, but there’s no need to take your fixation out on my roommate. ”
It’d come out more brightly than I’d intended, my grin wilder. What was wrong with me? I had a bad habit of being reckless, sure. But had the bond added volatile to my list of flaws?
Masha’s eyes zoomed in on me like two little lasers. “You wish. ”
“Here’s what I wish,” I said calmly. “I wish you’d go away. ” I regretted the words immediately. They somehow invoked Trinity and how she’d conveniently gone away.
I was tired of dancing around the subject. The ghost of Trinity was out there now—I could see it in their eyes—so I faced it head-on. “You’re just pissed because you think I had something to do with Trinity. News flash, girls. I don’t give a crap about you, and I certainly wouldn’t bother to sneak around killing any of you. ”
