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We tried to ignore it at first and concentrate on the kiss, but it got louder, and more and more people joined in. It became quite a crowd, and the unmistakable roar of them cheering for the combatants was impossible to drown out.
“Fuck,” Harlow said and pulled away from me. “That was nice and all, but I gotta see what’s happening down there.”
“Oh god, me too,” I said, grateful that she’d taken the initiative to end the kiss.
The guys rushed to the window, Rome pulling on a pair of jogging pants as he hopped across the room. They looked down, and before we even got there, Alexander exclaimed, “What in the actual fuck!”
“Luke?” Rome barked and whirled around. The two of them took off running, pulling the door so hard it slammed against the wall and heading down the stairwell.
“What’s going on?” I asked and stood on my tiptoes to crane my head and see the front lawn. Down below, there were maybe twenty people, Uppers from Decker’s party. I saw Decker himself, flanked by his friends, with Victoria by his side, too.
“Shit, let’s go!” Harlow yelled and took my hand. We raced down the stairs after the guys, my heels barely staying on my feet as I took two and three steps at a time. My bladder had basically given up at that point and had receded to a dull ache in the background of my panic.
We burst through the front door of Alexander and Rome’s building without a second thought as to how it would look, but the moment all eyes turned to stare at us, I realized we should have been more stealthy.
Nobody kept watching us, though, because Alexander dove through the crowd and started throwing punches before he was even close to Luke. There were five or six guys in the middle of the circle, Decker included, and all of them were taking jabs and cheap shots at Luke. Luke was putting up an impressive defensive fight, but given the fact that the mob was drunk and he was sober, he had a small chance to stay upright.
But he didn’t need to take them all on by himself because Rome was there in a flash, right after Alexander. The three of them backed up to each other and fought like they were a well-trained unit. Like they’d been doing this for years, working together to maintain the safety of the group. Maybe they had. I didn’t know what they taught on the men’s side of the college.
“What’s happening?” I screamed at the group of men attacking Luke. I pushed my way through closer to them, and students parted around me. I didn’t know if it was because of my status or if it was because they knew Luke belonged to me. And that’s how it was, with an Upper woman and a Lower man. He belonged to me even if it was a consensual relationship. “Why are you doing this?”
Maybe it was even the spectacle of me, running half insane out of Decker’s dorm and now running into the fight with my voice raised in a hysterical panic. The crowd of students didn’t come close to me again, they stayed away, and Harlow joined me in the middle of the clearing. “Get off him!” she yelled as Decker lunged for Luke.
I couldn’t help myself. I reached for Decker to pull him away. As Decker turned to hit me, he realized who I was, but it was too late. His eyes filled with fear as his fist sprung towards me, but the momentum carried him forward. I dodged it, though, and spun back to smack him across the face.
“What are you doing to him?” I demanded and punched him with my other fist. His nose took the brunt of it, and he grunted, holding his face in his hand. “Why are you hurting him?”
“He stole my watch,” Decker scowled at me. “He took what was mine, and I want it back.”
“He didn’t steal your fucking watch,” I snapped. “There’s no way.”
“I was in class with him. When I got up, it was gone,” he said. “Jonesie there said he saw Luke with it. Of course, it’s the filthy fucking Lower who stole it. It’s always a Lower!”
He gestured to a mealy-looking asshole who was cowering at the edge of the crowd. The moment I laid eyes on him, I knew he was a fucking liar. I could sense it oozing from his pores, his deception.
“He’s lying,” I said. “I can tell from here.”
Despite Deck talking to me, the other guys were still trying to get to Luke. Alcohol and drugs, and privilege drove them forward, and I finally grabbed Decker by the balls and twisted them in my hand. He dared not fight back, I didn’t know why, but I suspected his family was beholden to the Remingtons, and I was going to use that to my full fucking advantage to save my love.
“Call them off,” I said through gritted teeth.
“Yeah, call off your fucking dogs,” Harlow said, joining in. She was bouncing on her heels and ready to fight, even though she was in the same predicament as me, with our short, tight dresses constricting our movements.
Oh, how I wished we were still upstairs in Rome’s room, kissing and putting on a show for the guys. But also explored what it meant to kiss each other because I was intrigued. I wanted more, and not just to excite dudes.
“Fine,” Decker groaned, but his voice was no longer dangerous. He had more whimper than bark by that point.
He turned and bellowed, “Stop!” at his crew, and they hesitated but didn’t stop all together.
Rome and Alexander, and Luke took advantage of their confusion and beat the rest of them senseless.
In the flurry of the moment, I looked across the crowd and saw Victoria standing there. When she saw me, she narrowed her eyes and turned slowly. As she turned, she grabbed the arm of a man who had his back to me.
It was Alexander. Even though Alexander was in front of me.
I gasped, and beside me, Harlow asked, “What is it?”
“It’s him,” I said, barely able to get the words out past my fear and confusion. I lifted my hand to point at where they were walking away, and beside me, Harlow added her own gasp.
