Beauty and the Beasts

Losing Control

Zane rested on his car, his hands folding in front of him. He watched the door with intent, and once it opened, he lifted himself off the car and started to open the door.

"We ran into each other again," Jasmine said, trying to force her hair into a ponytail.

He turned back, his expression clueless, then nodded. "Sure. I will drop you."

She nodded gratefully and went to the passenger seat as he hopped in beside her.

"You had a good night's sleep?" she asked, turning slightly to him.

He nodded. "Yes and you?"

"Well, I have been pretty excited for Saturday."

His brows furrowed. "Saturday?"

She nodded, her ponytail bouncing behind her. "I am turning eighteen then."

He nodded, a wave of realization hitting him. He was excited for it too. Hell, more than she was.

"I bet you are. Being legal comes with a whole lot of advantages."

She nodded, laughing. "At least, I can work wherever."

He snickered a little, then shook his head. The rest of the ride, they talked about anything she wanted to talk about. She told him about her frequent moves and how she had started to top her class simply because she stayed in libraries to avoid staying home alone.

Soon enough, they got to school, and she went down first, leaving him in the car.

He leaned forward on the steering wheel as she walked away, before he went down himself, closing the door behind him.

"Jasmine. I was waiting for you," Andrew said, skipping a little to her. "Slept well?"

She nodded. "Yeah, it was okay. How is your dad?"

He smiled. "He is much better now. Thank you so much, Jasmine."

"I didn't do much."

He smiled again, holding her hand. She felt tingles spread all through her arm as he started to walk forward, her hands carefully clasped in his.

Slowly, she wiggled her hand out of his, then gave him a small nervous smile.

"Something wrong?"

She shook her head. "No, nothing. Let's go."

She walked past him, and he slowly followed, his eyes darkening as he walked behind her.

The class was a little unruly, with a few boys making fun of girls and shouting inappropriate stuff. It wasn't time for lessons yet, and Andrew settled beside Jasmine.

"Saturday's your birthday," he said smiling.

"How did you know?"

"I am not sure if you have noticed but you are the only one I talk to here. So yeah, I want to know you as much as I can."

Weirdly, the proclamation did not make her as giddy as it should have, especially coming from someone as attractive as Andrew.

She forced a small smile, but before she could reply, one of the boys yelled.

"Oh, and there is Jasmine! The gold digging night bartender. Give me a discount next time!"

Andrew stopped talking, and he turned sharply to the boy who had spoken. He was one of the basktball players, a famous bad boy in school named Ian.

He started to move, just as Jasmine held him in place, shaking her head. "Don't."

He said nothing and started to settle back in when Ian yelled again. "What are you gonna do, pretty boy? Tell me how she tasted down there?"

Andrew stood, slightly hitting his desk out of the way.

"Andrew," Jasmine said, but the blood was rushing to his ears and there was nothing he could hear.

He walked over to Ian, and without a word, grabbed his collar, bringing him face to face with him.

"What did you say?"

Ian laughed, then met Andrew's eyes. "I said, you wanna tell me how she tasted down there, pretty boy?"

The words had barely left his mouth when Andrew knocked it off, punching the side of his face. He reeled to the side, his lips parting as he spurted out blood from a cut lip. Andrew didn't let him go, and pulled him back to him, his eyes wide.

"Say it again, big boy. Tell me."

Ian laughed. "I guess she didn't taste that good. You seem irritable."

This time, Andrew didn't stop, as he pushed him to the floor, hitting his head on the edge of a desk. Ian gave a loud grunt as he fell on the floor, his hand reaching to his head.

The entire class went quiet, and the boys that had been around him slowly started to back away, none running out of the class.

"Say it again. Tell me." Andrew said, hoisting himself up on Ian. He punctuated each word with a punch, his eyes blazing red, his hair falling out of place as he hit the boy repeatedly.

His face was bloodied, and he was no longer resisting, just taking each lethal punch again and again and again.

"Andrew, please!" Jasmine yelled, her eyes filled with tears as she clasped her hands in front of her.

Zane ran in, his eyes wide as he took in the scene. He ran up tobthe seats, and pushed Andrew off the boy, throwing him to the side.

Andrew hasn't had near enough and he stood up, running back to Ian, a fist ready.

"What do you think you are doing?" Zane said, holding his fist and enveloping it in his palm.

Andrew came to focus on him. "Get out of my way."

"And then what? Hit him and tell everyone what you really are?" His voice dropped so no one else could hear it.

He caught Andrew's eyes again, his breath rapid.

Andrew said nothing, but pushed Zane off, then walked out of the class, leaving his bag behind.

Zane stood there for a while, as the rest of the students helped him up the back of one, and they rushed him to the infirmary.

Zane gave a small sigh, then slowly walked down, clasping his hands to restore order. The students scrambled back to their seats, and he slowly turned to Jasmine.

"What happened here?"

She swallowed, then turned to Zane, shaking her head. "He said stuff about me and Andrew got like that. He was..." she swallowed, trying hard not to cry.

Zane swallowed, not willing to hear what he had said, or he feared he could lose his composure like that too.

"You should take a bit of time off."

She nodded, then walked out of the class and headed for the restroom.

She leaned over the sink and washed her face, her hands trembling hard. She sighed, then leaned back on the wall, her lips parting.

The images from earlier came back to her mind. Andrew was hardly recognizable, hardly the pretty, reseeved boy she knew.

She swallowed, then slowly walked out of the class, her fists clenching. Andrew would have to face disciplinary action and she felt sorry for him.

The day passed by in a blur, and she went back home to her comfort zone. She didn't see Zane too, and it sort of saddened her more.

But nothing compared to when she stepped back into school in the morning, and the news hit her.

Ian was found dead.