"You don't scare me." Another wave of whispers shook the crowd. Dylan stepped closer, inches from her face. "You should be scared." Marina raised her chin.
"Why?" He didn't have an answer, just anger. He grabbed her forearm. And that was the moment the air changed. Marina didn't yank back.
She didn't flinch. She simply shifted her weight, turned her wrist sharply, grabbed his hand, and applied pressure to his thumb, just enough to force him to release her. Dylan jerked his hand back in shock. "What?" students murmured louder. Jace's eyes widened.
How did she? Marina stepped back, hands still lowered, voice calm. "Touch me again," she said, "and we'll see how far this goes." For the first time all night, Dylan hesitated. He glanced around and saw dozens of eyes on him, recording, watching, judging.
The humiliation hit him square in the chest, and humiliation turned some people violent. Dylan squared his shoulders. Trevor yelled, "Marina!" But she didn't look away. She didn't blink, not once.
She braced herself because Dylan was about to make the biggest mistake of his life. But right as he lunged toward her, something happened behind Marina. Something she didn't see coming that changed the direction of the entire confrontation. The second Dylan lunged, the music cut for the third time that night. Not because of the DJ, not because of a glitch, but because someone yanked the power cord straight out of the wall.
A sharp pop echoed through the room as the speakers died. Everyone froze. And in that sudden silence, Trevor Sandival shoved through the circle and grabbed Dylan from behind, locking his arms around Dylan's chest. "Back off!" Trevor shouted.
"You're not touching her.", Dylan thrashed. "Get off me." Trevor held tight, but Dylan twisted violently, elbowing Trevor in the ribs. Trevor gasped and lost his grip. Dylan spun around, shoving him backward.
Trevor stumbled and nearly fell, catching himself on a table. Marina whipped around toward Trevor. "Are you okay?" He nodded, breathless. "Yeah, it's fine.
I'm fine." But it wasn't fine because Dylan saw Marina's attention shift for a split second, and he took advantage of it. He charged. Brandon and Jace didn't try to stop him. In fact, Brandon stepped aside.
Jace smirked. Marina turned back just in time to see Dylan right in front of her. He swung his arm, not like someone who trained, not like someone who fought, more like a kid letting his anger explode without thinking. Marina didn't have to think either. Her body responded on instinct.
She ducked. Dylan's arm whooshed past her shoulder. Students gasped in unison. "Yo, what is he doing? Someone stop him.
He's going to get himself expelled." But none of the teachers saw it yet. None were close enough. The chaperones were dealing with other parts of the crowd, trying to figure out why the music shut off again. And here in this pocket of the room, it was just them.
Dylan swung again. Marina sidestepped. He stumbled forward, losing his balance. Brandon laughed. "Bro, she's making you look stupid."
Jace added, "This is painful to watch." Dylan snapped. "Shut up." He rounded on Marina with a wild glare. "Stop moving."