Chapter 7 He is an A

Cries of pain echoed around the arena. Judy and I looked at each other, both concerned. We walked over together to join the students who were looking at Arthur and his partner. Once we were there, I saw the professor striding over. He looked angry. Our eyes met again, and the anger in his gaze melted a little. “What happened here?” Atlas demanded to know, and the students parted to let him through. “I was only trying to help,” Arthur said loudly as his partner lay on the ground. He was clutching his shoulder and crying out in pain. The storm continued to rumble in the distance, and the wind picked up. Everyone remained silent as we watched the scene unfold. Rebecca was smiling at it. Atlas knelt next to the boy on the floor and inspected his shoulder. “His form was all off. All I did was adjust his shoulder so he could hit right. None of the other students can keep up with me.” Arthur continued to explain, but he had a mischievous look on his face, Likee he just had fun. “Is this true?” Atlas asked the boy gently, and he started shaking his head. He went to speak, but then yelped again as the professor inspected his injury. He glowered up at Arthur and then helped the boy up. “What happened?” He pressed on. “Arthur, he came up behind me and started twisting my arm. He wouldn’t stop, and then it-” The boy interrupted himself with another cry of pain. Arthur smirked and then tried to hide a laugh. Atlas narrowed his eyes at him. “You hurt him on purpose.” The professor said firmly, and Arthur acted as if he were innocent; he looked at his partner like he cared about him. “I wouldn’t do that, he was in the wrong form. I was just trying to help,” Arthur defended himself and crossed his arms. I scoffed under my breath as Judy and I moved closer. The boy’s fast healing was already in effect, his sounds of pain getting quieter as he experimented with rolling his shoulder. “You’re lucky he isn’t more hurt,” the professor said, and the boy joined the crowd. One of the girls there took him under her arm and kissed his cheek gently. “You know my rules about this, Arthur,” Atlas explained and stepped closer to Arthur. The rich and handsome boy scoffs and steps closer as well. The two of them get in each other’s space. The crowd of Students start whispering. Atlas had been vague about what the punishment would be, but I had to imagine he intended to hurt Arthur the same way, to teach him a lesson. Neither of them was backing down. But there was Something about Atlas that made people want to obey his order. “If you apologize to your partner, I won’t break your shoulder too,” Atlas said, and Arthur scoffed. “Like I’m going too -“ “Apologize. Now,” Atlas commanded, his face became grave as he said it. It looked like Arthur couldn’t help but comply. Arthur looked like he was trying to say something, but he shut up when He looked at Atlas’ terrifying eyes. For the heir of an Alpha to give in to a command like that… the professor must be an Alpha. And a powerful one at that. I was more curious about the man I had kissed by the second. “I’m sorry.” The words slipped out of Arthur, and then he frowned, trying to step away, but Atlas held him in place. “Try again, and sound remorseful this time.” He commanded again, and Arthur gasped before speaking. “I am sorry for trying to break your shoulder. I shouldn’t have done that.” The words seemed to fall from the rich boy’s mouth, and he looked over at his partner. The girl next to him was tending to his shoulder, and the boy just nodded quickly. “It’s fine, Arthur…” He whispered meekly. Atlas finally let Arthur out of his grasp, and the boy fell to the ground. Dirt kicked up on his white shirt. He scrambled up to his feet and went to clean himself off with a dirty look at the professor. The professor narrowed his eyes back at Arthur. “Now, everyone, get back to practicing. And if there are any more accidents, I won’t be as nice the second time around,” Atlas said with a pointed look at Arthur. The boy scoffed and walked off,f along with everyone else. Judy and I go back to where we were. This time, we started sparring. It’s slow and clunky, but Judy doesn’t seem to mind as much this time. We stayed quiet as we sparred, and the arena was full of activity again. That familiar pull and feeling was on my back again. The Alpha’s gaze is powerful. I turned to meet his eyes, unable to help it, narrowly dodging one of Judy’s kicks. “Focus,” Judy demands, but I can’t. His icy blue eyes are so intense. Atlas smirks at me and winks. “What are you looking at?” Judy looked in the direction I faced, trying to figure out what distracted me. “Nothing.” I turned around and we went back to practicing. After an hour or so, the professor got everyone’s attention. “OK. I’d like everyone to come to the center of the arena and show me what you’ve been practicing.” He commanded, and the class listened, creating lines of partners around the fenced-off portion of the arena at the center. The students from less influential families were evenly matched, showing off the basics they had begun to grasp. Rebecca’s two groupies were partnered up and did a bit better than most of the class. Their match ended when the shorter one pinned the taller one. Rebecca and her partner got in the middle of the ring next. The mean girl gave a cursory glance at the professor and then proceeded to have her partner on the ground in seconds. When the other girl went to get up, she couldn’t because Rebecca’s foot was on her chest. “Let her up,” Atlas demanded, and Rebecca complied quickly with a scowl. Judy and I were the last to go, both entering the fenced-off area. I could tell she was thinking whether she should be gentle to me or not from her expression. It only took seconds for me to identify the weak spots in her form; the way Judy was going to strike me, it would be easy to flip her and pin her. The match could be over in seconds, but I pulled my punches and let Judy knock me down. She stopped when she saw me on the ground. Rebecca was snickering at me. “Look at her, such a loser.” She left with her partner and friends. I knew she wouldn’t give up any chance to mock me, but I didn’t care; I knew what I was capable of. “You’re all dismissed,” Atlas said, and everyone started heading out, chattering amongst themselves. I stood up and patted my clothes, ready to leave. “Except for you, Kara.” What? I turned back and met his gaze in surprise. I didn’t expect him to ask me to stay. I put all my acting skills into my performance just now, and I was ready to leave. His blue eyes were swirling with amusement, like he had seen through me. “I’d like you to stay back.”