Run, Dina, Run!

"Dina Matthews!" I jump out of my skin. A stranger with charcoal-lined eyes comes out of the classroom behind me, calling out my name. He's glaring at me like he's about to give me a piece of his mind. David and Kier are behind him.

"Shit." Before I can even think about it, I am already sprinting into the next hallway. They're definitely here to harass me about David's wallet. No, thank you.

Behind me, someone curses, and three pairs of feet begin to give chase. You have got to be kidding me. Are they seriously planning on chasing me right now? I pick up my pace, bumping into people on the way. Thank God for these corridors that go on forever. I don't know where I'm going, but I should be able to get away from them.

"Hey! No running down the hallways! " an angry voice shouts, but I don't waste time finding out who it is.

Behind me, I can hear my pursuers arguing loudly, "Hey! Dina!" I hear someone shout behind me.

"Brad! Jeez. Come back here." I hear David call out to his friend.

"Look at her! She's guilty. Why would she run if she's not guilty?!" Brad yells back to David. Suddenly, I hear two bodies hit the floor, followed by a series of Korean words that I'm not familiar with. I'm pretty sure they are swearing though.

"Idiots," David comments, his voice unexpectedly so near to me that it makes me stop and turn by instinct.

"Aaah!" I scream and we collide with each other. With quick reflexes, he grabs my head just before it can hit the ground and push me into his chest. He then rolls gracefully into his back, keeping a tight hold on me for the whole while. I struggle to breathe in his proximity.

"Wh-what are you doing?"I stammer. "Get off of me!" I shout, turning around and pushing my weight off his chest. Without thinking, I put my arm against his neck, constricting his breathing. Who does this guy think he is?

"Hey! Dina, stop!" I don't see her, but I can tell it's Ari. She must have seen what happened. I lean back a little, suddenly embarrassed. David remains lying on the floor, wincing in pain.

"Dave! Please, no. Dave. Don't die on me, bro. " David's friend wails as he crawls towards David. The hell? I scoot farther away from them, weirded out by the sudden dramatics.

"Brad, please don't embarrass yourself," Kier says, surveying the scene with hands on his hips. Around us, people have already gathered. I scoff at them. They should just mind their own business.

"What the hell is wrong with you, people?!" I yell at David and his friends. "What the fuck was that about?!"

"Colorful language is not allowed on school grounds, Ms. Matthews." a new guy appears beside Kier, his eyebrows raised in my direction. He's dressed more formally than the rest of the students in this school and has a commanding aura to him. I wonder what that's all about.

"Who the hell are you?" I ask him, not liking his stance one bit. Also, he has a lot of nerve reminding me about my language, when David and the others were just cursing in Korean a while ago.

"Sebastian Laurent. Class president. I'm not sure if you heard me at all, but I was the one screaming for you not to run in the hallways?" he answers, a bit amused. He has an unusual way of speaking. Like he's mixing two accents in his speech.

"Can you speak?" Sebastian bends down to examine David, who remained immobile on his spot. He looks disoriented and I wonder if he hit his head harder than it looked. No way. The guy's obviously pretending.

"Yeah," David responds, pulling himself up as if it is the most painful thing he's done. I resist the urge to roll my eyes.

"Well, if you can speak and walk, that's good," Sebastian says. "Because the four of you are coming to the Principal's office with me."

"What? No way! Come on. She ran away. What was I supposed to do?" groans Brad, giving me a dirty look.

"You're part of the student council, you should know. If you have a problem with a fellow student, you bring it up to me or Ari. That's what you should've done. Principal's office, now." Sebastian says, pulling Brad off of the floor. Throwing me a look, he starts to drag Brad along with him, completely ignoring the latter's complaints. Kier sighs, looking at his friends' retreating backs. Without a look at either David or me, he follows them silently.

"Guys, nothing to see here anymore, right?" Ari announces to the rubberneckers. "Now, scatter. Shoo. Bye!"

It takes a while for the crowd to disperse while David and I stay on the floor, glaring at each other. Whether his face is flushed from exertion or from anger, I can't tell. It's probably both. I know, because I feel the same way about him.

"You two." Ari approaches us, breaking the tense silence. "Don't you have somewhere to be?"

David and I ignore her, still staring daggers at each other. Ari gives David a dirty look.

"Aagh. I really gotta go, now. Be nice to each other, okay?" Ari says, dashing off again to some corner of the school, leaving me and David behind.

I scowl at him. "What?! I don't care. He can interrogate me all he wants about the wallet, but I am not giving it back to him. He can even bring me to the principal and call my parents. Let's see who gives up first.

"Get up," he says, standing up. To my surprise, he offers me his hand.

"No." I slap his hand away, but he grabs mine instead. He pulls me to him and I stumble. His dark eyes are hard and angry. Despite myself, I swallow nervously.

"I know you have it. I'm onto you," he threatens, tightening his grip on my hand.

I smirk, "Bring it on."

Drawing my hand back from his grasp, I start walking towards where Sebastian and the others have gone. On the way to see the Principal. I'm not scared. Not even a little bit. I know how to play the adults as I've been in this game my entire life. Bad news for David, I'm sure.