School Daze - A Compliation of Short Stories
Story 4 - Woo to Win - Part 1
Duo's Friendship Arc 14
by Dyna Dee
Like a shadow, Quatre Winner, good-guy terrorist, gundam pilot, and heir to the Winner fortune, silently and with great caution followed behind a group of taller girls as he walked through the dreaded hallways, inwardly cursing his blond hair that seemed to act as a beacon, announcing his presence to those he hoped to avoid.
He'd been assigned the task of arriving first at this private school to begin acquiring an overview of it and its security, then begin a reconnaissance to map out the school grounds and dorms for possible exits and entrances for the purpose of stealth as they focused on a nearby factory and space port as possible targets. Duo was to arrive several days later to study the base ten miles south of the school and the factory within the city for layout and assess possible tactics for infiltration.
The Arabian teen had read the brochure on this school, and noticed before his arrival an oddity in the stats. The school itself was small, roughly eight hundred students. The main population seemed to be females with only one-tenth the student population being male. That seemed unusual to him, but he shrugged it off. Maybe the curriculum offered appealed more to the female gender.
It took only a several hours on his first day of classes for him to come to a true understanding of the situation, fully learning the reason why there were so few males in attendance at the Romafeller Higher Institute of Learning. It was the girls.
He breathed a sigh of relief as the cluster of girls in front of him, unaware of his presence, walked right past his next class. He slipped through the doorway and into the relative safety of the group of eight boys tightly clustered together for safety near the door. He sighed as he slid into his seat, the other boy's surrounding him. If he made it through the day with his body and pride intact, it would be deemed a miracle. Somehow, using all his tactical abilities and skills he'd acquired from the other pilots, he did manage that goal.
Later that evening as he lay on his bed carefully mulling over his first day of school, he found himself re-evaluating himself. As a Winner, he'd had always prided himself on understanding women, well, as much as a male could, he mused. With twenty-nine sisters of varying personalities and temperaments, he'd learned varying techniques to help him get along with all of them. But whatever he thought he knew about women went flying out the dorm room window by the time he lay in his bed that night. His door was securely locked with his chair strategically propped under the door knob and at an angle to ensure his safety.
He breathed in a shaky breath as he brought his arm up to lay it over his forehead and eyes, trying to mentally block out the day he'd just experienced. Never in his life had he encountered so many hormonaly charged and aggressive females. From the moment he'd entered the cafeteria for breakfast that morning, he was discretely and overtly sexually harassed by most of the female student population.
After being pounced on, pinched, poked, prodded, kissed, groped and petted, he'd finally made it through the food line at breakfast. His shaking hands were barely holding onto the tray when one of the braver boys in the school seemed to steel himself enough to rise from the safety of the grouped males cowering in the corner of the room to appear at the shocked blonde boy's side. He took hold of his elbow and directed him to the relative safety of the other boys braving the cafeteria.
They quickly introduced themselves and in hushed voices and in urgent tones explained to him the eight rules to follow if he was to survive the "Sixth Ring of Hormonal Hell.", as they referred to the school.
1. Never be caught alone.
2. Never let your guard down.
3. Never encourage any of the girls.
4. Never give in to their demands.
5. Always be alert to your surroundings
6. Always travel in a group on campus
7. Always lock your doors and windows.
8. Always have an escape route planned out.
Four nevers and four always. Quatre realized these boys followed almost the same rules that he and his fellow pilots lived by, give or take a few.
In the day that followed, he adhered to their guidelines as much as possible, but still hadn't been able to avoid the advances of the female students in the hallways or in the classes he attended when the teacher's attention was diverted. It was a living nightmare. He groaned out loud as another thought entered his mind, Duo was on his way. Duo, the natural born female magnet. He shuddered thinking about how the sexually aggressive girls would react to the strikingly handsome American.
On the other hand, he thought to himself and brightened considerably, Duo would know how to handle aggressive females. Duo could handle just about anyone. If he could manage the taciturn Wing Pilot, turning him from a foe to a friend, he could certainly handle rude females. He sighed deeply, both relieved at the thought of Duo's arrival and wary at the same time. Their was no way to warn the Deathscythe pilot of the situation he was coming into to. He just hoped he caught up to his friend on his arrival--before the girls did.
Four days later, during his third period class and as he sat in a huddled group of four nervous boys, Quatre looked up as the door to the classroom, adjacent to his desk, swiftly opened. Relief must have shown on his face as Duo, dressed neatly in the bland school uniform of grey slacks, white shirt and a grey tie, strolled into the class followed by Mrs. Callow, the official and stern looking Head Mistress. The blonde Arabian frowned, his eyes boring into the back of the woman who followed his friend to the front of the class. Though it was uncharacteristic of him, he'd taken an immediate dislike to the tall woman who was built like a tank and always wore a pasted on smile on her plain face that looked more like a sneer. A definite man hater if he'd judged correctly. He personally blamed her for the continuing harassment of the small male population still, and unfortunately, stuck in this school. He'd learned from the other unfortunates that most of the boys who entered the school managed to transfer out almost immediately after sizing up the situation. Those boy's still in attendance were on scholarship with no personal funds to transfer elsewhere to get the level of education that was offered here.
A collective gasp of appreciation followed by a few whistles and cat-calls were heard in the room full of girls whose eyes followed the long-haired teen as he sauntered up to the front of the class. Mrs. Callow handed a paper to the instructor of the class then turned to address the room. "We have a new student." she announced the obvious. "Mr. Shin S. Cummin. Please make him welcome to our school."
Quatre inwardly winced and groaned as Duo stood there, unknowingly damning himself as he flashed his most charming smile. The teacher's eyes scanned the full classroom, taking in the fact that the few boys that were in the class were grouped together with every desk around them filled by girls. She had no other recourse than to direct Duo to an empty desk on the opposite side of the room near the front left corner. Quatre groaned again in dismay, knowing Duo would be trapped moments after the class was over.
Before he sat down, Duo looked over in his direction and gave him a questioning look. "No doubt wondering why I look ready to piss in my pants.' Quatre thought to himself. The long haired boy took his seat and pulled a notepad and pen from out of his black backpack. The Arabian kept his eye on his unsuspecting friend during the remainder of the class.
During that unbearably long hour, numerous notes were passed to the new boy, his braid was pulled and tugged on, spit wads and rubber bands hit his head and body, and the last straw was when the tie that held the thick braid together was pulled off and the chestnut colored mass was let loose. With anger flaring in his eyes, Duo jumped out of his seat with a loud squawk, as if shocked by something, and stood glaring at the girl sitting behind him wearing a cat-got-the-canary grin.
"Stop it!" he growled out in anger, his eyes flashing his irritation and his hand moved to his posterior.
"What's the matter, Mr. Cummin?" the teacher asked in a bored tone.
"She" Duo, red faced, pointed a shaking finger at the girl sitting in the desk behind him. "is...... harassing me." he huffed, his cheeks pinking from embarrassment.
The other girls in the room clapped their hands in approval of Duo's thick and rich brown hair falling loose around him and at his obviously well-pinched bottom. The girl sitting directly behind him nodded her head blonde head in acceptance of the other girls' appreciation of her harassment of "The Looker", as was dubbed Duo's nickname.
"That will be enough, Dorothy." Mrs. Haws sighed wearily as if she'd said the same thing numerous times only to be ignored. "Leave the boy alone."
Duo pulled his long hair forward and over his shoulder as he took his seat once again and rapidly began to re-braid it. He cautiously leaned over to pick up one of the rubber bands that had been shot at him moments before and wrapped it around the thick end of his re-braided hair, then left the long twisted rope securely draped across his chest for protection.
Quatre was satisfied that Duo was quick enough to figure something was going on as he watched him refused to accept any notes passed or to acknowledge the heated stares or whispered comments sent his way. Heero would be amazed to see that his hyperactive friend actually sat with his back ram-rod straight and his head remaining faced forward.
The bell rang signaling the end to the class, and the room seemed to burst with the sounds of chairs scraping back and the excited, high-pitched chatter of female voices as they converged on the soon to be trapped boy in the unguarded corner.
"Shin!" Quatre called out urgently, his hands cupped around his mouth to help his voice carry across the room. To his credit, Duo jumped onto his chair and then the desk top. He evaded the many hands reaching for him as he leapt from desktop to desktop to quickly reach the small group of boys huddled together as they prepared to brave the hallways. He jumped down from the last desk to land in front of the other guys and looked at the girls heading their way with a predatory gleam in their eyes.
"What gives with this place?" he asked frowning.
"Hello!" Quatre extended his hand to formally introduce himself. "I'm Win Quattrel."
"Shin." Duo answered distractedly watching the females advance. He forced himself to look away for a moment to make the acquaintance of the most skittish boys he'd ever met.
"We have a lot to tell you." Quatre took him by the elbow. "Welcome to Raging Hormone High, where the main focus of academia is sexual harassment."
Duo's eyes widened in shock as he was pulled to his next class, receiving at the same time the four Nevers and the four Always.
The two boys had to use all their training in avoiding detection and capture to make it through the day and the ever dangerous evening meal. They entered Quatre's room together, five doors down from Duo's, and both dropped down on the bed tired and weary from their stressful day.
"Oh man, Quatre, this is humiliating." Duo moaned as he brought both arms up to rub his eyes with the palm of his hand.
"You're telling me?" came a faint reply. "I've been here for four days now."
"Ya know, I was always taught that a guy should never hit a girl." Duo said thoughtfully, "but heaven help me, I'm tempted to smack almost all of them."
"Me, too." Quatre replied with weariness in his voice. "And as much as I'm tempted... I just can't do it. Hit them, I mean."
They lay for several moments in silence, each analyzing their current situation. Duo was the first to sit up and face his friend. "Alright," He began. "let's analyze this just like any other problem or obstacle we've faced on missions." he suggested.
Quatre propped himself up by his elbows and looked squarely at his friend. "Okay, let's see. Problem one: We have preliminary work to do for the mission before the others come, but we can't get to it because we have a hoard of aggressive females following our every move, not to mention assaulting us. Problem Two: We can't fight back." he said in frustration. "Problem three: None of the adults here seem to care what's going on, so, no help there." As he spoke the Sandrock Pilot's voice rose and was laced with the exasperation he felt at their current situation.
"Calm down, Quatre." the braided boy's voice sounded controlled yet sympathetic. "I need you to think rationally. You're the strategist here."
The blonde nodded and took a couple of deep breaths. "Now," Duo continued. "Let's just imagine for a moment that the female population here are Oz soldiers. We don't want to unnecessarily harm them, but the mission must proceed. How do we neutralize the threat to us in order to carry out our mission?"
Quatre's eyes narrowed and he chewed on the inside of his mouth as his mind worked to wrap itself around the problem. "First, we should determine if they operate as a group or individually." He suggested, his mind turning over ideas. "If there's a leader, we find her and take her down. We have more of a problem if they are acting independently." he added. "So we determine that, and then look for a weakness and capitalize on it. With the numbers against, we should incorporate the other guys at the school to join with us. More power in numbers." He looked up at his friend to see if he approved.
"Agreed." Duo said thoughtfully and nodded his head. "And if the teachers are willing to ignore the girls abuse towards us, maybe they'll ignore anything we might have to do to protect ourselves."
Just then, a ping sounded on the window pane. Then several others followed.
"Ignore it." Quatre advised. "They're throwing pebbles to get our attention.
Duo raised his finely arched eyebrows questioningly.
"They want us to come out and 'play'." the blonde answered the look with a look of disgust on his face. "I've never in my life seen females behave so....unladylike." he added with a grimace.
"Well, it's certainly unusual. "Duo agreed. "I use to think I'd like an aggressive girl, but I think my experiences today have changed my mind."
They looked up at each other for a moment as the pebbles continued to glance harmlessly off the window. Slowly, a smile grew on the American's face causing the other to mirror it, though he didn't know exactly why. A low chuckle grew. "Damn, Quatre. This could only happen to us. Can you imagine the others in this situation?"
Quatre nodded, grinning widely at the idea. "Wufei would us his katana to keep them at a distance, Heero, his death glare and gun, and Trowa would somersault out of a tight situation with his knives coming out, threatening any advancement on the girls' part."
"Which leaves us what?" Duo asked raising one eyebrow in question, his eyes sparkling with humor.
"Charm, good looks, and Maguanacs." the blonde chortled.
"That's true." Duo laughed, his humor fully restored by the light banter. "But you forget money, stealth, thievery and wicked intentions." he waggled his eyebrows at the last.
"Hum, I like that. Wicked intention, huh?" Quatre smiled crookedly. "What have you got in mind?"
"Let's take tomorrow to analyze the girls' hierarchy, that is if there is one. Then we'll know how to handle the situation."
They continued to be cautious as the next day advanced, yet more keenly observant of the more aggressive girls to see if they acted alone or as a group.
At the lunch table, questions were asked and answered in hushed tones as the two pilots shared the information they had gleaned from their observations that morning with the other highly interested boys at their table.
To analyze the situation further, the two pilots set themselves up for a test of their burgeoning analysis. After lunch, they purposely walked down opposite sides of the busy corridor alone, without the protection of the other boys, making themselves vulnerable. This vulnerability was immediately noticed by many of the girls walking in their vicinity and they were quickly converged upon. The whole scene had been planned, Quatre was to play the part of being frightened but defiant, while Duo would flirt and be forward. The reactions of the girls would be carefully scrutinized later.
The blonde teen found himself backed against a wall, surrounded by six aggressive females with a predatory look gleaming in their eyes. They reached out with questing hands to touch his hair, skin, and clothing to which he immediately smacked their hands away, telling them to leave him alone and to behave themselves. Their laughter filled the corridor as the moving mass around them slowed their course to their next class to watch what was happening. A redhead took the initiative to bring herself flush against his body and watched his eyes for a reaction. He felt someone reach behind him to give him a painful pinch on his right bottom cheek. Quatre struggled to loosen the redhead from off his body when someone mentioned the time, and the crowd quickly retreated away from him as the onlookers rushed to make it to class on time. The girls around him turned reluctantly to leave, promising to have another go at him some other time.
Likewise, Duo had been backed against the opposite wall as Quatre. The girls approached and he quickly analyzed each one. A brunette a bit taller than himself put herself in front of the others and looked to be the girl the rest took their cue from as she drew close to him, the others clearly backing her actions. He noted that she was quite pretty as his back hit the wall and she continued forward until her body was pressed up closer to his body, more than invading his personal space. Her hand reached out to him and he swiftly intercepted it by bringing his hands up to grab her upper arms pulled her forward, bringing her forcefully to his chest. She was just several inches taller than he was, and surprised enough by his move not to resist when he pulled her head down and then kissed her fully on the lips.
Gasps from the girls standing behind their friend were heard as he thoroughly explored her lips while holding her firmly in place as she began to struggle to pull away. He continued with his lip assault until he felt her slump against him, then her let her go, allowing her to step away. The brown haired, pony-tailed girl stumbled back away from the long haired boy, her fingers touching her bruised lips, her eyes wide in confusion. Duo observed the other girls who stared at him with a variety of expressions: shock, surprise, disgust, and indignance. The Deathscythe Pilot straightened himself from off the wall and gave them all a piercing look. "I choose her." he stated boldly to the group of wide-eyed girls while pointing to the just-kissed girl. "If you touch or bother me anymore, you'll be betraying your friend." He grinned as he saw the message had sunk in and the girls surrounding him looked to their silent friend. Her eyes were still on him but now wide with stunned disbelief and shock.
"Are you alright, Jackie?" one of her friends asked in a whisper.
"She's fine." Duo answered with a leer.
"W.. why did you do that?" Jackie asked in a shaky whisper.
Duo gave her a lopsided grin. "That was just a preview of what I've got in store for you, dearie." he said as a warning and gave her his best villainous look.
"Gotta go. See ya." she mumbled and quickly fled down the hallway with the group of disbelieving girls close in tow.
Looking about with an air of satisfaction at the crowd-thinning corridor, Duo's eyes lit on Quatre's wary face and gave him a reassuring grin. With a new found confidence, he strolled over to his friend. "I've got it!" He announced quietly with a knowing grin as he approached the other pilot. He took in the blondes rumpled appearance and frowned. "You okay?" he asked.
The Arabian nodded. "I'm fine, Shin." he answered quietly. "Frightened but defiant seemed to spear them on." he reported as he straightened his jacket and tie. "That was humiliating." he muttered.
"Well, buddy," the braided boy put his arm comfortingly around his friend's shoulder as he turned to lead him to their next class. "The tables are about to be turned." he chuckled. "Aggressively assertive worked like a charm. I think the four Nevers and the four Always are about to be retired."
Quatre looked aside at his friend as they walked, and a smile grew on his face at Duo's confidence, knowing that from the look on his friend's face, that he had indeed figured out a solution to their current dilemma.
That evening, in the cafeteria, the boys reported their observations and together they were able to identify the five main cluster of girls that seem to determine the negative, aggressive climate at the school, and determined that each group had a leader. The largest and notoriously provoking group was led by Dorothy Catalonia, a pretentious girl with long blonde hair. As the other boy's pointed her out, Duo recognized her immediately as the girl that sat behind him in class on the first day who had constantly picked on and pinched him. His poor braid had been her favorite target.
"She needs a serious deflating of that ego of hers," he growled out. "not to mention a serious plucking job." he alluded to her unusually thick blonde eyebrows.
Being brought back to the subject at hand, Duo turned back to tell the others of his tactical move that afternoon with Jackie. "This is all about power, not lust." he told the eager listeners. He explained to them how he'd claimed Jackie and the reaction of herself and the girls in her clique to his boldness. "If each one of you guys approach the other groups and apply the same tactics, the results should be similar." he assured them. "Girls usually follow the rule of "Hands Off" when it comes to someone's boyfriend."
He turned to his fellow pilot. "Win, you take on Catalonia."
The blonde's eyes widened in horror. "No way, Shin." he exclaimed.
"Come on, buddy." Duo chided the other. "You've got enough sisters that you should know how to handle one strong willed girl."
"I'm the youngest sibling." Quatre replied, doubt written across his face and posture. "I don't have a lot of experience with commanding or bullying them."
Duo raised a dubious brow. "Then I suggest you learn now, buddy." he snorted. Amongst this group of desperate boys, only the Deathscythe pilot knew just how many sisters Quatre had. As the sole male heir, future head of the Winner Corporation, and overseer of his family, he would be in serious trouble if he couldn't deal with aggressive females at home or in the business world.
The blue/violet eyes scanned the anxious faces around him, and he could see the self-doubt clearly visible on many of them. He sighed deeply. "Alright!" he put his hands up taking control once again and accepting the task before him. "I'll tell you how to go about it, then you have gotta have the balls to pull it off." He was pleased to see everyone nod their head in agreement, their faces showing a sense of eager desperateness to end the tyranny they'd suffered. That night, the entire group of boys went to bed with the hope that the next day would bring the much needed change to their current miserable existence. It was desperation that spurred them to commit mutiny at Hormone High.
To say that the female population was taken aback by the sudden change in the boys they'd wielded power over for so long, would be a gross understatement. One by one, the boys, who for the first time since they'd arrived at the school, purposely walked alone and not in protective units. They followed Shin's suggestions and each one staked a claim on the most prominent girl in whatever group of girls advanced on them.
Duo continued his wooing assault on Jackie, the brunet he'd kissed the day before, and insinuated himself into her life. He sat next to her at meals, took hold of her books to carry them for her, freed her hair from it ponytail telling her he liked it better down, escorted her to all of her classes, and dominated their conversations. He basically took over her life during school hours. The other boys were ever observant of his actions and followed his example. It was undeniably amazing to them all how the other girls in the cliques gave the boy and his new-found girlfriend room and distance from the formerly tight knit group. Shin was hailed a genius and their savior.
Yet the hero of the small group of boys watched with a cautious eye as his fellow pilot nervously but determinedly approached Dorothy. Catalonia's circle of friends slowly spread out as he drew near and the usual taunts and teasing were thrown at him.
"I wish to talk to Dorothy." Quatre announced pleasantly. Several girls in the large group of girls moved and parted before him to reveal the blonde, long-haired girl in the middle of their numbers. Her face bore the look of bored cynicism as she raised a haughty eyebrow at his approach.
"Hello, Dorothy." Quatre said politely with a slight bow of his head eliciting snickers and giggles around him.
"Hello, Win." she answered, her voice, though even and smooth, managed to sound a bit sinister. Her blue eyes stared intently into his and the corners of her thin lipped mouth curved up as if she anticipated his next move.
"Dorothy," he began again as he stepped forward to stand directly in front of her. "Unless you absolutely abhor the idea....,"
Duo, standing within viewing distance and carefully listening, smacked himself on the forehead with his open palm as he heard his friend's words. "Always gotta give them a chance to retreat." he moaned under his breath, yet kept his eyes and ears tuned to Quatre's words and actions.
"you're my girl." Moving just a half step forward, he reached both hands up to the girls head bringing her face forward and brought his lips to hers, sealing the deal.
"Way to go, Romeo." Duo crowed to himself at seeing his friend take charge of the situation. He instantly swallowed the thought as Dorothy reached forward, one arm wrapping around the slender boy's shoulder and the other came to encircle his waist, and then quickly leaned forward and to the side, swinging the Arabian backwards, dipping him for a deeper kiss and effectively showing him who was in charge. Almost instantly, the hand around his waist moved, inching forward to the front of his pants to cop a feel. Duo winced as the cry of alarm that came from the blonde, startled boy was so high in pitch, it could had qualified him for the vacant soprano slot open in the girl's choir. Quatre's legs went out from underneath him in a defensive move, landing him on his back on the hard linoleum floor. Unfortunately for him, Dorothy went down with him, falling directly on top of his body in a highly suggestive manner and forcing the air out of his lungs.
Extract, was the word that came to the stunned American's mind as he viewed what was happening to his friend. He took hold of Jackie's arm and pulled the reluctant girl after him as he made his way to his friend. Laughter and giggles surrounded them as they moved forward. Duo's eyes met Quatre's, wide with horror at his current predicament. Dorothy was still on top of him and looked like she was in no hurry to remove herself from off his person. In fact, she moved her hands to both sides of the startled boy's face and lowered her head for another kiss, the girls around her cheering her on.
As he came to his friend's side, Duo reached down and grabbed hold of Dorothy's upper arm and roughly pulled her up and off of his helpless friend. Quatre scrambled up to his feet and quickly moved to stand behind his rescuer.
"What the hell do you think you're doing, Catalonia?" Duo demanded, scowling at the girl who calmly righted herself and stood with a smirk on her face that he was sorely tempted to wipe off.
Dorothy casually pushed some of her long hair over her shoulder in a manner of casual indifference. "He started it." she smirked. "And, after all," she winked at the blushing blonde boy over Duo's shoulder. "all's fair in love and war."
"That's what you think." Duo glared back. "There ain't nothing fair in either love or war."
Dorothy raised her eyebrows in interest. "My, my, Mr. Cummin, that's a very cynical statement, one that I believe I'd like to explore further with you." She brought up her perfectly manicured nails to inspect them. "I have quite a few theories myself on subjects of love, war, peace, and power. It might prove interesting to exchange.....our thoughts." She raised up one eyebrow to indicate she meant more than just that.
"Sorry, babe, but I'm taken." the boy she knew as Shin declared and pulled the hesitant looking Jackie forward to stand by his side. "Isn't that right, honey?" he asked the girl now standing at his side without letting his eyes wander from his opponent.
"I...I guess so." Jackie stammered.
Dorothy studied the boy before her with a critical eye, and then more quickly the obviously rattled girl. Her eyes sparkled with amusement as she slowly smiled knowingly at him. "Nice tactical move, Mr. Cummin. It's actually been quite a long time since anyone has proven to be a challenge to me. This might be very interesting, indeed. A delightful distraction amongst the very mundane atmosphere at this school and the other insipid males."
"You have no idea what your up against." he leaned forward and hissed in a tone of warning, his eyes narrowing with a silent threat that had proved effective when he'd faced with Oz soldiers.
"I'm afraid you don't scare me Shin Cummin." she laughed lightly as if to prove it.
"Maybe not." Duo pulled back as he thoughtfully observed her and noticed once again her thick bushy blonde eyebrows. "But you must be terrified by a tweezers."
Dorothy's eyes narrowed at the unexpected assault on her physical appearance.
Duo smiled knowingly having seen her slight reaction. "I don't scare easily either," he replied. "but by the colonies, those eyebrows of yours are enough to scare the Generals of Oz into pissing their uniforms."
It was a low blow, but he was rewarded by a slight drop of Dorothy's jaw. She caught herself and gave him her most evil glare.
"You, Mr. Cummin, are an uncouth, uncivilized, ill mannered, low begotten....brat!" she declared with definitely more than a touch of anger seeping through her practiced and controlled appearance of calm.
Duo leaned forward, his cheek brushed along side hers as he whispered into her ear, a smug smile of satisfaction growing on his face as he felt her slight flinch. "I'm the son of the devil himself, Miss Dorothy. Have a care on whose toes you tread on." He slowly pulled back and his eyes met hers once more in a challenge. "Besides," he continued. "if what you just did to my friend, Win, was well-mannered, couth, and civilized, then you, sister, are reading out of the wrong etiquette book." Then with a quick turn, he grabbed Jackie and Quatre by their elbows and led them through the large crowd that had gathered around to watch with their undivided attention the scene that had just played out before them.
The hallway, which had become silent during their confrontation, now erupted in a cacophony of voices as the entire student body spread the news faster than a prairie fire of Shin Cummin's threat of a coup.
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