• T W E N T Y • E I G H T •

"I'm trying to give up sexual innuendos, but it's hard... So hard..."

• • •

"I'm sorry," I grit out, my eyes flashing with anger. "I have no clue what you are talking about, Trey."

Trey pales slightly and looks regretful, as if he wish he could take it back. But it's too late. The ball is already in motion now.

"Rage? What's he talking about?" William asks with forced calmness in his voice.

"Why is he calli—shit," Victoria says before cutting herself off. "Dammit! I should have seen this! You are Raven!"

"Who is Raven?" Kolton asks, looking even more lost than usual.

"Wait," Nekoda breaks in. "I've heard of a new fighter that goes by Raven she..."

Nekoda trails off and Victoria finishes, "Has fire, ice, air, water, earth, plant, animal, and shadow powers."

They all look at me then. Gage glares at me with a cool anger that covers up what he is really feeling. Kolton, Boaz, and Nekoda are staring at me in confusion, as if trying to make sense of the situation. Asher can barely look me in the eye, pain written on his face. Darkon, who already knew, is giving me an apologetic look of sadness. What's probably the worst, though, is the broken smile that William gives me. The smile that tells me everything will be alright. I so want that to be true.

"You're Raven?" Victoria says.

"You're a fighter?" Nekoda asks, gaping.

His hands trembling slightly, Asher whispers, "You lied to us?"

"No!" I exclaim. "I didn't lie! I just didn't tell you!"

"Why not?" Gage demands, his jaw clenched.

I glare at him at that.

"Really?" I snort. "You mean to tell me that guys haven't held anything back from me? From each other?"

I look at each of them, especially Darkon and Asher who I know have secrets hidden from their so-called "brothers."

"And yeah," I continue. "I am a fighter. And yeah, I do go by Raven. Now, what are you going to do about it? Are you going to all leave me? Hate me because I wanted to keep that part of my life to myself? Because I needed a way to make money so I could live?"

"What about your family?" Gage challenges, his hazel eyes flashing. "Couldn't they have helped you out?"

My chest heaves with deep breaths as I attempt to calm myself down.

Furious, I spit, "My family is dead, you jerk. They've been dead for years. Even when they were alive, they never did a thing to help me out."

Impulsively, I yank my shirt above my head and stand there in my sports bra before turning in a slow circle, allowing my scars to be on display. My cheeks burn with anger and embarrassment, but I know that they need to see this.

"These scars? They are from my family. They never would've helped me out, even if they somehow came back to life," I growl out. "I am a fighter, a survivor. It's all I know. So yeah, I fight."

They all stare at me. Well, more specifically, my scars. Angrily, I pull my shirt back on, feeling far more vulnerable than I would like.

Finally, Victoria is the one to break the silence.

"Well, damn, Rage. I didn't know you had a six pack," She teases, brushing her bright green hair over her shoulder.

I stare at her in disbelief and she winks at me and nods towards the boys who now seem to be recovering.

"I'm sorry," Gage murmurs, running a hand through his blood red hair.

"So are you a good fighter?" Kolton asks curiously.

"I mean, we know you're good," Boaz amends, his dark eyes glinting. "But how do you do against the others?"

"She's the undefeated champion!" Victoria answers for me, beaming.

"Yup!" Nekoda confirms, staring at me with wide eyed awe. "I've never seen her fight, but I knew that."

"Would... Would you guys want to see me fight?" I offer hesitantly. "I have a couple fights tonight if you guys want to come. But you don't have to if you don't want to. It was just an idea, sor—"

"That's a great idea!" William agrees, cutting me off with a wink of his vivid green eyes.

"I have to confess that I already knew about her fighting," Darkon mumbles, drawing everyone's attention.

"Huh?" Asher says, looking at him in disbelief.

"I kept it a secret for her and she kept my secret. That Amadeus has been hurting me. He never stopped, I just said he did," Darkon admits.

"Who's he?" Victoria asks in confusion.

"Dammit, Darkon," Boaz sighs. "You should've said something earlier."

"So he's the reason you came to school so beat up looking a month ago? Because you really were beat up," Gage surmises.

"Yeah, sorry I didn't tell you guys earlier," Darkon says.

"I've been staying at Rage's place," Asher blurts out, as if he can't keep it in anymore.

"What?" Darkon says, turning to look at Asher with wide eyes.

"Rage found out that my parents kicked me out," Asher confesses. "I didn't want to be a burden so I didn't tell you guys. You all already do so much for me."

"Clearly not enough!" Gage exclaims.

"So you two have been spending nights at her place alone?" Kolton says darkly.

"It's not like that," I tell Kolton with a roll of my eyes. "And, in the spirit of our little confessions, now is as good a time as any to tell you all that Seraphina has been staying with me as well. Her boyfriend is an abusive asshole."

"SERAPHINA IS STAYING WITH YOU?!" Gage, Kolton, and Victoria shriek simultaneously, their eyes wide with horror.

"That's... That's really nice of you," Trey says, reminding me he is there.

"And you..." I hiss, glaring at him.

"I shouldn't have said that, I know!" Trey exclaims. "I didn't mean to blurt it out like that, that's for sure! I-I—"

"It's fine," I tell him, causing them all to fall silent and stare at me in shock. "I mean, if you hadn't called me out, we never would've had this conversation.

In an instant, though, I am standing in front of him with his shirt in my hands.

"But if you ever tell anyone about this, I will kill you. Slowly," I promise darkly.

"I won't!" Trey agrees, holding his hands up in surrender. "I promise."

Nodding, I release him.

"I wear contacts," Kolton admits to the group. "I had to keep the fact that I need glasses from my dad, but Rage helped me get some contacts so I can now see properly."

"That jerk," Snarls Nekoda, who seems to have a special hatred for Kolton's dad.

"So? Anyone got anymore confessions?" Boaz asks after a beat. "Because if so, I wanna get some popcorn first."

• • •

"Rage! We went over this already!" Victoria exclaims, tossing her green hair over her shoulder and placing her hands on her hips. "I'm designing your outfit!"

"Yeah? Well, what if I don't feel comfortable wearing lava?!" I fire back.

"And shadow and steel," Victoria helpfully adds.

I glare back at her, unimpressed.

"Really?" I say flatly. "And wouldn't a cape just get in the way? Along with look utterly ridiculous?"

Victoria rolls her dark eyes and insists, "You just don't have vision. Tonight is a big night. You'll be fighting in a tough competition and all seven of your boys are going to be there."

"They're not my boys," I correct her, somewhat bitter.

"Yet," Victoria says with a wink. "Now come on. We'll get your wig on, your contacts off, the fake tatoos on, and your outfit figured out."

I smirk slightly as I realize Victoria still thinks my yellow eyes are from colored contacts. I quickly pin my emerald wig into place and apply the fake tatoo sleeves. Pulling out the contact case, I carefully put on the brown contact lenses.

"Wait. The yellow is natural?" Victoria says, surprised. "Didn't you say it was fake like my green hair that first day of school?"

"Yes, my eyes are naturally yellow. No, I merely led you to believe that they were contact lenses because I didn't want people to call me a freak," I tell her somewhat harshly, still annoyed that I'm letting her design an "outfit" for me.

"We're all freaks here," Victoria replies with another wink. "Now, go ahead and use your powers to create this suit."

She points to a sheet of paper with a drawing on it. The figure is wearing a sleeveless turtleneck-type jumpsuit with a cape made of shadow and chunky combat boots made of steel.

"Again," I try as I prepare to cover myself in hot magma. "What's with the cape?"

"It adds flair," Victoria proclaims. "And don't worry about it getting in your way. You don't trip over your own shadow, do you?"

"Nope. I leave that to you," I retort with a devious grin.

Victoria sticks her tongue out at me before ordering me to get a move on. She moves a safe distance away, knowing the amount of heat needed for this.

Sighing dramatically, I draw rocks from outside and they rush inside through an open window. The rocks press against my skin in the shape of the suit Victoria chose. With a snap of my fingers, I have more than enough friction to get fire bursting forth from my hand. I bring my hand to the rocks and began to melt them down to magma. Hotter and hotter, the fire burns until lava decorates and covers me.

The glowing magma is ever moving and Victoria has to back up even further from the burning heat.

I call steel from a broken street lamp that stands useless across the street. The steel completely encases my feet, but my earth powers allow me to easily manipulate the "shoes."

The cape of shadows is the easiest part of the outfit. I merely manipulate my own shadow to hang from my shoulders and resemble a draping cape.

Victoria whistles lowly as I turn to face her and remarks, "Damn, I'm good at my job."

"Job?" I echo incredulously. "Don't expect to do this ever again. It's a one time thing only."

Victoria sniffs dramatically and sobs, "A one night stand? Really? I poured my heart into this one night!"

I give her a flat stare.

"Alright, alright," Victoria concedes. "Any chance, though, you can turn down the heat?"

Rolling my eyes, I call in more rocks and gravel to thicken and cool down the lava.

"Better?" I ask drily.

"Much," Victoria says firmly. "And don't worry, the boys are ready too and alright at the ring and waiting for your fight."

"Wait..." I say slowly. "What did you do to the boys?"

She doesn't know about their powers, does she?

"Nothing too much," Victoria answers with a small shrug. "But they couldn't exactly head to an illegal fighting rink dressed the way they were, now could they?"

"I suppose not," I admit, thinking of how preppy Gage dresses, how crappy Asher dresses, and how slobby Boaz dresses.

I mean, I honestly couldn't care less what they wear, but they should at least blend in a bit, I suppose. I don't want them to get into any sort of trouble or attract any unwanted attention and have to reveal their powers.

Revealing your powers is a risky thing, even if it is in an underground ring. I took that risk, but that doesn't mean that they'll want to do the same thing. It would be selfish of me to think otherwise.

"Well," I tell Victoria. "I'll see you there."

I give her a mock salute and vanish as I morph into shadow and travel quickly to the gym, getting there in a matter of seconds.

I fling the door open, myself again. Storming in, my cape swishes behind me and everyone upstairs working out stares at me.

"Raven?" One guesses, stuttering slightly.

"The one and only," I reply, the lava burning brighter with my words. "And I do believe that I have a fight to get to. If you'll excuse me."

I stride out of the room and head downstairs, not waiting for a reply. I make my way to the room where the people with powers wait for their fight. The crowds part like the Red Sea as I walk and the brave and foolish trail behind me, following me in awe. They are more than eager for my fight.

Well, this certainly isn't helping with my cockiness issue.

• • •

Don't forget to vote!! If you like this book, show it!

• • •

So, instead of a question today, I have a challenge...

Your challenge is to speak in all rhymes, either for the rest of today or tomorrow!

I did this yesterday and no one noticed, lol, but I want to hear your guys' results! XD