Ch. 14 - 'Joe'

The boys shared a few glances, coupled with some whispers of who Alexis might be until the main instigator spoke.

"Oh, I see. Has your girlfriend come to save you?" he said sending the other boys into a fit of mocking laughter.

"I'm not his girlfriend!"

"She's not my girlfriend!"

Their words came out in unison initiating a narrowed glare from Alexis to 'Slow Joe'.

"You didn't have to answer so emphatically," she said.

"I answered just as passionately as you did, thanks," he replied. "Besides, I don't know you and I don't need your help."

"When you're done with your little lover's tiff," the boy said. "Can you get lost? I don't enjoy hitting girls but I will if you get in my way."

"I'd love to see you try," Alexis taunted.

A low scoff left the boy before he gave a nonchalant shrug and stepped forward with his fists raised.

"Let's do this," she said as she stretched her neck, tilting her head from side to side.

It was a habit Geoffrey had that he would do before beginning a sparring match with one of the other men. He wasn't the strongest of the men, but he was always enthusiastic about sparring. Something Alexis liked to believe had rubbed off on her, and though she'd sparred a multitude of times this was to be her first real fight.

The boy was quick on his feet and his fist came out even quicker, she was sure he must have had some form of training himself. She was also sure that if one of his hits connected it wouldn't be a small affair. However, thankfully for the group of overprotective guardians, as she had, her first rule of combat was defence, or closer to the point, dodging.

Geoffrey and Thomas had both drilled into her that no matter how strong she gets, it was always possible that someone would be stronger and she should prevent that first hit from landing at all costs. That first hit could end up being the only hit if she weren't lucky.

Hence she had trained speed and evasion first and foremost.

So when the boy's fist came in as fast as it did, Alexis was able to move, not only out of its path but also around the side of the boy where she found him wide open for some well-placed hits.

A clean, quick round to his lower back and side - Liver shots as Jeremy would call them.

They were sure to hurt which they did and had the boy keeling over to his side for a short moment, but just as his hits were quick so was his recovery and he was turned about to face her and throwing punches before Alexis had time to think of any counters.

Thus continued the short dance of dodge and weave with Alexis throwing a few combos any time she got an opening.

"Will someone grab her?" the boy eventually shouted.

The surrounding boys, who seemed to have been entranced by the fight, looked around each other before two ran towards Alexis.

"Can't handle a girl?" 'Slow Joe' called before running towards the two approaching boys and tackling them.

I guess he's not so slow after all, Alexis mused and, inspired by his sudden proactiveness, she ducked and swiped at the back of the attacking boy's leg knocking him onto his knees for an instant.

It was a short instant, but it was long enough to give Alexis an opportunity to barrage a final layer of hits directly to his liver.

"Damn ... Cow ... " the boy mumbled as he keeled over a second time, this time holding onto his right side.

The scuffle that was taking place between the other boys stopped as they all looked on at the ring leader rocking from side to side and shouting random curse words.

"I swear you're lucky I don't beat up girls," he shouted when he finally got his rocking under control. "As for you," he directed at 'Slow Joe' as he hobbled past him. "You're lucky, but she won't be around all the time."

And with a final set of cursing he made his way out of the warehouse with his entourage of boys following behind him.

"Nice," Alexis said, raising her hand for a high five.

'Joe' gave her a brief glance and then turned to pick up his bag and books.

"I did just save your life, you know?" Alexis scoffed.

It was 'Joe's' turn to scoff then. "That's a bit of a stretch, don't you think?"

"What I think is that you should be grateful that I saved you from having a black eye as well as a busted lip."

'Joe' rolled his eyes and threw his back over his shoulder before calling behind him as he walked off. "I'm not saying thanks to some random girl if that's what you expect."

"You're pretty arrogant," Alexis said, matching his pace beside him. "No wonder you don't have any friends."

"Who said I don't have friends?"

"The fact that 'some random girl' had to come and save you is enough proof," she said air quoting his words as she spoke.

"Yeah! Well, I don't need friends like them so, it's no loss."

That I can agree with, Alexis thought and gave a soft smile.

"A word of advice though," she offered. "If you're going to be so unfriendly, maybe you should learn how to fight."

"Whatever," 'Joe' said with a small laugh. "Honestly, fighting is kind of pathetic - the way they do it at least. What's cool about ganging up on one kid?" He let out a heavy sigh as he brushed down his blazer. "And now I'm going to get into real trouble when my driver reports this."

"I take it you're not supposed to be getting into fights," Alexis concluded as she watched the boy wipe at his bust lip with a dry, already bloodied piece of tissue.

"Nope. My dad only allowed me to attend school on the condition that I stay out of trouble, but staying out of trouble in that school means either becoming their lapdog or beating the crap out of them because reasoning with them just doesn't work. Unfortunately, both routes would get me into even more trouble than if I just got beaten up myself."

Ah, so that's what that was all about? Alexis mused. "You were allowing them to beat you up?"

"Not exactly, but I wasn't exactly fighting back either."

That made sense! In those last moments when he had rushed ahead to stop the other boys from attacking her, Alexis had noticed he seemed a lot more able than her initial assumption. It also explained why he didn't seem too bothered that they were beating him up in the first place - he was simply warding off a greater punishment. One that was a little too similar to Alexis' own situation.

"I wish it were that easy to get my guardians to allow me to go to school," she said.

He gave a knowing 'hm' as one corner of his lips curled into a smile. "Homeschooling sucks doesn't it?"

"Yeah," she said with a deep sigh. "But it's for my safety I guess."

"If only you knew how dangerous it was out there," he said in a mock adult voice. "Or how easily you could be targeted by the wrong person."

Alexis laughed at the similarities of his imitations to something Thomas or Vincent would say. "Your family sounds almost as bad as mine," Alexis said before quickly adding. "I mean bad as in good. They're really the best."

'Joe' stared back at her through slightly narrowed eyes as if contemplating something but became distracted by a beep from his watch which he abruptly lifted in front of him.

"Dammit," he said before mumbling to himself about how Brian took so long to arrive and how they weren't even supposed to meet so far away in the first place. Then, once again he pulled a dry piece of tissue and began wiping at his face.

"Wait there" Alexis said and ran over to a nearby kiosk grabbing a bottle of water and a packet of tissues.

'Joe' watched silently as she poured an amount of water onto the tissue and then began wiping his cheeks.

"You really don't need to," he said, pulling away as she dapped the cut on his lips.

"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing," she said, dropping the used tissue into the bag and pulling out a fresh one. "I help my family all the time when they get cuts or bruises. One of my guardians says I have the touch of an angel."

The corners of 'Joe's' mouth twitched slightly before he quickly dropped his gaze from hers.

"Yeah, it's okay, I guess," he mumbled.

Alexis smiled as she wiped 'Joe's' face, slightly distracted by his reddened cheeks. It has been a long time since she'd been around a boy her age and even then, the last boys her age had been around eleven years old.

'Joe's' face still held the cuteness of an eleven-year-old but with a more grown appeal. Yet, unlike most of the men she lived with, who had coloured hair and piercings, even the odd tattoo, 'Joe' had a more natural look. His dark green eyes that looked back at her from behind thick curly lashes, were emphasised perfectly by his wavy golden hair that fell just above his ears.

"Have you ever thought about colouring your hair?" Alexis asked quite impromptu.

'Joe' furrowed his brow slightly, obviously confused by the question and gave a plain 'no' as an answer.

"Good," she said. "Your natural colour matches your eyes perfectly."

Alexis couldn't help but let out a small giggle as the slight flush in cheeks deepened. "Well, I'm done. You still look like you've been in a bit of a fight, but it isn't half as bad."

"Thanks," he muttered. "Did you come down to meet someone at the school?" he asked after a moment of thought.

"No. I just really want to get enrolled into an actual school. But I told you, my guardian thinks it's dangerous. So I was scouting for what might be a reasonably safe school." Alexis laughed out loud then. "Well, you know how that went."

'Joe' gave a small laugh too. "Well, if you do manage to convince your guardian, I'll protect you from any trouble."

"You?" she said with clear disbelief. "You can barely take care of yourself."

"I can take care of myself perfectly, thank you. I've just never needed to. I have tons of minders and carers who do that for me. It would be nice to have someone that I could look after."

A smile completely overtook her then.

"That's ... er ..." Sweet, she thought without uttering the word, instead focusing on something more practical. "But you shouldn't be worrying about protecting someone whose name you don't even know."

"Right," he said with a small laugh. "What is your name?"

"Alexis," she said, extending her hand to him.

"Alexis," he repeated and reached out to take her hand, his mouth opening to speak when the loud screech of tyres against the tar road halted him.

"Master," a man shouted as he emerged from the car and rushed straight to 'Joe's' side. "Why is your driver contacting me to say you have not met him at the prescribed time, and why am I finding you standing in the street with a young girl?"

His questions sounded more like demands than simple queries.

"I just got into a little trouble," 'Joe' said.

"Who is she?" the man demanded again as he approached Alexis, his pale blue eyes gazing deeply into her.

"Leave her," 'Joe' said pushing his hand against the man's chest. "She's my friend."

"Friend?" the man asked, his voice softer than before though his eyes still as scrutinising as ever. His gaze dropped to Alexis' collar, his hand instantly reaching out to unturn it and get a closer look at what she assumed was her badge.

"She's Blackthorn," he said, dropping her collar with a small flick.

'Joe's' eyes widened as he turned his gaze back to Alexis. "You're Blackthorn?"

"So?" was Alexis' response.

She wasn't surprised her name had been met with such dismay, though she was curious as to why they seemed so familiar with the name.

"Master, get into the car," the man simply said, dropping his gaze from her.

'Joe' however, lingered a while, his mouth slightly agape as the flux of questions that ran through his mind was clear on his face.

"Now," the man shouted. "Before I call your father and tell him what kind of mess you've gotten yourself into."

'Joe' obeyed immediately on mention of his father and without another word walked towards the car only taking one last glance towards Alexis before getting in.

Well, that's not how I was expecting that to end, Alexis mused, slightly disappointed as she made her way back to where her bike had been secured. Should I have called out for his name? or at least questioned them about their response to Blackthorn? she wondered. Though she knew the answer was no.

Their response clearly meant they weren't on friendly terms with Blackthorn, at the least anyway. It could have even suggested more.

Seemingly on cue, her phone rang with Vincent's name flashing on the screen.

"Hey," she said faking an overly jovial mood. "What's up, Boss?"

"Don't 'what's up Boss' me," Vincent responded, not deterred by her attempt at sweetening his mood. "What are you doing in Ashford Heights?"

Alexis groaned. I should have known he'd be watching me on that tracker gadget! But in as just a pleasant voice she responded. "Just went out for a ride, Boss."

"Well, I suggest you ride back home and I would like to see you when you arrive," he said and after an affirmation from Alexis, he gave his salutations and hung up.

Alexis let out yet another groan. It seemed that 'Joe' wasn't the only one who was going to be in trouble when they got home. Though she was sure she would sweet talk her way out of whatever Vincent had in mind, she would never know how things ended for her new friend as he had called her.

But then again, she doubted they were even friends anymore anyway.