Hex POV
When the Fire Spilled Over
School felt like a stage play I didn't audition for.
Everyone was talking. Laughing. Living.
And I was just… there.
Keiren kept trying.
"Bro, you look like you're about to fail life itself."
James tossed a paper ball at my head. "Blink twice if you're alive."
Mila leaned her chin on my desk. "If you don't insult someone in the next five minutes, I'm calling a doctor."
I stared at my notebook.
They were trying. I knew they were.
But there was this tight thing inside my chest that wouldn't loosen.
Break time came.
Noise flooded the corridors. I went to the washroom, splashed water on my face, and stared at my reflection.
"You're fine," I muttered.
Lie.
When I walked back toward the courtyard, I heard laughter.
Bright. Loud. Careless.
Marco.
He was near the benches with two of his friends, grinning like life was perfect.
Something about that sound scraped against my nerves.
I walked over slowly.
He noticed me and smirked. "Navarro. Didn't know you still showed up to school."
"I do," I replied flatly.
He studied me. "You look terrible."
"Good."
He chuckled. "Still brooding? It's been days."
That sentence did it.
"Some of us don't move on that fast," I said.
Marco shrugged. "What do you want me to do? Cry forever?"
I stepped closer. "You're laughing."
"Yeah. That's what people do."
"You're laughing like nothing happened."
He tilted his head. "Nothing happened to me."
My jaw tightened. "Your mother shot someone."
His smirk disappeared.
"Watch it."
"No matter what," I said louder, "your mother is a murderer."
Students nearby started slowing down, sensing tension.
"She's not," Marco snapped.
"She pulled the trigger."
"She didn't mean to!"
"And that makes it okay?"
"You don't know the whole story!"
"I know enough!"
"She was desperate!"
"And now someone's dead!"
Marco stepped into my space. "She's also your mother."
I let out a cold, bitter laugh.
"Mila," I called without looking away from him, "did you hear that? Trisha is my mother."
Mila froze a few feet away.
"I don't have a mother," I said, voice sharp. "She abandoned me long ago. And what she's done doesn't deserve forgiveness."
Marco shook his head. "You're pathetic."
"And you're blind."
Marco's face twisted. "You talk big for someone who shares her blood."
"At least I don't defend murder."
"Maybe," Marco shot back, "it's even good that woman is dead."
Everything went still.
"She was old anyway. What's the problem?"
I didn't think.
I moved.
My fist collided with his jaw before he could react.
He stumbled back, then lunged at me.
We crashed into the ground, fists flying.
Shouts exploded around us.
"Hex!"
"Marco!"
"Stop!"
He punched my shoulder. I hit his ribs. He grabbed my collar. I shoved him against a bench.
Students circled, yelling.
Marco swung again. I ducked and drove my fist into his stomach.
He coughed but retaliated, catching my cheek.
I tasted blood.
I grabbed him by the blazer collar and yanked him forward.
"What did you say?" I growled. "Say it again."
He struggled. "Let go!"
"Say it again!"
Teachers and staff came running.
"Separate them!" someone shouted.
Two male staff members tried grabbing my arms.
It didn't work.
Marco twisted free and punched me again.
We slammed into the pavement.
James and Keiren rushed in.
"Hex, stop!" Keiren yelled, trying to pull me back.
James grabbed my shoulder. "This isn't worth it!"
But the fire inside me drowned their voices.
I broke free and punched Marco harder than before.
He staggered.
I grabbed him by the collar and lifted him slightly off the ground.
"Say it again," I hissed. "Say she deserved it."
His eyes widened.
"Say it," I repeated, voice shaking with fury. "And you'll lose your tongue and your eyes. And that dream of taking over your family business? Gone."
Marco shoved me backward.
I charged again—
And Mila stepped in front of me.
"Move," I warned.
"No."
"Mila."
"You might kill him," she said, standing her ground.
"Then let him die!" I shouted. "So his mom knows what he's going through!"
"Is this what Aunty Katherine would want?" she shot back.
That hit somewhere deep.
"What about Jay?" Mila continued. "What about your friends? Do you want to become a murderer just like Trisha?"
The word murderer echoed.
Keiren moved closer. "Hex, breathe. Look at me."
James nodded. "You're better than this."
Marco wiped blood from his mouth and laughed weakly. "Now you listen to girls? What a baby."
Before I could react—
SLAP.
Mila's hand cracked across his face.
"Get a grip of yourself," she snapped. "And see the truth."
Right then, a shadow loomed over us.
"Charles Navarro. Marco Reyes."
The headmaster's voice cut through everything.
"My office. Now."
Silence fell.
Staff still hovered, ready to grab us again.
I adjusted my tie slowly.
Took out my handkerchief.
Wiped the blood from my lip and knuckles.
Marco fixed his blazer, glaring.
We walked toward the building without looking at each other.
But inside me?
The fire wasn't out.
It was just waiting.
End of Chapter.