Avi the Tiefling (special preview)

During high school you had to transfer due to your mother’s job. It was hard, you went from having a really close friend circle to having no one at all. You were a wallflower, a silent onlooker to everything happening in that new and strange land. You tried to make friends but it was awkward. You were pretty smart and a rumor got started that you’d do people’s homework for them. You got absorbed into a rather strange clique, made of some of the popular kids at school who were on the mean side. You were lonely and afraid so you sort of just fell into it.

Midway through this new school year you were at a breaking point. This supposed friend group of yours was taking advantage of your kindness, but you had been too afraid to step in and do anything about it. One day, you had broken down in one of the bathrooms, unaware that anyone was hiding in one of the stalls behind you. You sobbed and cried, vented your frustrations to the terrified girl in the mirror, and you left.

It was later that same afternoon, as you were having lunch with your group, this tiefling appeared. You knew about him and heard rumors spread about him. His name was Avi and he had a reputation of being a wild animal. He had messy, short black hair with two different shaped horns. One was corkscrew and straight up, the other curved outwards. He had deep burgundy skin with dark freckles along his cheeks and shoulders. But it was his eyes that were strange. They were wide almond shapes that always seemed on high alert. They gazed at you, making you shake to your core. They reminded you of a wild animal. He approached the table and sat down right next to you, shoving someone else out of the way.

“So, I heard you are a real smarty pants.” he grinned at you, leaning over across the table to block the others from you. “What sort of material are those kinds of pants made out of eh?”

“I uh-” You answered shakily. “I don’t know?”

Avi laughed, almost sounding maniacal. “It’s a joke, smarty pants. Get with it!” He slapped your back and inched in closer. “So tell me, whatcha eating there?” He went on like this until lunch was over.

After that, he started appearing wherever you were, hanging around you, talking to you. He found the strangest reasons to talk to you. Whether it was about video games or cartoons, he always seemed excited to bring something up.

“Fuck off, weirdo,” one of the guys in your ‘friend group’ told him.

The look in Avi’s eyes changed. They had always seemed wide and strange, but now they looked vicious. He snapped his neck around to look at the guy. “What’d you say?”

“I said, fuck off. You fucking weirdo.”

“How come?” Avi stepped away from you. “What’s it matter to you?”

The guy smirked back at his friends, you knew he was eager to push Avi around. “That’s our nerd. Get your own.”

Avi popped his neck and scoffed. “Oh I see. My mistake. I thought she was just some cute girl up for grabs. I didn't realize she was a nerd.”

Your guts churned but you remained silent. You ducked your head down, your eyes already brimming with tears.

Avi got up into the guys face and grinned. “How about we fight over her.”

“What?” the guy huffed and others from the group began to join.

Avi’s grin grew and his eyes got wider. “You heard me. I’ll fight you for her. Unless, that is, you wanna just hand her off to me. It might be safer that way.” He tilted his head and popped his neck again.

“Just fuck off, you freak!” Avi was shoved back, but that didn’t bother him at all. Avi struck, clocking the guy in the jaw and starting a fight. Both were suspended for a week, buty our friend group began avoiding you to get away from him.

“It’ll be okay,” Avi said one day. His face was bruised from the fight. There was evena  cut along his forehead that would leave a scar. “I’ll take care of you, smarty pants.”