Chapter 796

One guy started cursing, and soon the rest jumped in too.
“Damn it, my hand’s burned because of you!”
“Shit, my blanket nearly went up in flames!” The boy who’d hidden his cigarette under his blanket saw a hole appear and quickly snuffed out the ember. He glared at Luke and Lydia. “Can’t you knock or say something before barging in? Now look, I burned a hole in my blanket!”
“My hand’s blistered, damn it.”
“My lip’s got a burn… shit!”
Lydia narrowed her eyes, her voice dangerously calm. “You know smoking’s not allowed in the dorms. Should I go get the dorm supervisor for you?”
The boy holding the cigarette stub was Nolan, the self-appointed leader of their dorm. He was only fifteen, but tall, pretty good-looking, and had this mature vibe. Standing next to Lydia, he almost looked her age.
He took one look at Lydia—pretty girl showing up in the boys’ dorm—and snorted. “Hey, did you get lost? Or are you planning to move in with us?”
“Nolan. She’s my sister!” Luke snapped, looking pissed.
Most of the guys in this dorm were in the same class, except for one kid Luke didn’t really know.
Nolan just laughed and slapped Luke on the shoulder. “What’s up, sick boy? Couldn’t handle living off campus, so you had to crawl back to the school dorms?”
Luke brushed his hand away, voice icy. “Don’t start with me.”
Nolan sneered. “Look at this, acting all high and mighty like some rich kid when you’re just a stray with no one to back you up.”
Lydia’s eyes went cold, and she suddenly realized this was how they’d been treating Luke since he started school.
She turned to Nolan, her voice sharp. “You know where Fred is?” Before he could answer, Lydia grabbed his wrist and twisted it behind his back.
Nolan’s face went pale as he yelped. “Ouch, let go! That hurts!”
He hadn’t expected a girl to be that strong.
One of the other boys saw Nolan’s arm getting twisted and freaked out. “What’s it
got to do with us where Fred is? Let Nolan go!”
Lydia didn’t even look at him. “Fred’s at the police station.”
The room went totally silent.
Lydia glanced at their suddenly nervous faces and let out a cold laugh. “There are two more students in there with him. Want to join them?”
That shut everyone up for good. Not a single word from anyone.
Nolan definitely knew Fred. They were from the same hometown, and he was the one who told everyone about Luke’s past. Most days, Nolan was right there beside Fred making fun of Luke.
But Fred’s stepdad was loaded. He knew people in the Capital. Surely he’d bail Fred out, right?
Lydia saw straight through him. “Fred’s stepdad has his own problems now. He and Fred’s mom are divorced.onestly it’s a big question if Fred’s even coming back to school.”
Now the boys looked like they’d swallowed their tongues.
Lydia’s voice softened, but her meaning was clear. “Just leave Luke alone and we’ll all get along. Easy, right?” Fınd the newest release on
Nolan was sweating, face twisted from the pain, and he nodded immediately. “Got it. No worries, we’ll be super friendly with Luke. My arm’s killing me.”
The other boys nodded too, though you could tell they weren’t happy about it.
Lydia let go of Nolan and said, “Luke can’t breathe in your smoke.”
Nolan scrambled to the window and pushed it wide open, forcing a smile. “We’ll be more careful from now on.”
Lydia seemed satisfied. She turned to Luke. “If anything happens, call me. Got it?”
Luke nodded. “Yeah, I know. Don’t worry.”
After Lydia left, the boys dropped the act.
One of them kicked over Luke’s bag, sending his stuff tumbling to the floor. Nolan held his sore arm and glared at Luke. “You little bastard, you really think you can poss around? Don’t get rocky justo because your sister scared us off. We just didn’t want to argue with a girl.”

“Yeah, Luke. Listen up. If you snitch about us smoking, you’re dead.”