Seeing as I was the only person at the table whose name was "Natalie", they were clearly talking to me. Turning around, I saw an extremely pretty girl with her arms crossed and a scowl on her face directed at me. Her rich brown skin, with warm reddish undertones, was flawless and her hair was really curly and big. I would have been nice, but I didn't like the way she was looking at me. "What's it to you?" I asked, getting straight to the point. "Oh, nothing really. I just wanted to see who everyone was talking about. I have to say, I'm very disappointed." She rolled up the sleeves of her red addidas track suit, a confident smirk on her face. I waited a few seconds for her to leave, but she was still standing there. "Nice, Aliyah. Real classy," Riley said, shaking his head. She rolled her eyes at him, and then looked back at me. Is she expecting me to say something to her? I have had to deal with a ton of "mean girls" back in New Jersey, but I was not interested in dealing with them here. I don't know what bone she had to pick with me, and I didn't really care. I just wanted to eat in peace. "Okay, well, bye now," I said, waving my hand in a shooing motion. Then I turned back around in my seat and went back to eating my lunch. Everyone else at the table did the same, including two girls I didn't notice join us. They must be Lauren's friends. Thankfully, Aliyah left us alone and we got right back into conversation. The two girls that joined us at the table were Kristen and Kylie. The two of them were twins, but not identical. Kylie was a little bit taller than Kristen, but they were both fairly tall, around Lauren's height. They both had blue eyes and blonde hair, although Kristen had hers cut into a short pixie and Kylie kept hers long and layered. They seemed nice. When Lauren started talking to them about some plans for the weekend, and Riley and Jayden started talking about some football game coming on tv, I excused myself and went to the bathroom. There was graffiti all over the stalls. Names, lists, inappropriate drawings, gum; it was gross. After using it, I washed my hands and looked into the mirror. Wow. My hat was crooked this whole time, and none of them said anything. I fixed it into place and headed back to the cafeteria. Lunch was almost over, so I walked quickly to avoid the rush of people leaving when it ended. "Hey, where'd you go?" Lauren asked when I rejoined the table. "Bathroom," I answered as I looked around the table for my phone. "Um, do you guys see my pho-" I stopped mid sentence when Lauren placed my phone in front of me. I gave her a suspicious glare and she smiled back at me, innocently. "What did you do to it?" I questioned, my eyes still squinted in suspicion. Lauren could tell I wasn't seriously bothered by her having my phone. "We helped ourselves to your contact list. Now you have each of our numbers! Although, the guys refused to add pictures of them to their contact," she said, throwing Jayden, specifically, an unhappy glare. He was looking at the ceiling, pretending not to notice. I looked at Riley and he was looking away too, whistling the tune to "Mario Bros". "But don't worry, I'll send you pics of them so you don't have to look at that ugly default icon everytime you text them," Laren continued when she finished burning a hole in Jayden's head. She made a gagging face, showing how much she apparently hated default icons. She looked hilarious, which made me laugh. "Babe, stop being dramatic," Jayden said through a chuckle as he admired his girlfriend's performance. She did as he asked, planting a kiss on his cheek before she sat back down. When the bell rung, signaling the end of lunch, everyone stood up to leave. "It was nice meeting you," the twins said in sync. I smiled back at them, saying goodbye. I went to my last two classes, and was glad I saw some familiar faces in them. Although I didn't see any of my new "friends" in my Econ class, I did have Lauren and Kylie in my Home Ec class. And I ended the day with Riley, Jayden, and Kimi in Science class. "Bye, guys! See you tomorrow," I said as I exited the classroom. When I got home, Paully was on the couch playing video games again. "Hey," I greeted, walking through the door. I threw my bag down and walked over to him. "How are you feeling?" I asked. I could already see some bruises forming on his cheek and arm. "I'm pissed," he grunted, still looking at the tv screen. "I wish you didn't get involved. Now you're suspended and I feel terrible." I took my hat off and ran my fingers through my hair, looking up at the ceiling. Just when my step-brother begins to be nice to me, he gets suspended. I was brought back to our conversation when I heard the sound of Paully putting his game on pause. When I looked at him, he was looking back at me, his brows furrowed in frustration. "You shouldn't feel bad. I knew what I was doing when I threw that first punch," he pointed out. "But now you're mad and-" "Yeah, I'm mad! Those stupid teachers pulled us apart before I could win the fight!" he explained, raising his voice.