Okay, who is this weirdo hiding behind my locker door and do I need to prepare myself to hurt somebody? I slammed my locker door shut, causing them to jump. "What do you want, creep?" I asked calmly, but fierce. I crossed my arms over my chest and shifted all of my weight to one of my legs, all while staring into the eyes of the kid from earlier. At least I probably won't have to hurt him...as if I could do much damage anyway. His mouth was slightly open, but nothing was coming out. "Well, speak. And if you aren't then leave me alone," I said, tired of this delay. "Oh, I-uh...I wanted to say thanks," he stammered, his voice a little unsteady from nerves. "Okay, and what exactly are you thanking me for?" I was completely lost on where this kid was going with this. If he was trying to flirt with me, he was doing a terrible job. "Um, you're Natalie Drake, right?" he asked, his eye scrunching up in confusion. "The one and only," I stated, opening my arms to gesture toward myself. I saw his face start to relax at my confirmation. "Okay, good. Well, I'm Jeremy, and you actually saved my butt last week," he started explaining to me. I could feel my body stiffen at the recognition of who he was. He's the kid Drew was fighting, which meant he was the kid that knocked up Leila and dumped her. "Man, that Andrew guy was out of control! I mean, he went all caveman on me and probably would have killed me if you didn't show up!" I was trying really hard to let his words go in one ear and out the other, but my brain decided it wanted to process everything he spoke. Yeah, a week ago I would have agreed with the way he described what happened, but now I was starting to feel like he deserved what he got. "Honestly, I don't get why he wasn't expelled over that crap. You don't just go around assaulting innocent people. Do you know he-" Um, I don't really know what came over me, and I didn't plan to do it. I guess hearing him refer to himself as innocent after what he did to Leila kinda threw me over the edge and next thing I know... "You psycho she-devil! I think you broke my nose, again!" Jeremy screamed, catching some of the blood dripping from his nose. I looked around at the faces of people starting to notice us, or maybe they already were watching us, but either way there was a mixed display of emotions. Some people look horrified, others shocked. A few guys were actually cheering me on to hit him again, while some just acted like they didn't see anything. I recognized a few of the seniors walking by from some of my classes, and then I finally saw a smug Aliyah watching. With her hair pulled up into a bun, and big hoops accessorizing her ears, she looked beautiful. And now she looked like she just found a hundred bucks on the ground. "Don't worry, kid," she said, walking up to us. "I saw the whole thing. Why don't we go report this to the principal." I rolled my eyes so far back I was sure I just saw my brain. This chick doesn't even know what he did to deserve that punch and...ow! My hand freakin' hurts! I started to examine it but then the bell rang, causing me to rush off to Digital Studios. As soon as Mr. Chester released us to work independently, the classroom filled with unfocused chatter. "Tell me it's not true," Kimi sighed as she leaned over to get closer to me. "Tell you what's not true?" I asked innocently, hiding my pulsing hand. "You know exactly what I-" "Natalie Drake, please report to the principal's office. Natalie Drake, please report to the principal's office. Thank you," suddenly blasted through the intercom system in a woman's voice. My classmates roared with "oooo"s and laughs. Some people never grow up, I guess. "Oh my God! It is true! You really punched a kid in the face!" Kimi laughed, surprise and also pride spreading across her face. "Wow, I'm friends with the new rebel!" she said in a teasing way. "Miss Drake! You heard the lady. Get to the principal's office, now!" Mr. Chester shouted, trying to sound authoritative. "Shut up," I mumbled under my breath as I grabbed my stuff and headed to what was undoubtedly going to be a lecture followed by a stupid punishment. Oh my gosh! When will this dude stop talking?! I literally feel like I'm going to gag, his breath stinks so bad. Like, what did he eat for breakfast?! An onion bagel with extra garlic and onion?! "I hope you learn something from this, Miss Drake," Principal Estes said as he walked over to his office door. "I'd hate to see you back here again." "I'd hate to see you again, too," I said as I walked past him and out of his smelly office. I could tell he wanted to say something about my last comment, but there's really no way to prove that I meant anything rude by it. Although I meant every word. I seriously would HATE to have to see him again. Unfortunately, I was right about the lecture and punishment coming as a pair, even though I felt like having to listen to him and edure his funky breath was punishment enough. I had detention afterschool today, which meant I had to go straight to the Singh's residence right after if I didn't want to be late for my babysitting gig. I was hoping to get a quick nap in before but that's what I got for punching a kid, no matter how much I felt he deserved it. By now, second period had already let out and I'd lost ten minutes of my lunch time. Why did Principal Estes have to talk for almost two freakin' hours?! The only upside was there was barely any line left, so I didn't t have to wait long to get my food. I bought a spicy chicken sandwich, french fries, and a bottle of water. Then, I made my way to Lauren's table. When I got there, it was just her and the twins. I forgot that Riley and Jayden normally sat with Drew, and since he was back they wouldn't be sitting with us regularly anymore. It was kind of sad. I actually loved talking with them everyday over yummy food. "Nat, tell us everything!" Kylie squealed, clearly referring to what happened earlier. "There's not much to tell. It was an accident," I lied, looking at Lauren the whole time. I wasn't sure how much Kristen and Kylie knew about the whole "Leila situation" and I didn't want to say too much. It wasn't my business to tell, especially since I hadn't even had one conversation with Leila. But that didn't matter in the moment. No girl should have to deal with that; not even the pompous Aliyah. "How was it an accident?" Kristen asked, looking just as disappointed as her sister. "Doesn't matter," Lauren spoke up. Thank goodness she caught on to what I was doing. The twins didn't ask about it anymore. Why would they if it was just some lame accident? They started going on about some sale that Victoria Secret was having. Yeah, I tuned them out, focusing on my food in front of me. Every once in a while I would look over at Drew's table. They were just on the other side of the aisle made by all the rectangular lunch tables. Most of the time, Riley noticed my glances and would smile or wave. Jayden would too, if he noticed, but most of the time he didn't . I got absolutely no attention from Drew, and I was glad. I didn't want to imagine how I looked to him after everything I said to him last week. I probably looked like a freakin' hypocrite. One second I'm scolding him for beating up Jeremy, and there I was sucker punching him in the face. I turned back to Lauren and the girls, trying to shove all self-rebuke to the back of my mind. Successful with doing that, I busied myself with my fries, until I felt a light tap on my shoulder. I pretended not to notice, assuming it was just another person wanting to interview me over this morning. "Ahem," the person said, clearing their throat to get my attention. By the look on Lauren's face, they must've been a friend. But, when I turned around, I was dead wrong. It was a foe. "Can I talk to you?" Who wants to talk to Natalie?