Savannah and I were on speaking terms Monday. It surprised me how little I cared either way.

Grabbing books for my first two periods, I spotted Hunter walking through the doors from the corner of my eye, finally making it past the bleachers. Nowadays, I was acutely aware of his presence. Our encounter Friday and then last night replayed in my mind persistently.

Adam stepped into Hunter’s space, drawing my attention. What is he doing talking to Hunter? They hate each other. A strange protectiveness stirred in me. Instinct flexed, signaling trouble. Adam’s back was to me, but his body language was aggressive and taut.

Hunter shook his head and turned away.

“Hey!” Adam’s voice sailed down the corridor, spinning everyone’s heads. “Did you hear me?”

Hunter’s jaw twitched, but he didn’t respond. He stuffed his crutches under his arms. They hit the smooth surface in clipped movements.

“Dude, what’s your problem? I’m trying to say sorry about Colton.” Adam held out his arms, following Hunter. “He was my best friend since we were kids. My teammate,” Adam said.

Hunter kept going, his neck muscles straining with tension.

“What is wrong with you?” Adam stepped around Hunter, blocking him. “Colton always stepped up for you, man. Always had your back. Unlike you.” He shook his head, glancing away. “Fucking loser.”

It was scarcely a breath, a split second of palpable pressure before Hunter’s crutch dropped to the ground, the aluminum ringing off the tile. Hunter grabbed Adam’s collar, slamming him back into a locker. A collective gasp spread down the hall.

My body jerked forward, and my book bag dropped from my arm as I rushed to the guys, disregarding the twinge in my legs.

“What the fuck, man?” Adam glared but didn’t fight back. Hunter was at least six inches taller.

“Don’t talk to me, especially about my brother,” Hunter seethed and pushed his forearm into Adam’s neck.

“Hunter.” I grabbed his arm. “Stop.”

He kept his gaze locked on Adam, not lifting his arm away.

“Hunter?” I tried again, one hand staying on his wrist the other traveling to his back. “Hey.” The moment my fingers slid over his spine, his eyes darted to me, full of ire. “Come on.” I tugged his arm away from Adam. The veins popped along his arms, but he let me draw it back.

Eyes watched us, the feel of their curiosity itching my skin. It seemed like they were all holding their breaths, waiting for what was next.

Hunter pushed his shoulders back, his hand dropped from Adam, and his nostrils flared as he breathed in and out. He bent down, swiping up his crutch. He moved away, heading for the exit.

“Freak,” Adam spat at Hunter’s receding form. “Don’t think everyone doesn’t wish it was you in the grave instead of Colton.”

Reflex drove through me, responding to the rush of anger. My hands slammed into Adam’s chest. Unprepared for my force, Adam flew back, and lockers rattled as his body collided into them. He looked around in disbelief, his mouth agape. “What the hell, Jayme?”

“You call yourself Colton’s best friend? You think he’d like you talking about his brother like that?” I leaned in closer, seething.

“Oh, please, like you haven’t thought the same thing.” His surprise was wearing off, and his expression twisting into spiteful disgust. “Or you did…once.” Adam’s eyes flicked toward the exit and back to me. “Switching brothers, Jaymerson?”

“You are revolting.”

“We all see what’s happening, and you call me the revolting one.”

Another wave of abhorrence commanded my muscles. My fist struck his face. Pain exploded in my hand as my knuckles knocked against his cheek.

“What the fuck, bitch!” Adam grabbed his face. I hadn’t hit hard enough to do much of anything but startle him. I probably did more harm to myself than him, which pissed me off. My hand hurt, but my adrenaline was pumping too high for me to take real notice. It felt good. My skin prickled with life, my heart pumping wildly in my chest.

“Jaymerson!” Hunter’s deep voice called out but was mostly lost behind my rage. All the anger I’d stuffed down, released. Adam shoved me, and I came barreling back for him like a bop bag.

“Jaymerson!” This time the voice did not belong to Hunter. It was a woman’s. “Stop right this instant.” The principal, Victoria Matlin, marched up, deep creases lined her forehead. Strands of grey peeked through her nicely quaffed shoulder-length hair. She was taller than me, and the shadow of her form reflected down over me.

“Jaymerson, I said stop,” she demanded.

I dropped my hands, backing away from Adam.

“Now, can you tell me what is going on?” Ms. Matlin placed her hands on her hips.

“She started it.” Adam pointed at me. “This crazy bitch attacked me out of nowhere.”

“Wha—?”

“Adam, I do not want to hear that language,” Principal Matlin cut me off.

“But it’s true. She went crazy.” He sounded like a ten-year-old kid tattling on his sibling.

“Jaymerson?” She turned to me.

Adam and I glared at each other. I knew he wouldn’t get in trouble. The football boys never did. And the whole school would just back up his theory.

“She did,” a girl hollered out. “I saw the whole thing.”

And it began.

“Yep.” I nodded, my gaze still locked on Adam. “I attacked him.”

Principal Matlin’s lids narrowed trying to decipher if what I admitted was true. The bell for the next class rang. She cleared her throat, deciding on her next move. “Adam, I want you to go to class. I will talk with you later.”

A smug smile hinted his mouth. “Sure thing.”

“All of you need to get to class. Now! Before I start handing out detentions.” She hollered at the onlookers. They immediately jumped, grabbed their stuff, and headed in the location of their rooms.

“Jaymerson, I want you to come with me.” She motioned for me to follow. I nodded, complying, and seized my abandoned backpack on the way.

Her heels clicked down the hall. I trotted behind her, glancing over my shoulder at the exit where Hunter had stood. It was empty. I couldn’t fight my disappointment and annoyance. Here I was sticking up for him, and he didn’t even stay around. What had I expected? And why did I stand by him? What made me lose it like that?

“Have a seat.” Ms. Matlin motioned to the chair across from her desk. She strolled around, settling herself in her seat.

I sat down. I should have been scared or nervous. I never had been called into the principal’s office, not like this. Previously it had been because of an award or special honors.

“I don’t know what to do here. This is so unlike you.”

I was getting tired of that phrase “so unlike you.”

“Jaymerson.” She sighed heavily. “I can’t imagine what you’ve been going through.” She shook her head; compassion coated her face and words. “I know you need some time to adjust, but this isn’t the first complaint I’ve received about your attitude lately.”

My head jerked up.

“Most of your teachers have stated your demeanor in class has changed drastically. Your manner is combative, quick to temper, and insolent. You stare out the window and don’t participate in class anymore. You don’t turn in your homework, you walk out of class, talk back, and are disruptive.”

It was all true.

She sat forward, clasping her hands. “Again, I recognize you have been through a horrific, tragic incident. However, this is not how to deal with it.”

I lifted my chin in defiance.

“And now attacking a student? Isn’t Adam one of your friends?” Friend? At one time I would have said yes. But he never was. He was Colton’s friend. “Can you tell me what happened?”

I pinned my lips together. No way I would snitch or tell her a simple insult had me flip out so badly.

She exhaled with frustration. “Jaymerson, I am really worried about you.” Empathy sat in her eyes. “I don’t want to punish you. You are a good student, and I’m aware you’ve been through a lot. However, I also can’t ignore this and hope it will go away.” She sucked in air between her teeth. “I’m afraid I’m going to have to notify your parents.”

“You’re going to tell my parents?” I scooted to the lip of my chair. “Seriously?” This was another first for me.

“I’m sorry.” She slanted her head. “I don’t see any other way. You are going through a lot of pain right now. Everyone deals with it in their own way, but I have to step in when it is affecting other students and teachers. And most of all you’re hurting what you worked so hard for.” She sighed. “You are failing, Jaymerson. You are one of the brightest students we have here. I can’t sit back and let you not graduate or lose your scholarship because you are not acting like yourself.”

She meant well, I understood that, but I was still annoyed. I was tired of people telling me how they thought I should act and be.

“I will be contacting them today.” She looked over at her desk phone. “I hope you see I have your best interests in mind.”

“Yeah. Thank you.” I stood, swiping up my backpack. “Is that all, Principal Matlin?”

She bowed her head. “For now.”

I gave her a curt nod and hurried out the door. I did understand her reasons, but I couldn’t fight the boiling rage seeping in.

My feet led me down the hall and through the doors. I sucked greedily at the crisp early December air. I let my head fall back and closed my lids for a moment. Clouds blocked the sun’s rays from warming me, and I wrapped my arms around my body. It was only a moment before my skin prickled, the sensation of someone watching me.

I opened my eyes, gazing around. Hunter leaned against the hood of a car, his arms crossed, his face like stone, but his blue eyes flashed with heated anger. Like a magnet I moved down the steps to him. My defenses rose with each step. I stopped in front of him, my silence challenging his.

He scoffed, waggling his head, looking off in the distance. “What were you thinking?”

“What?”

“I said…” He zeroed in on me, his attention razor sharp. “What. Were. You. Thinking?”

I took a step. “I was sticking up for you.”

“Well, don’t.” He leaned toward me. We were only a few feet apart. I could sense his rage bursting off him. “I can take care of myself fine.”

Hurt, embarrassment, frustration, and rage bristled under my skin. I felt like I should have been in a cartoon, where steam actually came out of your ears. “It’s what I thought friends did for each other,” I said deep and evenly. “I was wrong. I won’t make that mistake again.”

He inhaled air through his nose, bringing his face even closer to mine, fury billowing off us. He rolled his jaw, his eyes dropping for an instant to my mouth.

Kiss me. Kiss me now. I jerked back as the thought bounded around my head, tapping at my muscles to act on. What the hell, Jaymerson? Ewww. You did not mean it. A surge of shame rippled over my soul. How could I even think it? That’s disgusting. It was because I missed Colton. That had to be the reason.

He sucked in his breath, looking away. He leaned back against the car. “We can’t be friends.”

“Why not?” What was happening to me lately? I had no filter anymore.

“Your world, your friends, don’t mix with mine.” He kept his focus on the school building. “And you definitely shouldn’t speak up for me.”

“Is this Hunter logic?”

“No, it’s high school.” He folded his arms. “It’s better if you stay away from me.”

The sounds of the PE classes out on the field drifted over to us. We were probably being watched right now.

“We weren’t friends before. Why should we be any different now?”

“Are you serious?” I exclaimed. “You don’t think what we’ve been through kind of changes things?”

“Does it?” He twisted his head back to me. “Would you be seen with my group at lunch? Walk in the halls next to me? Hang out on weekends?” He shook his head. “Only in movies would our worlds be able to mix. Stick to your own kind, Jaymerson. You will be a lot happier in the end.” He pushed himself off the car and grabbed his crutches.

“Excuse me?” I responded. “Stay with my kind? Now who’s sounding like the snob? And how do you know what will make me happier?”

He moved around me, heading for a black car in the parking lot. It was then I noticed someone was in it. His friend Jones sat in the driver’s seat, smoke swirling out the window. I was pretty sure it was not a cigarette.

“I don’t. That’s the point.” He moved for the black Honda Civic. The paint had a matte finish, rendering the car tougher looking than a sedan usually was. Stickers of skulls, pit bulls, and other emblems decorated the sides and back window. “Bye, Jaymerson.”

I popped with fury, trailing after him. “Of all people, I didn’t think you would be telling me what to do or who I should be.”

He grabbed the car door, swinging it open. He threw his crutches hastily in the back, looking to get away from me. It was like a bucket of ice water. I stopped in my tracks.

“Screw you, Hunter.”

He shuffled himself into the low-riding car, a strange look floating over his expression as he shut the door. The car roared to life, loud music pounding the air.

“You are right about one thing,” I bellowed over the noise. “We aren’t friends. We aren’t anything.” I whirled around, my limp carrying me away at a disappointingly slow speed.

The Honda burned from the parking lot, its blaring tunes screeching along with the car. It was like someone punched a hole in my chest and filled it in with more anger. I wanted to say Hunter’s theory was wrong. I would totally be seen with him and his friends. But would I really? How long before the ridicule of everyone dominated me, forced me to turn my back and get in line? We liked to pretend it could be different. And movies loved to show opposites attract and the popular kid could fall in love with the nerd. It was bullshit. It didn’t happen in the real world. The power of our peers in high school ruled. Humans by nature wanted to belong, to be accepted. I used to be no different. Was I now? The thought of going back to that group, being a follower again, scraped against every nerve I had.

I glanced at the front of the school. I pulled out my phone and dialed.

“Hey, Whiskey, what’s up?” Stevie’s voice sang out after the third ring.

“I need to escape. Now. Can you come get me?”

“You’re in luck. I need a reason to get out of this house.” I could hear Stevie’s mom talking behind her. “Mom, I’m on the phone. The woman doesn’t stop talking. She is driving me batty.” Stevie sighed. I could hear her eyes roll from here. “I’ll be right there.”