“JAY! ZACH,” HARPER calls as she hurries down the hallway toward Zach and me, carrying a stack of books with a bunch of papers stuffed between them.
“Do you need some help?” I ask, but I’m already moving in her direction with my arms extended. Suddenly, she stumbles forward, trips and falls on her face. Books and papers scatter all over the floor.
Laughter erupts from a few of the students as they pass by, stepping over the mess.
How is this funny? What the hell is wrong with people?
Zach runs over and helps Harper to her feet as blood surfaces from a small cut below her chin. A few students stop to ask if she’s okay and try to help me gather her books and papers before they get stepped on. The hallway traffic is busy.
I’ve got all the books and most of the papers neatly stacked at her feet. As I reach for one of the last pieces, I see a flash of black and a pain like I’ve never felt before shoots through my hand, up my arm, and down to my toes, taking my breath away. I see spots. “Ow, fuck!” I scream and jerk my hand to my chest, covering it protectively with my other hand as my eyes fill with tears. I squeeze my eyes closed and try to breathe through the pain.
“What happened?” I open my eyes to see Zach squatting down to look at me with a mixture of concern and panic.
I can’t answer him because the pain has rendered me speechless. All I can do is breathe through my nose and fight the urge to pass out. Familiar female laughter drifts from behind me and I look over my shoulder to see Hannah and Ashton with her little minions beside her. Hannah shrugs and mouths “Oops” before she turns away and continues down the hall.
Oops?
Oh, hell, no.
“OW, FUCK!” JAY screams and it’s so loud that people stop in the middle of the hall to look. The busy hallway chatter lowers to a light buzz as everyone stares at her cradling her hand to her chest, eyes squeezed closed.
“What happened?” I reach for her just as she opens her tear-filled eyes, a pained expression on her pale face. Ashton’s annoying laugh echoes over the hallway buzz, prompting Jay to glance over her shoulder. I follow her line of sight and see Hannah shrug and mouth “Oops” before she walks off.
Oops?
What the fuck?
“Babe, did sh—” I turn to look at Jay, but she’s already running down the hall. This can’t be good.
“What happened?” Cole asks, dipping his head to get a look Harper.
Suddenly, female screams drift from down the hall. “Shit.” I sprint down the hall, pushing my way through the crowd. “Get the fuck out of the way,” I yell, knocking people into each other because, apparently, they don’t know what ‘get the fuck out of the way’ means.
Pushing my way through, I find Jay straddling Hannah with her injured hand tangled in Hannah’s hair, repeatedly punching her with the other.
Now, none of this is funny.
My girl is hurt.
But if the situation were different, I’d be laughing my ass off right now because Jay’s skirt is bunched up around her waist and “Property of Easton” is printed across the ass of her spanks. I want to puff out my chest like a fucking peacock right now.
“I see you took my advice,” Brad says beside me, pointing to Jay’s ass. Reminding me of the night I came back from St. Thomas and told him about Jay. He said, “You should’ve locked that shit down. Marked your territory. Stamped ‘Property of Zach Easton’ on her ass. Something. We don’t grow girls like that around here.”
Ashton reaches over and grabs Jay by the hair, spurring Lexi to appear out of nowhere, tossing her backpack to the floor, before taking Ashton to the floor. The two fall to the ground, pulling hair and calling each other a bitch. Skirts are up and asses are out. Evan would literally pass out if he were here to see this shit. Honestly, this fight between Lexi and Ashton has been a long time coming.
“This is better than porn,” Brad adds with a chuckle. “Dude, you need to get your girl.”
Just as I step in and reach for Jay, Reagan leans in and punches Jay on the side of her head.
My knee-jerk reaction is to punch Reagan in her head, but common sense comes to the forefront of my brain and reminds me that I can’t hit a girl.
But Jay doesn’t miss a beat. She untangles her hand from Hannah’s hair, hops to her feet, turns to Reagan, and clocks her right in the face. Twice.
I wait for Jay get her punches in—because no one gets away with sucker punching my girl—before I grab her in a bear hug from behind and pull her away.
The scream of a whistle causes everyone to freeze in place and go silent. Everyone except my sassy, smart-mouth girlfriend. “Hey, Hannah!” Hannah looks at Jay as Ashton helps her up off the floor. “Ooooops!” Jay drawls out angrily with sarcasm. Hannah sneers and Reagan curls her lip. “Wipe that look off your face, Reagan.” Jay huffs. “You had it coming. The first one was for that weak ass sucker punch and the second was for lying to me last summer.” Reagan averts her eyes. “You didn’t think I’d figure it out, did you? Lying bitch.”
“Zach, Jayla, Hannah, Ashton, Lexi, and Reagan, in my office, now!” Principal Avery hollers. “The rest of you get to class or you’re suspended.”
Everyone scatters.
I lean into Jay’s ear. “Baby, take a deep breath and calm down. Okay?”
She nods, lowering her head, and blowing out a breath.
“Come on.” I wrap my arm around her waist and guide her to Avery’s office. Leaning in once more, I whisper, “Nice spanks, by the way.”
She snorts, bringing her injured left hand to her chest and covering it with her right.
My gaze drops to her swollen hand. “You okay?”
“I think my hand is broken, Z,” she breathes out, almost whimpering in pain.
Principal Avery holds the office door open. Once the six of us pile in, he slams the door and moves to sit behind his desk. “None of you are to speak unless I ask you to. Zach. What happened?”
“Harper tripped and fell. Her books and papers scattered all over the hall. Jay was picking up her stuff and then she screamed. I bent down to see what happened and she was holding her hand to her chest.”
“What happened, Jayla?”
“Either Hannah or Ashton stomped on my hand. I think my hand and at least one of my fingers is broken.”
Avery pales. “Hold on.” He leans over and presses the intercom button on his phone.
“Patty speaking.”
“Patty, could you see if Miss Sarah is in the clinic.”
“She just stepped out.”
“All right. Will you send her in as soon as she gets back?”
“Will do.”
“Thank you.” He leans back in his chair and gestures to Jay. “Then what happened?”
“I heard someone laughing down the hall and when I looked back, Hannah mouthed ‘Oops.’”
Avery’s head swivels to Hannah. “Did you step on her hand on purpose?”
“It was an accident,” Hannah whines.
Someone knocks on his office door. “Come in,” Avery calls out. I’m expecting to see Sarah the nurse, but instead it’s Alex.
And he looks pissed.
Avery waves him in and Alex walks in, followed by Cole and Harper, holding a paper towel to her chin.
“What happened to your chin, Harper?”
“Someone tripped me in the hall,” Harper explains with a pointed glare at Ashton.
“I have never in all my years as an educator seen such despicable behavior. This is the second time there’s been an incident involving the two of you.” He waves his finger between Ashton and Hannah. “There is a strict no tolerance policy on bullying in my school.” He reaches over and presses the intercom button.
“Patty speaking.”
“Patty, please contact the parents of Reagan Vaughn, Ashton Grant, and Hannah Scott, and let them know I am requesting a conference right away.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Thank you.” He turns to Lexi. “I never expected this from you, Lexi.”
“Sorry, Principal Avery.” Lexi shrugs. “Jayla is my friend. Ashton and her friends were ganging up on her. I couldn’t just stand there.”
Cole is glaring holes into Ashton’s head. He looks seconds away from leaping across the room and strangling her.
Ashton’s mouth falls open. “We weren’t ganging up on her. I was trying to get her off Hannah.”
“By pulling my hair,” Jay snaps.
“What about you, Reagan?”
“I was just trying to get her off Hannah.”
I have to bite my tongue to keep from saying something along the lines of “And how’d that work out for ya?”
“By sucker punching me in head?” Jay sneers.
“You girls make yourselves comfortable. Cole and Zach, you’re excused for the afternoon. I’ll let Coach know you might not make it to practice. Go with them over to the medical center so Jayla can get an X-ray on her hand. Harper probably needs stitches.” He pauses and looks at Harper. “Do you need me to call anyone?”
“No, my dad’s out of the country. I’m staying with Jay.”
Avery nods. “I’ll call Emerson.”
“I’ll call her, Principal Avery,” Jay offers, standing up from her seat. “Trust me. Your eardrums will thank me later.”
The corners of Avery’s mouth curve upwards as he shakes his head.
“Principal Avery,” Hannah says. “Why are we in trouble and Jayla’s not? Look at my face.”
“You purposely stepped on her fingers!” He slams his hand down on his desk.
“It was an accident!” she yells in defense.
“People don’t say ‘Oops’ when it’s an accident. They apologize. Clearly, she was hurt. You could’ve stopped to see if she was okay. Now be quiet or I’ll expel you for assaulting another student. Which is still an option.”
ONCE WE STEP out of Principal Avery’s office, Alex turns to me. “Let me see your hand.”
I hold my hand out and he carefully looks it over. “Don’t breathe a word of this to Weenie, Alex. She’ll freak out.”
“I won’t,” he mumbles. “Yeah, it looks like your ring finger might be broken. Do you want me to call Emerson, or do you want to call her?”
“I’ll call her. I just need to get my stuff from my locker.”
“Yeah, I shut your locker on the way to the office. You left it open with your phone and everything in there,” Harper says.
“Are you okay, Harper?” I ask.
“Fuck, no. My chin hurts. I know it was Ashton who tripped me.”
“I’ll deal with Ashton,” Cole says.
“No, you won’t,” Harper argues.
I turn to Zach and breathe out a laugh. “I can’t believe Reagan sucker punched me in the head.”
“I made sure you got in yours before I stepped in.”
“Thanks for having my back, Z.” I grin.
“Always, babe.” He kisses the side of my head where Reagan punched me.
“Where’s Lexi?” Evan jogs up to us in a panic.
“She’s in the office,” Cole tells him.
“What the hell happened?” He dips his head to look at Harper’s chin before moving his gaze to my hand.
I laugh. “Girl fight.”
Evan shakes his head. “Is she in trouble?”
“No. I don’t think so.”
Lexi walks out and Evan reaches for her. “Did you get into a fight, crazy girl?” He laughs.
“Yep.” She nods. “I got two days in-school suspension. Starting today.” She shoots me a wink. “It was totally worth it.”
“WHAT’S WRONG?” EMERSON says when she answers.
“Why do you think something’s wrong?”
“Because you’re calling from your cellphone when you should be in class. Are you okay?”
“Um… it’s a long story, but right now I need you to meet me at the medical center for an X-ray.”
“What!” she exclaims, the sound echoing through the speakers. “I’m on my way.”
Click.
I lean back against the headrest and take a deep breath.
“Your mom is nuts,” Cole says with a laugh from the backseat.
My thoughts exactly. I dial Bass’s number.
“We’re on our way, Princess. Are you okay?”
“B, my crazy mother hung up before I could tell her I’m okay, but I definitely broke a finger or two.”
“How did you manage to do that?”
“Some crazy bitch stomped on my hand. And I think Harper might need stitches.”
Silence.
“B?”
“I’m here. We’ll discuss it when I get there. Is Romeo with you?”
“Yes,” Zach says into the Bluetooth.
“Me, too,” Cole adds.
“See you in a few minutes,” he says before he hangs up.
“THIS ONE IS definitely broken,” Mac Daddy says, pointing to my ring finger on the X-ray film. “See this here? This is a hairline fracture. You’ll need to wear a soft cast for a couple of weeks so your hand can heal.”
“Great,” I say, rolling my eyes. “I guess it’s a good thing I beat her ass first.”
“Jayla,” my mom admonishes. “You better be kidding.”
“She’s not,” Zach informs her, ignoring my death glare. “You’ll probably be getting phone calls from some angry parents.”
“Not if I call them first.” Mom narrows her eyes at me.
“What? She purposely stomped on my hand and while I was on the floor screaming in pain and trying not to pass out, she laughed about it, and mouthed ‘Oops’. She might as well have just said, ‘Fuck you.’”
“Jayla!” Mom’s eyes dart to my grandfather.
“Sorry, Mac Daddy.”
“It’s okay, sweetheart.” He laughs. “I live with your Mimi. I hear that word at least once a day.”
“They ganged up on me. Ashton Grant pulled my hair and then”—I gesture to Zach— “his ex-girlfriend, Reagan, punched me in the head.” I snort.
Mom doesn’t find any of this funny.
“Are you having trouble with these girls?” Mac Daddy asks.
“Not really. I don’t think it was me they were targeting.”
“They?” Bass prompts.
I nod. “Hannah Scott and Ashton Grant.”
“Hannah is Harold Scott’s daughter,” Mom tells Mac Daddy.
Who the hell is Harold Scott and how the hell does she—You know what? I don’t know why I even bother asking. Mom probably has a file on every student at Heritage Academy.
“Which one is Ashton?” Mom asks.
“She’s a cheerleader, and she acts like she’s the queen of the school because she used to mess around with Cole.”
Mac Daddy laughs. “Ah, I see. What happened to the redhead?”
“That’s Harper,” I explain.
“I thought Cole was sweet on her?”
“He is.” I use my good hand to point to my broken finger. “Hence the broken finger.”
“Ah.” Mac Daddy nods. “I get it now. They targeted her, but you stepped in to help and they hurt you instead.”
“Yep.” I nod.
“Got it. I’ll be right back to get started on your cast.”
Mac Daddy leaves the room. I look over at Mom and Bass. “Are you mad?”
“I’m not mad at you, Jay, but no more fighting. Stooping to their level makes you just as much of a bully as the rest of them.” She moves to the door. “I need to make a call and check on Harper. I’ll be right back.”
OH YEAH, YOU better believe Emerson Mackenzie marched her ass right into Principal Avery’s office and threw her weight around. Home girl does not mess around when it comes to her only child.
Hannah was suspended for five days because she deliberately stepped on my hand, which goes against Principal Avery’s strict anti-bullying rules, and was threatened to be expelled if she ever put her hands on another student again. I’m sure my mom gave Hannah’s parents an earful, as well.
Ashton and Reagan got three days in-school suspension. Lexi got two days and I got one day. I didn’t even argue; I’m guilty, too, so I took my lumps like the rest. I’m just thankful it’s my left hand.