Lia

Once the History is over, William comes up to me, telling me he'll take me to my locker.

"Oh god. What did Blake tell you?" I rub my temples as we exit the room.

"You caught that, huh? I'm not surprised." He states with a chuckle. "He told me to take care of you. Victoria was in this class and who knows what shit she could pull off." I sigh. Of course he did.

"That Cakey, I swear to God." I grumble in annoyance.

"Cakey?" William catches my slip. Shit. I did not mean to say that out loud.

"Short for Cute Blakey. Don't tell him I said that. He doesn't want me to call him that. He has a reputation to uphold. His words, not mine." I say as I put away my stuff.

William bursts out laughing, going as far as slapping his knee.

"Oh my God, this is rich! I am so going to use it!" He says, still laughing. "Ty will have a stroke once he hears this. He's been shipping you two ever since the dinner at your place." He tells me, wiping his tears off. Was it really that funny? Those guys are weird. I think, completely ignoring the 'shipping' part.

"I'm glad I amuse you. But I have to get to PE now. So get moving." I walk away towards the gym.

After changing and talking to the coach about the note from my doctor, I enter the gym, wearing my usual black t-shirt and shorts. This school doesn't have a gym uniform, thankfully, so the students can wear what they want. Some girls use this fact to flaunt their bodies in front of the boys, wearing crop tops and booty shorts. Shameless. Victoria and her minions went even further, giving up shirts for sports bras. Unbelievable.

The coach decides we're going to play dodge-ball today, keeping my health state in mind. He's one of the few teachers in this school that are actually thoughtful and attentive to students' needs. He understood my situation and even decided to adjust the class' course to fit me.

I catch Victoria's nasty glare as we line up. She's been giving me those the whole day. As if I'll cower before her. Bitch.

Blake seems to catch Victoria's look, too, and I notice him get angry. He better not do anything stupid again. I don't want any more attention.

The coach divides us into two teams. I'm with Blake, Tyler and some other people, while William is with Victoria and her minions. He does not look happy about this.

"Don't worry sweetheart. I won't let you get hit." Blake tells me with a smile, Tyler nodding at me right after.

"I don't need a shield. Just play the ball."

As we play, I immediately know whom Victoria is targeting. Me. She keeps throwing the ball at me every time she gets it. Blake and Tyler tried to cover me, but we got separated. I have to admit, Victoria has quite some strength in her arm, probably from playing softball.

But I'm better.

The bitch throws the ball straight at me, aiming for the head, despite coach saying not to do that. I stand still, not even trying to avoid the shot. As the ball reaches me, I effortlessly catch it, taking aim and with a quick swing of my arm I throw it back at the blonde. The ball hits her right in her bare stomach before she can even react. I'm mean like that. Feeling satisfied, I decide to take out bitch's minions to pay them back for their stage whispering mean shit about me all day.

The next ball that comes my way is thrown by a jock from the baseball team. Despite the difference in power between his shot and Victoria's, I still manage to catch it before it hits me then just as fast as I did earlier, I swing my arm and throw the ball at the bitchy redhead with pinpoint accuracy, getting her in the arm, causing her to shriek in shock. She did not see that coming.

I hear hollers and whoops from people around the court, calling out to me as I take people out one after another, while managing to avoid other balls thrown my way, all the while leaving William untouched. I have nothing against him.

After a while there's only William on the other side, while on ours there's me, Blake and the Damien guy from the football team. Blake approaches me, avoiding William's shot.

"You're good." He praises, panting.

"I'm done. You can take him out." I tell him, not even tired, since I'm used to much more extreme workouts. I get a shocked and confused look from Blake as I head to the front line, leaving myself in the open for Will to take me out.

William smiles at me before gently tossing the ball to me, aiming for my leg, since he knows about my injured ribs. I smile back at him and stand still as the ball lightly touches my leg before hitting the floor, meaning I'm out.

Damien gets ousted right after me, leaving only Blake and William on the court. While they go at it, Tyler comes up to me, silently gesturing to Victoria, who storms towards me with angry strides, a red print on her stomach where I hit her with the ball earlier. Tyler puts his arm around me, pushing me behind him to protect me from bitch's wrath.

"I WILL KILL YOU, YOU LITTLE BITCH!!!" Her shrill voice is really getting on my nerves. I feel Tyler tense in front of me preparing for a hit and from my peripheral vision I see Blake and William stop their game and come over to us. The rest of the students stay silent, probably waiting for the show.

But it's not me, or Tyler, or Blake, or even William that stops the evil troll.

It's the coach.

"Peterson!!!" Coach's deep angry voice resonates through the hall.

"Mr Jason, she hit me hard on purpose!" The bitch suddenly cries out, whining like a little, well, bitch.

"And you haven't? You think I'm blind? And it's Mr Carter for you, Ms Peterson. Do not get familiar. I will not tolerate your attitude towards Ms Clarke. Detention after class!" It's my first time seeing Coach snap at her like that. I always thought he favored her like all the teachers, since she's the principal's daughter and all.

"But Mr Jason-" she starts, but the coach silences her immediately.

"Mr Carter." – he berates her – "And now you're suspended. One week."

"You can't-"

"Two weeks! Want to make it three?!" Now Coach sounds plain pissed.

"No." Bitch is finally quiet. I guess even she can't get out of suspension.

Once she trudges off with her minions following behind her, the coach turns to me.

"Are you alright Ms Clarke? Do you need to see the nurse?" I'm slightly surprised that he actually cares about my well-being, but then I remember the note from the doctor that described in detail the severity of my injuries.

"I'm fine, Mr C." I assure him with a smile. He seems to be satisfied with my answer, nodding at me with a gentle smile then dismisses the class loudly.

When I know for sure that Victoria and her friends are gone from the changing room, I go inside and change my clothes, careful of my aching ribs. It's not that I'm afraid of Victoria or her minions, not in the slightest; I just don't want anyone to see the tattoo on my back.

Getting out of the changing room, I'm immediately swarmed by Blake and his friends, including some guys from the football team.

"Jesus Christ guys, don't do that." I admonish them as I put a hand over my heart, trying to catch a breath. I did NOT expect that.

"Sniper, you okay? Did Victoria do anything to you?" Nathan from lunch asks before anyone else can even speak. Sniper? Really now?

"No, she was already gone when I came here." I tell him honestly, adjusting my bag on my shoulder as I head towards the exit, but not before having my hand grabbed by Blake again. The guys follow behind us as we leave the school. Unable to disentangle my hand from Blake's – damn, his grip is strong – I have to lead him to my car after bidding goodbyes to the other guys.

Once we're alone next to my car, Blake decides it's time to give me a heart attack, leaning down and putting his head on my right shoulder, making his warm breath caress the exposed skin on my neck and chest. Since I'm still holding his hand I feel him grip mine even tighter as he breaths deeply, not saying a word.

"I thought she did something to you." He says so quietly that I almost don't hear him. "You didn't come out for so long and I got fucking worried that Victoria hurt you. But the door was locked! I couldn't get in!" He squeezes my hand hard enough to almost be painful. I don't miss the slight break in his voice. I pat his shoulder with my free hand, trying to reassure him that I'm okay. Aw, sweet Cakey was worried about me.

I take his head off my shoulder after miraculously taking my hand out of his, and holding his face in my hands I look him straight in the eye, forced to crane my neck for that. He's so uselessly tall.

"I'm fine Blake. Victoria wasn't even in there. It took me a little longer to change than usual because of my ribs, that's all. And besides, if you barged in while I was changing, I would kick you in the balls, just so you know." I say, finishing with a light chuckle as I joke, poking his cheeks playfully. I take my hands of his face when he finally relaxes, but then he puts his hands on my face, cupping my cheeks. I arch an eyebrow at him in question, unimpressed with his theatrics.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm warming you up, your hands were cold." I feel my other eyebrow rise at that. What?

"My hands were cold, so you put your hands on my face? Where's the logic in that?" I calmly ask, not bothering to take his hands off. They actually feel pretty nice and warm. His hands are big enough to cover my whole face.

He pulls his hands off my face and takes my hands instead. But he doesn't hold them; he puts my supposedly cold hands in the pockets of his jacket, then puts his own back on my face.

"This is the weirdest shit you've done to me so far." I tease him, getting a cheeky grin in response.

After few minutes Blake finally lets go of my face and I take my hands out of his pockets.

"See you tomorrow, sweetheart. I'll pick you up in the morning." He quickly leaves with a quick kiss to my forehead before I can even reply. Sneaky bastard.

"I will drive myself!" I call out after him, but he just laughs loudly as he walks away.

He is so fucking weird!