Chapter Three:

It's really strange.

One minute I'm walking beside Dani, then the next, I was being yelled at by this boy that I knew from Christian Ethic's class. In the middle of the hallway, this boy, I think his name was Matt, was shaking my shoulders and yelling at my face saying,

"Maverick! Thank god!"

For a moment, I was in shock. Some of his spit was on my cheek, and his breath smells like rotten eggs. He was touching me, well, he was touching my shoulders, but he was still touching me.

Anyways, Matt is invading my personal space, and I guess that triggered my defense mechanism and I, Maverick, brutally slapped him right on the face and pushed him off of me.

Shocked, and surprised, Matt yelped, and took a few steps back while holding his cheek. I stood there, gripping the straps of my small backpack, and suddenly feeling anxious because everyone in the hallway is starting to stare now. My eyes narrowed of what just happened.

"Sorry!"

"You didn't have to hit me you know!" He spat angrily, rubbing his cheek.

"I'm so sorry!" I said again, looking at him guiltily. "It's your fault! You can't just come up to me like that!" Of course, I'd blame him. Who does that? Like, come on, at least give me a heads up or something.

"Dude." He said, stretching his neck, as if I hit him really hard. I personally think that he's exaggerating. "Dennis and Tom are killing each other in the cafeteria!"

"Oh." I breathed out.

Everyone around us made heard. Then, just like a bunch of ants, all of the students who heard Matt came running towards the cafeteria hallway, desperate to catch up to the brawl fight.

"Oh?" Dani said beside me, and looking at me in amusement. I rolled my eyes. I wasn't really surprised that this happened. After all, they were two hormonal boys, fighting over a girl. A girl by the name of Natasha, my best friend.

"Mave, you gotta do something!" Matt said, dodging a student who rushed by. I frowned deeper.

"Me? Why me?" I asked, crossing my arms.

"Natasha told me to get you." He said, his tone getting impatient.

"Where is she now?" I asked.

"Trying to stop the fight." Answered Matt.

"What the hell is she thinking?" I exclaimed, feeling pissed off. "She's just going to make things worse if she's there! My god, that dumb bitch." I complained, sighing and shaking my head.

"Come on Mave, your Grandpa will-"

"Just shut up, and lead the way." I cut him off, feeling very angry at my friends.

Seriously, this teenage drama is getting on my nerves. And they expect me to stop them? Unbelievable. So what if my grandfather is Principal Reginald Potter? That doesn't mean that they can get away with anything just because I'm their friend.

So we followed Matt, racing with the other students who climbed up the stairs, then down to the connecting hallway of the cafeteria.

"This is the most clichéd situation that I've ever been in." I said, pushing through crowds of smelly football players. I complained out loud that they reek, mostly because I want them to feel ashamed because they let themselves smell that way. "Learn to have good hygiene, seriously guys."

"Gross." Dani muttered. She was behind me, and I didn't know that she was so close until I felt her breath on my ear. I took a long step forward and pushed another guy out of the way, more aggressive than before. Somehow in the middle of taking another step, I lost my balance and a guy caught me by the waist.

"Mave, take it easy!" He said, laughing and sliding his hands down to my bum.

I didn't give a slap this time, I kicked him in between his legs.

"Get your hands off me, or I'll cut your dick off." I threatened, my face flushed with embarrassment because he actually touched my ass.

The football players oohed, and laughed, humiliating the guy.

I heard Dani laugh behind me, and I grit my teeth to stop myself from saying any more death threats because I actually don't want to humiliate anyone. Yes, I can be nice.

Dani touched my back, gesturing me to move forward, and I did while pushing people out of our way.

When we reached the inner circle that was formed for Dennis and Thomas, I saw Natasha standing there on the side, her hands that were hidden by her oversized sweater were up to her face, her eyes narrowed at the two boys on the ground.

Spaghetti sauce was on the floor, and Thomas' face was being rubbed with chocolate pudding.

"Oh man, he looks like shit... literally." I said, finding the scene before me quite funny.

Dani and I laughed at the ridiculous fighting scene, and guffawed because suddenly it looks like Dennis was humping Tom.

"Mave!" Said Natasha, running towards us, holding a plastic spoon. "They won't stop!"

"Okay, okay-" I said, in between breaths of laughter. "Why are you holding a spoon?"

"I was talking to Dennis, but then Tom reacted so Dennis got pissed and took my chocolate pudding and threw it at his face... That's how the fight started."

Dani and I looked at each other and another burst of laughter came out of us.

"You guys, it's not funny!" Natasha said, glancing at the guys who now rolled over, Thomas on top and punching Dennis' face, while Dennis wiggled around, trying to get away from Tom.

"That is so lame!" I said, now laughing so hard, my stomach hurting and feeling like I'm getting more ab muscles.

"Mave, for the love of God! Help me stop them!" Natasha begged, pointing her spoon at the two boys, and gripping my arm.

"Just let them fight for a while, they'll tire out." I said, chuckling.

"They're hurting each other, Mave!" Nat exclaimed.

"It's their fault-"

"Mave!" Nat yelled, and now glaring at me.

I held up my arms up in surrender, glancing at the cat fight and can't help but laugh again.

"How do you want me to stop them? I don't want to get dirty because they're covered with food." I told her.

"I don't know!" Nat said, panicking.

"Maybe we could ask that douchey football player to help."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Some football player grabbed my ass, just-"

"What the hell is Dani doing?" Nat cut me off, pointing at a girl, holding a bucket and filling it with ice from the ice machine.

Natasha and I watched her carry the bucket to the water bottle dispenser and placed the bucket there to fill it.

Then, Matt went beside Dani and offered to carry the full bucket, but Dani shook her head, and carried the ice bucket by herself.

"Oh that's smart." I said, wondering if Dani's gonna get away with this. It's her first day and she's already doing risky things. Her shoulder muscles flexed from the weight of the bucket and my eyebrows rose from curiosity.

Damn, she probably works out a lot.

"Your Grandpa is going to kills us." Nat said her hands on her face again, rubbing her forehead in a stressful manner.

"You know, this is all your fault." I told her, watching as Dani carried the ice bucket towards the two boys. "If you weren't so pretty, maybe this wouldn't have happened."

"Awe, thanks Mave."

"Just turn ugly." I asked her. "Because that would be the solution to our problem."

"Have you seen what I'm wearing? And I haven't showered!"

"Yuck."

Then Dani poured the ice water over Dennis and Thomas, which made them stop what they were doing, and stared at Dani with narrowed eyes and chattering teeth.

Everyone gasped. Murmurs and whispers can be heard. The bucket fell and Dani sighed.

Then, Dani grabbed the back of Thomas' shirt and stood him up. She also offered her hand to help Dennis, but Dennis refused and lifted himself up.

She gestured something with her hands to the two boys, as if she wants them to shake hands.

I watched in amusement as Dennis and Thomas glared at each other. Neither extended a hand, and Dani rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. She waited again, but neither of the boys moved.

"Alright, break it up, break it up!" Yelled my Grandpa, his tall frame was clearly seen from the crowd. "You're disturbing the lunch line! Everyone, stop crowding the hallway and move on to the Commons area."

Then random teachers started to show up, supervising the students to do what the Principal just said.

Mr. Sanvedra, the Spanish teacher, and Thomas' dad showed up, his hands on his hips while staring at Tom, then shook his head disapprovingly.

"You two!" Principal Potter approached the two boys. "In my office. Mr. Sanvedra, you too."

"Yes." The Spanish teacher replied, sighing.

I heard Natasha gasp, a worried look on her face.

"I hope they won't get expelled..." She murmured.

"I guarantee you, they will get suspended." I said. "Do you think Dani will get in trouble too?"

Then Nat and I watched as she talked to my Grandpa, shaking her head on something, and again, crossing her arms. Then she pointed at me, which made my Grandpa turn to look.

"Maverick!"

"What now...?" I muttered under my breath, and approached them.

"Have lunch with Danielle."

"I was actually already planning that." I told him, standing beside Dani. "Happy to show off our cafeteria food." I added sarcastically, smiling at him.

He held his index finger up, warning me and shaking his head

"I don't like your tone."

I just sighed and shrugged my shoulders.

"Now, we'll go, and hopefully these two gentlemen will learn their lesson." My Grandpa said, patting my friends' backs.

I stared at Dennis and Thomas in disappointment, they wouldn't even meet my eyes. Then I stared at Natasha a few feet away, her hands still on her face and looking anxious.

God, this is so stupid.

"You have to make a decision, Nat." I told her, sipping from my water bottle.

"I love both of them." She said, stuffing her face with spaghetti. "Well... Yeah, not... I don't know anymore!"

"That can't happen. You can't kiss both of them and expect things to go well, are you even thinking at all?" I told her, stirring my broccoli soup.

"I'm not kissing both of them- Okay maybe I did- Stop judging me!"

"Too late." I told her, shaking my head. "This is getting ugly. What if both of them leave you?"

"No... No they wouldn't do that."

"What if both of them decided that you are not worth it to go across their friendship?" I asked, taking a spoonful of soup. "You wouldn't want that."

"I don't." Natasha said, holding my arm.

Dani snorted a laugh.

Nat and I turned our attention to the other girl and stared.

"What if they're secretly in love with each other?" Said Dani, who was nonchalantly eating a chicken sandwich. "And they're actually fighting because you got in the way. Now, they can't be together."

Dani looked at us seriously. She shrugged her shoulders and looked at her sandwich.

"I'm just saying," She said. "What if they're actually a secret gay couple?"

Natasha's jaw dropped. I laughed awkwardly.

"Ha. Ha... You're funny."

None of them laughed with me.

"Oh my god..." Nat said, sinking down on her seat, her head on the table. "Oh my god."

"Nat, Dani's just kidding." I told her, patting her back.

"No I'm not." Dani said, pointing her sandwich at us. "It's possible."

"You're not helping." I told her.

"I'm just being honest." Dani said, giving me a hard look. "You can choose to believe me, or you can choose not to. What would I know? I'm just saying what if's."

"No. No... I don't believe it." Natasha said, shaking her head

"Then don't." Answered Dani. "It's not a big deal."

Then I just stared at Dani while patting Natasha's back as she cried. Dani chewed her food, staring back at me and licked her lips because there was ketchup.

I looked away, feeling embarrassed because I was staring again. I saw her smirk, and she continued to eat her sandwich.

"I have to say though, my first day here wasn't boring than I thought it would be." She said, smiling and trying to get Natasha's mind off of things. "And I don't know about you, but I love the food here." To prove her point, she took a big bite off the sandwich and chewed happily.

I rolled my eyes at her and continued to comfort my best friend.

It's really strange how someone can turn a serious conversation into a friendly one. Dani started to make small talk about how her day went, how her classes went, and how the teachers treated her. It's strange how Dani gave me the same, observing stare when I caught myself staring at her again.

And it's so strange that I feel myself embarrassed and shy all of a sudden. I don't know how to feel towards this except... confusion.

It's really strange.