Y/N's POV

I walked through the hall, Max, Nikki and Neil by my side. (Caleb was absent for some reason.) We were all talking about...well...life.
"Dolf is in my science class," huffed Neil; he seemed angry, to say the least, "and he legit drew a creepy dog on the chalkboard! Why would he waste valuable science time drawing?!"
Max chuckled. "Nerd."
Neil rolled his eyes. "It's true, though. Come on, you've gotta admit that."
Suddenly, a popular kid named Todd came walking towards us, his pack trailing behind him. "Uh oh. There's trouble on the horizon," Nikki muttered.
Now, before I go on any further, let me give you a brief description of Todd: He has olive green eyes, a muscular build, and reddish-brown hair. Yeah. One of those kids.
He high-fived a friend as he approached us, a smug grin etched onto his features. When he approached my friends and I, I gulped. Todd put on an innocent face and asked my friends silkily, "May I see Y/N for a minute, please? I need to talk to her."
We all exchanged glances. Some curious, some slightly worried. There was a weird silence that sat on my and my friends' shoulders. Todd started to get impatient; he tapped his foot and crossed his buff arms. "Well?" His tone was slightly sharper.
"I dunno..," Max mused, crossing his arms and arching an eyebrow. "You seem like a real jerk. I don't think we can trust her with you."
Todd scoffed and grabbed my hand, pulling me away from my friends. I pulled my arm away from him. "What's your problem?" I snapped.
Todd smirked. "There's just something I need to tell you..." His devious tone kinda made me even more uneasy.
"No way!" Nikki stepped in, kinda frothing at the mouth. She really is an animal. "Y/N doesn't have to if she doesn't want to!"
I sighed, looking at my friends. "Guys, I'm gonna give him the benefit of the doubt. Maybe he just wants to tell me something."
"No!" Neil squeaked. "He's up to no good, Y/N!"
"Yeah!" Max agreed. "Do you really wanna risk losing an arm to that freaking whack-job?"
I shrugged, giving a soft smile. "I'll holler if I need you."
They all give hesitant nods, and I saw Todd smirk out of the corner of my eye.
"Okay," Max said slowly, leaning up on a random locker. "But we're not leaving until you come back safe."
I nodded and semi-reluctantly walked off, following behind Todd. After a bit of silence, Todd said slyly, "I'm really glad that you decided to come with me."
I was kinda weirded out, but I tried to be polite. "Thanks?" I hoped that he didn't hear the question mark at the end.
He gave a nod, and at that time I noticed that we were heading towards the "Forbidden Hallway", which was this really old, chipping hallway that nobody went in. "Why are we going to the Forbidden Hallway?" I squeaked, my hands glazing over with cold sweat.
Todd smirked. "I just want this conversation to be extra private."
The thought of running away came to me, but, again, I decided that I was just gonna give him the benefit of the doubt.
Big mistake.
He abruptly stopped, making me almost knock into him. "We're here," Todd said, his voice a low growl.
He turned around slowly, making my breath quicken. He stepped closer to me. Too close for my liking.
"Wh-what are you doing?" I stammered, realizing that Neil was right; Todd's intentions weren't good. Quite the opposite, actually.
His face was inches away from mine, and I gulped. "I gotta tell you something important," Todd breathed. His breath tickled my nose.
"What's that?"
"Nice ketchup stain on your T-shirt."
Damn. I was hoping he wouldn't notice that. It happened between the cap being loose, and me being stupid. But I didn't have time for that. I was kinda angry because he legit brought me to the most obscure place in our high school, just to tell me about my stupid ketchup stain.
   "Is that all you wanted to tell me?" I asked, an angry edge to my voice.
   Todd chuckled and shook his head. "No. That was just an 'I just noticed something' moment. I have something else to tell you."
   "What's that?"
   Todd cracked his knuckles, an evil grin stretching across his face. The next thing I know, I'm being punched in the face.
Todd's fist knocked into my face, and I yelped in pain as I hit the floor. I just laid there, my left cheek throbbing. I could've sworn that I saw Todd cringe in pain and shake his fist out.
"Wh-what was that for?!" I asked, getting up from the ground. I wanted to stay strong.
Lol nope. He simply gave me a slight push, and I fell to the ground once again. Welp. -10 Self Esteem Points on that one.
"No. Stay down," Todd growled, kicking me with each syllable.
I whimpered, and that gave Todd great satisfaction; a smirk crossed his lips. He crouched down to my level, and he whispered menacingly, "I've been watching you since the first day of school, and I can't help but notice what a threat to my high reputation you are. And what a loser, too." He gave me another kick.
"Stop!" I squeaked. "And why am I a threat to you? I always stay under the radar!"
Todd shook his finger at me. "That's what you would think. But, everybody is always telling me how great you are. And they stopped saying how great I am! I figured I'd just take you out and do them a favor." He grabbed a fistful of my hoodie and stood up, causing me to be hanging by his hands; like a puppeteer to a marionette.
Part of me was flattered that people actually liked me, and another part was worried that I was gonna turn into a "skin suit", as Nikki calls it. So I did something that I should've done a long time ago:
I called my friends.
"MAX! NIKKI! NEIL! SOMEONE HELP!" I yelled, thrashing under Todd's grip.
"Oh, will you hush?" Todd hissed, letting go of my hoodie, but pushing my back so I slammed against a decaying locker. "Besides, they can't hear you."
I look at him, my eyes letting tears escape. "It can't hurt to try."
Todd growled and slammed me into the locker once more. "Oof!" I said as the wind got knocked out of me.
Suddenly, I heard footsteps echoing throughout The Forbidden Hall. There's only one other person that would be clueless enough to wander there.
David.
I looked around the hall, and, sure enough, there David was, burying his head in a teacher's manual. My head might've been throbbing, but I was thinking as clearly as ever. I realized that this charade I was putting on with David would just hurt me more in this situation, so I did something that past me would punish me for:
I asked David for help.
"David!" I yelled, my voice cracking.
David removed his head from the manual and looked around the hallway, his eyebrows knitted in confusion. Then his eyes landed on me and Todd. "Y/N! What happened?" He rushed over to me.
"I-I got beaten on..," I muttered, rubbing my head and wincing.
David looked at Todd sternly. "Young man, I do not appreciate what you are doing to Y/N. Apologize at once."
To me David kinda came across as British, but I didn't care. As long as he disciplined Todd, that's all I cared about.
Todd scoffed and crossed his arms. "You can't make me. Go to hell, frickwad."
David did that "tsk" thing again and pointed a shameful finger at Todd. "I'm sorry to do this, but young man, you are suspended for 3 days."
Todd looked shocked for a minute, but he shook his head, a smirk on his face. "You can't do that yet. You're a newbie. I think you have to be a teacher for about 5 weeks before you can suspend people."
"Don't tell me how to do my job," David said, his tone getting sharper with every word. "Go to the office to confirm your suspension."
"No-"
"Now."
I had never seen David act that...not mean...stern! That's the word I'm looking for! I kinda just looked at David in amazement as Todd stomped over to the office.
When he turned the corner that lets to the normal hallway, David and I started to go there too.
After a bit of silence, I said to David, "Thanks for saving my a-I mean...skin..."
David chuckled. "No problem. Anything for my awesome Campbell camper!"
I rolled my eyes, a smile on my face. "Why were you even in The Forbidden Hallway?"
David looked at me quizzically, arching an eyebrow. "What's 'The Forbidden Hallway'?"
I sighed, smiled, and patted David's shoulder. (I had to stand on my tippiest toes to reach him.) "I have a lot to teach you, my friend."
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Word count: 1,530
I really appreciate the wonderful comments, by the way! The votes too! Even all the reads I'm getting!
Just stay weird, you guys, and Artzee says peace out!