WHEN I GOT TO SCHOOL the next morning, a large crowd had begun to form in the parking lot to watch a fight ensue between Harry Styles and Tommy Wilson. Apparently, Styles confronted Wilson about what he did to Alice at Matty's party, but when he gave him a snarky remark in response, Harry shoved him against his car.

"What kind of scum sexually takes advantage of a girl when she's intoxicated, huh?" Harry hissed, grabbing Tommy by his polo shirt. "I ought to beat the shït out of you right now in front of everyone, so people can see how much of a wimp you really are," he spat.

"Listen, whatever that b.itch told you is a fücking lie!" Tom yelled, attempting to shove Harry back, but his body hardly even budged. "I didn't touch her."

"You're the one who's lying!" Harry pushed Tommy again, causing his back to connect with the side of his car painfully. "Tell me what you did to her."

Tommy grunted as he closed his eyes but managed to regain his composure quickly. "Think you're man enough to handle the truth, Harry? Alright, fine. I let your girl her give me head," He declared with pride, "and you know what? It felt so...fücking...good."

That statement was all it took for Harry to unleash his rage and thrust his knee into Tommy's gut, causing him to double over in pain. Next thing I knew, he was climbing on top of him, throwing punches to his face left and right, and everything became bloody real fast.

I couldn't find it in me to stand on the sidelines and just watch anymore. Somebody needed to put an end to this before someone got seriously hurt.

"Oh my god. Harry, he's almost unconscious! Please stop," I begged once I pushed my way to the center of the circle, using all the strength I could muster to pull him away by his arm. "He's not worth it."

Harry managed to get in two more solid punches before letting me drag him back, his chest heaving up and down with all the adrenaline surging through his veins. Once the commotion settled down and what he did registered in his mind, Harry released my hand only to grab a handful of his curls in distress.

"Fück. I've gotta get out of here... I can't be at school right now," I heard him groan as his green eyes searched the parking lot for his car.

"Wait, what about your cuts? We should let the school nurse wrap those up before they get infected," I tried my best to persuade him to stay. "Also, we need to tell the principal about the fight before someone else does. M-maybe the punishment will be less severe if you do it like that," I recommended.

"We?" Harry suddenly narrowed his eyes at me before poking out his tongue to wet his lips. "There is no we. Last time I checked, the only person I needed was me, myself, and I. Why don't you stick to what it is you do best, sweetheart: taking people's orders."

Okay, dipshït, have fun getting suspended. A part of me wanted to retaliate in smite, but no words of rancor left my mouth. Instead, I stared at Harry sympathetically because even though he didn't know I knew about the conversation he had with Alice the other night, I had a sense of how torn he might be feeling right now and didn't want to add fuel to the fire.

"You're right," I muttered, shaking my head. "It's not my place to tell you what to do. Carry on with what you were doing before I opened my big mouth," I said, moving aside to allow him to walk past.

After Harry left, Tommy ended up going to see the school nurse for his injuries, and the rest of the faculty inevitably found out about the fight. It was no surprise that Harry didn't come back to school that day but strangely enough, neither did Alice. I wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt for everything that happened between her and Tommy, but something seemed off.

§

"Oh my god. I can't believe I missed the only fight our school has had in the last two years," Malaysia complained as we talked over the phone, "This is why I hate dentist appointments. You've gotta fill me in on everything tomorrow."

"I will, don't worry," I assured her with a small smile. "Anyway, my break is just about over, but I'll text you later?" I offered.

"Yeah, talk to you later, Flo," Malaysia said.

"Bye, Sia. Don't forget to floss," I reminded her before ending the call and putting my phone away.

We didn't deliver on Tuesdays, so I killed time on my shift by helping Lester make more pizzas and restocking the drinks. For the most part, the two of us relied on each other for socialization until our attention was drawn to a group of teenagers who entered Adrian's carrying bags from H&M and Hugo Boss.

"Do you know those kids?" Lester asked me. I nodded my head.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure they go to my school."

And my suspicions were confirmed. Among the small group I noticed Alice Sexton with her ladies in tow and two guys I recognized from the football team. They all took a seat in one of the empty booths and resumed their conversation about the lofty items they bought on sale.

"Hey, what are you two doing just standing here?" My dad's voice boomed as he reemerged from the attic, carrying a box of envelopes in his hand. "Can't you see we have a group of hungry, paying customers waiting to be served? Get back to work."

"Well, Les. You heard the man. Get a move on," I encouraged him by ushering him in their direction.

"Woah, woah. Wait a minute. Why don't we determine who's waiting for the rest of the night with a game of rock, paper, scissors. Best two out of three," Lester proposed.

"No thanks," I declined. "I already know I'm going to lose. Now go."

"C'mon, just play me and then you'll know for sure. If you win...I'll let you borrow my beat headphones for a day," He bit his bottom lip after wiggling his eyebrows, and I rolled my eyes in a sigh before giving in to his request.

Worst mistake I could have made all night.

"This is not fair. You know I suck at hand games, Les," I frowned as I grabbed a pen and pad of paper from the drawer and slammed it shut.

"Sucks to be you. Better luck next time, kid," He said, giving my shoulder a light squeeze before joining my father in the back room to help him distinguish the important mail from the junk mail.

I swear, sometimes he just makes me want to—

"Gosh, the service here is horrendous. We've been sitting in this joint for 10 minutes, and no one has come to take our orders yet," Alice complained to her group of friends who nodded in unison. "This is the last time I'll ever let Harry decide where I should grab a bite to eat."

I decided that line was my cue to go over to them. I couldn't have my father losing business because of me. "Hello, welcome to Adrian's pizzeria. What can I get for you all?" I asked them as cheerfully as I could while flipping to a clean page in my notepad.

The redhead to Alice's left was the first to answer my question. "Finally. I will have the Spaghetti with Italian sausage and grape soda." I nodded my head as I recorded her order onto the pad.

"Jesus, Catie. Do you have any idea how much carbs and fats you're about to consume with that one meal?" Alice cruelly pointed out. "At this rate, you'll never be able to get rid of those cankles," She stated as a matter of factly.

Poor girl. All she could do was laugh awkwardly at her friend's comment as she played with her hands.

I tried not to let the disgust of her unapologetic rudeness show on my face as I took the rest of the group's orders. After I had everything written down, I went over their orders with them again to confirm I heard them correctly. "Alright, your food will be ready shortly. I'll be right back with your drinks."

"Cool," The boy with bleached-blonde hair at the table said before adding, "and I'm still waiting on that breakfast burrito, delivery girl. Make it happen." I rolled my eyes before turning around to walk back into the kitchen.

"Oh, and try not to take a gazillion years this time, kay?" Alice called out, making me huff under my breath as I nodded my head. "With that attitude, she's so not getting a tip," I heard her say to one of her friends.

I chose to shrug off her words, but I made no effort to stop the profanities that tumbled past my lips.

"Mi auguro che la cagna rompe un chiodo."

(I hope the dog breaks a nail).

Author's Note:

Hey everyone. As usual, thank you for reading this story. If you liked the chapter, feel free to vote, comment, and/or share with your friends.
Stay tuned. More updates to come next week! :)

—
Kaylandia