Bridgette and Teddy's eyes spring open like two baby deer in front of a Ford 450 in the middle of the night. They both scramble away from each other and clumsily straighten out their clothes.
"Omg," Kiersten says under her breath.
She seems utterly shocked by this even though it's exactly what she predicted. But man, I'm right there with her. My brain doesn't want to believe what my eyes are seeing.
"Are you guys dating?" Kiersten blurts out.
Teddy and Bridgette exchange shy glances, both nervous and unsure. Neither are willing to give a straight answer.
"Well, we haven't really..." Teddy says, but is afraid to go too far.
"Nothing's, like, official-official," Bridgette says, then second guesses herself. "Unless..it is?"
"I wouldn't say, I mean, I don't know..."
Bridgette and Teddy continue to stutter over themselves and talk in circles. Seems like they're as confused about their status as we are. They keep going back and forth without ever landing on anything definite, and they both look like they would take literally any excuse to escape this uncomfortable situation. Honestly, at this point so would I. Barging in on them making out was bad enough. Listening to them stumble through a forced define-the-relationship conversation is a level of awkward I can't even begin to explain. When the noise levels rise in the gym, I waste no time using it as an excuse to get the hell out of there.
"Do you hear that?"
Teddy and Bridgette stop talking immediately, making the rumbling in the background grow louder. We strain our ears, trying to figure out what's going on. There's the stomping of hurried feet, fast-paced murmurs, and the squeaking of chairs as people quickly stand up from their seats. Then, comes the yelling.
"Omg," Bridgette says. "I think there's about to be a fight."
The four of us turn to each other with wide eyes. There's a brief pause where we all think oh damn, before we take off running towards the gym. If there's a fight, ain't no way we're gonna miss it. In our tiny little town where nothing ever happens, high school fights are like the Holy Grail of entertainment. I'm talking multiple rounds, side bets, chanting, taunting, the whole nine yards. With all the hype, you'd swear you were at a WWE match. I'm telling you it is wild. 
Like little kids on Christmas morning, we speculate excitedly as we rush towards the action. We poke our heads through the crowd that formed around the dance floor, trying to catch a peak.
"Who is it? Can you see?" Kiersten says, hopping up and down over the shoulders of the guy in front of her.
"No, I can't see anything," Bridgette grumbles.
The girls slump their shoulders and we're ready to give up when Ruthie's voice cuts through the noise, reigniting our interest.
"Hayden, relax, we were just dancing."
Hayden, I think to myself and scoff. I should have known he'd be involved in this. Jerk.
"Don't tell me to relax," he spits back. "You're my girlfriend. The only guy you should be 'just dancing' with is me."
"I'm not your property. I can dance with whoever I want."
Oh, man this is getting good. I should not be enjoying this as much as I am, but I gotta admit, there's something about Hayden being publicly shamed by his girlfriend that I find so satisfying. Maybe she'll come to her senses and break up with him.
"Is that what you think? You're allowed to crawl all over some sophomore and I'm supposed to sit back and take it?"
My smug smirk drops and my heart sinks into my stomach. Some sophomore. He's talking about Sal.
Teddy seems to have the same idea. He gives me a quick look and I know what we have to do. These things can turn ugly fast and he'll need his boys in case something goes down. It isn't easy, but we manage to elbow our way through the crowd to Sal.
"Look, it's not like that," Sal cuts in.
"Man, shut the hell up," Hayden shouts. "I know what I saw. You think I'm stupid or something?"
"Nah, man. That's not what I'm saying..."
"What are you trying to say then? Huh? You got something to say?"
Hayden steps closer to Sal, getting all in his face with the scowl of a rabid dog. My fists curl so tightly my knuckles turn white. My teeth start grinding in the back of my mouth. My muscles are shaking in anticipation. I'm itching to get at him. Ugh, Hayden makes me so mad I could spit. I swear to God, if he puts his hand on Sal, his ass is mine.
"I'm not saying nothing."
"Sure seems like it, Chelsea."
Hayden puts both hands on Sal's chest and gives him a hearty shove, causing him to stumble backward. I'm about to explode when I feel a soft touch on my arm. I turn to see Kiersten's big doe eyes pleading me to walk away and let Sal handle it. I want to, but...I can't. No one disrespects my friends like that.
"Back off, Littner," I say, my blood boiling.
Hayden turns his head towards me and smirks. He's arrogant. He thinks he can take me, but I'm not messing around.
"You gonna make me, daddy's boy?"
"I'm serious. Back. Off."
Hayden looks to his friends and they all laugh. They think I'm a joke.
"Ain't he cute when he's mad," he says and ruffles my hair like I'm a little kid.
"Matty," I hear Kiersten say behind me.
She takes my arm again and tries to lead me away from Hayden, but I can't stand it anymore. My temper gets the best of me and I lunge at him. I take him to the ground and pin him down pretty good. I get in a couple good swings before two of the teachers pull me off him. I don't go down without a fight though. I flail and kick to break free and rush back at him.
But Kiersten steps boldly in front of me and stops me. She puts her hands on my chest and our eyes lock. She looks so sad and helpless, it breaks my heart.
"Matt, please. You need to stop."
I take a few deep breaths. I'm still hot with anger, but Kiersten's pleading eyes are enough for me to take a step back and see how badly I messed up.  
"Are you okay?" She asks.
"Yeah, yeah I'm good."
My eyes scan the gym. The adrenaline wears off real quick when I realize the entire room is staring at me. My face turns a deep shade of red as the embarrassment sets in.
"I'm leaving."
I put my head down and push past the glares. I take about two steps and run straight into Olivia. The guilt hits me immediately. I should have never come tonight. I ruined everything. I couldn't have acted like more of a jerk if I tried. She deserved so much better than this.
But, I'm too much of a coward to face it. So, instead of making it up to her, I grumble a half-hearted "sorry," and disappear.
 

As soon as I break through the front doors to the school, reality hits me twice as hard. If I'm not at the dance, I'm going to have to go back home. To my dad. Who is absolutely going to murder me. No doubt the school's called him by now and told him what happened. He's probably waiting at home with a shotgun and a barrel of bleach.
No way. I can't go back there. I can't deal with him right now. Maybe if I walk around town until morning, the police will report me as missing and I can slip quietly away to California. I hear the wine is good. Not that I drink wine, but you know, whatever.
I wander around for a bit, ducking behind the shadows and cutting through the bushes hoping I don't get caught. But I can only delay the inevitable for so long. His headlights shine on my back as he pulls up beside me. He stares at me sternly and I know I'm in deep. 
"Get in the truck."
I swallow hard and stare back at him like a scared puppy. I reach for the handle and cautiously climb in. I put on my seatbelt and look straight ahead, avoiding all eye contact. I prepare myself for the reaming out of the century. I curl up real small, tuck my tail between my legs, and wait. But he's eerily quiet. Not a word is said. I'm wondering what the hell is going on, why he hasn't torn into me yet, when it clicks. Oh no, I think. He's not gonna yell at me. He's gonna guilt trip me.
"I thought I raised you better than this." 
"You did. I messed up, that's all."
"I can't believe this," he says and shakes his head without listening. "You don't think I have enough to deal with? I spent all freakin' night cleaning up the kitchen, picking up your sister's toys, helping your brother with his homework, putting Marcie to bed and God knows what else. And after all that, I finally get a chance to sit down. I'm thinking Matt's at the dance. He's having fun. I can relax. And what happens? I get a call from the principal that you got in a fight, stormed off, and that no one knows where you went. Well, that's great. Now I gotta wake your brother and sisters up, scramble to find a babysitter at 10 o'clock at night so I can waste my time driving all around town looking for you."
"Dad, I'm sorry..."
"I don't need this, Matt. I really don't."
My ears perk and I turn my head at my Dad's comment. Seriously? He's acting like I did this on purpose to make his life more miserable. I know I messed up. I'm trying to apologize, but he's not listening. Well, screw him then. If he doesn't want to listen, I'm not gonna repeat myself. He won't get any more sorries from me.
"I'm not perfect, okay? If that's such an inconvenience for you, I don't know what to tell you. It's not my problem."
My dad lets out a dramatic sigh and rolls his eyes in a big huff.
"I don't need you to be perfect. I need you to not beat the crap out of people. Is that too much to ask?"
My dad turns to me and stares straight into my soul. The disappointment and anger in his eyes shrinks me down to size. I start to second guess myself and question whether being stubborn is really worth it. But my phone pings, Kiersten's name flashes on my screen and the blinders come on.
I look down at my phone and smile as I type out my reply.
"Hey," my dad says and snatches my phone. "I'm not done talking to you."
"It's Kiersten, Dad," I say. "She just wants to know if I'm okay. Can't I send her one text, please?"
"No," my dad orders. "And you know what? You can forget about seeing her anytime soon. You're grounded."
My stomach drops.
"Wait? Are you serious?"
"You bet your ass I am. From now on, you go to school, you go to practice, you come home. No more late night trips to the lake. No more movie nights. No more milkshakes at the diner. None of that, you hear me?"
"Why Kiersten though? She didn't do anything."
"Because I make the rules, not you," my dad says. "Your actions have consequences, you need to learn that. Besides, some time away from her might do you some good."
I scoff and shake my head in total disbelief. As if that could ever be true. He's lost it. He's absolutely lost it.