I couldn't help but wonder if I was going to see her today. After dwelling on the person I desperately wanted to see, I began to think about the people I didn't. I swear, if I had to deal with Trent and his buddies one more time....

    I opened my locker and threw the door closed. Behind the door, there they were, as if they were out of some cliché movie. I took a deep breath and stared at them. I felt my jaw and fists clenched but I had to be smart.

I couldn't fight them. It upset Ash when I did and I actually hated upsetting her.

    "Hello Trent. Nathan, Brody." I greeted the three of them. I never knew I could be so harsh and cold until I had met them. I'd be lying if I said it didn't scare me.

    Trent smirked and placed his hand on the locker, closing me in. I knew he wasn't afraid to fight me, we did nearly every time we had a run in with each other. "Hey." His voice was nearly as cold as my own. My heart raced,  I knew where this was going.

    "Trent you don't want to do this. There are teachers everywhere. You could be expelled." I tried to reason with him. He turned and laughed with his friends.

    "Boys, even if I get expelled, who would be a bigger outcast? Me, or virgin boy here?" He poked me in the chest and I stepped back, ramming my head into my locker in the process.

    "Leave me alone." It was true, I was a virgin. But it wasn't my decision. It was Ashley's and I respected that. Sure it was hard, but that girl was everything to me and if I had to wait a few more years, I knew I'd be fine. There was no reason for me to rush things, especially since I knew it'd happen eventually. Nowhere in my future did I see myself letting that girl go.

    "Why?" He taunted. "Seems like your girlfriend does enough of that already."

    I tried to turn and run but he lifted his fist and socked me on the back of the head.

    "What was that for?" I growled. I could see a few of my blonde hairs were tinted red by the blood.

    "You think you can run? You can't run from the truth. You're dating a little prude."

    "That's not true." I defended Ash.

    He turned and looked at his friends. "Oh well am I wrong then? Is little miss Ashley Laning a slut? Mind if I try her on for size?"  Nathan and Brody laughed.

    "You take that back!" I lunged forward. Not caring about the teachers around me. They weren't important right now. What was important, was that I pummeled Trent to the ground. He doesn't get to treat girls like that. Especially not my girl.

    "You wanna fight Garland?" He punched my left eye. I swear I blacked out for a minute but before I knew it I was back on my feet throwing punch after punch.

    "You know Trent, I'll forgive you for the way you treat women. Your mom was never around to teach you proper manners so I can't blame you for that. But then again, neither was Daddy so what can I say?"

    "Screw you, Garland!" Nathan kicked me, and Brody even spit on me. After a few more punches I was out.

    I woke up in the clinic an hour later. "Whe— Where am I?" I looked around disoriented, Nurse Nancy was sitting at her desk typing something on her computer.

    "You're in the office." She turned around and glared at me. "Noah I'm getting real sick of seeing you in here."

    I sat up and rolled my eyes. "You say it like I want to be here." I chuckled. "Don't flatter yourself, doll face."

    "Now that you're awake you can leave, and here." She handed me a slip of paper. I assumed it was a detention slip. It didn't make sense since the fight had been after school, but I looked down at the slip and my heart sank. It was an expulsion notice.

    "Nurse Nancy!" I couldn't believe what I was looking at. The fight wasn't even my fault!

    She turned back to her computer and logged off. She reached down and grabbed her purse. "Principal's orders not mine." She walked out of the room.

    "Can't you do anything?" I shouted as I ran after her, ignoring the sting in my head. "I can't be expelled! I graduate in less than six months!"

    She turned around abruptly. "Noah, I'm sorry. I really am. But no, I can't do anything. So I repeat, goodbye Mr. Garland."

    I sat down on the bench outside of her office and stared at the slip. I had no idea how I was going to handle it. What the hell was I supposed to tell my parents? There was no way they were going to handle this well. I pulled off the irritating band aid off of my forehead and made a break for the barn. There was no way I was going home like this, I had to get cleaned up. It took me about twenty minutes to get from the school to the barn, but once I was there I still wasn't over the fact that Trent wasn't in the clinic. Maybe he was and he just got sent home earlier. That had to be it. It made me furious to think about him getting off without a scratch. I shoved the paper into my pocket in case one of the gang were here. Thankfully, when I opened the door, I was alone.

    I made my way into the abandoned barn and climbed the ladder to the hayloft. I thought I saw someone in the back corner, but when I looked again, they were gone. Taking a breath, I carefully walked to the makeshift infirmary at the front end by the window. Out of the six people in our group, only Ashley and Elliot knew about it. I trusted Ashley with my life, and I knew Elliot wouldn't do anything. He knew he'd die if he told anyone about my little secret.

No one knew about the fights. I figured Ashley had to know, the attacks only began once we started dating. Any sane person would have left the relationship then and there. Not me, she had me wrapped around her finger. I have been in love with this girl since I was old enough to know what love was. And luckily for me, she actually said yes when I asked her out for the first time. I must admit, I was whipped. I chuckled as I thought about all of the stuff I would do for her happiness. I would take a few punches, probably a few thousand if I had to. I would even take a bullet.  I wouldn't be able to leave this relationship if I wanted to. I'd miss her after one day. I chuckled again, if only she could see me now.

    I reached into the old Nike shoe box in the corner. Inside, there were a few rolls of gauze, some bandages, a bottle of rubbing alcohol, and a bottle of vodka. In my opinion, alcohol solves all of the world's problems, whether it be emotional or physical scars. I put some of the rubbing alcohol onto a bandaid and laid it on the cut on my forehead. I winced as the medicine went to work. Then I dumped some of it onto my hand, all of the tiny cuts burst into flames as I reached for the other bottle in the box. I took a swig and shook my head as the alcohol burned my throat. While I may be underage, I still enjoyed a drink every now and then. It was rare to find someone who didn't. I only knew of one person who refused. Ashley. She had never had a drop of alcohol in her life as far as I could tell. I remember back in the seventh grade, she told me to never let her have a drink, no matter what she said or did. I have kept my promise, in the beginning she would be angry, but once she had calmed down and return to her normal self, I always got a thank you.

    I screwed the cap back onto the bottle and laid it back in the box. I sighed as I stared at the contents and rearranged it.

    "Noah?" I heard a faint shout from down below. I leaned over the balcony and saw Ashley walking into barn. Scrambling back to my box, I threw everything back inside and tried to shove it behind the hay bale. She knew about the fights, but I hated that they upset her. So most of the time, I kept them to myself.

    She gasped behind me. "Oh honey." She stared down at the remaining rag in my hand and sighed. I had managed to put almost everything back in the box, but I had somehow forgot the one thing that I was holding.

    "I-I'm okay. I promise." I reassured her. But the pity in her eyes told me that she wasn't buying it.

    She took the rag from my hand and began doctoring me up. "No, you're not." I took a seat on the bale of hay and just let her take care of me. Like she always does. "What happened?"

    "Nothing honey. I swear." I had debated telling her the truth, but I could tell she had been crying, but I didn't press the matter. I knew she didn't want me to help her. She was stubborn like that, but I could tell she needed to be held so I pushed her hand away and pulled her onto my lap. I held her close and just listened to her breathing. She laid her small head on my shoulder. I winced and she pulled back a little.

    She looked up at me. "Obviously not. Just tell me."

    I pressed my lips together as I tried to think of something to tell her. I eventually settled on the half-truth.  "They were trying to break into my locker. Happy?" I pulled her to my chest again and she sighed.

    "I love you." She mumbled into my chest. I pressed my lips to her forehead, "I love you too, Ash." I could tell she was upset. I wanted to ask her what was wrong. I wanted to help her, I wanted to hold her and tell her it would be alright. I knew her mother was to blame, she probably missed a note on her violin and got yelled at. She's flawless, but I hate that she feels she needs to be. I tried to tell her she didn't need to be perfect around me, and I don't know if she tried. But to me, it seemed as if she didn't listen.

    She laid against me for an hour or so before I pushed her away. I knew she had to be getting home soon, and I didn't want her to be in more trouble. "You better get going." She laughed as she stood up. I could tell she was in a better mood.

    "Trying to get rid of me already, Garland?" She accusingly poked my chest and I fell back as if I had been shot, which made her laugh. That's all I ever wanted to do. Make her laugh. "Woah!" I almost fell off of the balcony, but Ash managed to catch me just in time. I leaned down and kissed her. I hated that I couldn't have more, but I knew her rules. And I respected them.

    "You know it, Miss. Laning."  I climbed down the ladder and assisted her. She looked at me for a second. I hated when she did that, I could never tell what she was thinking. I'm usually good at reading her, but this is where I was stumped.

    "Thank you."

    I took a bow. "Of course, milady."

She laughed and made her way to the door. "Goodbye, Garland."

    I mumbled a soft goodbye as she left and turned around. I took a moment until I knew she was gone before I left. I was halfway out the door when I heard a cough up in the hayloft. I scrambled back up the ladder and slowly walked to the other side of the loft. I lock of black hair caught my eye and I nearly threw a punch before she stood up and I realized it was Ravyn.

    "What are you doing here?" I asked her, still trying to calm down.

    She stared at me, her eyes were red as if she had also been crying. Wow, bad day for the gang. "None of your damn business." She turned back around and restarted whatever it was she was doing.         I poked my head over her shoulder, she had a sleeping bag and a bag of Cheetos set up. "Are you sleeping in here?" I was shocked. Ravyn never cried. She was the actual raven of the group, dark,  disturbing, and a little terrifying. I had no idea what could make her cry. "Ravyn, how long have you been here?"

    "A few hours," She answered. "I told my parents. They kicked me out."  I didn't know what to do. I had never seen Ravyn cry, not even once. And I have known her for eight years. I watched her cry for what felt like a long time. She was nothing like Ash, every time I tried to get near her she swat at me, and said some pretty nasty things. But that was just Ravyn, an independent wasp who wasn't afraid to sting.

    "Stay here." I told her when I got an idea. She didn't even acknowledge me but I knew she didn't have anywhere to go. When I got top the other side of the hay loft, I dug in my box. I know I have some paper in here somewhere. Once I found some, I scribbled four little notes and threw the pen back on the ground, not caring to put away my box. The sun had set a long time ago. My parents must have been worried about me but I didn't care. With what I was about to do, they wouldn't have to worry anymore. As far as they would be aware, there would be no me to worry about. I started at Ashley's house,

    I slowly made my way up to her window. I grabbed the water pipe and slowly scaled my way up it. Once I reached her window, I tapped it three times and stuck the note to the window. 

    Now making my way down was proving to be more difficult than making it up. I stuck the remaining three notes in my mouth and just slid down the drain pipe. Once I was on the ground, I turned back and saw Ash with the note in her hand. I was glad to know she found it so quickly, but I had more to deliver so I made a break for it across the lawn and nearly tripped over one of her mother's garden gnomes.

    When I arrived at Elliot's house, I made it up his fencing and to his bedroom window in an instant. That was easy, his house wasn't too large. I didn't get to see if he had received the note, but I just had to hope he did. It was getting near ten o'clock so I had to hurry before everyone else arrive back at the barn. Luckily for me, Oakley and Hudson lived in the same neighborhood. I made it up to Hudson's front door, I knew his parents were out of town so I just rang the doorbell. I was halfway to Oakley's house across the street when I turned around and saw Oakley yelling at me from Hudson's. They were together, that saved me a trip. I wasn't surprised at all.

    "You better be there!" I called back, there was no way I was going to let any of them miss this. This was going to change our lives forever.

    "Fine!" Hudson called, and shut the door behind him. I laughed, and made my way over to the barn, it only made sense that I be there first.

    When I arrived, Ravyn was right where I left her. She had her sketchbook out, and appeared to be drawing a dragon eating her parents with a rainbow flag draped over its back. "Hey." I mumbled. I didn't want to seem judgmental but it was a little disturbing. Even though it was totally Ravyn. She looked up at me a little confused.

    "Hey?" She responded. She shut the flap to her sketchbook. "What are you doing here?"

    I placed my hands on my hips and smiled. "I've asked everyone to come to the barn tonight. I've gotten an idea and I don't know how they're going to handle it. Ash might agree, but I'm worried about the others."

    She tilted her head in confusion and didn't say anything else until everyone else trickled in. After spending some time with my girl, I brought the group together. Hudson and Elliot were sitting next to one another, with Ravyn on Elliot's other side. The girls were all lined up next to Ash, who was beside me. It was terrifying to see the looks on their faces when I finally suggested my idea. None of them were expecting it, and I certainly wasn't expecting their response.