Chapter Twelve: Taking A Bullet

Monday morning was like every other Monday. The only difference was I woke up that morning feeling a sense of satisfaction. The sensation of last night's successful revenge plot must've still been lingering in my blood.

I wonder if Nora felt the same way.

"You alive in there?" A voice said from the front door. "Do I have to call for search and rescue?"

I opened the door to reveal Sam standing in the porch. "Completely uneccessary but it's the thought that counts."

"I only aim to please," he said as he bowed. "Hope you don't mind me poking around here this early. I saw that your dad wasn't here so I thought I'd pop in before we went to school."

He sat down at the island as I made us some breakfast. It was the usual for when my dad wasn't around; eggs, bacon, toast, some hash browns and orange juice. It was our special meal for when my overbearing father wasn't around to complain about the dishes.

"Mmm. Oh god. It's been so long since I ate your hash browns," Sam moaned through a bite.

"Dude. They're frozen hash browns. I just.....toss them into the oven and let them cook. Nothing special." I put some more bacon on my plate. "Same with the eggs and bacon. All store bought."

"Ah. But you see....it's made with love."

I snorted and flicked some egg at him. "Jerk. Now finish up. We're headed to school early today."

"What?" Sam shoved the rest of his breakfast in his mouth. "Why?"

"I want to see if Art got his motorcycle back. Nora's dad is the mechanic that's been working on it all along. Kind of weird how fate works, isn't it?"

Sam shrugged. "I don't believe in fate. I do, however, believe in Art's ass. I don't mean to sound gay but my god he's a work of art. No pun intended."

We both made our way out to his car when I spoke again. "Sam. You are gay. Did you forget or something?"

"No. I just don't want to sound like a stereotypical gay man. You know. Like "oh Sam is checking out everyone's ass again" or "look Sam is wearing a pink polo shirt again today".

"A polo shirt?" I wheezed. "You never wear polo shirts!"

"I know! But thanks to society, they have their stigmas they like to attach to homosexuals. Like you and your plaid shirts. You're a butch lesbian."

I shot him a look as he drove. "Excuse me?"

He grimaced. "Sorry. Some of the guys at school call you that-not that I call you that. The name is rude as hell."

I stared out the window. "Butch? What's next, they're going to think I'm really a male too?" I turned to see him giving me a weird look. "It's complicated. Racism thing."

"Right. But if you were a dude, I would totally be okay with it-"

"Of course you would!" I laughed. He snickered as I hit him on the arm. "Just drive, you jerk. Or this butch is going to beat the shit out of you. And just to be clear, I'm bi."

Art was indeed at the school when we pulled up and he did indeed have his bike back. As Sam and I got out of the car, my teacher looked up from his handlebars and smiled broadly.

"My ears have been burning for five minutes now. You must've been talking about me!" He fist bumped me as I approached. "So? How does she look?"

"Brand new. Does she run okay?" I tapped the seat with a hand.

"Beautiful. Couldn't ask for anything more in a lady," he chuckled. "So what's up with you today? The Laney I know isn't chipper like this so early in the morning. She's grumpy while holding a large double double from Starbucks."

I rolled my eyes. "Funny. Didn't think teachers had a sense of humor but apparently you do."

Art laughed. "Yeah we're all soul sucking demons put on this earth to burn, pillage and plunder the dreams of today's youth. Now tell me what's up, Rubia."

Sam eyed me as Art spoke. "Why do you think something's up with Laney?"

Art glanced between me and Sam. "She's got a sparkle in her eye that was never there before."

Sam finally pieced one and one together. "You didn't come here to see if Art got his bike back. Did you?"

I ignored him. "You hungry? The Breakfast Program here has amazing eggs and bacon-"

"Laney. We just ate. Now answer the question."

I looked at Art for support but my drama teacher just grinned at me. "No, Sam. I didn't come here to see Art."

"My wounded heart," Art pouted, placing a hand on his chest.

"So....you came here for Nora?" Sam asked.

I waved my arms in the air. "So what if I did?! The poor girl comes here in the morning to get breakfast because her parents are too busy at home to make it. Sometimes they don't even have groceries. So she comes here and eats alone. Is that what you wanted to hear?"

Sam looked down at the ground. He looked ashamed. "Come on. Let's go in and find her."

Art winked at me before we headed inside. "I'll see you in class, Rubia. Go get the girl."

Go get the girl.

Did I even want the girl?

Would it knock me off the social ladder if I started liking her?

"Earth to Laney. Is anyone home in there?"

I felt Sam knock on my head like a door. "Shit. I'm not a door, you moron. I was just thinking about something."

A surprise smile flashed on his face. "Thinking about Nora?"

I scoffed. "No. That would be stupid."

"Would it? The blush on your face says otherwise."

I chased him all the way to the cafeteria where the delicious smell of breakfast was wafting about in the hall. As we both poked our heads in, we saw Nora sitting by herself at a table. It looked like she was doing homework.

"Should we go sit with her?" asked Sam.

"That's what we came here for, isn't it? Grab some plates and fill them up. I'm starving."

"But-"

I raised a hand to cut him off. "If you mention that we just ate one more time, I'm shoving a spatula down your throat."

Nora looked up when I plopped down in front her. She was halfway through chewing a piece of toast and smiled.

"Good morning. Missed breakfast this morning too?" She asked.

"Something like that. Sam's just around the corner getting some food. When did you get here?"

"About a half hour ago. Decided to finish my math homework while I was here." She scribbled a formula down as she finished her toast. "Why are you here? It's not like you don't have a pantry full of food at home that you can make yourself."

Ouch. That one hurt. "You're not wrong. But I wanted to come here and see how you were holding up."

Nora raised an eyebrow. "I'm sorry. Holding up?"

I cleared my throat. "Yeah. From last night?" I lowered my voice. "Remember?"

She made an "O" with her mouth. "Right! Last night! Yes. I'm good. Felt like a million dollars when I went to bed."

We both grinned at the memory of tossing a smelly fish into the backseat of Dallas' car. In an hour or so, we were all going to have to face a very angry Dallas as he arrived to school wondering who the hell put a fish in his backseat.

"You didn't tell me this place had turkey bacon," Sam plopped down beside me with a plateful of food. "I think I'll be coming around here more often."

"Good to know. Anyway, I was just telling Nora here that Algebra is easy. X equals negative three."

Sam glanced at Nora, who checked the back of the book for the answer.

"She's right," Nora chuckled. "That's the answer. How did you know that?"

Sam answered before I could. "Are you kidding? Laney's a mathematical genius. What she lacks in words she makes up for in numbers. Isn't that right, Rubia?"

I swat his hand away as he pinched my cheeks. "He's not wrong. Numbers click faster in my head than what words do. Which is why every mark I have is nearly perfect except English."

"I believe it," said Nora. "I never thought she was stupid to begin with. Maybe a bit quiet and judgemental but not stupid."

The breakfast bell rang. Sam shoved the rest of his meal into his mouth and we made our way to our lockers. I had English first period so that meant I would be sitting with Nora again.

The front doors to the school exploded open and a very angry looking Dallas stood in the doorway. He was breathing like an angry bull in an arena. He did not look pleased at all.

"Who the fuck put a rotten dead fish in the backseat of my car?!" He shouted.

The entire hallway went quiet. You could literally hear a pin drop falling as we all stared at him, wondering who would be the one to face his wrath.

"I'll ask again. Who put a fucking fish in my car?! Huh?!" He slapped some books out of some guy's hands. "Don't make me ask again. Step up now and your punishment won't be as bad."

Nobody said anything. Why would they? Nobody wanted to face the consequences. Dallas was pissed. I know for a fact that the guy was scary when he was mad and I've only seen him this mad once in my lifetime. To have to witness it again was horrifying.

From her locker, Nora stood statue still. She was really good at keeping a straight face but she almost robotic-like. Guilty in other words. I almost went to her to lead her away from all this but that would've given us away.

Dallas scanned the crowd. "Alright. Nobody wants to talk? I guess I'll make one of you talk." He pointed up the hallways a ways. "You."

Oh shit. He was pointing right at Nora and she looked absolutely terrified as he stalked his way towards her. Everyone made a path for him so that he could just walk right up towards her. Not a single person stepped up to defend her. And where were the damn teachers when you needed them?

"It was you, wasn't it? Fucking hippie. Was this your idea of revenge for what happened at the party or something?"

Dallas loomed over her, practically frothing at the mouth. It was only when he raised a fist did I step forward and took the blow.

Huh. I've thrown a lot of punches before but never actually got punched myself. I didn't ever expect to get punched by a guy either. Especially by my supposed friend Dallas. It's not as fun as it looks and the pain that followed was incredible. Not a good kind of incredible. But a bad one. When Dallas' fist made contact with my jaw, the pain was instant. I fell to the floor on my back with my legs and arms twisted under me.

Everyone gasped. It was the first sound they made since Dallas stepped into the hall and, by some miracle or another, the cavalry arrived. Teachers stormed the halls from both sides to try and break up the crowd.

"What's going on here?" Principal Lannon broke through the crowd. His eyes widened when he saw me on the floor with a bloody nose (I only realized it was bleeding when Nora pointed to her own to let me know). "What on earth happened here?"

Nora shuddered. "Sir. Dallas punched Laney. He was about to hit me but Laney stepped in and took the blow."

Lannon glared at Dallas. "Is this true?"

"This blonde bitch put a fish in my car!" Dallas stabbed a finger at Nora. "She did it last night when everyone was asleep! I know she did!"

Lannon grabbed Dallas by the back of the shirt. "We do not hit ladies in this school. Or anyone and anywhere else for that matter. Let's go give your parents a call and see what they have to say about your behavior."

I watched Dallas get hauled down the hall towards the office. When the crowd dispersed for class, I crawled up against a locker and leaned against it. My entire face ached; my nose was probably broken. Or was it my jaw? It was hard to tell. The pain was felt like it was coming from everywhere.

"Here. Put it to your nostril to stop the bleeding," Nora said as she handed me a tissue.

"What, no tampon?" I laughed. When she didn't smile, I followed up with, "It's a movie reference, Nora. Have you ever seen She's The Man?"

She shook her head. "Can't say that I have. But I can say that what you did was the bravest thing I've ever seen anyone do."

"Pfft," I scoffed. "It was nothing-"

"It wasn't nothing to me. You took a metaphorical bullet for me, Laney. A bullet that was meant for me." She looked me over, trying to decide what to say next. "Why? Why did you do it?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. I guess deep down I knew it wasn't really your fault. It was mine. So technically he hit the right person."

She frowned. By now we were sitting side by side against the lockers. Everyone else had gone to class, teachers included. My nose was gushing like Niagara Falls and she seemed to be the only person that actually cared.

"What do you say we skip school today? Just you and I?" She asked.

"For real? Like just blow this popsicle stand?"

She nodded. "Yes. The American Education System is flawed anyway. What they teach here we can simply learn ourselves at home. So let's take a day off."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Nora, who probably never skipped a day of school in her life apart from our one day we took together, was actually suggesting we commit truancy. "Truancy is a crime you know. We could get in serious trouble if we're caught."

Nora turned to face me, a grin on her face. "But that's only if we get caught."

A grin eventually spread across my face. "Alright. I'm down if you are. But if we fall-"

"I'll gladly take the blame. You took a hit for me, Laney. The least I can do is return the favor. But to be fair....your bloody nose makes a great excuse to leave school grounds anyway."

"Good point," I said. We made it to the parking lot when I finally said, "Dallas looked pretty pissed off, didn't he?"

Nora giggled. "He did. I can't believe you had a crush on him!"

I stopped dead in my tracks. "Hey. Who told you that?"

She rolled her eyes. "I may be highly unpopular but that doesn't mean I don't pay attention, Laney. I saw the way you looked at him. You had a super big crush on him."

"Yeah," I snorted. This hurt my nose. "That crush is long gone."

"I'd say," Nora agreed. "I'm still not sure what you saw in him."

I shoved another tissue up my still bleeding nose. "Me neither. Boys. Who needs them?"

She happily agreed with me.
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I wholeheartedly agree with Laney. Boys. Who needs them when girls exist?

So what do you think so far? In terms of the incident in the hallway, would you have stepped up to protect Nora? Is it something you would do if someone was being bullied?

Drop a comment letting me know if you're the type to step up and why. Leave above too while you're at it! Hope you're enjoying the story so far!