How can someone be so ignorant of something that's right in front of his eyes? I'm positive that Penny isn't the only person Scarlett throws insults at. He must know but he's not doing anything about it.

We don't tolerate that sort of behaviour at this school.

His words replay over and over again in my mind like a broken record as I head towards my locker. All of them are the same. Bullying was always a frequent thing back at my school in London. You couldn't go one day without seeing someone being picked on. None of the so-called authority figures did anything...but then again, neither did the students.

So many people would walk past the scene only sparing a glance in their direction. They were scared that would be them tomorrow if they looked at them for a beat too long. I was one of them. Deep down I wanted to help but I could never bring myself to do it. It was like I was trapped inside myself, desperately trying to break out of this cage I was locked in but the fear of what if held me back.

Now, I can't just do nothing. I came to Portland for a fresh start. It's different when you know the person who's being taunted by them. You start to notice things more. It creates a fire in you and their mocking words only add more fuel to the flames. I won't let Scarlett walk all over Penny as I did with the others back home. It's not fair.

There's hardly anyone in the hallways. Most of them are in the cafeteria probably still talking about the girl who stood up to Scarlett. There are only a few people chuckling away to each other outside of their lockers or waiting to be let into their classes. They don't know what I did but they soon will. Gossip travels fast here.

When I finally see a friendly face, I let myself relax. I do my best to smile when I see Penny leaning against the locker next to mine. "What happened in there?"

I rip open my locker and throw whatever I need into my bag. "I got suspended." I groan with a roll of my eyes. The words feel foreign coming out of my mouth. Me, suspended?

"Why did you do that?" The irritated tone in her voice makes me wearily shut my locker. We come face to face. The grateful smile that I was expecting is nowhere to be seen.

"What?" I falter.

"Why did you do that?" She repeats with just as much frustration.

I look around waiting for someone to jump out and tell me that this is all a joke. I wait but no one does. "Um," I start, taken aback by her reaction. "I guess I was sick of hearing her talking to us like we're dirt on her shoe."

She scoffs, actually scoffs. Not one of those playful scoffs that come with a punch on the arm or a roll of the eyes, a pissed-off scoff. "You had no right to do that."

I lean onto my locker for support. "Wh- what?"

"I can fight my own battles."

I place my hands on her arms. I feel like one of my only friends is slipping through my fingertips and I can't do anything to stop it. "I know you can, Penny. There's no doubt in my mind that you could go in there and kick her ass right now if you wanted to. I just couldn't stand by and let her say those things. She came to threaten you into getting her a date with your brother, for god's sake, that's not right."

She shrugs me off. My arms fall to my side. "I know she did, I was there."

She isn't looking at me anymore. Instead, her eyes are glued to the tiles beneath our feet. Penny has never been the confrontational type and to know that she felt she needed to confront me about this makes me feel sick. Should I have just let Scarlett say those things? It's not my fight to fight after all.

"I can't drive you. I have a class."

My throat feels dry. "That's okay, I can walk." I barely finish my sentence before she's walking away from me. I watch her retreating form as I try to process what just happened.

I threw a drink over Scarlett's head. I went to the Principal's office. I got suspended. I argued with Penny. Was that an argument? Let's call it a disagreement. We weren't arguing, no one raised their voice. If we were it would have only been one-sided. I was gaping at her like a fish out of water for most of it.

I got suspended. That means I'm going to have to explain to Sophie and Henry what I did. They're going to call my dad and he's going to tell me how disappointed he is. Archer's going to tease me about this for the rest of the year. My heart races as I start to hyperventilate about all of the possible outcomes.

I rush outside before the bell goes off for the next lesson and walk. I walk for what feels like forever. The wind wraps around me and I unwillingly let it. I clutch onto my bag for comfort and carry-on walking with no destination in mind. I don't feel like going back to the house yet.

Am I the only one who thinks this doesn't make any sense? Was I wrong to assume that Penny would feel bad that I had been punished for standing up to Scarlett? Was I wrong to assume she would be grateful?

My phone vibrates in my pocket. I reach inside to find Brody's name on the screen before answering it. "Where are you?" He asks sternly.

I look around me and see nothing I recognise. I've only been walking for less than ten minutes, I'm not lost. "I don't know," I admit, stopping to sit on the brick wall beside me.

"Penny told me what happened."

I heave a sigh. "I don't even know what happened," I close my eyes for a second. "She just seemed so mad."

I hear movement on the other side of the phone. I can picture him now, moving it to the other ear. He does that when he's having a serious phone call. "Listen to me, Madison. You've got nothing to be worried about. She's just being stubborn right now. She'll come to her senses soon." He sounds so sure.

"I know she will." I don't sound so sure.

"Listen, I have to go because Miss Wilson's threatening to take my phone off me,"

"She's what?" Despite what's just happened, I struggle to hold in my laughter. I don't know why but he always manages to make me feel better, even when everything's crumbling around my feet.

"She's about to take-" The call cuts off.

"Brody, hello?" I get no answer. She must have taken it. Crossing my fingers, I hope that he doesn't get in trouble for calling me. I pocket my phone after a few seconds and giggle to myself as I picture Miss Wilson's annoyed face as she holds her hand out, ordering Brody to give her the phone.

The thought of him calling to see if I was okay despite the possibility of having his phone taken makes me smile. Back in London, that thought wouldn't have crossed anyone's mind. No one ever really cared about my wellbeing except my dad and Sadie. As you probably guessed, I don't have many friends back home.

*

I drag myself out of the comforting water of the shower and wrap a towel around my body. My hair proceeds to drip onto the carpet as I walk back into my room. I do my best to catch the droplets.

I throw on a pair of sweatpants and an oversized t-shirt before sprawling out onto my bed. Of course, as soon as my head hits the pillow my phone rings.

"I just got off the phone with the principal." My dad's voice makes my heart drop.

"Dad, whatever he told you isn't what happened. Well, it is what happened, but he won't have told you the entire story. To understand why I did it you need to know about Scarlett and how she's bullied Penny for-"

He sighs deeply. "You don't need to explain yourself."

I bite my fingernails anxiously. "You're not mad?"

"Honey, what do I have to be mad at? I know you; you wouldn't do that if you didn't feel like you absolutely had to." He reassures me and I release a breath. "That being said," uh oh. "Next time please do it outside of school so you don't get suspended."

"Oh," I can't help but express my shock at how supportive he's being. It's like, in his eyes, I'm not in the wrong. "Thanks for understanding." I chuckle.

I flip over onto my stomach and prop my head upon my hand. "Did I ever tell you about the time your mum stood up for me?"

I press the phone closer to my ear, wanting to hear every word he has to say about her. "No." He's told me many things but I'm always excited to hear more. I feel like I'm getting to know her more and more each day.

He goes onto tell me about the time he got a new job. He'd been trying to find one for a while. He was so happy when he finally got the call telling him he had the job. He said he danced around the kitchen, leaving my mum gasping for air because she couldn't stop laughing at him. Anyway, a few days in he noticed one of his colleagues glaring at him as if he was the spawn of Satan. He later found out that he hated his guts as he "stole" his friend's job. He made his job even harder than it already was and my dad would moan about him to my mum. It didn't take long for her to act. He told me she drove to the office late at night like a woman on a mission to confront him.

"I still don't know what she said to the poor fella, but he never looked in my direction again." We both laugh together, and it feels like we're back in the same room.

"I miss you, dad."

"I miss you too, honey."

"Do you think Penny will forgive me?" Now I feel like him pouring all of his worries onto my mum.

"She'll come around at some point, I promise."

I want to believe him, I really do. But I remember her face so vividly. She looked betrayed. The last thing I wanted to do was make her upset. I just wanted Scarlett to stop treating her like she wasn't a person. Maybe acting impulsively wasn't the best decision.