A/N:
Date: 5-2-17

Word Count: 2013

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Chapter 1: Fighting Boring Battles

*5 Years Later

I hate this. I'm supposed to be at home, but instead I'm stuck with these crazies. Specifically the crazies in the back of the bus. About a week ago was when it all began. The guys in the back of the bus started yelling at my eleven year old sister, Lucy. I don't remember what it was even about, but I got mad and tried to get them to shut up.

Lucy was little in my eyes and I'm sixteen, so naturally I should stand up for her. I could see Jake a couple seats away, listening to music. I knew since he was 17 and protective of Lucy, he would stick up for her if he knew what was going on. But it was my turn to help out my little sister. One thing led to another, and Moose pushed me onto my back into the aisle. It didn't hurt too bad with my adrenaline kicking in.

Jake must've heard the noise because he looked back at me with concern in his eyes. I shot him an "I got this" glare as I stood up. He turned away quickly, pretending not to care. That stung, but I was getting used to it. Jake had been giving me the cold shoulder for a while. He didn't like how distant I was and how I didn't really listen to our parents.

It wasn't my fault that every time I looked at our parents, I don't feel gooey happy family feelings. I just don't feel close to them, especially with how cold my father acts. But I'm sure that I'm the only one that feels it. But because of that, Jake thought I was a bad influence for Lucy. I didn't blame him for not knowing any better because I didn't tell him what was happening. So he returned to ignoring me, offering no help. I knew that I could handle this fight though.

Anyway, the guy's name isn't really Moose, but he's never told anyone his name before. We call him Moose because of how big he is and because of his uncontrollable anger issues. I guess he's fine with it. Meaning I haven't heard him complain. For all I know he doesn't know we named him Moose.

But everyone thought the name fit. I understood that it went along with his anger issues, but how he looked didn't make sense. Moose has black hair cut short like a soldier, and he towers over everyone. I thought his nickname should be Bear, but I didn't share those thoughts with anyone. I didn't have any friends to tell anyway.

Focusing back on the present... Moose pushed me and someone yelled "fight!" When I get angry I act irrationally. So I wasn't surprised when I was looking at Moose who was on the ground rubbing his head. I heard someone say I punched him in the stomach before pushing him down.

As I said before, I wasn't surprised at all. Especially since the stomach is considered a weak spot, so it's my favorite place to punch since it doesn't do too much damage. It helps that I have a punching bag at home to practice with, which makes my fists stronger. Plus I was really mad at Moose.

I pulled Moose off the ground and said, "Sorry man, didn't mean to hurt you." That was how I always talked after a fight with a guy, because if I talked "guy talk" it kept them from attacking again. I guess it soothes them. Don't ask me why, I don't understand guys any better than regular girls.

Moose just grunted a response and sat in his seat, but by then my bus driver Miss Maggie came down the aisle and told us to step off of the bus. I looked to Lucy and saw Jake grab her arm to stop her. With the angry expression on her face, I couldn't tell if she was going to attack Moose or Miss Maggie to defend me. I couldn't hear what Jake whispered to Lucy, but I could read his lips.

I had become good at that over the years, since Lucy and I mouthed words to each other all the time. In some conversations we didn't want to be overheard. Jake said, "You can't help her, Lucy. She got herself into this mess. She can get herself out too." Did I mention Jake also didn't say my name anymore?

Unless of course he was yelling at me. That happened a lot too. And if Jake said more, I wouldn't know. I looked away to keep from getting angry at Jake. This wasn't his fault. Then me and Moose went out the emergency back door. A second later Miss Maggie followed us.

Once she closed the door, I studied her face for a sign of how much trouble we were in. But I couldn't tell anything. Miss Maggie just stepped away from the bus, looking at me and Moose. Miss Maggie is an older lady, around 30 years old and a bit overweight. It doesn't sound like she'd be intimidating, because she really isn't. Miss Maggie hardly ever gets angry.

When Miss Maggie looked at me, I pushed away my feelings, put on my most sincere expression, and said, "Miss Maggie we are so sorry! It was just a misunderstanding and it will not happen again. We promise. Right?" I looked pointedly at Moose, but didn't say his nickname. I didn't want to make him more mad. Miss Maggie looked silently to Moose.

As soon as she wasn't looking I shot Moose a "don't you dare mess this up" look with my glaring brown eyes. He understood and said "Yes Mag-I mean Miss Maggie. We promise it will not happen again." Miss Maggie kept a straight face so we couldn't know what she was thinking. I hated when she did that. That is kind of hypocritical though because I do it all the time.

I gazed around, trying to figure out where we were. Miss Maggie had pulled the bus over like she usually does when she sensed trouble. It was like she had a third sense for seeing fights before they happened. Anyway, I took a deep breath to get ahold of myself. There could not be another fight involving me.

Miss Maggie turned to me and said, "Well this is your first offense..." I kept my face neutral just like hers, but Moose had hope written all over his face. I've never seen his face like that before. It was interesting. Miss Maggie then said, "But I can not let you go without punishment." Moose's face fell into a frown at that.

I expected Miss Maggie to tell us what we had to do, but she opened the back door and walked back onto the bus. Moose and I quickly followed her. We both learned Miss Maggie's fast when she is mad, even though I thought of her as a slow person.

She pointed to the grey duct tape above the middle seat of the bus and said, "Whoever is sitting from this seat back must report to the school this Saturday morning at 10am for detention." Half of the kids on the bus said, "What!?!" But I just thought sarcastically, "That's just great."

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So here I am now at 9:53am in the parking lot of the school on a Saturday morning with Lucy and my older brother Jake, waiting for Miss Maggie to order us around. Lucy and Jake had been sitting near me when the fight occurred, so they had to come with me to detention.

This morning I decided to go casual. After all, it was Saturday. I was wearing a pair of jeans with no holes, a plain pink shirt, a black hoodie, and my favorite colorful tennis shoes. I didn't know what the weather would be like, so I wore a hoodie just in case it was cold. I could take it off if it get warm later.

It was kind of windy today, so my brunette hair was blowing right into my face. That was just one more thing that annoyed me this morning. The other things were apparent. For one, I was stuck here. I pulled another strand of hair out of my face. It whipped back into its spot on my cheek. But just as it landed, the wind ripped it away. It was surprisingly sunny out today, which made my hair almost appear red.

All the kids who had to come got here a couple minutes before 10am just like me. All except Moose. He tried to be defiant by showing up at 10:01am. Yep, that's a real bad boy right there. I could tell right then this day was going to be horrible.

I was completely right. Miss Maggie told the parents exactly what we were doing when they dropped us off. She wouldn't tell us anything besides the fact that it was some kind of community service. We all climbed onto the bus. There were 20 of us. Everyone sat in groups away from all the other groups.

I sat alone in my usual seat. Miss Maggie yelled to get our attention and said, "This drive will be an hour long, so get settled in." Everyone grumbled to that, but I just thought, "I can't believe my parents agreed to this."

I was just about to take out my iPod and earbuds when Miss Maggie said, "Oh and no electronics! That includes you Alicia. This is not a field trip, this is detention." For some reason Miss Maggie thought I was trouble. So I put my things away and tried to sleep. But Miss Maggie interrupted me.

"All right everybody, hand up all of your bags." I saw some kids trying to hide their phones in their jacket pockets. I just rolled my eyes and put my phone in my bag. Miss Maggie isn't as dumb as they think.

Just like I predicted she said "This bus doesn't have air conditioning, so the windows stay closed. It will get hot, so you might want to take off your jackets now." I decided not to take my hoodie off because I didn't want to forget it later.

A girl I didn't know well named Hannah said, "But you shouldn't take our phones! What if our parents try to contact us? I know my parents will be worried. We'll need our phones." What she said didn't apply to me, since my parents knew where I was this time. And yes, I am implying that they usually don't know where I'm at.

Miss Maggie thought for a second and finally agreed we could keep our phones. Everyone cheered until Miss Maggie said in 30 minutes we wouldn't have cell service. I put my phone back in my pocket so I wouldn't get in trouble for playing games like the other kids probably would soon. Sucks for them I guess.

Miss Maggie informed us that our parents knew we wouldn't have cell service, so on the way back we'd be stopping at a gas station to refill the gas for the bus and call our parents once we got cell service back. I would just text my parents and stay on the bus away from everybody to avoid another fight.

It's not like I seek fights or anything, because I don't. I think guys feel threatened by my bad reputation so they want to show their friends that they can beat me. My instincts make sure I squash their manliness, but I feel kind of bad afterwards. So I don't blame anyone for a fight they started.

I must have drifted off to sleep a little because Miss Maggie was saying something. "...20 minutes away so be prepared for hard work and discipline." I decided to ignore her and everyone else. I was just falling asleep again when I heard people yelling.