"Hey, Johnnycakes," Tess said.

"Tess," he said, grinning. "Still you, despite Biana's makeover."

Biana is ruthless when it comes to makeovers. She won't stop until she gets the desired effect. Or when she wants to tone it down, and not scare the person she's trying to give a makeover to.

"I did my own makeup, thank you very much," Tess said.

"I can tell."

"Well, look Maruca," said Stina. "If it isn't Sophie and her friends," she sneered.

I've never liked Stina. She's always hated Sophie, just because of Dex's Hairoids. It sounded pretty funny, and something that Stina deserved. She's never been nice at all.

"Stina," Sophie said, her jaw set.

"Hello," Stina said to Johnny, pointedly ignoring Sophie. She batted her eyelashes, flirting with Johnny. "Do you want to come over after school?" she asked.

That was going too far. I gathered water, just in case Tess blew up. Which was very likely, considering her tense muscles.

"He has plans. With friends," she snapped.

Yep. She's annoyed. And likely to blow up. Which is especially bad, considering how she's a potential Inflictor.

"Yeah. We're gonna slash some Socs' tires, and maybe shoplift some booze," Dallas said smoothly.

I glared at him, but he just shrugged nonchalantly. His look was definitely one that screamed, 'I have to help out my gang.'

"Can I borrow a scroll?" Stina asked Johnny. "I forgot to grab some."

"I don't got none," Johnny drawled.

I didn't know Johnny could lay on the accent that thick, but it was good.

"Well, we need to hang out," she said.

I saw the moment Tess snapped, rage flowing out of her body as she lunged at Stina, tackling her to the ground. Everyone was hit by the fiery waves, but I tried to stay calm. Not let the pain prevent me from trying to help.

There were screams floating through the air as my hold on the water wavered. I let go of it, the water soaking Tess and Stina, but it didn't make a difference.

Not until Johnny somehow found the strength to stand and scream, "Tess! What the hell are ya doing?"

She froze. "Johnny, she was-"

"Tess," he whispered. "Why?"

"She was flirting with ya, okay?" Tess screamed. "I hate it!"

"But that ain't a reason-"

"She wants to take you away from me!"

Tess started to stalk away, with Johnny at her heels. Their argument was still quite loud, though.

"What is going on?" Magnate Leto shouted, his arms crossed.

"She started it!" Stina howled, thrusting a bony finger towards Tess.

Tess spun around, her eyes blazing. "Ya tried to flirt with Johnny!"

"Quiet!" he shouted. "All of you." His gaze flickered to all of us who were involved with the fight. "To my office. Now."

"But-" Stina opened her mouth.

"Office. Now."

I've never seen Magnate Leto so angry before. It could've been an act, though, so he didn't appear to show any favoritism. That could cause a lot of trouble.

We walked to his office in silence. Mostly.

"Why do we have to wear these stupid capes?" Dallas muttered.

"Yeah!" Two-Bit shouted.

"Quiet!" shouted Magnate Leto.

"I don't care," Dallas muttered.

I sped up so I was next to him, and gently squeezed his hand.

"It ain't fair. The Socs get all the breaks," Dallas said, his voice tortured. "Us greasers struggle to get by, while the Socs get a good life. A happy life."

"Life ain't fair," Tess said dully. Her eyes were dull, her face was blank. She looked broken. "It never is."

We reached Magnate Leto's office, cutting off any response Dallas might've had.

"I want the whole story."

"I was talking to-" Stina said.

"Ya were flirting with him!" Tess shouted. "Quite badly!"

"Shut up!" Stina glared at Tess, but she didn't flinch.

"That all ya got?" Tess taunted Stina.

This wasn't going to end well. I couldn't tell who was going to come out worse.

"I want to hear her side of the story. Then you can tell your's," Magnate Leto said.

"What about our's?" Dallas asked.

"You'll get your chance."

Stina recounted her side of the story, altering it to make her sound like the victim. When she really isn't. She made it sound like Tess attacked her, unprovoked, when Stina pretty much taunted her into attacking.

"Tess, your turn."

Tess told her story, the true one. She paused when she mentioned how the rage just flowed out of her. She glanced at Magnate Leto, who simply nodded, and told her to continue with her story.

"Well, she's done. My turn," Dallas said, still slouching in his chair.

"No."

"No?" Dallas glared at Magnate Leto. "It's my turn to speak."

"I need to ask Tess some more questions. About the rage."

Realization dawned in Dallas' eyes. "Fine. Make it snappy. I don't got all day."

"Tess, has this ever happened to you before?" Magnate Leto asked.

"Once," she whispered. "In the lot. The night, the night-"

"That Johnny killed the Soc," Dallas finished.

I heard Johnny whimper, as Tess continued. "It was kinda like this time." Her eyes were slowly flickering back to life. Not the dull, lifeless orbs from before. "Except I thought that was just because of the Socs. That they somehow caused it."

"Linh, what's your story?"

"Right after Stina came over and started flirting with Johnny, I saw Tess' muscles tense, the way they do when she's close to breaking," I said. "I started gathering water, just in case I needed to cool someone down."

"Okay."

"When Tess snapped, I lost my hold on the water, and it soaked the two of them." I glanced at Tess, who was glaring at Stina. "Then you stepped in."

"This is stupid," Dallas said. "I mean, Socs will be Socs. Why are ya even trying?"

"Yeah! She ain't gonna change!" Two-Bit shouted.

"You're new here, so I'll let you off the hook this time. But if it happens again..." Magnate Leto trailed off.

"Fine," Tess said. "I'm gonna go to class. Where's Sir Tiergan's room?"

"I'll take you," Sophie said.

The two of them walked away, towards the Level Four wing.

Johnny sighed. "I messed up. Real bad, didn't I?" he said sadly, watching Tess' retreating figure.

"Hey, Johnnycakes, don't worry. Tess loves ya," Dallas said.

"Yeah," he said. But he sounded unsure. "I hope we can fix this."