"You didn't? Please, you know exactly what you said."
"Helping? Give me a break. You're just gross."
Sophia made a face, pure disgust written all over her.
If the teacher hadn't been there, she probably would have spit right in the guy's hair.
The boy went straight to tattling. "Teacher, did you see her attitude?"
The teacher looked him over and sighed. "Alright, that's enough. Stop crying. You got hit a few times, but you're a guy. Is this really how you act?”
"Girls don't hit that hard anyway, right?"
The boy stared at him. "Are you talking about other girls, or these two?"
He pointed at his own black eyes. "Look at me. You call this not hard?"
The teacher took one look at those panda eyes and nearly laughed.
Sophia didn't like being called weak. "Teacher, that was the fist of justice."
The teacher shot her a look, like, I'm trying to help here, maybe don't push your luck. Just wait until the boy's parents show up.
“Teacher, just give us a minute, okay? We're almost done eating."
Claire had no plans to get chewed out on an empty stomach.
She grabbed Sophia's arm. "Let's eat."
The two of them went back to their food, digging in like nothing happened. The teacher took the boy off to the nurse's office.
Right before he left, Claire leaned in close and whispered, "Recycled grease."
The boy actually shuddered. He got it. That was a threat.
If his family tried to stir up trouble, everyone would find out their hotpot place used recycled oil.
He had no idea how Claire even knew about that. His family had paid off reporters, inspectors, everyone.
Now what was he supposed to do? Should he even tell his parents?
Meanwhile, Claire just relaxed and ate with Sophia, like her appetite hadn't skipped a beat.
The crowd that had gathered was gone now, except for Cindy, who stood nearby. "Claire, are you okay?"
Claire barely looked up. “I'm fine. Aren't you guys going to eat?”
She didn't care what Cindy thought. The spicy beef was way more interesting.
Cindy was kind of stunned, just standing there while Claire kept eating, like nothing could bother her.
Molly finally couldn't take it.
"Seriously, Claire? Cindy's worried et
about you
She treats you like
sister, and this is how you act?"
S.W
She'd seen Cindy wringing her hands, trying to break up the fight, actually caring.
But to Claire, it seemed like Cindy was just meddling.
Molly was getting angrier by the second.
"What do you want me to do, drop to my knees and thank her?" Claire replied, her voice heavy with sarcasm.
Molly
back, but Cindy stopped her. "Let it go, Matty Claire's probably still upset. Let s not bother them."
90ed her mouth to snap
Wasn't it Cindy who wanted to come over in the first place?
Just then, Shirley rushed up the stairs, heels clicking, scanning the room for Claire.
The fight was long over. She didn't even notice Cindy, just made a beeline for Claire.
"I heard you got into a fight."
Claire could see the excitement in her eyes. Shirley just loved a little chaos.
"It's already over. If you wanted to see something, you're too late.”
Shirley pouted. "Not my fault. My teacher kept us after class, so I got to the cafeteria late."
"How was I supposed to know you'd be throwing punches?"
"Are you sure it wasn't detention?” Claire smirked. She knew Shirley too well.
Shirley's grades were always a
mess,
gettinnd she was constantly
in trouble. Detention was practically her second home.