Nash The high-pitched scream caught my attention along with all the rest of the student body, and everyone began pouring into the hallway from their first-period class. The bell had just rung, and we’d all been moving slow as was typical for morning classes. Most of us needed caffeine. But you could bet a fight would wake us all up. When I made it through the crowd, shoving to get a good view of what was more than likely two girls going at it from the scream we’d all heard, I saw Haegan with his hands up in the air, trying to stop whatever was going on. I pushed through and got close enough to see Pam, which was no surprise if this was about Haegan, and Julie Winters tied up. Pam had a handful of Julie’s red curly hair, and Julie was slapping the shit out of Pam’s face. It was already looking bright red. The crowd was cheering and laughing. Haegan looked confused as hell and tried to no avail to calm them down. “Excuse me,” I said to the guy in front of me. He st epped out of my way, and I almost got to Haegan before he made the mistake of st epping into that mix. Pam’s elbow clocked him in the jaw, and she realized it with a horrified look. The distraction, however, cost her a fist to the nose that wasn’t that forceful, since Julie was five feet tall and about one hundred pounds on a good day. I was shocked she was in a fight. I couldn’t remember ever seeing her fight before. Her temper was fierce for a tiny girl, but never like this.
Pam covered her nose as if that had actually hurt. “OHMYGOD!” she cried out. The damage she did to Haegan’s jaw was no doubt worse than anything done to her nose. Julie shoved her in the chest. “Come on, bitch! You want to talk smack now!” Pam’s eyes went wide before clouding over into crazy as hell. Someone needed to get Julie out of her reach. Pam was taller and stronger. “Jesus! What’s wrong with the two of you?” Haegan said, grabbing Julie’s arm this time and pulling her back. Bad idea. Julie’s brother wasn’t tiny. Jos eph Winters broke through the crowd at that time and knocked Pam into Haegan and then grabbed his sister to tuck her protectively against his side. “I don’t care if you’re a girl, Pam. Touch her again and I am beating your ass,” Jos eph warned her loudly. “No one needs to hit the girls. They’re mutually at fault here,” Haegan said, st epping in front of Pam. I was impressed with that move. Had to give him credit. But Jos eph was about to take this out on him, and I had to move fast. I shoved between the girls in front of me and stood beside Haegan to stare down Jos eph. Didn’t have any issue with the guy, but he needed to back off and take his sister with him. Haegan hadn’t done anything. “You challenging me, crip?” Jos eph asked, taking a st ep toward me. That was the first time someone had actually called me a cripple. It didn’t go over well. My hands clenched, and adrenaline surged through my body.
“What the fuck did you just say?” Ryker’s voice carried loud, and people parted to let him through. Jos eph turned to see Ryker and Asa st ep up beside me. “I asked if he was challenging me,” Jos eph said, his voice not so loud now. “I’m just getting my sister out of this crazy shit. I didn’t come to fight.” Ryker st epped in front of me. Like I needed protecting. Like I was exactly what Jos eph had just called me. Fuck that. I st epped around my cousin. “I don’t need you to protect me,” I snarled. Pissed he thought that I did. “Would you like me to show you exactly what this crip can do to you? Without their help,” I said loud and clear for the onlookers to hear. I could see in Jos eph’s eyes he wanted to take me up on it. But he wouldn’t. Because he was afraid of the guys standing behind me. That stung. I needed to prove myself. I wanted them all to see that I was still me. I was still Nash Fucking Lee. Football didn’t make me who I was. I could still whup his ass. “I’m not fighting you,” he said simply. That was a trigger. I snapped. Just as I lunged at him, another female war cry went out, and arms wrapped around me, pulling me back. “Calm down or you’re going to get suspended,” Ryker said as he held me back. “Let Pam get in trouble instead.” I jerked free of his hold just as Pam slid back across the floor and Mandy B—I didn’t know her last name—jumped on top of her, and they began pulling hair. What the fuck had happened now?
Haegan sighed in frustration and went to grab Mandy off Pam to stop this fight, but Mandy B’s boyfriend grabbed Haegan’s arm, and fists were thrown. I needed a fight. Ryker wasn’t stopping this. I had something to prove. I swung, and my fist met Tim’s right jaw. We’d played football together. We’d laughed together in the locker room. But none of that mattered. Not anymore. “Stop it!” Coach D was suddenly in the middle of all this, and he was grabbing Haegan’s arms and pulling him back. I hated the man. Seeing him there with his hands on my friend infuriated me. Where had he been when this shit started? Now he wanted to jump in and grab the wrong fucking person? “Back the fuck off!” I all but roared as I started toward Coach D. “He’s not the one you need to be grabbing!” “Nash,” Ryker’s tone was warning. “Excuse me? I don’t believe I need confirmation from a violent teenage boy,” Coach D r eplied, his cheeks red. He was angry. Good. Let him snap. His ass would get fired. “You don’t even know what’s going on. Let him go!” I reached out to take Coach D’s hands off Haegan myself. Coach D released him. “Both of you to the principal’s office.” Was he serious? There had been two girl brawls, and he was sending us to the office? What about Tim? “Just us? Out of all the fighting, you’re sending us?” I asked incredulously. He had to be joking. “I didn’t see the others. I just saw you. And him. Now go.” The challenge in his eyes as he used the fucking authority he had was clear.
He wanted me to fight this. He wanted me in trouble. He was a bigger dick than I realized. “Nash, stop this. Just go.” Tallulah’s voice got my attention. Where did she come from? When my eyes locked with hers, she looked upset. With me? Fuck, I’d done nothing wrong. “He knows I didn’t start this. He’s doing it because he doesn’t like me. Notice none of the football players are going. Tim started this shit, and he’s fucking free to go on to class.” Tallulah didn’t seem to believe me. Her eyes said as much. She’d not seen this. She was just showing up. “I’m not telling you again. Go to the office,” Coach D said firmly. “Come on, let’s go,” Haegan said, not looking too concerned about this. “We didn’t fucking do anything wrong,” I argued. “And he doesn’t care,” Haegan said, pointing out the obvious. I glanced back at Tallulah. She was frowning. Disappointed. Fuck that. Whatever. I started down the hallway, and Haegan fell into st ep beside me. “I got some of this shit on video. It’s gonna make for a great vlog,” he said once we were away from everyone else. I turned to look at him and saw he was grinning.