Big Bad Bully

Chapter Two

Lunchtime couldn't come quick enough. Kass sat for the last 15 minutes of her class trying to hide the gurgling noises churning out in her tummy. Nerves and hunger were never a good mix. The second the bell sounded, she made her way promptly to the canteen. The food looked... well as good as canteen food generally does. She grabbed some mac and cheese and a soda, then left the overcrowded canteen and made her way outside. She found a nice patch of green grass and set herself up there, bringing out her book to read whilst digging into her food. Today her book choice was a soppy romance. She hated the part of her that loved love, but she couldn't deny the butterflies she got from reading a great love story.

It was the most perfect summer's day, the sun was glorious and the warmth on her skin felt like an embrace. She closed her book for a moment and lay back, letting the warmth spread all over her. As far as first days go, today hasn't gone too badly. Her phone vibrating pulled her from her thoughts, she stared at the unknown caller on her phone for a moment and felt her heart beat speed up. She slid the key, quickly silencing the call and put her phone away and lay back in the sun again for another moment, reassuring herself that it was probably just a spam call.

On her way back to the food hall, she heard a peculiar sound coming from behind one of the cupboard doors. The cries she heard tugged at her heart strings, and she couldn't make herself ignore it. She lightly tapped against the door,

'Is everything okay in there?' She asked gently as she nudged the door of the small supply closet open and gasped at the swollen face of the boy curled up on the floor. God, kids can be so cruel, she thought to herself. The boy quickly tried to compose himself and sat against the wall.

'Yeah,' he said, slightly sniveling, 'sorry the door only opens from the outside, I have been locked in here for a while.'

's**t! Who did that to your face?' She asked, bending down and examining the bruising and cuts on his face.

'It doesn't matter, it's done now.' He stated, drying some tears from his eyes.

'Give me a minute to go grab something to get you cleaned up a bit.' Kass said, and before he had a chance to respond, she slipped out of the cupboard and ran to the nurses' office. She grabbed some disinfectant along with a few other essentials, then headed back to the cupboard. She was glad the boy had stayed put. She felt horrible for him. Who had done this? His face was starting to swell up worse, especially around his left eye.

'Stay still, this might sting a little.' She winced as she poured some disinfectant onto a cotton pad and gently dabbed it onto his face and he hissed at the contact, and she apologized but didn't stop dabbing along the areas of broken skin.

'So what's your name?' She asked, trying to distract the boy.

'Kyle, what about you? Don't think I have seen you around here before?' He asked and she smiled.

'No you haven't, today is my first day, my name is Kass. Pleasure to meet you Kyle.'

'Well, what a way to remember your first day, Kass.' He forced a smile before he let out another hiss of pain, and she softly chuckled.

'It certainly will be one of the more memorable ones.' She replied under her breath. 'So, do you want to tell me what happened? How did you end up getting beat up and left in a closet?' She asked as she poured water onto a rag and began cleaning the dried blood from his blonde hair.

'I did something I shouldn't have, pissed off the dreaded 5. That only ever ends one way. Getting your ass kicked.' He sighed and Kass just shook her head. The politics of high school were always lost on her.

'So who are the dreaded 5 here?' She asked.

'Well you have Dillon, Chase, Claudia and then their almighty leaders, Stephanie and Asher. They are kind of like the King and Queen of this place.'

'Ah I see. I think I met Stephanie.' She smirked. Every place she went was the same layout, a clan of nasty pieces of work doing whatever they pleased. 'And what exactly did you do to get on their s**t list?' She asked.

'I got sick of doing Dillon's homework, apparently that earned me this. I have learned my lesson, someone like me doesn't say no to someone like them.' He almost whispered out and her heart broke for him. Imagine a world where someone gets their ass kicked for simply saying no to someone. Somehow, they make everyone around them seem less.

'I am sorry.' She mumbled to him and he shrugged in acknowledgment.

She got to her feet and gathered all the items to be thrown in the trash. She then extended her hand to assist him to his feet and he followed her out of the door. She gasped the second she entered the corridor and the faces that greeted her. Five people surrounding the door, leaning against lockers and looking very uninterested, almost bored. Kass never had time to register them all before one of them spoke.

'Now who do we have here?' The pretty blonde she recognized spoke first, 'New girl? Is that you sneaking around in supply closets on your first day? What a way to start, get yourself a reputation on day one.' She smirked as she narrowed her eyes. Kass knew she wasn't being paranoid earlier, Stephanie did not like her.

'No...no it's nothing like that. I just heard.... and he was hurt... so then I went.... and helped him.' She stuttered out. This was her absolute worst nightmare. Being at the center of a school scandal, people talking about her, people looking at her. It was the last thing she needed.

'Well, well, well, new girl. Getting yourself involved in OUR business is not a smart move. Steph, I thought you said the new girl was smart? Didn't you say that?' A tall guy pushed his large frame off the lockers and came forward. His crystal blue eyes pierced hers. If she hadn't been so terrified, she might have gotten lost in them.

'I think I did say that... perhaps I was mistaken!' Stephanie's grin grew wider and Kass' heart sank lower. What had she done? She only wanted to help the poor boy.

'She has nothing to do with this, she just helped me out.' Kyle stepped forward, a little shaken.

'This was all my fault, you were mad at me. I am sorry Dillon, I will do your homework again. Can we just forget about this?' Kyle asked, shifting his attention to the tall guy.

'Hmm, I dunno, what do you think, Dillon? You in a forgiving mood?' The tall guy smirked at one of the other guys who just shrugged in response.

'I'm not sure maybe a little favor from the new girl would sweeten the deal. She is prettier than Stephanie said she would be.' He winked to Kass and she felt her stomach recoil. This was nothing to do with her. Why was she getting dragged into it?

'Everything okay over here?' A calming voice dripping in authority asked, and Kass' stance tightened as the brown-eyed man from her class joined them. She panicked for a second. Was he one of them? Judging by their faces and the eye-roll coming from the big guy, she would bet against that. They didn't seem pleased to see him.

'Holy s**t Liam, what happened to your face?' The guy asked, and Liam nervously looked around at all of their eyes as they sharpened on him with a silent threat.

'N...Nothing, I just fell... down the stairs.' Liam stuttered out.

'Well s**t man, you need to get along to the nurses office right now.' The stranger stated, concern lacing his words.

'I am fine, Kass cleaned up the cuts for me.' He smiled at her, but the guy still didn't look convinced.

'You should probably still head over, just to be safe. Kass, do you want to walk to class now? I wanted to pick your brain about Miss Irwins' class?' He smiled at her, and she wondered if he knew that he had just swooped in to her rescue. For whatever reason, the f****d up five had stopped talking the minute this guy came over. She was going to take this as her cue to leave and hopefully never speak to these people again.

'Yes, let's go.' She all but jumped toward him with Liam hot on her tail. As he turned to go to the nurses' office, he nodded at her and mouthed a sincere thank you to which she nodded a smile.

'Sorry...I didn't catch your name?' She asked a little more timidly than she intended.

'Oh how rude of me, hello, I am Ryan' He smiled and set out his hand for her to shake, which she reciprocated. They chit-chatted until they arrived at her next class. She wondered if he knew what was going on back there, or if it was some sort of divine intervention. Whatever the reason, she was eternally grateful. From now on, she needed to be extra careful. She had drawn too much attention to herself already and it was only day 1.