Opposites Attract

Chapter Two

I shut the front door of my house and toss my bag on the floor.

"Mom! I'm home!" I yell, staying put and waiting for her response.

"Good, go feed the horses!" She yells back from the kitchen.

"Okay." I nod my head and walk to my room. I took off my converse and put on my boots, I run my hand through my hair and pause, taking a large breath, questioning whether I should have fought Rachel and Amanda.

Of course I should have, they deserved what they got.

I walk outside through the deep summer like grass and I take a look around to all the trees scattered around me. At least I get to come here, after what had happened, and right now, I haven't gotten in trouble from my mom. My stomach twists as I feel anxious for what she will say, this hasn't even been my first fight with them, so I really don't know what she is going do.

Once I reach their stalls, I give them the two apples in my hands. I sit on the ground, with my back leaned up against the barn wall, I close my eyes as I hear them eat. I dive into the day with them, explaining every single detail, trying to work out how my mom will react.

"I was only sticking up for that girl..." I think aloud, looking at Spirit shake her head.

"Okay, fine, so maybe I didn't really have to fight in order to get the job done. But it wasn't like I started it, I didn't throw the first punch... Well I mean, technically I did, but she slapped me first." I pull the hair tie off of my wrist and throw my hair up in a messy bun. I walk over to where they were at and I run my hand over Grace's neck.

"I'll be back later to take you both out on a ride." I speak soft, but my stomach is upset, the last thing I want is for my mom to get too angry with me. I walk away from the barn, and mess with my hands, trying to think of what to say when I get inside.

After I was inside, I noticed that my mom wasn't in the kitchen, or anywhere in sight. It would be much easier to just not tell her until she brings it up, so that's exactly what I plan to do. I grab a snack from the kitchen and drag my bag right by the table in the living room. Pulling out all of my books, I reach for the remote and put on some country music. Deciding on math first, I pull out my pencil and get to work.

Once I have everything put away in my bag, I stand to my feet and finally reach the door handle to go outside when I hear my mom cough from behind me.

"Ashley..." My mom started, waiting for me to turn and face her, I looked at her hand by her side, and she had her phone in her hand.

"Yeah?" I asked, there is still a small sliver of hope that she won't ever find out.

"I got a call from school today, do you want to explain why you got in a fight the first day of school?" Well, there goes all of my hope...

"Okay mom, there is a really good reason why... Rachel and Amanda, the two mean girls in school were bullying a younger student. They were just yelling at her, and I could not allow something like that to happen. So I went over and told them to stop, Amanda ended up slapping me, so I punched her in the face - only once though! I was even going to help her back up, but that was when Rachel pushed me down and started to pull my hair. So I fought her too." I wait for my mom to speak, but she doesn't say anything.

"It is true, that's how it happened, but Mr. Tenet didn't believe me; and he only said that they would get a warning." My mom's looks up at the ceiling as she sighs and places her hand over her eyes. I watch, waiting for her response.

"Ashley... I mean, the first day? Really?" I can tell my mom is thinking, so I don't say a word, I know that my mom will speak soon.

"Honey, you know that the favoritism in that school with their families is clearly there, I wish that they would have gotten punished. I understand you heart was in the right place, and you should always stick up for others. Just next time, you need to make sure you do not fight, or else you may be removed from this school, and I don't know what we would do if that happened." She spoke, her voice was soft, but I could tell that she was frustrated. I would be too though, so I can't really expect anything different from her.