Pepsi

My name is Pepsi. Well, it's more of a nickname. My actual name is Maggie. When I first came to this school, I was really energetic, so everyone started calling me Peppy. It eventually morphed into Pepsi. I was fine with it. I was fine with a lot of things. I was fine with volunteering for anything, joining teams and groups, you name it, I wanted to do it. I sorta saw it as my life goal to keep everyone happy in this boring and difficult place called high school. It was tough, but I always managed to get it done.
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I bolted up out of my seat as I heard the final bell ring. "Bye everyone! Have a good weekend!" Was my signature farewell. I skipped through the hallways on the way to go grab my trumpet. "Hi Teddy!" I called to one of my troll band mates. Oh, yea. Trolls came to our planet a few years ago when theirs was destroyed. It took some time before humans finally accepted the new race, but even now there was still tension between us. Trolls and humans normally stayed with their respective groups, but I'd seen a few small groups with a mix of both. I grabbed my trumpet from the band room and skipped down the hall. As I was leaving the building, I saw a group of jocks huddled over someone. They slammed him against the lockers and sneered at him. I hid behind the corner and watched. One kicked him in the side while the other two held him up. The 'leader' spat next to him and snickered. "Been wanting to do that for a long time, Vantas, but your boyfriend always got in the way." Oh! This must be Kankri Vantas! I thought with a jolt. Now, there is not much that scares me. But Cronus Ampora was a different story. Everyone knew not to piss him off, and that also included his friends. Basically it was if you messed with them, you messed with him. I shuddered at the thought, but I had to do something to help the troll being beaten right in front of me. I stepped out and put on my most menacing face, which was really hard since I was always smiling. "I wouldn't do that if I were you." I said with a warning voice. The 'leader' turned around and saw me. "Get lost, Pepsi. This doesn't concern you." "Oh but it does! It my job to keep everyone happy in this school and this troll doesn't look very happy." "I said GET LOST PEPSI!" His harsh tone of voice made me flinch. "Well, if I can't ask nicely, then I'll have to use other means to make you leave." "What're you gonna do, smack us with a notebook? I'd like to see you try." He sneered at me. "I don't like using force, so I think I'll just point out the fact that Cronus will be coming back from swim practice right about now and his locker number is what, 277?" They all look at the lockers and see the number 277. They go pale and the 'leader' yells, "Let's get out of here!" And they dash off through the halls. I turn to Kankri, who is clutching his side and trying to stand up. I drop my bag and run to help him. "Where'd they get you at?" "M9stly my middle regi9n. Als9, I find it highly triggering t9 t9uch my pers9n with9ut permissi9n." "Oh I'm sorry! I didn't know that made you unhappy! I promise I will remember that for next time!" He gave me a breathless laugh. I smiled back at him. "If y9u d9n't find it t99 triggering, may I ask why y9ur name is Pepsi?" "Well, when I first arrived at this school, I was really energetic and optimistic, so everyone started calling me Peppy. Then it slowly started to turn into Pepsi. I liked it like that so I kept the nickname. My real name is Maggie, but I don't think anyone here knows about that." "That's a nice name." "Thanks! Kankri is a pretty cool name too!" He smiled at me. I smiled back. Mission accomplished.