Fight Or Flight

Chapter One : Lost Cause

I silently scream into my pillow. I hated going to school. I hated how those... snobby-looking girls thought that they could just push me around, like I was below them. They were the ones who were trash. The ones who were petty. The ones who didn't have to work hard for their lives to be the way they were. They were definitely proven wrong yesterday. I will never get the image of their bland, shocked faces out of my mind. I smirked at the memory.

Yesterday

I am patiently waiting for Norma, the nice cafeteria lady, to serve my food, as quickly as she can, so that I am not late to lunch detention for skipping class that one time. Or was it two times? Either way, I could care less. As I'm standing there, at the front of the long lunch line, Vanessa and her clique of wannabe cool girls, suddenly push their way to the front of the long line of kids, patiently waiting for their food. And that just makes my blood boil. I let Vanessa shove me, but I don't let her leave the line.

" Get out of my way, CHICA ", she flips her long, blonde hair. Her two minions just snicker quietly. My lips tighten, hating that I'm going to have to hurt Vanessa's feelings.
" Vanessa, learn what chica means, before trying to say it ", I deadpan. Her cheeks blush red, as her minions attempt to cover their humor. She snaps her head back to send them a mean glare, and they are immediately silenced. She turns to face me, her blue eyes flaming.
" Listen here, FREAK, you don't tell me what to do. I didn't even know that you knew how to speak ", she smirks. I move my hands from my hips, and curl them into angry fists, trying to control my temper.
" Well, being that your head's stuck so far up your own ass, I know why you DON'T notice anybody else ", I snarl. She steps up to my shorter frame, and looks down on me, her lips curled in an ugly snarl.
" Are you trying to get something poppin', Sage ? ", I hate it when she calls me by my last name. I step closer towards her, our chests nearly touching.
" Do you WANT me to pop off, Nessie ? ", I call her by her hated nickname. She raises her hands to shove my shoulders back. As I slightly stumble back, I slowly crack my knuckles, as my hands hang loosely at my sides. I am prepared to smash her face in. 

" Yes, I do, because I'LL be the one to finish it ", she spits. 

I move towards her and quickly push her shoulders, to make her stumble. She comes back at me, nails extended. She swipes her nails against my face, making my right cheek gush bright, red liquid. I don't even think about the consequences of me getting into my fourth fight in the past month. I don't hesitate to punch her twice in the face, clocking my right fist back to watch my hand meet the top of her left cheekbone. Immediately, a red slash of blood smears across her temple. As she stumbles backwards and loses her balance, I quickly connect the toe of my Air Max into her ribcage. Once she falls to the ground, clutching her face in both of her hands. I pounce on her, my vision clouded with red, throwing punch after punch, not even realizing that probably five minutes into her beating, someone pulled me off of her. I hear the most annoying yelp, come out of the large crowd that gathered. In all of the rage I was seeing, I didn't notice the whole cafeteria get up off of their seats to witness me beating this pathetic girl to a pulp. I didn't struggle against the strong pair of arms tightening their grip around my waist. I just screamed.

" Let me go ! She deserves it. She deserves way more than that shit ! Freaking bitch ", I wiggle my body, trying to break free of the strong hold the person has on me. I turn to see Ms. Tanner, the school counselor. Her short, brown bob cut, and big, brown doe eyes blink back at me.
" Why don't you come with me, Jayden ? ", she quickly tightens her arm around my shoulders, walking me out of the cafeteria. Just as we are out of the cafeteria doors, Ms. Tanner yells to the whole silent, shocked cafeteria, filled with confused tenth graders, " Get back to lunch, people ! Nothing to see here ! ". She then, continues to walk me down the hallway that leads to her office. She briefly releases my shoulder, only to unlock her door, and quickly replaces her soft, comforting hand on my shoulder, and pushes me inside to sit on the plush, black, leather couch in her large counselor's office.
" Have a seat, Jayden ", after she sits down in her rolling office chair, she clasps her hands on the top of the desk. I look around her cozy office. Picture frames cover about almost every single empty space in the room, filled with two little boys, both blue eyed and smiling widely. I'm guessing they were her sons. I frowned, briefly wishing that I had as much pictures as she did, if only to show a true, genuine photo of me smiling and laughing. I turn towards her, only to find her soft, brown eyes studying me. I sighed.
" Ms. Tanner, I'm sorry. And this time I do not have an excuse ", I hang my head, in shame. She clears her throat.
" Jayden, I know for a fact that the cause of the fights are not you, but those girls. I was once in high school, too, you know. I have been in your shoes. I know what it's like to have a group of mean girls push your buttons to the point of breaking. And that is the exact reason why I am going to tell the principle that she was the cause of the fight, but you WERE the one to finish it, so naturally, you BOTH are going to get some kind of punishment. It is only fair ", she smiles gently at me. I nod, shameful.
" But, I think I have a solution, Jay. First, I want to hear what's bothering you. You can tell me ", she pauses. " You can TRUST me, Jayden. One hundred percent and I will help you ", she urges me with her chocolate eyes.

I think about it for a few silent minutes, debating whether or not I should open up to her or just to close it off and file it with the other "altercations" I've had in the past year. I look at her closely one last time, and decide to go with the former.
" Well, Mom hasn't really been around much. She's too busy with work. She gets home late, almost every single day. I mean, I kind of understand, with her working from six in the morning to eleven at night, but can't she at least ask me how my day was or something ? ANYTHING, really. And I know that I'm just making it harder on her by getting into fights and skipping class, when she's at work, but... I just, I don't know. I'm tired of it all, really ", I hold my head in both of my hands. She nods her head in understanding. Then, I snap my head back up and narrow my eyes at her.
" Wait. You said that you have a solution? ", I ask her. She nods, smiling wider, excitedly.
" Yes, I do. And I can call your mom if you don't want to tell her about it yourself. It's perfect. And there are less people there who'll mess with you ", she says. I furrow my brow.
" What is it ? ", I ask.
" It's this awesome place for troubled teens, but it isn't complete Hell, I promise ", she smiles. I chuckle at her. She smiles back at me.
" Where is it ? What's it called ? ", I ask her. She continues to smile.
" It's not too far away from here, maybe about two or three hours. It IS a secluded place, not too many people know about it, really. It's called Fight or Flight and there are almost a thousand kids who attend there. It truly is amazing. I think you will love it ", she says. I raise an eyebrow.
" How do you suppose I'll love it ? ", I ask her, skeptically. She laughs a deep, hearty laugh and I smile a little.
" I just know. I have a feeling ", she says. " Here is the brochure. Make sure that you give it to your mom, okay ? And I will tell her about it anyways, so no funny business, alright ? ", she raises a finger and an eyebrow at me. I laugh.
" Yes, mam ".
" Okay. I called your mom, already. She is on her way to pick you up, right now ", Ms. Tanner says. I rise from my seat, to follow her out of her office, into the main office of the school, where parents can sign their kids out early, or to get dropped off when they are late. I immediately see a familiar back, faced away from me, with long, straight, raven colored hair, similar to mine, flowing down her back. She turns around and I drop everything and run towards her. She is surprised and yelps when I squeeze my arms around her small frame.
" Jayden, honey. What's wrong ? ", my mom runs a soft hand down my hair, as she attempts to hug me back. I inhale my mother's vanilla perfume and slowly exhale. God, how I missed her. I missed my mom's warm embraces. I missed HER.
" Nothing, Ma. I missed you, that's all ", I release her and step back a little. She smiles at me gently while softly caressing my cheek.
" I missed you, too, sweetheart ", she says. She then wraps her small arm around my shoulders and walks me out of the office.
" Come on, Amore. Let's go home ", my mom calls me by my middle name, which also means love in Italian. She told me when I was around ten years old, that she named me Amore, because, well, first of all, we come from an Italian family, and she said that I was her one and only true love. And she was mine. I step inside my mom's shiny, black Cadillac and plop down in the passenger seat and buckle up. My mom starts the car and silently drives off to our house.