Against the Wall

Curled into Fists

In that moment, I hated her completely. All sympathy was gone, and I wanted to hurt her like she was trying to hurt me.

I ignored her, and slung my backpack over my shoulder. I could feel so many emotions bubbling up inside me, about to boil over, and I need to get out of there. I pushed myself out of the desk and started to hurry out of the room.

"I told you so," Kaia said tauntingly as she followed me towards the door. "Griffin saw what a freak you were and decided you weren't worth it."

I stop in my tracks and turned around. I'd had enough of Kaia's crap. "Kaia, why don't you get a life and stop focusing on mine," I said tiredly.

"Well, sweetie, I would," Kaia replied, taking a step towards me, "However, I just enjoy watching you get what was coming to you; a whole lot of pain for stealing my boyfriend."

Okay, so it wasn't all that clever, but Kaia had managed to push me past my limits. She'd decided to take something painful that had happened to me and twist in ways to intentionally hurt me.

So, I snapped.

In a split second, my fist connected with Kaia's face, and she was sprawled on the ground, sobbing. As soon as I punched her, I regretted it. I shouldn't have stooped to her level, plus now my fist really hurt.

"Sawyer!" Mr. Harris cried, and he looked completely stunned. "What has gotten into you?"

I glanced at Norah, whose jaw was practically on the ground, and replied, "I have no idea."

"Well, you're going to need to report to the Principal's office immediately," Mr. Harris said firmly, and I nodded. I'd seen it coming.

I took one last look at all the students in the room who were staring at me like I'd grown a second head.

Then, I glanced down at the still weeping Kaia who was being tended to by Mr. Harris and her clones.

Suddenly, I felt like I was being suffocated, and I turned and practically sprinted from the room.

*

"Gimme your money."

My head snapped up and I blinked until the person standing in front of me came into focus. Her blonde dreadlocks were spilling out from the bottom of her wool cap, and the snarl playing on her lips told me that she wasn't playing around.

However, I didn't play around either.

"No," I replied, pushing myself up so that I was standing at eye level with her. "I don't think I will."

"Well then I'll just take it from you, bitch," the girl declared, and she pulled back her fist to throw a punch at me.

However, when she swung at me, I batted her fist away easily. She tried to hit me again, but I blocked it and hit her on her unprotected side. She reeled back and fell against the opposite wall of the alley. "You fucking bitch!" she hissed, spitting out some blood. "I am going to kick your fucking ass!"

The girl lurched towards me, but my punch was still showing its effects. The girl reached for me, and she managed to give me a semi-painful punch near my eye. In return, I kicked her in the chest, sending her sprawling to the ground. She didn't move, but after I checked carefully, I found that she was still breathing but unconscious.

I grabbed my backpack and hurried from the alley, leaving the girl to wake up with an awful headache. I touched my cheek carefully, and deduced that I'd only have a faint bruise, but not something that stood out like a sore thumb.

As I'd lived on the street, I found myself more and more grateful for my dad having me take self-defense classes. Danny's lessons didn't hurt either. Now, when someone tried to take my limited resources, I could defend myself and get away with virtually all of my stuff.

I was lucky, though. I'd seen some people get mugged and left with nothing. I know, watching someone get robbed is just like helping the robber, but I knew better than to get involved it.

On the street, it was you alone against the world.

*

"You're extremely lucky that Miss Bryce's parents decided not to press charges, Sawyer," stated the principal grimly, and I nodded. I glanced over at Grandma Aggie, but she had on a poker face, and I had no idea what she was thinking.

"Thank you," I mumbled, looking down at my hands.

"Don't thank me yet," the principal said, "You're still going to be punished. I've decided to have you suspended for the rest of the week."

"What!" I cried, "Doesn't that seem a bit harsh?"

"It's better than getting arrested," Grandma Aggie noted stiffly, and I shut up. As much as I hated to admit it, she had a point. "I'll be sure to have Sawyer write an apology letter to Miss Bryce as well," Grandma Aggie said, "Thank you for your time." She shot me a look, telling me to say something.

"I apologize for my actions, Principal Gibson. I don't know what came over me," I said, looking him in the eye.

Principal Gibson nodded and then shook our hands as we got up to leave the office. I followed Grandma Aggie out of the door and past the secretary, who gave me a dirty look. I just looked down at my shoes and let Grandma Aggie lead me out to her car.

I slipped into the passenger seat, and as I buckled in, I glanced at Grandma Aggie. She was staring at me, and now, she looked extremely angry. I opened my mouth to say something, but she held up her hand to stop me. "I don't care why it happened, Sawyer, I just care that it did. What you did to that girl was awful."

"I know," I replied, and I did. Even though it was Kaia, and I'm guessing there were a lot of people who wished they had been the one to punch her, I was still feeling guilty. In the moment, though, it had been satisfying.

"I hope you're going to reevaluate your actions during your suspension, instead of just hanging out and watching TV," Grandma Aggie said. "I also did mean what I said about writing that apology letter. I'll be sure to mail it to make sure it gets to your victim."

The way she said "your victim" made it clear that she wasn't looking at me the same way as before. Now, Grandma Aggie probably thought I was going to turn out just like her image of my dad, which wasn't true.

"I'll write the letter," I mumbled, and I looked out the window at the passing houses. I tried thinking about how I would approach my apology, but instead, my mind floated to Griffin of all things.

Why was I still thinking about him? I mean, he'd dumped me, and I still found myself missing him. However, once he heard that I decked Kaia in the face, I was doomed. If lying to him wasn't enough, getting violent certainly was.

I did tell Grandma Aggie not to make me go to school.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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