After a while, I told Claire I needed to use the bathroom and got out of there. I was more than happy to leave, after being constantly nudged and hit from Emma and her boyfriend making out and watching the ungodly cheesy anger management videos.
I walked out of the room and found Sam and Dean whispering to each other over an EMF meter in the hallway.
"Hey... what are you guys doing?" I whispered as I walked up to them.
"You shouldn't be around us," Dean whispered back.
I shrugged. "It's fine. The assembly is still going. I snuck out."
"How is it anyway?" Sam asked.
I rolled my eyes. "Awful. Did you guys find anything out about that black stuff?"
Dean nodded. "It was ectoplasm."
Sam nodded. "Which only comes from a seriously pissed off spirit. It's got to be ghost possession."
"Yeah, but that's pretty rare," Dean said.
Sam nodded. "Yeah, but it happens. I mean, they get angry enough, they can take control of a person's body."
"All right, so, what? We got a ghost in the building?" Dean asked.
"Yeah, but where? I mean, there's no EMF. Maybe we could find out who it is, at least. You know, check and see if somebody died bloody around here or something," Sam said.
Dean shook his head. "Way ahead of you. I had to break into the principal's office to get this." He held up a file. "Oh, and FYI, three of the cheerleaders are legal. Guess which ones."
I smacked Dean. "Stop."
Dean sighed and unfolded a paper he pulled out of his pocket. "So, there was only one death on campus. It was a suicide back in '98. Some kid named Barry Cook."
Sam sighed sadly.
"What?" Dean asked.
Sam shrugged. "I knew him. How did he die?"
"He slit his wrists in the first-floor girls' bathroom," Dean said.
Sam raised his eyebrows. "That's where—"
Dean nodded. "Right where the chick got swirlied to death, exactly. So, what? This ghost is possessing nerds?"
Sam nodded. "And using them to go after bullies, yeah."
"Well, does that sound like Barry's MO?" Dean asked.
Sam shrugged, looking unsure. "Barry had a hard time."
"Okay, you guys get on that. I, unfortunately, have to go back to the assembly," I said.
"Have fun with that," Dean said, and then he and Sam turned back to each other.
As I walked back to the assembly, people started coming out, and Claire and Emma came up to me.
"You were in the bathroom for a long time," Claire said, "Are you okay?"
"What?" I asked. "Oh, yeah, I was just fixing my hair."
Emma rolled her eyes. "You're not like Claire, are you? I told her she isn't even that fat."
"Stop..." Claire said, looking down, ashamed.
Emma shrugged. "You do it to yourself."
Claire looked up at Emma and then stormed away.
"Wow, that was really nice of you," I said sarcastically.
Emma shrugged. "She needs tough love. She's going to end up hurting herself."
I rolled my eyes. "Or you could talk to her like she's an actual person."
"Look," Emma said, stepping a little closer. "I'm going to let that go because you're new, and oddly, I actually like you."
I shrugged. "Okay."
She smiled. "See you at lunch?"
I shrugged. "Sure."
"Great." She smiled and then walked off with the boy she had been making out with.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
After health class, I walked into the cafeteria and looked around for Claire and Emma but was greeted again by a bra snap.
I turned around and saw Richard standing there with a stupid grin on his face. "Hey, beautiful."
I rolled my eyes. "Dude, seriously. Do it again, and I will punch you in the face."
"I love a good threat." Richard smirked.
"It's not a threat, it's a promise," I said.
He put his hands up as if he was pretending to be afraid.
"Hey, Maddi. Over here!" I turned to see Emma waving me over to sit with her and the other cheerleaders and jocks.
I walked over, not entirely happy about the group of people I was hanging out with, and sat down. "Hi, guys."
Claire barely made eye contact with me and looked away.
"I see you and Richard talking a lot." Emma shrugged. "It could be cute."
"Yeah, that's never going to happen," I said.
"Why not?" Emma asked. "I know he can be annoying, but he obviously likes you."
"I'm good, seriously," I said.
"What do you have against boys?" Emma laughed.
"Nothing..." I said.
"Have you ever even had a boyfriend?" Emma asked.
"No..." I shrugged. "I move around a lot. I don't really have time for it. I guarantee you. I will be gone by the end of the week."
"Wow, that sucks. So you like don't even have friends?" Emma asked.
"Not really." I shrugged. "I have my brothers."
Emma's eyes widened. "That's sad."
"Would it make you feel better if I told you, I kind of have a crush on someone?" I blushed, not realizing admitting that would make me feel so strange.
"Really? Who?" Emma asked excitedly.
"Uh, his name's Nate," I said, and my cheeks got hotter.
"Aw, that's so cute. You're blushing, he must be a real hottie." Emma smiled. "Look, you should really go get food before lunch is over, we'll talk about him when you get back."
"All right." I nodded and stood up, realizing I was feeling a little hungry.
"Oh, and Maddi, grab the soup. It's to die for." Emma smiled sweetly.
"Thanks." I smiled, and since I wasn't sure what food was good here or not, I walked over to the salad bar and scooped some soup for myself and then joined the others back at the table.
Emma pointed to the left, causing me to look. "That teacher is the biggest jerk. I hope you don't have to deal with him."
Then hot liquid splashed into my lap, and I immediately stood up.
"Oops." She smiled. "It was an accident."
I grabbed some napkins and started dabbing my legs as the rest of the group laughed. "That was pretty obviously not an accident."
Emma shrugged. "Yeah, well, Claire told me what you said about me, maybe you should keep your big mouth shut."
I looked over at Claire, who looked away quickly as if she were ashamed.
I put my hand down on the table and leaned forward into Emma's face. "I feel sorry for you. You actually think that your life won't go downhill after high school. All these people that you're trying to impress probably won't speak a word to you after you graduate, and you will become a distant memory. The only real friend you have at this table, you take advantage of and don't appreciate, but one day I hope she realizes that she's worth more than you make her seem. So, be kind because what you have now will disappear very quickly."
There were gasps and whispers from the cheerleaders and "Ooo's" and laughing from the jocks.
At that moment, Emma went through several emotions, anger, nervousness, and then finally, confusion when milk was poured over her head. She looked up to see Claire standing above her with an empty carton.
Emma screamed.
"She's right, ya know. I'm a damn good friend, and you just use me!" Claire screamed and then stormed out of the cafeteria.
Everyone else at the table started pointing and laughing at Emma, and she stood up and pointed at me. "This is all your fault!"
I shrugged. "It's not my fault that you're a bad person."
Emma screamed and ran out of the cafeteria crying, and her boyfriend chased after her angrily.
I walked out of the cafeteria calmly and into the bathroom to try and clean myself up. When I walked in, Claire was standing in the mirror, crying.
"Hey, are you okay?" I asked.
Claire shook her head quickly. "No, I shouldn't have done that. She's been my best friend since we were little. I shouldn't have joined in. I should've defended her. Now everyone is going to hate me, they were all laughing at me when I walked away."
"What?" I smiled. "No one was laughing at you. They were all laughing at her. They thought that you were awesome."
"Really?" Claire lit up a little.
I nodded. "Yeah, I bet you half of the people sitting there wish they did what you did."
Claire giggled. "Yeah, that's probably a little true." Then she looked sad again.
"Look..." I put my hand on her shoulder. "You don't have to stop being her friend, but you do need to start standing up for yourself. If you ever feel like she's being rude to you, you're probably not wrong, so just say something."
Claire smiled. "Okay." She looked down. "I'm sorry about your pants."
I shrugged. "Eh, they're just pants. I'll probably cut class and go home anyway."
"Are you really leaving at the end of the week?" she asked.
"Probably. It might even be sooner, to be honest," I said.
She frowned. "That's honestly got to suck."
I shrugged. "When you're on the road all the time, you realize pretty quickly what's actually important to you."
Claire shrugged. "Still, it would be cool if you could stay a little longer."
I smiled at her. "Thanks."
"Do you want to go back to lunch and sit at our own table?" she asked.
"Sure." I smiled.
When we walked out, Emma brushed into us, crying. I wouldn't have thought much of it until I saw her bloody lip.
I grabbed her shoulder. "Hey, what happened?"
"Why do you care?" She scoffed as she tried to cover her mouth.
"He didn't do that to you again, did he?" Claire asked her.
"Shut up, traitor." Emma shrugged. "He's a guy. They're going to do what they want."
"Okay, you really need to stop saying that. You're using that to defend things that aren't normal for anyone to do," I said.
Emma rolled her eyes. "Whatever." Then there was a flash of fear in her eyes, and we all turned to see her boyfriend stomping up to us.
"Don't walk away from me, Emma," he said, "You embarrassed me back there."
Claire walked up to him and pushed him without moving him. "Leave her alone, jerk."
"Get out of my way, little pig," he said and then shoved Claire to the ground, and Emma coward behind me. "Move." He glared down at me.
"Yeah, that's not going to happen," I said and then stepped forward, so my chest was against his stomach, and I stared up at him, unintimidated. "Try something, I swear to god."
He glared down at me and pulled his arm back as if he was going to swing. He was huge, so I doubt I could actually do anything, but I was willing to take the punch for her, and then someone caught his arm.
"I don't think so," Dean said and then pulled his arm down. "How about you come with me." He grabbed the kid by his collar and walked him off toward the office. "Dude, were you not at that assembly today?"
I walked over and helped Claire stand up, and she ran over to Emma and hugged her. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah," Emma said and then smiled at me weakly. "Thank you. Both of you."
Claire looked up at her in shock that she would thank her and then immediately went back to hugging her. I smiled and nodded at her.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Sam sweeping, and when I looked over at him, he gestured for me to come over, but my phone vibrated, and we both pulled out our phones to see we had a text from Dean.
10 mins. Impala. Out front.
I sighed and turned back to the girls. "Okay, this is probably the last time I will see you guys, so just take care of yourselves, all right?"
"What? You're leaving already?" Emma asked, looking slightly disappointed.
I nodded. "Yeah, my brother just texted me to meet him out front in a few minutes."
"Well, I can't say that I'm totally disappointed, but I am a little," Emma said.
I laughed. "Thanks."
Then Richard ran by and snapped all three of our bras.
"Dude! Seriously?!" I yelled and then turned to face him. "What did I tell you would happen if you did it again."
"You told me you would punch me in the face," Richard said, pretending to be scared.
"Okay, at least you're aware," I said, and as I stepped toward him, my arm pulled back, ready to punch him, the bell rang, and the halls started flooding with kids. Finally, my fist connected with his face. I guess I punched a lot harder than I realized because he immediately dropped to the ground and wasn't moving.
Everyone was silent as they stared at me, and then they all started cheering and yelling, "Rocky! Rocky!"
I looked over at Sam, whose eyes were wide, and then he nodded for me to head to the front door. I quickly walked off towards the main door, and he headed to a side door.
Everyone followed me to the front as they continued to chant, and the principal walked out of the office. "What on Earth is going on?!"
I walked out of the front door, and he shouted, "Where do you think you're going?!" But then everyone crowded around him and continued to chant.
As I walked toward the Impala, Sam came out of a side door and got into the front seat, and they both stared at me. I took the opportunity to feel like John Bender and proudly threw my fist into the air and then hopped into the back seat as the kids continued to chant. Looking back at the school, I could see the principal and several hall monitors trying to break up the crowd.
"What's going on?" Dean asked.
"I think I've experienced enough of high school. Let's go burn some bones," I said.
Dean pulled away from the sidewalk and drove out of the parking lot. "What happened?"
"She knocked a kid clean out," Sam said.
"Nice." Dean smiled proudly in the rear-view mirror.
Sam snapped a look at him.
Dean cleared his throat. "I mean. why are you starting fights everywhere you go?"
I shook my head and shrugged. "I told you I wouldn't do anything to anyone if they didn't deserve it."
"The cafeteria?" Dean asked.
"You were there?" I asked.
Dean nodded.
I shook my head. "I didn't start anything. That girl spilled hot soup on me." I shrugged. "And besides, I wasn't the one that poured milk on her head."
"What about the kid who was about to punch you?" Dean asked.
"He hit his girlfriend like two minutes before that, and I was defending her," I said.
Dean nodded.
"What about the kid you knocked out?" Sam asked, sounding annoyed.
"He wouldn't stop snapping my bra. I literally warned him, and he still did it. He brought it upon himself," I said.
Sam sighed. "Well, we can't really be mad at that."
Dean sat up a little to look at me better in the mirror excitedly. "So, you just hit that kid once?"
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *