Dylan and Henry were waiting around by their lockers for their friends. It was the end of the school day and they were all going to travel to Junk-N-Stuff together. Charlotte was the first to join the two, saying hi to her friends once she spotted them and walked over.
"Hey Hen, Dylan." She greeted.
"Hey Char," Henry greeted back as Dylan smiled, "How was your student council meeting?"
"Oh, it was really good! Next semester we're planning a bake sale to raise money—"
"Aww, that sounds great." Henry interrupted her, earning himself a light smack on the arm from Dylan for being rude. Charlotte just rolled her eyes at Henry and switched to a different topic.
"All right, it's almost four o'clock," Charlotte stated as she pulled out her phone from her back pocket, "We better get to work."
"Oh no, we're good. Piper's gonna drive us." Henry told Charlotte, who groaned in response.
"No, I don't like it when Piper drives us!"
"Why? She has her driver's license."
"Only because the state gave her one by mistake."
"Still valid..." Henry trailed off in a low voice.
"Dylan when are you getting your license?" Charlotte asked, desperately wanting someone in their friend group to be able to drive.
"Well first I have to get my permit and then I have to wait nine months after that." Dylan responded.
"And when are you getting your permit?" Charlotte asked.
"I don't know." Dylan answered honestly and Charlotte groaned again.
Honking could be from outside the school, the three of them directing their attention to the front doors.
"Is that Piper?" Charlotte asked Henry who was walking over to the doors.
"Yeah," Henry responded as he opened one of the doors and stuck his head out to yell at his sister, "Hey Piper! Quit honking the horn!" Piper just laid on the car horn in response, signaling that she heard his message, but it was not accepted. "Love you too!" Henry shouted to the parking lot before closing the door and walking back over to Dylan and Charlotte.
"All right, where's Jasper?" Charlotte was getting a little antsy waiting for him.
"Still in detention." Dylan responded.
"What's he in for, anyway?"
"Dress code violation."
"Aww, not a belly shirt."
"Belly shirt." Of course Jasper would be the one to wear a ridiculous outfit to school and get in trouble for it.
Students started flooding out of Miss. Shapen's room, where detention was being held. She practically kicked everyone out of the classroom, commenting how they were all disappointments on their way out. Jasper noticed his friends waiting for him in the hallway, walking over to them.
The first thing the others noticed was the hot pink cardigan he was wearing, which seemed to have some already built in breasts.
"Why are you wearing a pink sweater?" Henry asked, containing in a laugh.
"Oh, this is Miss. Shapen's." Jasper told him. "She made me put it on since my crop top shirt was a dress code violation."
"Well, why did you wear a crop top shirt to school when you know it's against the rules?" Charlotte questioned.
"Because I should have the right to let my bellybutton breathe and be free!" Jasper defended.
"I don't think that's a right." Charlotte commented, part of her wondering how her friend made it this far in life.
"It might be a wrong." Dylan stated in a hushed tone, having the same thoughts as Charlotte.
"And why do you have those?" Charlotte pointed to the two protrusions sticking out from the cardigan.
"Oh, I think these are built into the sweater." Jasper stated nonchalantly.
"You think?" Henry sarcastically asked and Jasper just shrugged his shoulders.
Piper came storming into the school not long after, saving everyone from the awkward silence that was about to occur.
"Hey! Will you guys hurry up?" She shouted to the group of friends, "I'm parked in a handicapped spot!"
"You're not supposed to do that!" Henry told his sister.
"I'm also not 'supposed' to have a driver's license, but I do! Now let's go!"
"Okay, just a sec."
Piper finally noticed Jasper's state, giving him an odd look at the sight of the sweater. "Yeah, okay."
"Oh hey, guess who was in detention with me?" Jasper asked his friends just as they were about all start leaving.
"We don't care." Charlotte responded, wanting to get to work already.
"Byshelle Bilsky." Jasper told the others anyways.
"No way, Bysh?" Henry couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"I thought Bysh was in jail!" Charlotte commented.
"They let her out!" Jasper stated.
"Who's Bysh Bilsky?" Dylan asked, not knowing who the others were talking about.
"A girl with a bad attitude." Henry told his boyfriend.
"Yeah, she's crazy." Jasper further explained.
"She's Mitch's sister." Charlotte's sentence made Dylan's blood run cold, the mere mention of Mitch Bilsky always made him feel disgusting.
"Hey, remember in the fifth grade when Bysh put a scorpion in Miss. Shapen's purse?" Henry reminisced to his friends who knew her.
"Yeah," Charlotte remembered it well because of how funny it was, "and then she reached inside, and the scorpion bit her, and then she yelled 'Ahh! Bysh! Bysh! What did you do?'" The others started laughing at the story, them all remembering it, Dylan laughing at Miss. Shapen being bit by a scorpion, and Piper laughing because someone go hurt.
"Oh really?" A voice shouted from behind them. They all turned around to find Bysh Bilsky, who apparently came in at the end of their conversation. "You think I don't got ears?"
"Oh, hey Bysh." Henry tried to lighten the mood but it didn't work. Instead he got scolded.
"You shut up!" Bysh pointed a finger in Henry's face.
"Alright." Henry rushed to Dylan's side, hopefully now protected.
"I was talking to that!" Bysh approached Charlotte and pointed a finger at her now. "I heard you say my name, and then laugh it up."
"Oh," Charlotte was a little scared to be talking to her, Bysh having gone to jail and all, "I was just saying how funny it was when you—" Bysh interrupted Charlotte, not allowing her to continue with her explanation.
"Oh you think I'm funny? Is that it? Do you find me hilarious?"
"No, no, no." Charlotte rushed out but Bysh wasn't having it.
"Oh what, you think I got no sense of humor?"
"Okay ladies, listen," Henry removed himself from Dylan's side and approached Bysh again, "I think there's been a little bit of a misunderstanding—" Bysh spit in Henry's face in response, causing him to become livid. "Okay, that's it!"
Dylan ran over to Henry, having to hold him back before he did anything. "Hey, hey!"
"You know what? You just keep her here!" Henry pointed at Bysh, all riled up. "You just keep her here!" Henry pulled himself from Dylan's grip, storming off to some other part of the school.
"I'm just gonna..." Dylan slowly backed away from the group and started following Henry only to find him around the corner with a gumball in his mouth. "Okay, what are you doing?"
"You know what I'm doing! I'm gonna introduce Bysh to Kid Danger and show her what's what!"
"You know Ray's rule, you can't use Kid Danger to solve your own personal problems!"
"You saw what she did! She spit all over me!"
"Give me the gum." Dylan held his hand out in front of Henry's mouth.
"No."
"Henry, do what's right."
Henry paused for a moment before spitting out the gum into Dylan's hand. It was a tad disgusting on Dylan's part but it was better than the alternative. If Ray were to find to about Henry using Kid Danger for this, he'd be in a lot of trouble.
A scream erupted from the other hallway, it clearly belonging to Charlotte. Henry and Dylan ran back into the front hallway where they found Charlotte shoved in a trashcan. Jasper and Piper had watched her get shoved into the trash, both of them afraid to intervene with Bysh. Henry and Dylan tipped the trashcan over, Charlotte landing with a thud. They had to pull her out by her ankles and the top half of her body was covered in trash.
"Okay, that's it Byshelle!" Charlotte yelled at the other girl after getting off the ground and brushing some of the trash off her shirt, "You just violated at least four school rules when you put me in that trashcan!"
"Yeah, does she look recyclable?" Henry asked, still angry with Bysh for spitting on him before.
"No, she looks stupid." Bysh responded. Henry started walking towards her but she spit on him again, his anger now more present than before.
Dylan had to run after Henry and wrestle him for the gumball tube as Henry immediately started to walk away and pull it out of his pocket. After a brief session of tug-o-war, Dylan was able to acquire the tube, where he placed it in his own pant's pocket. Henry started to reach for Dylan's pocket but his hand was knocked away and he was met with a scolding look from Dylan.
"What is going on in this school hallway?" Miss. Shapen had emerged from her classroom due to the cacophony that erupted.
"I'll tell you what's going on!" Piper responded, her having been watching from the sidelines for the majority of the whole confrontation. "A fight between Charlotte and Bysh!"
"No!" Charlotte was quick to respond to Piper's answer.
"I'm down to fight." Bysh glared at Charlotte with her words.
"Hey! The rules say no fighting in this school during school hours!" Miss. Shapen told them. "So if you girls are gonna have a street fight in this school, you gotta do it here before 8 A.M."
"Cool with me." Bysh told the teacher, still down to fight.
"Wait a second!" Charlotte tried to get her opinion out to the others but no was was listening.
"Okay! Monday morning, 7:30." Piper was now organizing this fight. "Charlotte's gonna take you down, Byshelle."
"Looking forward to it." Bysh approached Charlotte and flicked her forehead before walking out of the school.
"Ow!" Charlotte screamed at the pain, "She thumped my head so hard!" She turned to Miss. Shapen, who just watched it all happen. "You saw that, why didn't you do something?"
"It's after four, I'm off the clock." Miss. Shapen answered before turning her attention to Jasper. "Jasper! Why are you still wearing my special sweater?"
"You made me put it on!" Jasper answered, not knowing what else he was supposed to do with it.
"Well I have a date, so give it."
"Okay." Jasper began to undo the buttons on the sweater but one of the breasts started deflating.
"Aw, you popped my favorite one!" Miss. Shapen yelled at him before storming out of the school.
"Okay well," Charlotte spoke up, finally feeling like she would be listened to by the others, "Monday at 7:30 A.M., my life is over!"
"No it's not, she's not that tough." Henry tried assuring his friend.
"Yeah besides, strength isn't about muscles. It's about what's in here." Jasper patted the area over his heart, causing the second breast in Miss. Shapen's sweater to deflate.
Now the awkward silence came, no one really knowing what to say anymore.
—
Henry and Charlotte exited the elevator together and entered the Mancave. The two of them were already in conversation with one another, talking about the fight that was supposed to take place in a couple of days.
"You know what you gotta do? Just gotta get a baseball bat." Henry began to explain. "Then you hide in the bushes."
"No!" Charlotte interrupted Henry's plan, if you could call it that, "I just want to forget about Bysh, and that stupid fight Piper got me into, okay?"
Before they could continue their conversation three men appeared out from behind them, scaring both of them, Charlotte more so than Henry, having been so scared she was knocked to the ground. Ray emerged from the hallway behind the tubes, laughing at the two of them.
"Ray, you maybe wanna tell us what's going on?" Charlotte asked as she pulled herself off the ground.
"Sure! We are about to get you ready for The Brawl in the Hall." Ray gestured to the three men behind him.
"Wait, are you talking about the Bysh Bilsky and Charlotte fight?" Henry didn't realize Ray had known about the fight, wanting to clarify just incase it was something else Ray was referring to.
"No! How would Ray know about that?" Charlotte told Henry, still wanting to forget about Bysh.
"Have you guys not seen the news?" Ray asked the two teens.
"What news?" Charlotte became worried for the answer.
"Uh, this." Ray turned on one of the monitors, pulling up a news segment that aired earlier.
The two anchors, Trent and Mary, were sitting in their usual spots as Trent began the report.
"And finally this story from Swellview High School." Trent began, "Notorious bad-girl, Bysh Bilsky, was released from jail only two weeks ago, but she's already stirring up a ruckus."
"That's right, Trent." Mary came in, "According to our hight school informant, there's gonna be a big, nasty fight."
"Apparently, Bysh will be pummeling a local teenage girl named Charlotte something, on Monday morning just before school." Charlotte felt a tad offended, the news apparently not caring enough about her to report her last name; but at the same time she was a little relieved, not wanting everyone in Swellview to know exactly who they were talking about.
Ray turned off the news, the segment now over.
"But I don't want to fight!" Charlotte told Henry and Ray, "I don't have to fight if I don't wanna fight, right?" Everyone in the room responded with something along the lines of "Yeah, you do", causing Charlotte to let out a groan.
"But don't worry. Because I have brought you the best personal combat instructors who'd come here for free." Ray walked back over to the three men during his explanation.
"And who are these guys?" Henry asked, having seen none of them before.
"This is Sensei Juke," Ray pointed to the first man, "A multi-degreed blackbelt in sh'sheeto, pad-tie, and keen-wah." Ray walked over to the second man in the line up, "Now this man here, is Harley Birch. He may look out of shape, but don't let his flab fool ya." A pair of keys fell onto the ground after Ray's explanation. Ray bent down and picked them up. "What the heck is this?"
"Those are my car keys," Harley responded, taking the keys out of Ray's hands, "I'm just gonna put them back in my flab."
"And who's that?" Henry brought Ray's attention to the last person in the lineup.
"This is Kevin," Ray responded, walking over to the man, "Kevin is—"
Ray was interrupted by Kevin breaking a bottle over his head.
"Ow! You don't do that until I say so!" Ray yelled at Kevin, who responded by taking another bottle and breaking it over his arm. "Ow! Twice?" Kevin went to pick up another object but Ray forced him to drop it, not wanting to get hit by anything else. "You see, Kevin is a street fighter. He utilizes any items and objects he can find in the streets."
"Aren't items and objects the same thing?" Henry pointed out.
"What have I told you about sass?"
"Woah, sorry."
"Now, where's Dylan?" Ray turned to the people behind him. There was supposed to be four, not three. "He's supposed to be here."
"I'm here!" Dylan came out from behind the sprocket and joined the others in the main room.
"Where were you? You're late!" Ray crossed his arms, trying to look judgmental and disappointed.
"I was taking a shower." Dylan responded.
"It's the middle of the afternoon."
"Oh, so I'm not allowed to be clean?" Dylan crossed his arms back and glared at Ray.
"I'm sorry, you asked Dylan to teach me how to fight?" Charlotte asked her boss.
"No, I asked Dylan to teach you how to throw things with precision and accuracy."
"And you said yes?" Charlotte turned to Dylan, a look of confusion on her face.
"He said he'd give me the Mancave tonight." Dylan responded, not meeting Charlotte's eyes in case he was in trouble with her.
"Aw, are we having a date?" Henry asked his boyfriend with a wide smile.
"I was gonna ask you, yeah."
"Okay!" Ray loudly announced, brining everyone's attention to him, "Are you ready?" He asked Charlotte.
"Ready for what?" Charlotte's eyes went wide at Ray's implications.
"We are all going to work together to turn you into a rad, bad, Bysh-bustin machine."
"But I don't wanna—"
"Music!" Ray cut Charlotte off and turned on one of his music playlists. He had meant to turn on his "Upbeat Montage" playlist but instead his "Love Mix" came on. The three teens stared at him until he got all embarrassed and found the right playlist, quickly changing the music and pretending like nothing happened.
—
Ray made Henry practice with Charlotte and forced him to wear a blindfold so he couldn't dodge things with his fast reflexes.
Up first was Sensei Juke, who taught Charlotte how to punch and kick. When it came time to practice on her own, Charlotte rammed her elbow into Henry's stomach and performed a high-kick, her foot coming in contact with Henry's face, sending him to the ground.
Next was Harley Birch, who taught Charlotte how to grab someone and throw them to the ground, which was expertly carried out by the girl, picking Henry up and throwing him on the ground with a rough thud.
Schwoz had come out into the main room right as it was time for Kevin to teach Charlotte how to utilize random objects as weapons. Henry was relieved of his duties and Schwoz took his place, quickly being beaten down by a wooden stick and a trash bag thrown at him to keep him on the ground.
Finally, it was Dylan's turn. He would be teaching Charlotte how to throw daggers at a target because if you knew how to throw a knife, then you would know how to throw other small objects. Dylan made Schwoz stand against a wall with his arms and legs spread out along with his fingers. He told Schwoz he would throw a knife in the open space between his pointer and middle finger. Schwoz closed his eyes and waited for the pain, but it never came. He could feel when the knife hit the wall and he opened his eyes only to find it embedded in the space between his fingers, right where Dylan said it would land.
Now it was Charlotte's turn. Dylan gave her a couple of pointers and adjusted her stance before letting her throw a knife on her own. She aimed for Schwoz's other hand, hoping to land it in the same position Dylan had, only mirrored. This time Schwoz did feel pain, as the knife landed in the middle of his hand, Charlotte's aim a little off. Dylan couldn't really do anything about it, the knives not coming from him. He had used some standard metal throwing knives he found in the Mancave's weapon stash.
With a few more adjustments and some more demonstrations to Charlotte, Dylan let her throw another knife on her own. She aimed for Schwoz's head and assured him it wouldn't land in him, only near him. And it did. The knife landed right where she aimed it to go, an inch from Schwoz's right ear. She and Dylan shared a high-five as Schwoz let out a sigh of relief for not accidentally being killed.
With everyone having taught Charlotte something it was time for her to put what she learned to the test. One at a time she tried fighting the people who taught her, but she failed each time, them all beating her with the same techniques they taught. Even when it came to Dylan, who was smart enough to slip her one of his own knives in case anything happened. She tried to throw something three inches from his left hip, but it landed in his left shoulder instead, her aim wildly off target. He pulled the knife out of his shoulder and the wound healed instantly. It was a good thing he gave her one of his own.
"What happened?" Charlotte turned to Ray and Henry who were standing behind her. Dylan walked over to stand with the others as the three men Ray brought down to the Mancave left the area.
"You see Charlotte, you can't learn everything about fighting in one three-minute montage." Ray told her.
"Well then what was all this training for?"
"That's uh, that's a fair question." Ray couldn't give her a straight answer. Really he just wanted an excuse to teach someone how to fight.
Charlotte began to make her exit, grabbing her bad and pushing the button for the elevator.
"Hey, where are you going?" Henry asked.
"Home."
"But we gotta help you figure out a way to fight this girl!" Ray tried chasing after her but the elevator door opened and she stepped inside.
"I've had enough of your guys' help. I'm gonna handle Bysh myself."
"Come on you can't! You don't know how!"
"I said, I don't want your help or anyone else's. Understand?"
"All right, we won't help."
"Thank you." The elevator door closed leaving the others alone.
"We're gonna help her, right?" Henry turned to his boss to ask.
"Yeah, we're gonna help her." Ray responded. Dylan rolled his eyes at the two, knowing for a fact whatever they were going to come up with Charlotte would hate.
"Alright, Ray," Dylan began as Ray turned his attention to him, "Get out."
"What?" Ray was slightly taken aback at Dylan's abruptness.
"You promised me the Mancave, now leave."
"But—"
"Go."
"Fine." Ray caved, grumpily walking away and to his room where he'd be forced to sequester in for the next couple of hours.
"So," Henry started as soon as Ray was out of the main area, "what did you have in mind?"
"I was thinking a baked ziti." It had been a while since Dylan last made one and he had to make sure he still knew what he was doing.
"That sounds so good."
"I know, right?"
—
The following day was Monday, the day of the big fight. Piper had set up shop in the school hallway, charging people ten dollars to witness the fight. Jasper had stormed into the school making a bee-line towards Bysh and asked to speak with her in private about not fighting Charlotte. He lead her to one of the storage closets but before any talking could be done Bysh attacked him. Screaming could be heard from inside the closet and Bysh came out with a smile on her face.
Charlotte and Dylan entered the school together. Everyone turned their heads to Charlotte, expecting something big, but she just walked past Bysh and into the storage closet where Jasper was dangling from the ceiling, Bysh having tied him up with extension cords and placed him there. Bysh followed her into the closet and shut the door behind her.
"It's time." She told Charlotte.
"I know what time it is." Charlotte softly spoke, careful with her words as to not anger Bysh.
"I wanted to talk."
"So did he." Bysh pointed up to Jasper. "Still wanna talk?"
"Yeah." Charlotte paused before speaking again, still trying to be careful. "Who hurt you?"
"Huh?"
"Who hurt you?"
"Nobody hurts me!" Bysh raised her voice at Charlotte.
"Yeah, well I don't believe you, because you wouldn't be the way you are unless somebody hurt you."
"Girl, what the butt are you mouthing about?"
"You don't hate me! You're not even mad at me! But you're mad at somebody."
"Shut up!" It was clear Charlotte was onto something by the way Bysh was reacting.
"And I bet that's why you go around looking for excuses to hurt other people. Am I right?" Bysh didn't answer, just cracked her knuckles, but Charlotte saw right through it. "Come on, who hurt you?"
"It was my stupid cousin, Sharice!" Bysh admitted, turning herself away from Charlotte.
"Okay, tell me about stupid Sharice."
"I don't wanna talk about her."
"It's okay, this is a safe closet." Charlotte placed her hand on Bysh's shoulder but quickly removed it after being glared at. But that didn't stop her from continuing on. "Come on Byshelle, talk to me."
"It happened in third grade."
"What happened?"
"Girl! I'm telling you!" Bysh yelled, clearly not wanting to be interrupted.
"Right, right, sorry!"
"It happened at my birthday party," Bysh resumed her story, "I was turning twelve."
"You were turning twelve in the third grade?" Charlotte asked and was met with another glare from Bysh. "Uh, nothing wrong with that."
"Anyway, the day before my party I fell off my roller blades and I knocked my tooth out. This one right here, up front." Bysh pointed to one of her front teeth.
"Oh, that must have looked kind of weird."
"Yeah, here's a pic." Bysh pulled a photo from her back pocket. It was an image of her younger self, very clearly missing a tooth. "Then, one of the girls pointed at me and she said..." Bysh hesitated to continue the story.
"You can tell me." Charlotte pushed.
"She said — 'Look it's Bysh! The toothless dufus!' And then everybody started laughing and Sharice, she just laughed along with the rest of them. And that's when I knew, if you can't count on your best friend, then you can't count on anybody. And since then, I've never had a friend."
"Bysh, look at me, I'll be your friend."
"Nah, you're just saying that because you don't want me to rip your head off your body."
"Well that's true, I don't want you to rip my head off my body, but I also want to be your friend." Charlotte didn't know if the whole talking tactic would work. So far it was, but she needed to make sure. "Do you want that too?"
"Yes please!" Bysh pulled Charlotte into a squeezing hug.
"Bysh, could you maybe hug me a little less hard?" Charlotte felt like she was running out of air.
"Sorry." Bysh loosened her grip on the girl, allowing Charlotte the ability to breathe again.
"It's okay."
—
The two girls emerged from the closet, the whole school turning their attention to them, expecting a fight. The students started cheering and forming a circle around the two.
"No, sorry guys, the fight will not be happening!" Charlotte yelled to the crowd.
"There will not be blood!" Bysh announced.
Everyone in the halls were slightly disappointed, but they then turned their attention to Piper, who had collected all their money.
"No refunds!" Piper yelled before running out of the school. Everyone just chased after her, demanding their money back.
Charlotte led Bysh over to Dylan who was leaning on his locker.
"Bysh, this is my friend, Dylan. You might remember him from the other day." Charlotte introduced the two of them.
"Yeah, I know you." Bysh slightly nodded her head with her words. "My brother talks about you a lot."
"He does?" That disgusting feeling came back to Dylan at the mention of Mitch Bilsky.
"Calls you his future boyfriend."
"Oh my god." Dylan didn't really know how to respond to that.
Luckily their entire conversation was cut short by Captain Man and Kid Danger walking into the school.
"Alright, we're here!" Henry announced to the few students still in the hallway.
"Everybody freeze and don't move!" Ray shouted.
"That's the same thing." Henry leaned over and quietly told Ray.
"What?"
"Freezing and not moving, what's the difference?"
"See, that's the kind of sass I was talking about."
"Hi, Captain Man and Kid Danger," Charlotte interrupted their weird argument, "What brings you here when it seems like you don't even need to be here?"
"I'll tell you what brings us here." Ray started.
"A bank robbery." Henry finished. "It happened in the middle of the night."
"Fortunately we were able to track the stolen cash to this very school." Two police officers then entered the school, rushing over to Captain Man.
"Hey guys, we got your call." One of the officers told the two heroes.
"Yes officers, I think you'll find the stolen cash over there, in locker 53." Henry pointed over to the locker.
"53?" Bysh worriedly asked, "That's my locker!"
"Let's check it." One of the police officers told his partner, the two of them heading over to the locker.
Charlotte and Dylan shared a look with one another and pushed Ray and Henry to a corner of the hallway so they could speak to them.
"Why are you guys here?" Charlotte asked the two.
"To help you!" Henry responded like it was obvious.
"But I told you I didn't want your help!"
"Well uh, you got it!" Ray told the girl, beginning to laugh at the memory of what he and Henry did.
"Yeah, you're gonna love what we did!" Henry started laughing himself.
"What did you guys do?" Dylan asked, disappointment in his tone.
"We uh, robbed the Swellview Bank!" Ray whispered.
"Why?" Charlotte loudly asked.
"So we could get a big bag of cash!" Henry explained.
"And then, last night at around 4 A.M., we snuck in here..." Ray peeked around the hallway to check on the progress of the police officers and opening Bysh's locker.
"And we put the big bag of cash in Bysh's locker!" Henry was still laughing at the memory.
"And then we called the cops!"
"Which is why we're here!"
"You framed Bysh?" Charlotte couldn't believe what she was hearing.
"Yeah!" Henry and Ray exclaimed at the same time.
"So now she'll get arrested!" Henry explained to Charlotte.
"And you won't have to fight her!"
"But I already fixed it so I don't have to fight her!" Charlotte yelled at the two. "I talked to her, and now we're friends!"
"Oh." Henry stopped laughing and so did Ray.
"That is new information." Ray focused anywhere but Charlotte, who was giving him and Henry the stink eye.
The police were able to open Bysh's locker, one of the officers reaching inside and grabbing an orange tote bag.
"There is it!" The officer announced, pulling wads of cash out of the bag.
"You messed up big time, Byshelle." The other police officer scolded.
"But, I didn't put that in there!" Bysh told the police, but they didn't believe her.
"Oh, you're just holding it for a friend?" The officer holding the bag sarcastically remarked.
"Come on, let's go." The other officer went to put his hands on Bysh so he could escort her out but she grabbed the officer's fingers and attempted to break them. She didn't get very far and ended up angering the cops even more, both of them grabbing her and pulling her out of the school.
Bysh called after Charlotte and asked for her to bail her out before she was escorted out of the school entirely.
"Don't worry! I'll come to the police station after my Algebra II test!" Charlotte called out, hoping Bysh was able to hear her. She turned back to Henry and Ray, both of them looking equally guilty.
The bell for school rang, signaling the students to start heading to their first period. Charlotte shook her head at Ray and Henry before walking away from them and to her first class. Dylan followed her, as they shared their first class together.
"Can't believe I'm dating a criminal." Dylan told Henry in passing, knowing it would get to him. Dylan thought he deserved it though, Henry having literally robbed a bank. "Again."
"Wha—" Henry turned to Ray, shocked at Dylan's words. Ray just laughed at him and Henry turned to leave the building, already done with the day.
Ray followed and called after him, still laughing.