Shannon and Liliana approached the steps where they saw Missy stood. Hayley and Razia were next to her, with worried looks on their faces.
"Missy!" Liliana shouted as she ran over to her friend, pulling her into a hug.
"I'm not letting Nas treat us like dirt" Missy stated
Missy rushes down the steps and walked angrily towards where Nas, Alya and all their friends were leaving the school. Shannon and Liliana followed closely behind, worried about what their friend would say.
Missy stormed up to Nasreen, glaring at her with angry eyes.
"You just gonna stand there?" Missy scoffed
"Look, Missy i'm sorry" Nas sighed in defeat
"You what?" Missy growled "While them lot call her every name going. Slag, nasty, junkie, my mum; treated her like she was scum"
"Go on Missy, smack her" Shannon said
"Stop" Liliana shook her head "This has nothing to do with us"
"All that before, you act like you hardly know us" Missy scowled.
Liliana's eyes drifted towards the door on the opposite side of the quad, where Cory was leaving the school building. She sighed as she caught Cory's eye and he threw her a confused look.
"Two days in this school and you're so worried what the girls in hijab think of ya" Missy said as she threw a hand up in dismay
"Missy, they're my mates" Nas sighed "You don't know them, just like i don't know your mates"
"Yet you're happy to chat about us to them, even though they don't know us?" Missy scoffed
"It's not my fault that you got held back a year, is it?" Nas said with a shrug.
That was all it took for Missy to step forward, shoving the sixth former. A chorus of "oooh" echoed from the crowd making Liliana sigh and grab her friends arm.
"Stop, she's not worth it" Liliana frowned
"She's still trying to protect you Nas, even after you were busy talking about her" Missy said with an angry glare
Cory frowned and mouthed "What did she say?" to Liliana, making her shake her head. It would humiliate her if Cory ever heard was Nas had been saying.
Nas locked eyes with Liliana, sending her a gentle and remorseful smile. Liliana nodded, hoping Missy would drop her name out of it.
"I didn't even say anything about Liliana" Nas frowned, still looking worried
"Missy, drop it" Liliana instructed, yet the blonde ignored her
"Calling her a slag just because she admitted to liking Cory at a sleepover once" Missy said
"It was heat of the moment" Nas sighed
"We weren't even arguing" Liliana mumbled as she stared at the ground
"I'm sorry" Nas said
Liliana pushed through the crowd, walking away from the argument. She was humiliated and upset. Her eyes were filled with anger.
"Liliana!" She heard a voice call her but she made no effort to stop walking
Cory grabbed Liliana's hand, pulling her back to face him. She stared at the ground, sighing to herself in defeat.
"It was just a silly crush I had" Liliana said with a frown "It means nothing, okay?"
"Lil, it's okay" Cory said "It's not gonna make any difference to us, okay?"
"I just can't believe she was talking about me like that" Liliana sighed "I can't believe she called me a slag"
"She's just a nasty girl" Cory said
Liliana nodded and smiled softly at Cory, he smiled back at her with bright eyes. Suddenly, the crowd behind them were erupting with loud chants of "fight, fight, fight"
Liliana pulled her hands out of Cory's grip and made her way into the circle where both of her friends were fighting. She grabbed Nas and pulled her off Missy, pushing the brunette away from her.
However, Liliana stood behind Nas just when she was pulling a hand back and ended up getting punched in the nose. The whole crowd fell silent as blood poured out of Liliana's nose and dripped onto the ground.
The crowd scurried away in their smaller groups, chattering amongst themselves about the events that had just occurred. Cory pushed past all of them, making his way towards Liliana.
As soon as he reached her, Cory grabbed Liliana's hand and instructed for her to tilt her head back. She agreed and followed his instructions, the pain becoming too much for her to argue.
"Liliana i'm so sorry-" Nas began to speak but Cory shook his head, stopping her from continuing.
"Don't" Cory sighed "She doesn't need this"