After I calm Kash down, he wouldn’t stop talking.

“I can’t believe you just did that!” He said, shaking his head.

This was the 30th time he repeated that phrase. I just kept walking, pulling him into the classroom.

“Now, for sure I will be a target. What if I get summoned? Crap my plan was just to lay low this year. I’m not even strong enough to fight if I have to!” Kash mumbled to himself.

I’m not sure what he was referring to, but I could tell my previous interaction with Theo was a problem for him. I started to feel bad. I didn’t want to cause problems for Kash, especially since he was my friend.

Friend? Wow, I was quick to assume that.

We headed towards the back of the classroom, navigating the neat rows of desks in parallel lines. We sat down next to each other at adjacent desks. The class continued to fill up with groups of students, each with their own conversations carrying into the room. I turned to Kash and he seemed to have calmed down a bit.

“I’m sorry.”

Kash turned to face me and smiled.

“Don’t be sorry man. You didn’t know what you were doing. And besides, I already figured out a plan on how to avoid Theo, so we’re all good,” he said with a cheesy smile.

“I’m glad,” I smiled. Kash definitely was a strange guy but he was a very endearing person.

The bell rang and an older gentleman stood up from the small desk he was hiding behind, slowly walking toward the front of the class. The student conversations hushed as he cleared his voice to silence the minor chatter.

“Hello students, welcome to English 101. I am your teacher, Mr. Stevens. Today we will be focusing on classical literature. The first book you will be reading is Hamlet by Shakespeare,” the older gentleman hummed to the class.

The rise of groans and chatter filled the quiet room but Mr. Stevens continued on with the lesson.

The rest of the morning went by like a breeze. I had lucked out meeting Kash as we both had all the same classes for the morning block. We quickly bonded over our similar taste in music and stupid memes that made us laugh.

We chatted in the hallway as we made our way to the cafeteria, the ease of our conversation a refreshing surprise from the stress of this morning.

I learned that Kash was into anime and liked to make his own memes. He hated working out and he loved to cook. Kash’s oversharing also led me to know more about Theo.

From what Kash said, Theo was a freakishly strong kid that would fight anyone who challenged him. Anyone, from girls to guys, and even teachers sometimes. The thought sent a chill down my back. Even though he had a huge presence, he was barely ever in school. But when he did come, he was always accompanied by his best friend Derrick, who was also equally strong but not as violent as Theo.

Kash also alluded to some secret group, or gang, when he spoke about Theo. He kept referring to him as a leader of some sort and how it was forbidden to go against him.

I’m not sure if Kash knew he was oversharing but I was slightly intrigued about Theo. His cold, forest-green eyes that had locked onto mine was something I kept thinking about. I kept wondering what made those eyes so cold, absent of empathy, and slightly sad.

Kash went to wait in the cafeteria line and I opted to grab food from the vending machine. I didn’t have much of an appetite today so I decided on a snack instead.

After getting my cool ranch Doritos and a soda, I went back to the now crowded cafeteria. I didn’t see Kash in the very long line or at any of the tables. I kept looking around the loud cafeteria, scanning the sea of students for any sign of him.

No luck.

I decided to sit at an empty table near the vending machines and wait for him. I opened my chips, digging in while I still searched the lunchroom, looking for any signs of him.

While eating, a strange wave of nerves hit me, I felt as though I was being watched. I scanned the surrounding tables, which were full of students, and saw the shifting of their eyes, they were all staring at me. A hush fell over the cafeteria. The previous boisterous cafeteria now felt like a cemetery.

But why?

I looked down to see if I had any stains on my hoodie. No, just some crumbs. Was it my hair? I was starting to slightly panic; I personally didn’t understand why I had the whole cafeteria staring me down. Did they know I was new?

The reason soon found me as I felt a tap on my shoulder. I spun around and saw a red-haired guy staring at me. He had the look of a dumb jock, complete with a leather jacket and athletic build. He had to be of average height with oily pale skin that seemed to make his hair stand out more. The look on his face showed that he was slightly irritated.

“Hey, you’re sitting in our seat,” he said, with an annoyed voice.

I looked at him and then realized there was a group of guys surrounding him, some had jackets too, others had workout clothes. The jackets they were all wearing told me they were jocks as well. Great just what I needed right now.

He stared me down and made a low growl at me.

Did he just growl at me?

The shock of this situation made me freeze as he grabbed my hoodie, physically picking me up. This guy didn’t look strong but he sure had the strength to lift my body. I struggled in his grasp.

“Did you hear me? Are you fucking deaf? You are in our seat!” he snarled at me as he threw me to the ground.

The sudden encounter of the cold concrete floor against my body fucking hurt. My body ached from the sheer force of the impact. I slowly got up, noticing that my chips were sprawled all over the floor.

His friends were laughing and giving high-fives to each other like it was some game victory. My body felt heavy as I stood up and tried to walk away from the danger.

“Where do you think you’re going?” he asked with a devilish laugh. He grabbed my hood and yanked me back to the ground.

Great, another bully.

His friends snickered as he kicked me. I didn’t have the strength to fight back. All I could do was curl into a ball and protect myself. I laid still, waiting for the impact of his foot to hit my body again.

“Stop,” a stern voice interjected.

Instantly, the jock stopped. I peeked up through my arms, catching an even bigger jock, his almond-shaped brown eyes peering down at me. He was tall, taller than all of the other guys in the group. He had on a leather jacket with a black T-shirt underneath with dark navy jeans. His black, gel-combover hair cut shaped his face well. His features made him stand out, he was handsome and he carried himself like he knew it. Really, another attractive guy? This school seemed to have a lot of attractive people here.

The bigger male walked towards the red-headed male. He stood staring, silently nodding. It was strange, they didn’t say a word but it seemed like they were having a conversation. The dumb jock stepped out of the way and the bigger dude, allowing him to stroll up to me.

 Cool, another person to hit me.

He stopped in front of me and I flinched, waiting for the next punch. Instead, he held his hand out, motioning for me to take it.

I grabbed it, allowing him to helped me up.

“Sorry about Ryder, he can be a little territorial over our space,” he said in a calm tone.

I stood up, brushing the dust and chips off my clothes. I could feel him staring at me, eyeing me up and down. I felt slightly uncomfortable from the unwelcome attention.

“You must be new around here. Most people know this is our table next to the vending machines. What’s your name,” the creepy dude said.

“It’s Remy,” I quietly replied.

My body still ached from the pain of the previous attacks. I just wanted to leave and go home.

“Remy, interesting name,” he paused.

“You're pretty cute, I like that curly hair of yours. Are you single?” he flirted with a devilish smile.

Me, cute? What was going on right now? I stood still, in shock that another male was coming on to me.

“The name is Nathan, but you can call me Nate,” as he stalked closer to me, eyeing me up and down.

I needed to go. Like...Right now. I peered into the crowded cafeteria and finally found Kash. He stood beyond the crowd of students; his wide eyes showing how mortified he was by the incident I just created.

Nate continued to stroll closer to me, and I now started to slowly make my way backward, stepping closer to the vending machines.

“You know, since you're new, I can help you Curly,” Nate winked, bestowing a nickname for me.

“I think I’m good,” I said, slightly frantic.

Just as I was about to turn and run, I felt something solid behind me. I turned and met cold forest-green eyes. 

It was Theo.

Great…. Just what I needed, another conflict to pop up.