I'm Kai, a sophomore at Redwood high school; 15 years old. I play soccer with my friends, who are boys. Not that I like any of them, though. I haven't really liked anyone for a long time. I think when I was in seventh grade I stopped being interested in relationships and all that stuff. Not that it mattered, though. No one ever liked me, anyway. I usually have about ten people ask me if I'm a boy or a girl every week, but I've gotten used to it. I'm not that much of a tomboy, to be honest. That's just my opinion, though. If your definition of a tomboy is a girl that hangs out with guys but doesn't like any of them, plays or even just likes sports, and isn't seen shopping twelve times a week, then yeah. I'm a tomboy. I guess the thing that makes people question my gender is my hair. I have medium skin, dark brown hair, and blue eyes. People say I have a mullet, but I don't see it. 

     I was playing soccer at lunch, as usual, and I was so focused on kicking the ball into the net that I didn't notice the person approaching it. Apparently, the bell had rung and it was time to go back to class, but I hadn't noticed. None of us had. Our school is like most schools. There's the sports people, the normal people, the not-so-normal people, the popular girls, and the popular boys. There is one annoying popular kid in particular that is convinced that it's her job to tell everyone that lunch is over, when there are literally people out on the field who actually do that as a job. But she doesn't care. She doesn't care at all. Almost every day when me and my friends are playing soccer, she appears seconds after the bell rings to yell at us about how we're going to be late to class if we don't leave. Her name is Aimee. She acts like a nice person when lots of people are around, but when it's just her and the sports kids, she acts like a total... you know. 

     I was sprinting as fast as I could, blocking out everything around me except the ball, the net, and the people trying to get the ball from me. I was so focused, and yet Aimee's annoying high pitched voice broke my concentration, and someone managed to get the ball from me. I inhaled sharply, frustrated. I side-eyed Aimee, clearly annoyed. She returned the glance, and smiled at me. She knew exactly how annoyed I was with her, but she didn't care. "You guys, lunch is over! You don't wanna be late to class, do you?" I scoffed. "Being late once isn't going to get us in any real trouble, you know." She smirked, as if to say "I'm going to prove you wrong." I sighed, picking up the soccer ball and tossing it to its owner. I hated how smug she was, but it's not like I could do anything about it. Just deal with it. I thought to myself, taking a deep breath. 

     Aimee was also a sophomore, but she was 16. Even though she claimed she had straight A's, I knew better than to believe someone as dumb as her. She had hair that was kind of in between brown and blonde, green eyes, and a skin color that was a few shades lighter than mine. As much as I hated her, I have to admit; she was gorgeous. Of course, I'd never say it to her face. Besides, all the popular kids were beautiful. It's a shame that you couldn't be popular if you weren't attractive, but that's just how it went at our school. She'd wear the same dusty pink crop top every day, but I doubt she didn't wash it. She always wore a shirt under the crop top, though. On the crop top was a hot pink heart. While she would change the shirt underneath, she always had that crop top over it. Part of me believed that she had multiple of the same crop top, just so she could wear it every day.

     I was walking home after soccer practice when it happened; something that changed my whole high school experience. I still don't know if it changed for the better, but I'm leaning towards yes. I was just walking home from school, because soccer practice was at school after class. There was a poster rolled up and sticking out of my backpack. I kept looking back to make sure it hadn't fallen out. In science, we were put into groups to make a poster about something. When the teacher said to let someone take it home, everyone in my group pointed to me before I could even say anything. I heard someone running towards me, so I turned around to see my friend, Kyle. He was in my science group, so I almost wanted to throw the poster at him and make him deal with taking it home and working on it. Kyle is also a sophomore(most of the people I knew were), so he's 15. He has light brown hair, brown eyes, and pale skin. He's also go some freckles, probably because he's always out in the sun. "Hey, Kai." He said, stopping to catch his breath. "Hey, Kyle. Why were you running so fast? It's not like I'm a fast walker or anything."

     "I heard that one popular girl- Aimee, I think- talking about you when I was leaving school." I rolled my eyes. "So? The worst she could say about me is that I  have a mullet." Kyle's face went blank, as if he were about to tell me that I do, in fact, have a mullet. "Which I don't." Kyle smirked. "Sure you don't... anyway, she wasn't saying anything-"

     Our conversation was interrupted by a loud shriek coming from the alley across the street. Me and Kyle looked over there, then looked to each other. He looked scared, but I wanted to know what was going on. I crossed the street, trying not to be noticeable just incase someone dangerous was in the alley. Kyle reluctantly followed. I peeked around the corner to see some dude, wearing a black jacket with a hood over his head, threatening someone with a knife. I was surprised when I realized who he was threatening. "Aimee?" I heard Kyle whisper behind me. I didn't say a word. I snuck to the other side of the alley and reached into a dumpster, trying to be as silent as possible. I looked through it until I found a crowbar. I shrugged and pulled it out of the dumpster. "Are you insane?!" Kyle whispered to me. "I can't just let that guy do that! What if he like, kills Aimee or something?"

     "Can't you call the police, though?" I sighed. "Kyle, you know as well as I do that I can't bring my phone to school. And neither can you." He thought for a moment, then sighed. "Fine. But don't blame me when you get stabbed by some sketchy dude in a dark alleyway." I took a deep breath, then snuck up behind the guy, who was now aiming the knife threateningly at Aimee. She was pressed against a corner, crying and begging for mercy. I raised the crowbar up in the air and slammed it down on the guy's head. He fell down almost instantly, unconscious. It took Aimee a second to realize what had happened, but once she did she smiled widely, tears still running down her face. "Oh my god, thank you so, so, so much!" She  ran up to me and hugged me tightly, sniffling. I awkwardly pushed her away. "Just call the police or something." 

     Aimee frowned. "But you literally just saved my life-"

     "Yeah, but by literally hitting some stranger in the head with a crowbar."

     "It's fine if you were doing it to protect me! I have to do something to thank you."

     "No, you don't. I would have done it for anyone, really."

     "Do you think it matters who you would have saved and who you would not have saved? When I saw you across the street looking at us I thought you wouldn't do anything, because I know you don't like me."

     "And let some random person get stabbed in a dark alleyway by someone who-"

     I was cut off by the man on the ground starting to move. He groaned and started to get up. I looked at Aimee. She gasped and tried to run, but I grabbed her arm before she could. I took the crowbar and smacked the man in the face with it. He fell back down to the ground, once again unconscious. "Call the police already!" Aimee scrambled to get her phone and called 911. "Hey, uh, so I was just like... almost killed in an alleyway next to a school? Can you like, help?" She looked to me and shrugged, as if she had no idea what she was doing. I face palmed myself and grabbed the phone out of Aimee's hand. "Someone threatened a student with a knife in an alleyway about a block away from Redwood High School." 

     "Can you give me the address of the building closest to you and the street name?"

     "12345678 Asdfg Street."

     "Where is this man now?"

     "Unconscious on the ground. I hit him with a crowbar."

     "... O-Okay, uh.. Someone will be right there."

     The person on the phone hung up, and I handed the phone back to Aimee. After a few seconds, she randomly grabbed the crowbar out of my hand and hit the man so hard it sounded like she hit a car and not a human being. "Hey, woa! Calm down, we don't want him dead, just unconscious-"

     Aimee turned to me, a look of anger I had never seen from her before on her face. "You don't want him dead. I do." I didn't respond to her. I was scared she'd hit me with the crowbar next if I did. When the police finally arrived and took the man to their car, they started asking questions. "Do you have any idea who this man is?" I was about to reply, but Aimee pushed me aside. "I don't know his name, but I sure do know his face. He's the guy that murdered my uncle." My eyes widened. The officer nodded. "Okay, so which of you hit him with the crowbar?" Aimee pointed to me. "Uh... Good job."

     A few hours later I was laying down on my bed, getting ready to go to sleep. I don't usually go to sleep early, but that day was so exhausting that I just couldn't wait to lay down and drift off. 

     The next day, at lunch, I was eating my roast beef and mayo sandwich, wishing Kyle were here. All my friends were in the cafeteria, but all of them were part of that popular-ish group. Kyle and I didn't like sitting in that area, so we would usually eat together at a table far from there, but today he stayed home sick. At least, that's what he told me. I think he was scared because of what had happened the day before in the alley, and if that were the case he probably wouldn't go to school for the rest of the week. "At least I have you," I said to my sandwich before taking another bite. Then I finished my sandwich. "Never mind." 

     After a few minutes of me sitting at the table alone, I was about to get up and go outside to wait for my other friends so we could play soccer out on the field. Maybe I'll sit here and wait for a couple more minutes.  I thought to myself. I'll just join them when they get up from their table to leave. I sighed. About two minutes passed, and I started thinking about yesterday. Aimee said that guy killed her uncle. "I hit a murderer in the head with a crowbar." I said to myself, kind of proud but also kind of worried about what could have happened if I hadn't been able to knock him unconscious. I suddenly heard shuffling behind me. I was sitting on the chair weirdly. Actually, it was more of a stool than a chair. My back was facing the stool next to mine, and it sounded like someone was sitting next to me. I turned around to see something I definitely did not expect to see. 

     "Aimee?"