Covington Prep

Distractions

Josh's POV

I slipped through the crowd and headed straight for our friends. Cal looked amazing, which wasn't

unusual and I couldn't take my eyes off of her. Margaret saw me first and we hugged. I hugged the rest

of the group and we turned towards the game. Jack played great. He kept us on our feet, scoring two of

the 4 touchdowns. I stood next to Cal the whole time and we talked through the cheering and inside my

head, I had a quick debate. 

Just ask her out!

No way! She probably has a thing for Jack!

So what? Only one way to find out...

Maybe...

I turned towards Cal to see her already staring at me. 

"What?" I asked grinning.

"You had a strange look on your face, like you were deciding on something." she replied

"Yeah... hey listen, I was wondering - " I got cut off by the buzzer and the announcer asked for all the

new people to come down to the field. She looked at me apologetically and I smiled,

"I'll ask you later."

She nodded and started walking towards the field. I watched as she began to talk to the announcer and

all of the new students got a picture. Jack began to walk towards her and they hugged. Someone

touched my shoulder and I looked down to see Maria. 

"Hey, you coming to the after party?"

"Yeah, I'll be there in a minute." I replied

She nodded and grabbed Laura and they walked towards the field. I looked down to see Jack and Cal

laughing and walking to the school's gym. I blew out a breath and started walking. 

I walked into the gym and wasn't surprised by the noise, since we had won. I went up to Jack and

congratulated him. We talked for a minute or two and I went to get some Chik-fil-a. As I was walking

back to my friends, someone slammed into me. Carson. 

"Dude, watch where you're going," he sneered.

I raised my eyebrows, "You slammed into me." 

His eyes narrowed. "You got a problem with that?"

I laughed. "Seriously Carson? I don't even understand why you're getting mad..." I shook my head

and as I was walking away, I realized he wanted to make me mad. He wanted me to do something

about it. But why? Cal walked up to me a minute later. 

"Hey, so what did you want to ask me?" There was a sparkle in her eye like she already knew.

I cleared my throat. "I was wondering if.. uh. Would you want to - " WHAM. Something collided with my

side and it felt like a fist. I stumbled and turned around quickly. Carson (of course) was standing there

with a triumphant gleam in his eyes. Alright, I've had enough. I tackled him and it broke into an all out

fist fight. I don't exactly remember but somehow Jack and Anders got involved and some of Carson's

goons. Eventually, the C-slug and two of his friends were laying on the ground moaning. I was sporting

a bloody lip and a cut on my cheek. Jack's eye was turning black and Anders' cheek was swelling up. I

looked up and realized it was deathly quiet. Everyone was staring and they started to part for someone. 

I was thinking some pretty unflattering things at this point and the person I saw just made it worse. It

was principal Jones. Her lips were pursed and her jaw clenched.

"You three boys, come with me."