Back To You

Not the Only New Kid

I walked out of the cafeteria in a rush and leaned against a locker, trying to keep my lunch down. I stood there for a couple of seconds before the silence was interrupted.

"Don't ignore me prick, I'm talking to you." I turned my head down the hallway at what looked to be some sort of show down. The one who spoke was the guy who questioned my sexuality in the parking lot this morning. That was a sentence I never thought I'd say. The guy, who I think was named Chase, was standing in front of another guy who I'd never seen before.

"Dude, just back off." The unknown guy said. Chase stepped closer to him. Just then the bell rang.

"Just watch your back." Chase pushed his chest and, in the blink of an eye, the mystery guy grabbed Chase's hand and twisted it. Chase had a look of surprise mixed with pain on his face.

I noticed people starting to file out of the cafeteria and stop to watch the fight, which was only a couple of feet away from me.

Suddenly, before anyone could react, the guy wound back his free hand back into a fist and punched Chase in the mouth. Chase stumbled back and lost his balance, falling onto the ground causing everyone to gasp. I sucked in a breath when I saw Trent, Andrew, and John push through the crowd. Trent helped up Chase while Andrew confronted the other guy.

"What the hell is your problem?" Andrew shouted.

The guy ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "Well, tell your friend to stay out of my face and this won't happen again."

Andrew looked like he was going to lose it. His hands turned to fists and he had a look of pure anger in his eyes. The guy, whose back was to me, just stood there. If he was scared, he didn't show it, but then again I couldn't see his face.

My mind was willing and able to let me stay here and leave them to their own devices, but my feet had other ideas. Before anyone could react I was in between the two boys, facing Andrew.

"Andrew stop, it really wasn't his fault." I said to him. He looked shocked to say the least.

"Tally, this isn't any of your business." He says through gritted teeth. I furrowed my eyebrows together.

"Well, it's no more your business than it is mine." I say, not liking his tone.

"Chase is my friend, so that makes it my business." He tells me crossing his arms over his chest.

My eyes narrowed. I was so sick of popularity taking over everything. The amount of people you had fawning over you should not determine how many people you could control. I'd been dealing with this for too long, I thought it would be different here. It needed to be different here.

"That's just a stupid excuse to get into a fight. He didn't do anything wrong." I argued.

"And how do you know he did nothing wrong? You don't even know him." he says, getting frustrated.

"I saw what happened." I took a step towards him, "So I don't need to know him."

"Natalia." He says in a low voice. This was the first time since I'd been back that he called me by my full name, so he must have been mad at me. "Just stop being so stubborn, and move out of the way."

"Andrew," I spoke softly, trying to make it so that the surrounding crowd wouldn't hear me. This wasn't their business. "Please just let it go. Starting a fight won't solve anything."

I stared at him pleadingly, hoping that he would listen to me. He seemed to think about it because I saw his angry expression falter, but his eyes hardened again and he stepped away from me.