Teen For Hire

Trouble Is Indeed

^^song of the chapter

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When Halley Bodea crashed through the cafeteria door and basically screamed bloody murder on his name, there were only 2 thoughts that were running through his mind: the fact that he was probably going to die today and that he hadn't even written his epitaph, when he should've done so ages ago because it was probably part of a safety precaution when working with that monster.

He was scrambling his mind on what to do when that red-headed demon started to stomp her way to him, where each clack of the heels for her boots basically sounded like the cloven hooves of the devil.

He needed to do something, anything; run away and climb out the window, or drop to his knees, try to ask for forgiveness and hope that she wouldn't mess up the denim jacket he had on because he loved this one.

Or maybe he should try and drop kick that bitch-
Oh shit, she's right in front of him now.

There she was, Halley was staring down at him with a look so intense in her eyes that Reece felt like he could faint from it- like that kid from Eastview two years ago. Her hands were crossed across her chest but he could see that her fingernails were digging in deep into her skin, as if she was actually trying to control her rampage. And she did, even if only for 5 seconds.

"Go to the courtyard. Now," Halley spoke through gritted teeth, still maintaining her deathly eye contact with him.

Reece felt himself immediately getting up from his seat but an arm reached out and held him in his place. He was surprised to see Claire, in all her gothic glory, looking at Halley straight to the eyes. Claire was tough, of course she was, but even she seemed a bit uncertain there.

"Who the hell are you?" Halley asked, an unimpressed look plastered on her face.

"I could ask you the same thing, who the hell do you think you are? Barging into this school like it's your damn house and making a scene. Are you dumb or are you stupid?"

"Well, either way, at least I've got twice the brains of you, Morticia. Do you really think you pulled off this half-ass goth of yours, or are you so high that you think it's still Halloween?" The red-head scoffed, her eyes rolled. "Me and this dipshit-" she pointed to Reece, "have a lot of business to take care of so would you just be a dear and stop sticking your face up our asses?"

"No, but I can help you shove my foot up it." Claire stood up and put her hands on the table.

Halley raised an eyebrow. "Not with those little twigs you have for legs, you don't have a chance."

Reece cleared his throat loudly, making the both of them- along with the rest of the silent spectators in the cafeteria- look at him. "I think it's just easier if I go to the courtyard." He never really gave it much thought but it seemed like a really bad idea to have them both even know each other existed. The next thing we'll know, the whole town would be in ashes and drowning in punk rock that blasted through every speaker. "Let's just go, Bodea."

She shrugged her shoulders before sparing a glance to Claire. Then she quickly grabbed a can off of the table- Toby's that was filled with orange juice- and threw the drink onto Claire, a wicked grin on her lips as the bright orange liquid soaked the shocked girl, "It's Florida, darling. Have a little sunshine."  She quickly walked away before Claire could regain her composure, flashing a gesture to Reece to come along.

Reece cursed under his breath, shooting an apologetic look to his friends before catching up with her.

As soon as they both set foot in the courtyard, Halley closed the doors and kept them shut by using a broken plastic chair that was nearby.

"We're in the open, Bodea. People can come here without going through those doors," he said, feeling the small wisps of annoyance start to bubble inside him as it replaced the nervousness it first had. As much as she insisted on acting like some sort of feral, this was crossing a line. "Look, I don't know what the hell is your problem but-"

A sharp kick to his ribs sent him toppling to the ground, landing with a loud thud.

His vision became blurry and suddenly each breath he took had taken more effort than the last one, throbbing pain is flooding his body. Reece struggled to get up on his elbows as Halley towered over him, an almost crazed look in her eyes.

"What is my problem? MY problem is you, goddamn it!" With a shriek, she swung her arm and hit his face with all the force she could manage.

A stinging numbness spread out on his face and he felt his elbows drop his body again. But she wasn't done yet.

"Where the hell were you yesterday? I called you all night but you didn't give a single shit!" Another swing came by and this time, his head hit the ground, hard. "And here you were, laughing your ass off. Isn't that just great, you f**ker!"

Her arms moved again but Reece managed to shove her away and quickly get back on his feet. Everything felt like it was spinning, he had to take a few deep breaths so his heart wouldn't beat as hard as it was right now. What was going on? He couldn't make sense of anything that was happening. "Are you telling me you're beating me up... because I didn't talk to you yesterday? What the f**k!?"

Halley laughed, a cold and sardonic sound as the sanity in her seemed to go away by each second. "Do you think I'm some sort of clingy bimbo that would freak out just because you don't text me and tuck me to bed every night?"

"The way you're saying shit makes you sound like it."

"You IDIOT!" She was angrier but in a way, more grounded, like calling him an idiot brought her mind back to Earth. "I thought that you were dead."

Even though it hurt, Reece frowned at her. "What?"

"You have no idea what the hell happened yesterday." Halley walked over to him, shoving his shoulder slightly. "It was all fine and dandy when you didn't show up yesterday. I thought, 'Oh, he's just being a stuck up asshole again' but then shit happened." She shook her head and for a second, it looked like she was going to hit him again. A snarl formed on her lips but that was it. " I called again and again but it all went to voicemail-"

"Well yeah, my phone died and I left my charger downstairs so I just used my other phone. You should've DM'ed me or something."

"Oh, don't make me look like the idiot now!" But he could tell that she was actually regretting not considering that option. "You couldn't even move your heavy ass downstairs?"

"No, I wasn't in the mood. And would you stop saying 'ass' so much? Is that going to stay as your catchphrase forever or something?"

"Har. Har." Halley sighed, finally looking like she was calming down. Her eyes were baggy as if she hadn't slept all night. Well, it wasn't as though she did that a lot anyway, she was a self-proclaimed insomniac that refused to give in to sleep. But this time, she just looked like she could pass out for 48 hours and it still wouldn't be enough.

"What happened yesterday?" Reece asked after a few moments.

The red-head looked at him for a bit, a mixture of annoyance and hatred- yes, nothing good there- on her face. As soon as she parted her lips though, footsteps were heard around the corner. The doors she had blocked was also being knocked on loudly, pushed from the inside. With a sigh, she faced him.

"Make sure your phone's with you, I'll tell you when we can talk."

"We're not going to meet up at the cafe?"

Halley shrugged, "It's not safe anymore," she said before walking away, escaping before any of the school authorities could see her.

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Ah! I feel so excited about this! Just wanna say that my story will probably include quite a bunch of profanities. Nothing too extreme but I'll filter the ones that are a bit much (unless you guys think it's annoying lol).

There's more to come and a new chapter will be coming up quick so stay tuned and enjoy!

- Love, Zeke