Sabrina Grimm lived in a duplex home with her mother and younger siblings in the small town of Ferryport Landing. The family who lived in the other side of the duplex were the Goodfellows. Oberon, a lawyer; Titania, a nurse; Joey, a freshman in highschool; Puck, a senior.
Puck was the stereotypical class clown, rule breaking misfit. Sabrina had been in all of his classes since Kindergarten, and she noticed how he acted mature around his father and then did something stupid the second he turned around. Puck was bad, but not bad enough to get an after-school detention or suspension. He usually just wrote on the teacher's board while they weren't looking and played unnecessary pranks. Sabrina suspected that if his father was different, he'd probably have been expelled before second grade.
While Puck was an extroverted prankster, Sabrina was an introverted smart kid. She was naturally smart with linguistics and math, decent at science and social studies, and alright at gym. She was actually very athletic and could probably beat one of the sports jocks to the ground if she wanted to, but she didn't like showing off her strength in class. So, she'd try to blend in with the crowd, except for the occasional whipped dodgeball.
One day, Sabrina was casually walking in the halls on her way to fourth period, when her books got knocked from her hands followed by annoying laughter. She rolled her eyes and kneeled down to collect her things. When she stood up, the books had been knocked from her hands again, followed again by annoying laughter. Other than her step-mother Goldie, the football team was her worst enemy.
"What's the matter, Blondie?" the quarterback mocked her. "I thought you liked bending over in front of guys."
Sabrina then proceeded to punch him in the lip. He stumbled over backwards and was caught by his friends before he could fall. Sabrina looked down at her red knuckles and then up at the boy's bleeding lip. Without saying another word, she calmly collected her things and walked over to her next class.
"Bitch," the quarterback muttered, wiping the blood dripping down his chin.
"Well, Chris, you have been harrassing her since middle school." Somebody said from the end of the hallway. The group of teens turned around to see none other than Puck Goodfellow leaning against the wall.
"Doesn't give her the right to punch me in the face." Chris snarled. "And since when do you care about her, Goodfellow?"
Puck chuckled. "Oh, I don't care about her. I'm just warning you, she won't hesitate to shatter your kneecaps." He lifted up his shirt to show off an impressive scar on his left rib. "Or roundhouse kick you in the gut."
By the end of the day, word about what Sabrina did had spread quickly. Rumors tended to go around in a town as small as Ferryport Landing. Some people thought she busted his lip, others were under the impression he had a broken nose. When asked about either of these accusations, Sabrina would simply ignore the questioner and walk off. She wasn't in a good mood to begin with, and her day was only getting worse.
When the dismissal bell rang and she finally got to leave, Sabrina had an unexpected guest on her walk home.
"You alright? You seemed pretty mad about what happened with Chris." Puck said, trying to catch up with Sabrina's speed walking.
"Why would I be mad? It's not like he's been doing this every day since we were twelve." Sabrina snapped, quickening her pace. Puck fell behind a little but quickly caught up to her again. His height gave him an advantage.
"Yeah, he is a bit of an asshole." Puck said, trying to keep up a conversation. He noticed Sabrina's scowling face looking at the ground and put his arm around her shoulders.
"But, hey, next time he bothers you, just give him one of your signature Grimm Kicks and you'll be all good."
Sabrina wanted to laugh at his joke and cute grin, but she was in too bad of a mood to even smile. Puck frowned and removed his arm from her shoulders.
"Wow, you're real bummed out, huh?" he asked. Sabrina nodded.
"I'm tired of everybody aiming to make my life miserable," she sighed. "I just wanna be happy."
Puck hugged her and they stopped walking. "Aw, Sabrina."
Sabrina's heart went all fluttery and her cheeks flushed. "Why are you being so nice to me?"
Puck looked down at her and smirked, making Sabrina's blush double. "What, do you think I haven't noticed the way you've been looking at me for the past twelve years?"
By then Sabrina was as red as a tomato. She slipped away from Puck's bear hug and glanced at the ground. "I-I don't know what you're talking about," she stammered.
"Oh, I think you do." Puck said, crouching down so they were at eye level. Sabrina hid her blush behind her hair and looked down at her feet.
"You're cute," Puck grinned. Sabrina smiled and blushed.
"You're cute too, Goodfellow."
"Course I am," Puck said, flipping his non-existent long hair over his shoulder. "I mean, I'm me. You can't get any better than this."
Sabrina rolled her eyes. "You're so annoying," she muttered.
"Aw, you know you love me." Puck said smugly. Sabrina crossed her arms.
"That doesn't mean you aren't annoying," she retorted. Puck laughed and ruffled up her hair.
"You're never gonna get used to me, are you?" he smiled brightly. It was the first time Sabrina had seen him so happy. She sighed, but couldn't hold back her smile.
"Not a chance, Goodfellow. Not a chance."
They walked home together and stood outside of their house, talking for what felt like hours. But eventually, they parted ways. When Sabrina walked inside, her mother was sitting at the dinner table with Jake. Even though Henry and Veronica didn't love each other anymore, Jake still visited her frequently. They were best friends, after all.
"Was that the Goodfellow boy you were walking home with?" Jake asked, taking a sip from his wine glass.
Sabrina blushed. "He only walked with me because he lives nextdoor - that's all."
Veronica exchanged a knowing look with Jake and they both sipped their wine. "Yeah, sure. And I bet he only stood there talking to you for an hour because he lives nextdoor, right?"
Sabrina blushed. She hadn't realized they were out there for an hour, it had only felt like ten minutes.
The next day at school while everybody was waiting for the morning bell to ring, Puck came up behind Sabrina and hugged her. She whipped around and got ready to punch him, but hugged him back instead.
"You feeling okay? I heard you yelling at your dad over the phone yesterday." Puck said. Sabrina frowned.
"Oh, uh, you heard all that?"
Puck nodded. "Thin walls."
The bell rang for school to start. Sabrina kissed Puck on the cheek and walked off to her homeroom. The group of guys from the day before walked over to Puck.
"I may be mistaken, but yesterday didn't you say that you didn't care about her?" Chris raised an eyebrow. Puck rolled his eyes.
"Well all say things that we don't mean, Chrissy," he said. Then his eyes turned pitch black, like they had turned to pools of tar.
"But I mean it when I say that if you ever bother Sabrina again, you'll have a lot more than shattered kneecaps."
