Surprisingly, or maybe unsurprisingly, there were no other major incidents that day. I knew that was thanks in large part to Lisa’s verbal smackdown. Although, that didn’t mean that people suddenly started treating me like normal either; I was still socially radioactive after all.

Thanks to a note from the school nurse, I was able to sit out in gym class. Zoe gave me quite a few glares during the volleyball game and I was hit with the ball more than once. Braden claimed it was an accident but the high fives and smiles he exchanged with Zoe and her group made me think otherwise.

After 50 minutes of avoiding Braden’s power spikes, Coach dismissed everyone to the locker room. I was about to head out too when Jun and Buster walked over to me.

“Hey man, you all right?” Jun asked.

“Yeah,” I said as I grabbed my bag.

“You sure you’re ok? Cause Braden looked like he was trying to use your face for target practice,” Buster said.

“Yeah,” I said again.

Buster put his hand on my shoulder. “Bro if you need anything, you know Jun and I always got your back.”

Do you? Do you really have my back? I wanted to ask. It’s not like I expected them to stand up for me this morning like Lisa and Matias did, mostly because they didn't have the kickass super strength or sheer destructive wit those two did. But I guess I had expected to see a ‘hey man are you ok’ text, or at least a few missed calls from them. After all, I was missing for five whole days. But no, my phone was empty, the only calls and texts were from mom and the Turners. Even Hillary had sent me a text, albeit it was asking about Heather but still, it was something. But from my buds, nada. Yet they say they always have my back.

Even then I still couldn’t get mad.

I took a deep breath.

“Yeah,” I said as I walked away.

*********

For once I made it to Mrs. Kirks class on time and the look on her face was priceless.

“It’s nice to see you back Mr. Dale and on time to boot,” Mrs. Kirks said. “I trust this is a sign of positive change?”

“I hope so.”

As I took my seat my phone chimed. It was time for my mom’s periodic check in texts. She had been doing that all day since she had caught wind of the incident with Derek. This was the concession I had to make to get her to not walk me to and from each class.

‘Did you make it to class ok? Anything else happen?’ her text read.

‘Nothing’s happened mom. I made it ok.’ I replied.

‘Good!’ She sent a smiley face emoji. ‘Just one more class to go and then you can go home. You can do it!’ she texted with the flexed bicep emoji. ‘I’ll be working late today.’

‘Thanks mom,’ I replied back. ‘But I think I’ll be home late today. Lisa Mizuno has invited me to her place to catch up on all the work I missed. I think Matias Luca and her grandparents will be there so we should be safe.’

This was my cover story going forward. I was trying to improve my grades by getting tutored by the smartest girl in our grade. It was believable but I wasn’t sure it’d convince my mom. The little texting bubbles appeared.

‘I’ll send you a progress report every hour to let you know that I’m all right.’ I quickly added, trying to sweeten the deal.

The bubbles disappeared. After a moment they popped back again.

‘Every 30 minutes,’ she said.

‘Deal,’ I replied. ‘I promise I’ll be safe.’

‘You better. And if I don’t hear from you every 30 minutes. I’m sending the SWAT team to Lisa’s house.’ She sent a red hot face emoji. She probably meant to send the red angry face emoji but still, her threat was well received.

*********

After the final bell rang, Mrs. Kirks dismissed us. She went out and stood in the hall monitoring the throng of students as they passed by.

“Mr. Lewis, pull your pants up please. Not all of us are interested in seeing your Superman underwear,” she said.

I also stood up only to be yanked back to my seat. I turned around to see Lisa glaring at me. Did she ever not glare? I thought.

“You’re coming with us today, or did you forget that?”

“Sorry, force of habit,” I said. “I have conditioned myself to make a run for it as soon as the final bell rings.”

“Uh huh,” she said, still glaring.

“You know if you keep making such a scary face, it’ll get stuck like that,” I said trying to lighten the mood.

It didn’t work; her glare intensified. “Oh, so because I’m a girl I’m only supposed to have a pretty face? How predictably bigoted. Sorry to disappoint but I’ll put on as scary a face as I damn well please.”

“Wha…it was only a joke,” I mumbled, stunned. “I thought it was funny.”

“Ha, ha, ha.” She laughed sarcastically. “Very funny.”

“What is your problem?” I said, starting to get angry again. “I don’t know what I’ve ever done to you for you to always be so pissed off at me.” I stood up and challenged her glare with one of my own.

“Oh, you really want to know? Break out the popcorn because we’ll be here a while.” She was unfazed. Then again, I was far less threatening than Matias or Heather and Lisa had stared those two down.

Suddenly Matias popped his head into the room. “You guys ready to go?”

He saw me glaring down at Lisa and shook his head. “Bro, intimidation does not work on her. Trust me, I’ve tried.”

“Yeah, I know,” I said, collapsing back into my seat. “What are we waiting for?”

“We need to make sure we aren’t followed,” Lisa said. “If we are it’ll be a bad time for everyone. So, we’re waiting for the hallway to clear up first. Plus I need to talk to Mrs. Kirks about today’s lesson.”

I stared at her incredulously. “You’re joking right?”

“Why would I be joking? I didn’t understand some things, so I want to see if she can explain it better. Unlike you, Little Idiot, some of us actually care to put in the effort.” She picked up her notebook and rose from her seat.

“But you’re only here in this school as a cover, right?”

“Your point?” she asked before tapping Mrs. Kirks on the shoulder.

“Is it just me or is she an overachiever?” I asked Matias.

He turned me. “Bro, don’t let her hear you say that. She hates that stereotype.”

“But she...yeah you’re right. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologize to me,” he said. After a few awkward seconds he continued. “It’s how she was raised. She’s the daughter of one of the big shots in Persona. I heard that they raised her to be per-

“Flawless?” I interjected.

“I was going to say perfect but yeah flawless works.”

“That explains a lot. Why she’s so good at everything.”

Matias shrugged again. “I guess.”

I watched Lisa listen intently as Mrs. Kirks explained the parts of the lesson Lisa struggled with. Lisa would take notes and make corrections in her notebook as needed. I was impressed that she cared that much or would work so hard. This wasn’t even her school; she didn’t need to care that much about her grades.

“What I don’t understand is, why does she hate me?” I asked Matias. “I don’t think I’ve done anything to piss her off...at least that I know of.”

“I don’t think she hates you,” he said. “From what I’ve noticed about her, Lisa has three modes. Mode one - she treats you nicely but doesn’t care about you. Mode two – she slightly cares about you but is still deciding on whether she respects you or not. Mode three - she respects you and you’re her friend. I’m in Mode three? No, I think I’m still in Mode two.”

I stared at Matias stunned. I thought he was just a handsome meathead jock but that was surprisingly insightful. “How do you know this?”

He shrugged again. “I watched her.”

“So the day you two were arguing in the courtyard and she was super nice to me?”

“Mode one.”

“And all those times before when she was super nice to Jun?”

“Mode one.”

“And now?”

“Mode two.” He smiled. “Welcome to the club.”

This was all just a theory but it was fascinating. Matias’s people watching skills were very impressive. It looked like there was more than meets the eye when it came to him.

“So what if she decides she doesn’t respect you?” I asked.

“Well I don’t know. I think she’ll either revert back to Mode one or…”

“Or?”

“Or she’ll completely destroy you,” Lisa said from behind me.

I jumped in my seat, hitting my knee underneath the table. I hadn’t heard her approach.

“Are we done talking about me behind my back?” she questioned. She didn’t look mad or upset. Or maybe she was? She wore her signature glare so I really couldn’t tell.

“Uh yes,” I said.

“Good. We have a schedule to keep so lets go!” She picked up her bag and headed towards the door. “Have a good evening Mrs. Kirks.”

“You too Ms. Mizuno,” Mrs. Kirks smiled. “Mr. Dale, Mr. Luca.”

“Bye Mrs. Kirks.”

“Bye,” Matias said.

We grabbed our stuff and chased after Lisa.