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“Why did you hold me back?” Callie demanded angrily as she wrung water out of her hair.

“Think about what would have happened if you fought back,” Melissa stated as she examined her wet top. “That would put us in the wrong too. We shouldn’t go down with them.”

Callie huffed as she inspected her phone that was in her pocket.

“Mel has a point, Cals,” I sighed as I tried to squeeze the water out of my shirt.

“Are you girls okay in there?” Kevin asked from outside the bathroom where he was waiting for us while cooling down with Ashton.

“We’re super,” Melissa called back drily.

“We could find an empty classroom,” I suggested. “The AC would dry our clothes faster.”

They nodded and we were about to leave the bathroom when we heard a commotion outside.

“We’re not trying to go into the bathroom,” Kevin explained in slight irritation.

“We’re waiting for them,” Ashton declared coolly.

“Well, go wait somewhere else,” the voice insisted, dripping with authority. “You can’t just stand in front of the girls’ bathroom.”

We pushed the doors open to see the vice principal giving Ashton and Kevin some dubious looks. She glanced at us and frowned at our wet clothes.

“I need to see the three of you in my office now,” she said and strode off in the direction of her office.

We sighed and followed behind her.

“You gentlemen can wait out here,” she said pointedly to Kevin and Ashton who were trailing behind us.

They looked dissatisfied, but sat down in the chairs outside of the office. They would be able to hear everything out there anyways.

We entered the refined office where Nicole, Alexis and Ramona were already sitting. Nicole’s legs were crossed and her teeth were gritted. Ramona looked unbothered and Alexis looked like she felt sorry for herself.

“Okay, since you’re all here, why don’t we talk about what happened a few minutes ago?” Mrs. Kreig asked, sitting down at her desk and leaning her chin onto her clasped hands.

Everyone remained quiet for a moment.

“Don’t be shy,” Mrs Kreig said unhurriedly. “I would have thought you ladies would have had a lot to say.”

She looked over at our group which sat on another sofa from Nicole and her friends.

“I have the president of the student council, the president of the theatre arts club and the president of the science club. Very exceptional students. I didn’t expect to see you in my office like this.”

She turned to Nicole’s group. “And let’s not forget about our head cheerleader and the co-captains,” she drawled. “Now we can be in here all day. No-one is leaving until this matter has been addressed.”

Melissa cleared her throat and flashed Mrs. Kreig an award winning smile. “I’ll explain what happened.”

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Mrs. Kreig nodded as Melissa concluded her explanation.

“I see. So that’s what happened.”

“We didn’t retaliate either,” she said smoothly, smiling at Callie who grinned.

“I’m glad you didn’t or else you ladies would be in some trouble too. Good job.” She turned to the others. “Do you have anything to add?”

Nicole rolled her eyes and shook her head. Her friends did the same.

“Well, it looks like we’re almost finished here. Nicole, Ramona and Alexis, you will have after school detention for a week starting tomorrow and make sure you attend.”

“What?!” they shrieked. Nicole flew up. “But I’m the captain,” she pointed out, “And they’re my assistants, we can’t all miss practice!”

“Well, you’ll just have to figure something out by tomorrow” she declared. “This is not the first time you ladies have harassed students, so I have no intention of being more lenient with you. This is your final year of high school; you should at least learn to take responsibility for your actions.”

“But-”

“That is all,” Mrs. Kreig dismissed and turned to us. “You ladies can go the clothing lab and borrow a clothing iron or something. I don’t want you to catch a cold in all the AC you’ll be in. And dry your hair properly too,” she added. She shot a disapproving look at Alexis and Ramona. “Seriously? Water balloons?”

We filed out of the room. Kevin and Ashton flashed us some grins and we smiled back.

“Thank God I didn’t hit her,” Callie breathed, collapsing in a chair beside Kevin. “Lawyer Mel helped us get out of that one.”

“Let’s get you to the clothing lab,” Kevin said, pulling her up.

Ashton came by my side with a worried expression. “Are you okay?” he asked.

I nodded and he tousled my hair and frowned.

“You need to dry your hair. I swear if you so much as sneeze she’s going to regret it,” he growled.

It was still lunch time, so hopefully we could get our clothes dry before the next class. Unfortunately, because it was still lunch time that meant that students were still milling around. We didn’t go past the cafeteria, but I guess the word had already spread and we got some nosy, astonished and scrutinizing looks and whispers as we walked by.

“Elizabeth you were totally badass!” somebody yelled and I groaned. Ashton chuckled beside me.

With all the stares and whispers, the walk to the lab felt like an eternity. We explained the situation to the person in charge of the equipments and they let us borrow the clothing irons.

We turned on the irons and waited for them to heat up. Ashton stood beside me examining the iron as if it was some foreign contraption.

He frowned. “That thing doesn’t look too safe. What if you get burned?”

“Ashton everyone knows how to use a clothing iron.”

He frowned at it dubiously. “I’ll do it for you,” he offered.

“Chances are you’ll be the one who ends up getting burnt,” I laughed, declining his offer. “Plus, you’re going to have to leave,” I pointed out, motioning to my wet clothes.

He smirked. “All the more reason to stay.”

I glared at him. “Kevin!”

He popped his head into the room. “What’s up?”

“Please take him outside, will you.”

“I want to stay,” Ashton protested with a pout.

“Mel and Callie are here too; are you okay with being labelled as a perv?” I asked, arching my brow.

He looked around and then seemed to remember that they were there too. He rolled his eyes with a sigh.

“I can’t allow that,” Kevin said. “Let’s go, prince.”

Ashton trudged out of the room with Kevin and me and the girls got to work with the clothes. After fifteen minutes into the next class, we were finally finished. I dried and braided my hair so it didn’t look that bad.

Surprisingly Ashton and Kevin were outside waiting on us.

“Didn’t you go to class?” I asked horrified.

I was on edge because not only had I been called to the vice principal’s office, but I was also going to be late for my class. Today was a record of all records for me.

“Who wants to go to Math?” Ashton retorted.

“Umm, me?”

“You’re a special case, Elizabeth,” he said, shaking his head.

“Get to class quickly guys,” I said as I prepared to sprint off.

“Hold on ponytail,” Ashton said, catching the end of my braid. “Kevin’s coming with you… just in case.”

“In case of Nicole?” I asked impatiently. “I can handle myself.”

He narrowed his eyes at me. “Verbally yes, but if she tried something underhanded I doubt you’d fight back.”

I frowned. He did have a point. I had to be extra careful not to get into fights. I was trying to keep my record clean since the medical school that I wanted to go to was super competitive. I couldn’t hurt my chances by fighting with someone. Especially not Nicole.

“But you have Add Math. That’s on the other side of the school,” I pointed out to Kevin and he shrugged.

“Since Ashton has Math with Mel and Callie, he’ll go with them. I’ll follow you to your Pure Math class and then go to Add Math,” he explained.

Ashton’s face contorted in repulsion. “I can’t believe you do Pure Math.”

“No time to think about that,” I said as I tugged at Kevin’s shirt. “Let’s go.”

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