"Morning," I smiled at him while he leaned against his car.

"Morning," he smiled back. "You look pretty," he wrapped his arms around my waist.

"We're late," I pulled away slowly.

"Why do you do that?" He shook his head before opening the door for me.

I laughed while getting and then he did too, driving us to school. We got there and headed straight to our lockers because we were late today. I have Math first lesson and he has math too, but with a different teacher than me.

"I'll see you after the second period?" he asked.

I had art and he had soccer. "Of course you will, I'll see you later, bye," I quickly kissed his cheek before getting to class. I sat in my seat, entering the class right before the teacher. The class began and it was going just fine until the door opened midway.

"Can I help you?" our teacher asked. I didn't look up from my notes until I heard the voice of the person.

"I've been switched into this class." I looked up and my eyes met with Cody's.

"Reason?" Mr. Carrington questioned.

"I requested a switch."

Asshole.

I rolled my eyes and got back to work.

"Take a seat, please."

I heard footsteps before he sat down in the seat beside. Out of all days, today is the day that Daniel isn't here?

"Not there, Mr. Davis! That's Daniel Anderson sits. The seat in front of that, please."

Oh, thank you, Mr. Carrington.

"Damnit," he groaned under his breath before moving. I let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding and then spent the rest of the lesson like that didn't just happen. The bell rang and I was the first person to get the hell out of there. I stepped outside and looked to see if I could find Alex anywhere but began running to my next class when I saw Cody following me.

I entered the classroom and sighed in relief when I took my seat next to Hayley. "Hey, you okay?" she asked in concern.

"Cody's following me around," I mumbled so no one else would hear.

"That fucking asshole," she whispered.

x-X-x

I was waiting for Alex at my locker and saw him at the end of the hall. I waved him over but someone grabbed my wrist, spinning me the other way.

"Hey." I met Cody.

"Cody, get the hell out of here," I tried pushing him off but he wouldn't budge.

"What's the hurry, Faith? I just wanna talk." A sinister smile played on his lips.

"Then get the fuck off of me," I pulled my wrist out of his grasp.

"Oh honey, I-"

He was cut off when I felt someone pull me away before Hayley grabbed my arm, making me walk away as I heard grunts, gasps, and crashing. "Hayley, wait!" I pulled away and ran back where I was, past the crowd that had already formed.

"Faith, no!" Hayley screamed.

My eyes widened and I gasped as I saw Alex punching Cody straight in the jaw. He cut his lip open before chuckling even after being down on the ground. "So full of rage," he taunted Alex.

"Alex, don't!" I screamed, running up to him and grabbing his arm, pulling him away.

"Get off!" he screamed without turning to me, trying to push me off.

"Alex! Alex, it's me! Stop it! Don't!" I screamed, pulling him away and out of there.

"Someone's scared!" Cody's voice echoed through the hallway.

Alex pulled himself out of my grip and charged straight at Cody. "Alex!" I screamed. He threw one more punch and I saw Cody lose his balance. Was he trying to get killed?

"What is going on here?" I heard my mom's voice approach the crowd.

"Alex! Stop it!" I grabbed his arm again. "Alex, my mom's coming here, please stop! You're gonna get in trouble," I said to him, keeping my voice down.

He turned to me, still holding his death grip on Cody's collar.

"For me, Alex. Don't do it, please?" I breathed heavily.

He grunted before letting go of Cody. My mom broke through the crowd just as I locked Alex's hand in mine, moving away from Cody. My mom turned to me and then glanced across the crowd. She can't let us get away with this one, she has to do her job.

"All three of you in my office! Now!" She demanded.

"I'm sorry," Alex mumbled while we followed my mom to her office.

"In my eyes, you didn't do anything wrong," I said to him while my hand was still linked with his.

"Will someone tell me what the hell happened?" my mom questioned.

"What do you mean what happened? He beat the shit out of me!" Cody whined.

"Mr. Davis, mind your language!" She rolled her eyes at him. "Why do you say he beat the shit out of you?" she glared.

"I was just having a conversation with Faith when he-"

My mom cut him off. "You were just having a conversation with my daughter who has told you she does not wish to speak to you while her current boyfriend watched? What exactly did you expect him to do?"

I love you, mom.

"What- so I can't talk to her?" Cody scoffed.

"You cannot talk to anyone who has told you that they don't wish to speak to you. That is basic respect. As for you, Mr. Ryder," she sighed while turning to him. "Getting physical is no solution to any situation. Especially something like this." She shook her head in disappointment. "You both have a three-day suspension and Faith," she huffed. "One day stay back for you," she gave me a disappointed look.

"Mr. Davis, you can pack your bag and go home, you two stay," she said to Alex and me. Once Cody left the office she turned to us in her seat. "What the hell were you two thinking?" she huffed.

"She didn't do anything, Mrs. Hughes. I'm the one that got into the fight, in fact, she's the one who broke it apart," Alex objected.

"I understand that I only came there after seeing it in the cameras, Alex. But do you understand what this does for you? We are just starting soccer and people are coming from great universities for scholarships and seeing you have a suspension won't help you," she tried explaining to him.

"With all due respect, Mrs. Hughes, I don't care! He laid his hands on her and I would do exactly what I did if I had to again. Whatever the circumstances are, he cannot touch her," he reasoned.

I stood there, staring at the ground while my vision blurred from the tears.

"Look, I understand you two have something going on and it bothers you to see her being troubled and upset, it bothers me too, but as a principal, it is my job to do what I did. I hate that you're getting a suspension because you did nothing to deserve it and as Faith's mother, I agree with what you did, however, as a principal I cannot let you get away with it."

I managed to keep my tears away this whole time.

"I understand that," he nodded. "Just one question, am I allowed to stop by after school for practice?" he asked.

"Of course, the field is open for you anytime you like," she nodded. "Faith, are you alright?" she asked.

I blinked rapidly before looking up. "Y-yeah, I'm fine." I nodded.

"You two can take the day off. Alex, Please pack your bag." She got back to work. We left her office and headed straight to Alex's car. We just stood in front of it in silence, processing what just happened when a tear slipped.

He caught me wiping it away and stepped in front of me. "Why are you crying?" he asked, worry laced in his voice as he pushed my hands away from my face. "Faith, you didn't do anything," he tried pulling me into a hug.

"You shouldn't have either! You just got suspended because of me, Alex! If it wasn't for me you wouldn't have gotten in any trouble at all," I huffed in frustration.

"Faith, you didn't ask me to beat the shit out of him like I did. I did that on my own," he sighed.

"If you wouldn't have seen it happen then you wouldn't have hit him," I shook my head.

"No, then I would have found out later and beaten him up then. It was going to happen Faith, whether I saw it myself or heard about it from you later. You don't have anything to worry about or feel guilty about." He ignored my protests and pulled me into a hug.

I cried a little while he hugged me. "It's my fault and I didn't get any consequences," I sniffed.

"It's not your fault. Whatever was supposed to happen, happened. You didn't do anything wrong at all, do you hear me?" He pulled away and looked me in my eyes.

I nodded slowly.

I calmed down and looked up at him before kissing him.

Hard.

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