The bell rang. And I went to go meet Cory and Shawn by the boys bathroom since it was 3:00. Apparently Cory pissed Harley off on the first day. So much for the full proof plan he had.

Shawn and I got to Cory at the same time. Shawn pat Cory on the shoulder. "We got here as quick as we could." I said.

"We just want you to know that whatever happens i'm right here with you."

"Thanks guys, but this is something I got to face alone."

"I wouldn't be to sure about that Matthews, I got leverage." I said with a slight grin on my face.

"What do you mean leverage?" Cory turned to me concerned.

"You'll see."

"Well it's 5 after 3, maybe he's not gonna show."

Suddenly we hear another voice coming from the direction of the bathroom. "Or maybe he's trying to be casually late." We looked over and saw Harley. "Mr. Anal Compulsive."

"Don't toy with me." Cory said confidently. "I was looking forward to high school. I had and plan and gave you a chance to change your whole future instead of being a guy who beats up kids who are smaller than you for the rest of your life."

"You're giving me that chance?"

"Yeah." Cory said hopefully.

"Well here I stand at the crossroads of my life. Yet I am what I am and must kill you." He starts to walk closer to him and I stand in between them.

"I wouldn't be doing that Kiner."

"Oh yeah? Why not pipsqeak?"

Shawn looked over and whispered at me. "Cristina what are you doing?"

I ignored Shawn and answered Harley's question. "Because of these." I held up my house keys. The boy's eyes widened.

"Crissy, are you crazy?" Shawn asked me. I ignored him again.

"What you gonna shank me or something. Real Cute."

I smile at him. "Nah, i'm not gonna hurt you, however Mr. Stimpleman looked real mad at you earlier when he caught you in the halls didn't he?" Harley looked confused. "I wonder how mad he'd be if your last name was keyed onto his car?"

His eyes widened. "He'd obviously think this was your way of retaliating for giving you detention on the first day. He'd tell Feeny, Feeny would call the cops, and just like that I get you expelled and hauled off to some juvenile detention center."

I got really close to his face. "And of course. If you say it was me no one would believe you. You see Kiner, with the reputation you've built for yourself here over the past few years, no one would believe the measly little 7th grader keyed the car of a teacher she barely knows when it's your name on the car and it's you with the motive." I poked his chest when I said this.

"You don't have the guts."

"Maybe I do, maybe I don't. But you can place your bet here Kiner, because as far as I can tell, either way I get off clean."

He backs away from me and smiles. "It's too bad you hang out with baboon. Because you would be a great edition to my allegiance of thugs."

"I'm not a thug Kiner, and i'll never be one. But you dared to lay a hand on my friend and i'm simply showing you a taste of his allegiance."

Harley points at Cory. "She can't protect you forever baboon."

"Try me Kiner." He turns around and walks away. Once he's far enough away I turn to the boys. "So you guys wanna come over to my house today? My dad's making pasta." I said with a big smile on my face.

The boys both looked at me with their jaws dropped. "What?"

Shawn finally spoke up. "You're insane. Like actually criminally insane."

I shrugged at him. "I figured if Cory died, high school would be significantly less entertaining. And I wouldn't have an excuse to go to his house and flirt with Eric anymore."

"AM I JUST A PIECE OF MEAT TO YOU?!" Eric shouted from around the corner.

"Eric how long have you been there?" I asked.

"Oh the whole time. I was getting ready to step in but I saw you clearly handled that way better than I would've." He walked over and put a hand on my shoulder. "Thanks for looking out for my little brother."

"Anytime." I smiled and slowly held my arms out hinting that I wanted a hug.

He playfully rolled his eyes. "Ah, what the hell, fine." He leaned in and hugged me. I smiled so big i'm surprised my lips didn't break off. His arms dropped but I was still holding on. "Cris, you can let go now."

"Just because I can, doesn't mean I will Eric." I snuggle into him more but him and Cory eventually pry me off. "Ugh you guys are no fun." I turn back to the boys. "So, my house?"

"Sure." They said in unison. I wrapped my arms around their waists as we walked out of the school and towards my house.

Once we got to my house I unlocked the door and put my keys on the little key rack we have by the door. "Hey dad, Frances? Any of you guys home yet?"

"We're in here." I heard my step mom say from the kitchen.

We walked in and we set our backpacks by the couch. "Hey dad you think you've got room for two extra at the table?" He looked back and saw Cory and Shawn.

"Sure." We sat down at the table and made small talk for a bit until we all served ourselves the food and started eating. "So how come you're home a bit later than usual?"

"Oh ya know, we were getting the hang of the whole high school thing and we just needed some time after school to take care of some stuff."

"Did anybody give you a tough time?"

"This one senior tried to pull one over on Cory but I ended that real quick." We all took a few bites out of the pasta.

"You didn't have to shank anybody did ya?" My dad said jokingly. Shawn's eyes went wide and Cory choked on his food. I kicked them both from under the table to get them to be more subtle.

"Ha ha ha, funny joke." I said being the only one who can apparently be discreet.

"Well other than that how was the first day?" My step mom said.

"Well, our english teacher assigned us comic books for homework, Feeny's our history teacher and the principle, and I walked in on two teachers making out in the fiction section of the library. If the rest of high school is gonna be this chaotic, then we are gonna have a fun next 6 years to say the least."