S.T.R.E.S.S.=

Someone

Trying to

Repair

Every

Situation

Solo.

-Dave Willis.

**************

-Maggie-

"You slept with who?!" I widened my eyes and hushed Sarah.

"If dad hears you he'll disown me. And I didn't sleep with him. I only slept in a guest room at his house." I clarified.

Sarah frowned. "No! You were supposed to sleep on his bed and wake up in his arms like in the books." She sighed and shook her head. I laughed and shifted my position on my bed.

"Yeah, my life isn't like those books Sarah. There aren't any happily ever afters or true loves. At least not in my story." I said.

Sarah threw her hands up in frustration. "That's because you don't let things that could give you that stuff come in your life! Or should I say people?" She wiggled her eyebrows and I glared at her.

"I barely even know him and you think he's going to be the be the love of my life? No, absolutely not. He's way to stubborn and his ego is slowly coming out the more we talk." I huffed and stood up from my bed to brush out the tangles from my hair.

"You just have to give him a chance." I rolled my eyes and looked at her through my vanity desk mirror.

"Sarah, stop talking like I've known him for awhile. We literally just met a few days ago."

Sarah mocked me as she grabbed my laptop from my night stand. "Okay, fine. Oh, tonight you and I are gonna stay up all night watching Grey's Anatomy."

I groaned and shook my head. "As much as I'd love to I really need to get as much sleep as I can before Graham wakes up. Rain check?" I asked. Sarah sighed and stood up from my bed.

"Fine, but no turning me down next time. Night." I said the same and brushed my teeth before plopping down on my bed.

***********

-Luke-

The next day at school something fluttered out of my locker. I looked at it and laughed. After I picked it up I closed my locker and made my way towards Maggie's locker.

She had a styrofoam cup in her hand, drinking whatever is in it through the yellow straw poked through the lid.

"Maggie." I called out. She turned her head and frowned when she saw me.

"Nope. No, no, no. It's too early for me to deal with you today." I smirked and leaned against the locker beside hers.

"Are my dashing looks making you insecure?" I wiggled my eyebrows. She scrunched up her nose and shook her head.

"I stopped caring how I looked after seven months through pregnancy." She replied. I laughed and crossed my arms.

"How come you only wear makeup at work?" I asked. She narrowed her eyes.

"It's part of the job. I have to do my makeup to go with whatever outfit they give me depending on the theme." She closed her locker and started walking down the hall.

"Oh. Anyways, the reason I came to speak with you is because I found a little something in my locker today." She quirked an eyebrow and glanced at me.

"What does anything you find in your locker have to do with me?" She asked.

I sarcastically laughed and grabbed her elbow so she could face me. "The twenty dollar bill you stuffed in it." I pulled it out of my pocket and held it between us.

"Andrew Jackson is very disappointed that you've rejected him once again." I added.

"Banfield!" I sighed and turned my head to see some dude walking towards us.

"You my friend are a friggin legend at this school. Come with me, I want you to meet someone." Before I could even protest he grabbed my arm and started pulling me towards the next building section.

I turned my head to see Maggie walking the opposite way down the hall.

***********

-Maggie-

I laughed as I saw Parker Vasquez pull an agitated Luke down the hall.

As I made my way down the hall with a small smile, a hand grabbed my arm and harshly pulled me inside the girls bathroom. I sighed once I came face to face with Saskia.

Now, Saskia isn't like those mean girls you see in movies or read in books. She doesn't have two minions always walking behind her all the time listening to all her commands at the snap of a finger. Oh no, she has everyone including the school staff in her hands as if they were some silly putty.

If Saskia doesn't get what she wants she will literally make someone go bankrupt if she has to just to get it.

People see it as having power. I see it as being childish.

"Hi Maggie, it's so nice to see you!" Her enthusiasm was worse than Barbie's and her smile represented the joker. I widened my eyes and put a hand up.

"Woah, Saskia you're gonna have to calm down a little otherwise I might believe you." I replied.

Her nice act left as soon as it came and she glared at me. "Okay, fine. I'll just get straight to the point since you're so eager. Luke Banfield. No one can get him until I have him first. I want you to back. Off. Him. Got it?" She asked.

I kissed my teeth and rested my hands on my hips. "I honestly don't see him like that. He isn't even a friend to me, so do whatever you want."

Saskia laughed and crossed her arms. "You may see it like that but he doesn't. I don't want to see you two talking, or else I'll just make the rumors about you get so bad that you'll want to change your identity and move to a state far away from here."

She walked out of the bathroom, leaving me shocked. The rumors stopped the day Luke trash talked Ms. Avercill. I still receive glares from people as I walk down the halls, but everyone is still hung up on 'the new bad kid' that they haven't said any negative stuff about me. I walked out of the bathroom and rushed to third period. I was already late and I couldn't get in trouble.

"Ms. Brown, you're late." Mr. Reynolds, our math teacher, crossed his arms as I walked in the classroom. . I bit my lip and stood awkwardly by the door.

"Mr. Reynolds, I'm so sorry, but I was held back in the hall. I rushed here as fast as I could." I replied. He shook his head and started writing on a piece of paper.

"You don't have a pass so I'm afraid I'm obligated to give you a detention." He handed me the red slip and walked back to his desk. "Take a seat." I sighed and sat down at the only desk left.

Right in the middle of the classroom.

"Okay, as I was saying. I want all of you to start answering all the equations on page six eighty-one, and if you choose to get extra credit you could add in the equations in the square on page six twenty." Everyone opened up their textbooks and began to write on their journals.

I had papers thrown at my back and other random objects, but I chose to ignore them.

Someone coughed and called me a bright word in between. I cringed and tightened my grip on my pencil. I've never liked cuss words. They just sounded so messed up and they always bothered me. Yes, I'm a goody goody. I think that the most baddest thing I've done is get pregnant.

The bell went off an hour later and I stayed back as all the students left the classroom. I walked up to Mr. Reynolds desk and spoke up.

"Mr. Reynolds, may I speak with you about that detention?" I asked. He looked up from his computer and leaned back in his chair. "What is it you want to discuss?"

I sighed and clasped my hands together. "I want to know if there's any other way I can make up for being late. I have to get home right after school everyday to feed Graham and I would ask one of my parents to do it, but my mom has her book club meetings two days a week and my dad's at work. I can't stay after school sir." I said.

Mr. Reynolds rubbed his jaw and sighed. "Listen, because of the fact that you didn't argue when I gave you the detention and hold back on my lecture, I will dismiss your detention. I'm not doing this because you have a baby, but because you listened in the first place. Although, if you come late to my class again without a pass I'm not going to have a choice. Understand?" He asked. I smiled and nodded.

"Thank you Mr. Reynolds." I walked out of the classroom with a relieved smile and made my way to my next class.

"What's up Maggie mouse?" I glanced at Luke and bit my lip as I picked up my speed.

"The sky and the clouds. Now scram, I have to get to class." I said.

He frowned before sighing. "I see we're back to square one. What did I do now? Is it because I left you earlier? Because if I can recall, I didn't really have a choice."

I shook my head. "No, I just don't want us to be friends." I cringed when I noticed how that came out.

Luke smirked and slung his arm over my shoulder.

"Oh, well I'm flattered darling, but I think we should get to know each other more first." I rolled my eyes and sighed in relief when we reached the classroom. I took a seat and opened a book to look busy, but then I forgot that Luke isn't really the person who cares.

"For real though, why can't I chat with you?" He asked, pushing my book down on the desk. I groaned and closed my eyes.

"We just can't Luke. We're two very different people. Look, why don't you just start hanging out with people in Parker's group?"

He frowned but before he could speak Mrs. Morales started today's lesson.

Luke scribbled something down on a piece of paper and passed it to me. You're gonna have to give me a better answer than that ;)

I looked up after feeling the hairs on my neck stand up to see Saskia glaring at me.

Crap.

*************

-Luke-

I don't know what Maggie's deal was, but I'm determined to find out. We stepped out of our fourth and final class of the day two hours later and I followed her as she walked.

"Okay, so what's the reason?" I asked. Maggie sucked in her bottom lip and kept quiet. "Maggie, you know I'm just going to keep pestering you until you tell me, right?"

She stopped walking to face me and started to speak. "Because if not things will just get complicated." Just as she said that, all the phones around us went off with a message, including ours.

Maggie grabbed her phone and tapped on the screen a few times. After awhile her face paled. I frowned as people around us started whispering.

"Honestly not surprised."

"She would go for the new boy."

"Doesn't she ever learn? After getting pregnant you would think she would learn her lesson."

I looked at Maggie to see her eyes watering. "What's going on?" I asked. She shook her head and looked up from her phone.

"Stay away from me." She started running off down the hall and towards the exit. I took out my phone and opened the message everyone supposedly got. It was a link and when I clicked on it I widened my eyes.

There was a picture of Maggie and I standing in the middle of the hall earlier, me holding the twenty dollar bill between us. In the bottom of the picture someone wrote:

The next photo was one of Maggie walking out of Mr. Reynolds classroom with a grin on her face.

Another photo of Maggie was next, but this time she was walking out of a bathroom.

I locked my phone and ran in the direction Maggie went off. When I reached the exit she was unlocking her car.

"Maggie!" I ran towards her as she made the last steps towards her car.

"Mags, hold on a second." I pleaded. She ignored me so I picked up my pace until I reached her.

"What?!" There were already tears falling down her cheeks. I tried wiping them away but she smacked my hands.

"Maggie, I'm going to make sure this website is taken down-"

"Taking the website down won't do anything! Everyone already saw it and they already started the rumors. Once rumors are created in this school they spread faster than metastatic cancer. The only thing you can do is leave me alone. Don't talk to me or come near me ever again. I'm serious this time." She got in her car and turned it on before driving off. I raked my hand through my hair and stormed inside.

Whoever put up that website is seriously going to pay.

************