"I still can't get over the fact he has a baby sister! I just can't. This makes him ten times more attractive." Ella continued to ramble unintelligently about yesterday's find. During my hasty phone call to her last night I expected her to be shocked by the findings, but not quite in this way.

"Who cares about his rising rating based on your attracto-meter." I scoffed before mumbling, "I still can't process how the two are related."

"What I'm perplexed about is why we're sitting in my car spying on him and wasting a perfectly good lunch period." Harper looked just about to fall asleep out of sheer boredom from her spot in the driver's seat.

"Yeah, good question. Why are we spying on our good friend Pierce? Not that I'm complaining or anything." Ella pitched in from the back seat. She scooted as close to the front of Harper's civic as possible. Both her elbows rested on the front seats. Every time she got super excited about Lincoln having a baby sister she would bounce up in down, effectively giving me a jarring jab.

Ella could be a pain in my neck. Literally.

To be honest, this stakeout wasn't planned. On our way back from a Timmy's run I just so happened to spot Lincoln and his group of friends when we parked. Instead of rushing back into the school, I couldn't help but feel like I needed to stay and figure him out. Well, try. At least across the parking lot I was a safe enough distance away from getting the evil eye.

"I just feel sort of guilty."

"Oh no," Harper groaned while wiping her hand down her face, "not this again."

Cocking my head in Harper's direction, I mustered an annoyed look. "Yes, this again. Look," I shifted. "I don't feel guilty towards him. I feel bad more so for his sister."

I fixed myself to sit properly in my seat once more. Lincoln and his friends were still huddled against the back of the school building to help protect from the cold. A few among the group continued to puff away, the little amount of smoke they produced being dragged away viciously by winter's breath.

Ella rested her head on the arm she had on Harper's seat. "Why his sister? It's not like she's the one flunking biology."

"I guess it has to do with the fact that I might be able to indirectly help her. I've told you guys about Sadie, like how she has all these fears, with things as trivial as flowers and men."

"I would argue that men aren't exactly a trivial fear..." Harper argued but I pressed forward.

"Or how sometimes she'll come to the daycare wearing the same clothes multiple times a week. It's just that I know there has to be issues going on at home and by helping Lincoln I'd be helping her, you know?"

The interior of the car stayed quiet and I began picking at loose threads off my gloves. Without any feedback I began to feel worried that I had made as much sense as Ella when she babbles on about her theory on how bananas came to be. Or in other words, 'Mother Nature's sex toy'.

"It doesn't make any sense does it?"

"No, I get it." Harper finally spoke while Ella gently swatted at my picking fingers. "I get you want to help her. By helping Lincoln get into a better situation, it will help Sadie in the long run. If Lincoln actually passes high school and pursues something in his life, he can help better provide for his sister. I really do get that. I just hope you don't lose sleep over this when Lincoln rejects your help again."

"Well, aren't you just radiating rainbows and sunshine?" Ella sassed with her head still poking between the seats.

"Do you expect me to lie to her? There's a very good probability that he's going to shut down her proposal. Actually, there's like a ninety-nine point three percent chance that he'll reject her help again."

"You could at least be supportive."

"I am being supportive, as well as, realistic."

A sigh of exasperation escaped my chapped lips at the tell-tale sign of an argument brewing. Not feeling like playing referee I decided to let the two battle it out. It's good for friends to fight sometimes, right?

Shifting to rest my elbow on the door's armrest, I went back to people watching. I let my beanie covered head drop to my palm as I shamelessly proceeded to eye Lincoln.

Lincoln Pierce was an animal who preyed on the weak. This much I knew. He proved that to me with the seemingly never ending abuse he used to tell me to back off. Watching him now, however, among his friends, Lincoln seemed human. Almost ordinary. A human being with a family and friends and probably issues of his own. I suppose that's the reasoning I had for spying on him, to prove to myself that he was human too.

"I didn't see you saying anything."

"I was thinking of something positive to say, something to encourage her. Unlike someone else I know. Specifically, someone sitting in the front with an olive green parka that is so 2011."

"I'm not meant to be the optimist in our group of friends! That's Calista's job."

Clearing my throat and raising a brow towards my bickering best friends, I asked, "Are you two done yet?"

When attention was focused on me and silence overtook the car I continued.

"Good, 'cause it's getting cold in here."

The three of us didn't waste any time clambering out of Harper's car and booking it across the parking lot and around to the front of the school. We had just finished cleaning out our snow infested boots on the lake that was the front carpet when Ella let out a curse.

"What?" Harper and I questioned in sync.

"I forgot my purse in your car."

"How did you forget your bag of all things?"

"I just did, okay? Hand me your keys." Ella demanded, palm open and waiting.

"Yeah... I don't think so."

"What do you mean 'I don't think so'?" Ella mimicked in the manliest voice she had to offer and a head bobble.

"Harper rolled her eyes at our blonde friend. "I don't trust you with my keys. Knowing your luck you'll trip and they'll go flying to Lake Michigan."

"That isn't even possible. Just hand them over."

"Not happening."

"Fine, then you go out there."

"Uh. Negative."

At this point Ella looked like an enraged bull puffing air through her nose. "You know what Harper, sometimes your use of military lingo really -"

Not feeling like enduring another pointless verbal battle I swiped Harper's laniard from her fingers. "I'll be right back!"

Harper hardly seems phased by the theft. "Alright, just don't forget to double lock. The back doors tend to be stubborn."

"Oh, so you trust her with your beloved keys but not me?"

"Do you blame me?"

"Yes!"

Thankfully, that's all I heard before pushing my way through the front doors of the school building. The air was nipping at my bare face and already chapped lips. I truly despised the length of Canadian winter weather.

Wanting to get back inside as quickly as possible without breaking my leg on a patch of ice, I sped walked to Harper's Honda. I managed to make it to the back lot near the new football field in under a minute. The tips of my fingers were hiding away in my pockets, fiddling with the keys and ready to unlock the doors once I was close enough.

That is, until I heard shouting coming from the back entrance of the school.

Awkwardly, I tried turning my head towards the uproar and ended up having to turn my entire body due to the my turtle-like posture.

A ring of pumped teenaged boys cried out in encouragement off to the side of the back doors. Strings of curses and shouts met my ears despite warring against the wind. The movement from within the circle, however, is what enticed me forward.

"Your mother's the head nurse at the hospital right? I might have to pay her a visit after I'm done kicking her son's ass."

Hopping on my tiptoes behind teenage boys almost double my height just wasn't cutting it. With a few gentle shoves and unheard excuse me's I was able to fight my way through to the centre. Getting through the rave of people was harder than anticipated but once I got through I was wishing I had minded my own business.

Lincoln was squared up against Dominic Silva, our school's very own personal shit disturber. The two were grappling, swinging each other around like a pair of rag dolls. Dominic hit the ground first, his sweat shirt rising, skin scrapping against the frozen asphalt.

The fact that Dominic was on the ground made no difference, instead Lincoln wasted no time. He sat the fallen boy up only to batter at his cheekbones with enough force to demolish a wall.

Dominic blindly searched around him with his left hand as his face took a beating. His hand made contact with a chunk of heavy ice behind him. Without a second's hesitation, he struck out with the block of ice to the side of Lincoln's head. The distraction served him well enough to escape and get himself back on his feet. Lincoln had stalled the assault to shake himself out of the daze. His right eye winced as the blow to his temple spread through his head.

Clearly aggravated, Lincoln grabbed the chunk of frozen water and carelessly chucked it into the crowd of rowdy spectators. Within moments the two were back at circling each other like blood thirsty animals. Dominic occasionally spat, staining the little snow around him, but never once did he take his eyes off his opponent.

Within a blink of an eye the two were back at it, pummelling each other to a bloody pulp, not even paying mind to who ever's phone fell between them. The once pristine blackberry cracked under the pressure of the two pairs of jostling feet. The crunching of the shattering glass and scraping of the case could be heard over the uproar surrounding me until Dominic's foot shot out and kicked the damaged device into a pile of snow to get it out of the way.

The brawl continued on and all I could do was watch on in a complete state of shock. Don't get me wrong, this wouldn't have been the first fight I ever witnessed, it happened quite often within an institution swimming in testosterone. I'd just never seen a fight like the one before me; so full of blood, so full of hatred.

I clasped a hand over my mouth when Dominic's fist met with the base of Lincoln's jaw. In a matter of seconds blood trickled down Lincoln's stubbled chin.

My mind raced, what were they fighting about, why was no one stopping it, what would Sadie say if she saw her brother like this?

"Stop!" No matter how loudly I yelled, it fell upon deaf ears. The roaring around me drowned out my attempts bringing the madness to a halt.

"For fuck sakes, stop!"

The fighters in the centre continued to assault each other violently, neither was backing down, but I wasn't about to let this go on any further. I would never forgive myself if something happened to Sadie's brother. As much as we didn't get along, I knew she needed him.

Knowing there was no other way to stop it I forced myself forward, away from the cheering crowd.

"Lincoln stop!" Running up to the pair probably wasn't one of my most stellar ideas. My jean clad bottom met the freezing, soaking ground before I even had a chance to get in the middle of the confrontation. Yeah, this definitely only worked in the movies. Dominic shoved me aside like a mouldy piece of toast before going back to business.

Lincoln was the only one of the two to acknowledge my presence, unfortunately his slight pause cost him. With Lincoln distracted Dominic went in for the kill. Needless to say the sneak attack caused Lincoln to fight back, even more outraged then before.

The guys began to fight too close to me for comfort. In fact, I barely avoided being trampled on as the two went back to their senseless skirmishing.

Let's just say that only solidified my resolve to end it.

Trying to dodge a couple more footfalls I slid myself backwards across the asphalt, hoping I wouldn't ruin the back of my jeans in the process. Whipping my phone out and plucking off my gloves, I scrambled to find what I thought would do the job.

Moments of searching later, the blaring woooooh of police sirens filled the air. At first the recording didn't seem to be loud enough. Until slowly, slowly, more and more of the savages caught the sound imitating from my phone.

No matter how chaotic, sirens are always heard.

As the sound travelled and the audience began to take note and quiet down, panic struck.

Barrelling tuffs of teenagers rushed to leave the premises and almost stampeded over my still seated figure in the process. The barbarians, once in the centre of a circle, were still trying to do each other in despite their fleeing audience. It was only until a group of Dominic's jock buddies stepped into separate that the two realized what was going on.

"You got lucky Pierce," Dominic spat, a thin trail of blood cascading from a gash on his brow. "Who rang, eh? It was you, wasn't it Bryan?"

Andrew, stood a few paces back behind Lincoln, not at all upset by the accusation or the finger being pointed at him. Instead, a smug smirk graced his face. "Better hurry along now Silva. Daddy wouldn't be all too happy if you got your ass locked up."

Dominic seethed, still hyped from the fight. His sights were set back onto Lincoln, "We'll finish this later. Same time, same place as usual. There'll be no one to save you there."

Lincoln stayed quiet as his opponent's friends tried to usher him away quickly. Instead of showing his friends some gratitude, Dominic shoved them away and fixed his plaid jacket as they made their way towards the back entrance.

Feeling my soggy butt numbing from being sat on the slushy ground, I picked myself up and tried to foolishly wipe off the dampness that had already soaked into the denim.

By the time I had risen to my feet Andrew was swiping his best friend's signature worn leather jacket off the ground.

"You good?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" Lincoln took his jacket from his friend's hands.

"Don't let the po-po get you ya'hear?" Andrew warned in a playful matter while scrubbing at Lincoln's messy hair. "I gotta get to class before Barber blows a fuse."

"Yeah, he might throw three-quarters of the class into the hall again." Lincoln muttered, slapping at his best friend's hand.

Andrew let out an amused chuckle. "Wouldn't want that now, would we?" One last pat on the shoulder and Andrew turned to disappear with the rest of the students, "Peace out girl scout."

The recording on my phone had long finished. I slipped it back into the warmth of my jacket pocket as Lincoln shimmed into the leather material. With every forceful movement to get his right arm in the sleeve he would wince.

After the third or fourth grimace of pain I couldn't stand back and watch anymore. Not caring if he pushed me away and back onto my ass I closed the distance and guided his arm into the narrow opening.

"Why are you here?" Lincoln groaned gruffly in annoyance, reminding me of a whining child who's told it's time for bed.

Lincoln didn't even give me the time to respond. Instead he yanked his sleeve from my grasp and stared down at me. Obviously the previous question was rhetorical.

"What did I say about staying out of my business?"

"What are you talking about?"

Lincoln stretched his left arm and gestured to the empty street in front of the school.

"I don't see any fucking police cars, do you?"

"Oh, sorry... I was trying to save your ass! So, you're welcome."

A glare found its way onto Lincoln's face as he shook his head. "I don't need saving."

Men and their pride.

Without waiting for a response Lincoln started heading toward the front parking lot, only stopping for a moment to retrieve something from the snowbank before continuing on his merry way.

Feeling annoyed with the macho act I shouted after him. "How would Sadie feel if she knew?"

Lincoln's pace faltered for a brief moment.

"It doesn't matter. She doesn't. And she wont find out."

* * * * *

I was absolutely exhausted pulling up the long driveway to my house. My day had felt like it had gone on for hours more than it was meant to. Especially considering I was trapped in the daycare kitchen for the last hour of my shift. It really did suck having other people who slacked off instead of doing what they were meant to do, when they were meant to do it.

Not even taking the time to park my car into the garage, I slid out, only taking a moment to grab my bag from the back.

The dual beeping sounded as I made my way across the asphalt and up the stone slabs to my front door. Searching through my keys absentmindedly I thought about the assignment I had to finish tonight before I got to sleep. The thought itself almost made me want to cry. I was too tired for homework.

Before I had even made my way completely into my home and shut the door, Willow came barreling down the stairs. Her thickly coated body rubbed itself against my calf in greeting making the removal of my boots a little more difficult then necessary.

"Yes, yes, hi to you too Willow."

Eventually, I was finally able to slip off my boots and put my bags down. The tiny bundle of grey and white fluff followed close behind me, sprinting ahead when she realized I was heading to the kitchen.

"I'm home." I announced before I even made it to the threshold of the kitchen.

"Hey sweetheart, how was your day?" My mother turned away from the task at the sink to give me a smile.

"Fine, just exhausted."

"You know," she started, grabbing overflowing plates of food from the warming drawer of the oven, "if you feel like you can't handle school and work together right now I'm sure Mindy would give you a break."

"No, it's fine." I insisted grabbing three glasses from the cupboard. "I can handle it."

"I just want to make sure your grades are in tip-top shape for university, that's all."

"They will be," I said setting down the glasses. "Grade twelve isn't exactly hard. Just have to make sure everything is done properly."

"Well, if you start getting overwhelmed just know that no one blames you for wanting to focus on your studies." She reminded me while rummaging through the cutlery drawer.

"I know, Mom. I know."

"Good. Now go grab your father so we can eat."

"Where is he?" I questioned, while emptying a can of cat food into Willow's porcelain bowl.

A teasing grin grew across my mother's pale face. "Is that a serious question?"

Giving a small laugh, I chucked the tin into the recycling before I made my move to exit the kitchen. "I'll go get him."

"No need!" My father's voice bellowed from the top floor of our house. His heavy footsteps could be heard as he stomped down the stairs. "Do I smell bacon?"

I looked at my mother in utter confusion. I didn't see any bacon.

In response my mother shook her head in amusement. "How you can smell the bacon bits in the salad over beef wellington, I will never understand."

"It's a talent." It took him a couple more seconds to enter the kitchen and wrap me up in a one armed hug. "Hey, sweet-pea."

"Hey Dad." He placed a small peck on my forehead, his facial hair covered chin tickling me in the process.

"Now," my father started, rubbing his hands together in delight, "where's the bacon?"