Introducing Cassie

Carrington Cat Fight

"FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!" The crowd pressed forward, wanting to see more, but trying to keep a safe distance away from the three girls. The older students whipped out their phones to record, while the younger students watched anxiously as they witnessed their first school yard brawl, all the while egging them on, hoping for action, bloodthirsty and malicious. The mob of yelling kids filled the locker room, pushing and shoving, blocking the doors. No teachers. No adults. Just three girls and an audience. Keira slammed her locker shut, and locked it, then turned to push through the crowd.

"Don't you dare walk away, I am talking to you! Don't even try to ignore me! There's over fifty students here, and I'm sorry to say but it's not you they're cheering for." Courtney spat as she stalked after her. Keira tried to keep walking, but an older student was blocking her way, and pushed her back towards the two girls.

"You think your so good don't you?" Brittany hissed, her caked face turned ugly with spite. "Just because your mom's dead, just because your brothers dead. And your dad's an alcoholic... "family issues..." that makes you better than us does it? That makes you important? Special? Well don't expect me to give you any privileges, to us you're just a little brat." 

Keira didn't want to start a fight. She didn't even want anything to do with those two. She hated being the centre of attention, so many eyes on her. Suddenly people noticed her. Suddenly people knew she existed. Suddenly... she was vulnerable.

"Look..." Keira started, quietly. "I don't know what I've done for you to be against me... do you expect me to apologize? Well fine... here we go... I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I came to your school. I 'm sorry I'm not who you want me to be. I'm sorry that I exist. There. How's that. I didn't ask for this. I never wanted any of it! I didn't ask for my mother to go missing... I didn't want my brother to jump of that building... I didn't ask to have trust issues, or a low self esteem or no confidence... I didn't ask for this life, and I honestly think that the one thing we can agree on is that the world would be better of without me, but guess what, that's life. It sucks. Welcome to the real world, I'm afraid today you'll probably find it's much more frightening than you expected." Keira turned again, and pushed through the crowd, but just as she managed to squeeze past a massive girl who stunk of sweat, she felt a hand grip her wrist, nails digging into her jumper and scratching her skin as she was dragged back into the clearing. Fifty blank faces stared at her, their ravaging voices echoing through the room. Keira looked up and saw Brittany and Courtney staring down at her, and she knew what was next. It was always the same. Go to her locker. Blame her for every thing. Prevent her from leaving. Then came the actual fight. Courtney would slap her, then Brittany would. They force her to the floor and then they'd be all over her, punching, kicking, scratching, as the students egged them on, offering no help. It would continue until any sign of a teacher made itself present, and then the two girls and all their followers would disappear, leaving Keira to go to the bathrooms and clean herself up before anyone noticed or got time to ask questions.

But not this time. This time Keira was sick of it, and after three years, Keira was going to do something about it. Cassie's face flashed through her mind, and her voice echoed in her head... "you have to do something about it Keira..." and with a spur of determination she flung her arm out and struck Brittany in her hypocritical, self righteous, pathetic little face. Both girls immediately lost their sneers as three streaks of blood appeared on her make up covered cheek. Keira stood and batted Courtney's arm away, driving her knee into her stomach and swinging her bag around to smack into Brittany's face as she sunk her elbow into her exposed stomach, right where her belly piercing was. Keira watched as both girls faces contorted in pain, as all the emotion she had been bottling up for years was suddenly released in a few short seconds. Courtney tried to kick her, but in her high heels and tight skirt couldn't raise her leg. Keira raised her foot and drove her converse into Courtney's bare thigh, before turning back to Brittany and swinging a fist at her head which connected with a dull and oddly hollow thunk. Both girls fell to the floor whimpering and gasping for breath. Keira bent down slowly and picked her bag up from the floor of the suddenly quiet locker room. She headed for the opposite door, and for the first time in her life didn't have to push through the crowd. Keira kept her head down as the dumbstruck students backed away from her and bolted down the corridor. Keira hurried to the bathroom, her footsteps echoing on the tiles of the emptying halls.

News spread quickly in the school, and by the time Keira had managed to wipe the blood from her hands and the tears from her cheek, the whole of Carrington Regional High knew that Keira had lashed out at Courtney and Brittany. Keira looked at her self in the mirror and let out a deep breath. After most of these locker room encounters, she was usually wheezing and shaking, with a burst lip, bruised legs and scratched arms. But today Keira was oddly calm, and unharmed. She walked to the end cubicle, placed her file on the toilet seat, and sat on top of it, cross legged, bag in lap, headphones in. Keira closed her eyes, and rested her head against the wall as House of Wolves - Bring Me The Horizon, blasted into her ears, cutting her off from the real world. She couldn't go to class. Even if the teachers didn't know yet, she wasn't going to put up with the students. And to go home she would have to fake ill, and she didn't think that she would be able to pull it off as well as she usually did, because today, she didn't feel even slightly ill. Today... Keira was feeling more alive than she had in years.