deep blue eyes // Antoine Griezmann

Chapter 18 - Punches

The next day at school is a Friday, and everything goes relatively normal. Inside of me, all day though, anger flares up whenever I even see Rachel, or even Antoine.

Everything is normal all day, that is, until right before I'm about to leave for home. I'm gathering my stuff at my locker, and the hallway has mostly cleared out by now, with only a few kids here or there.

I here a metal bump on the locker next to mine, and there's Rachel, leaning her hip on the cold navy blue locker.

I stare at her, and I hope she sees the hate in my eyes.

Then she starts talking. "Hey, Sagey, guess what? Antoine is going to bring me to a southern beach on the Saturday before Christmas! I'm so pumped, because we're getting a hotel, and I hope he sees how hot I look in my brand new swimsuit! You know, I would have never thought that I'd ever become this close with him! It's awesome! And do you know how sweet he is? So caring... Ugh, I just love-"

Suddenly, my face is next to hers, and her facial expression looks scared and confused. I'm holding the collar of her shirt in my hand, and without thinking, suddenly, a fist that doesn't even feel like my own, but I know it is, comes in contact with the side of her eye.

I put all my anger into that punch, and it's hard, but I'm not done yet. It doesn't feel like me as I do this- I feel like I'm in some sort of video game, playing another character that's not me.

But it is absolutely me as I give her a second punch in the face, up, knocking her head back into the locker with her nose. I see blood from her nose get on my fist, but for some reason, I don't care.

This isn't me, but it is me. Because I'm mad- and this is the anger I've been keeping in for months. This is it, and all I want to do right now is- well, I never thought I'd want to do this, but I want to beat up Rachel Ericsson, my former best friend.

I think I'm crying, but I'm not surprised. I don't know why I'm crying, but it makes sense. I'm always crying, aren't I?

I'm going back for a third punch, but I'm stopped, by hand around my waist aggressively pulling me back.

I would know who this is anywhere, anytime. Of course I would. His smell. His touch. His height. The color of his hands.

And I lean over, nearly sobbing, because this can't be. I'm raging, and here Antoine Griezmann is to save his victimized girlfriend from the messed up bully who probably, to him, does nothing but drink and sleep around.

I hear his lower voice in my ear, and it's angry, I think, but I can't understand it. I won't understand it.

Then, Antoine lets go of me, and I look up and around. Rachel is gone, and there's a teacher coming down the hall towards us.

Me and Griezmann follow him, and I look at nothing but the floor, feeling nearly nothing now. The only emotion in my gut right now is very faint disappointment.

The teacher leads us both to the principal's office, where we sit down in two wooden uncomfortable chairs in front of the principal's desk, where she sits, hands folded.

I avoid eye contact with either of them, and simply take to staring at the floor. And the three of us are silent for a while, before she asks, "Miss Ericsson went to the nurse's office, I assume?"

"Yes," Antoine says quietly, and I realize he's avoiding eye contact as well.

There's a bit more uncomfortable silence, before the principal says, "So, Miss Prefect, what happened from your point of view?"

I shake my head and say quietly, "I won't speak, because I can't attempt to justify myself. I know what I did was wrong."

She nods slowly, then says, "Why did you do it?"

Well, I can't sit down here and give this principal a whole run-down of my jealousy, and everything that Rachel has been doing right here and right now, especially not with Griezmann sitting right here. So I say simply, "Me and Rachel have had some... issues in our friendship, and she came up to sort of, well, torment me, right in a moment where I was just steaming with anger about it. I stopped thinking, and just acted. I know I should not have done it. I will apologize to Rachel as soon as I see her again."

The principal slowly nods, then turns to Griezmann, "And what was your involvement in the situation, then?"

"I just saw her attacking Rachel, so I pulled her away..." he says sheepishly. "That's it."

The principal nods, then says, "Mr. Griezmann, you are dismissed." I watch as he practically runs out of that office.

Then the principal turns back to me. "Obviously, yours and Rachel's guardians will be informed of this. If anything like this happens again, that will likely bring your suspension. We do not tolerate any violence or bullied in this school, verbal or physical, understand?"

"Yes, ma'am," I mutter.

She nods, and looks at me judgmentally. That's understandable, though. I think I'd be looking at myself like that, too. Because what I did certainly is worthy of being judged, I don't doubt that.

That doesn't mean I regret it at all, though. Because honestly, I might be at least a little satisfied on Monday to see her with a bandaged black eye.

I don't regret hitting Rachel, because that's what she gets. I do regret that Antoine just happened to show up right then with his perfect (not) timing and basically prove that I'm an awful person. And I do regret that now my parents are going to hear about this, and there will be nothing but disappointment, and I'll likely be grounded until I'm thirty or something. They're way too strict.

So yeah, there are way more cons that have come out of this incident than pros, and now I'm feeling like complete and utter crap.

Right before holly, jolly Christmas, too.