I've Got Your Back (#Wattys2016)

You Know Who Phyre is, Right?

It has been three days since I kissed him. Three days since he ran away from me, left me possibly forever. Three murderous, painfully long days filled with lots (and lots!) of suffering. Three days that I caused him to run for. Three days that I created. Because I foolishly, mistakenly ended up too close to him. So I had to tell him everything. To scare him off.

My name, in case you were wondering, is Phyre. Nothing else. Of course, it's not my real name. I have to use a nickname when I'm on the streets. When I'm fighting. But I'm not going to share that with you just yet. I'm still not entirely sure that I can trust you.

In school, I don't go by Phyre. And in school, I'm not a streetfighter. In school, I am a nerd. It just about kills me to duck my head when confronted, but no one can find out who I am. For rather obvious reasons.

When I'm fighting, I also have to keep my identity a secret. I always wear a mask to cover my face, and a hood to cover my hair. Someone from school could recognize me, or worse, a group of men could realize I was a girl and take advantage of me... Of course, that would never happen with one person but with a group you can never know.

At school, just about everyone knows about Phyre. My record-breaking knockout times and my mysterious identity were quite a hit with the popular group. It's really quite ironic that I'm such an outcast in school, but everyone admires the real me. No one had even come close to figuring out that I was she. Or he.

I'm sure at least one opponent has noticed-or guessed- that I was a girl, but word has yet to get out publicly. I had a rule: I absolutely positively cannot, under any circumstances, tell anyone. Well, guess what, younger self: I broke that rule. And I don't regret it. I did it to save him.

Who knows what can happen if I let myself get too close to anyone. I can defend myself from just about anyone, but there is no one to stop people from going after my family or friends. Which is why I'm a nerd. Why I endure it. Because my life is so messed up, if anyone comes near me, they might die. Trust me. I've witnessed it firsthand.

He didn't even know I existed in school until about a month ago. I certainly knew him, as was the way with all of the popular guys in Hilton Falls. Everyone knew everyone. But him I knew particularly well: he came to just about every one of my fights. He never saw me there without my disguise, but man, he was obsessed.

Anyway, I had never actually talked to him before a month ago. And I didn't particularly set out to either. But what can I say? I needed to buy lettuce.

I was just walking into the store when I heard a voice call me over. I looked over at the partially hidden figure crouched behind a display of soda. "What do you want?" My tone came out annoyed and I mentally cursed at myself. What if I know the person? I needed to put on my shy act, as if it were school. The figure stayed crouched, and I could tell that it was a man. "Sir?"

I heard a snicker and then a cackle as the man burst out laughing. He had a very deep voice. But was he laughing at me? I didn't know what to do so I shuffled my feet awkwardly, grimacing every time I moved. The man was still laughing oddly, and it began to irritate me.

"Mister, did you have something you wanted to tell me?" My voice sounded high-pitched and false and I scowled. This wasn't going well at all. There was a reason that I didn't like talking to people when I wasn't Phyre. No one took me seriously. But I definitely couldn't show them the real me.

I was interrupted from my thoughts when the man looked out at me. Staring in shock, I nearly dropped my phone on the ground. Looking back at me was Ronnie Travis, the most popular guy in my school. But would he ever talk to me? Why would he call me over here? "Ronnie?"

"You know my name?"

By that time I was completely gaping, my jaw practically touching my neck. Of course I know your name, I thought harshly. Everyone knows your name. He smiled, as if he were reading my mind. "New to the town? I haven't seen you around anywhere before," he commented, still smiling at me with that strange grin. I guess it made sense now. He wouldn't expect a new girl to know who he was.

"No, I'm not new. I don't think we've ever exactly met before though." I said the words softly, playing up the "shy nerdy girl" angle that I use when I'm not Phyre. Inside, though, I was rolling my eyes like crazy. I had been in his biology class three years in a row. I sat next to him in freshman Spanish. I was also his mysterious Phyre, who he was totally not-so-secretly lusting after.

Ronnie just grinned sheepishly. "Sorry. I know that wasn't exactly a compliment towards me." He poked more of his face out from behind the display. "Come over here just a second."

"Okay?" I phrased the word as a question, confused as to what he wanted out of me. "Wait, why were you laughing, earlier when you were hiding?" It's not a prank, is it?" I took a step back, dubious, but he shook his head harshly, like a dog shaking water out of its fur.

"It was just that-" he gave a strange snort "-you called me 'Sir'.  And 'Mister'. It was like if you thought I was a teacher. Or one of your parent's friends."

I grimaced at the nonchalant reference to my parents but then smirked. "Well, that's kind of exactly what I thought."

"And you didn't even give half a thought as to why a grown man would be hiding behind a shelf of Coke?" He said the words with a smile.

"But why would such a lovely teenaged specimen as yourself hide there either? That's no better." I blushed when I realized that I had called him "lovely". That was all Phyre talking, I realized. It was beginning to get too easy to talk to him. I took another step back, to physically disengage myself from the conversation.

Ronnie noticed and beckoned me with his hand. "Come here. Discreetly." I was confused, but he kept waving me towards him.

"Okay?" It was beyond weird; he was acting so strangely. But I realized what this was all about as I took another step forward, and he whispered the six words that stopped my heart in its tracks.

"You know who Phyre is, right?"

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A/N: You can skip this. There is gonna be some ranting. Okay first off thank you guys (there's probably gonna be no one who reads this but whatev) for reading this!! So much!! I did leave out her school name though, so I will be telling that in the next chapter. What do you guys think it should be? Also, I chose Marie Avgeropoulos for Phyre/(name TBD). Do y'all think that's a good choice? She kinda fits the image in my head of a bad-girl brunette but then can be sweet and act like the stereotypical "nerd". Also btw this is not edited and my first chapter in my first story, so THERE ARE GONNA BE SOME MISTAKES! Please don't point out every little detail. I will go back and edit after I finishing the whole book so stick with me, please!! I'll try to post new chapters at least weekly, possibly sooner than that. Thanks again!

Bye