Under the Radar

The Look and Tough Cookies

I headed for my usual table and waited for my friends. Just as I sat down, Charlie, May, Andrew, and Molly, walked in my direction. "Mia! Where were you?" Molly pouted.

"Yeah, seriously! I texted you like ten times! Why do you have a phone if you're not going to use it!" May scolded.

"God, May! You sound like my mother!" Andrew complained. "But seriously, Mia, why were you late? Was it your car again?"

I rolled my eyes. Sure, I love my friends, but I'm really not in the mood to talk. "Uh oh. I know that look. Who did what? Who's ass do I have to kick?" Charlie growled. She cracked her knuckles and stood up. Charlie was my best friend since kindergarten. Even after all this time, we've never gotten tired of each other. She is always there for me, and practically knows me inside and out.

"It's fine, just ran into a certain guy on my way to the library this morning." I groaned at the effort of speaking and rested my head on the table.

"You ran into Ja- Ow!" Charlie and Andrew both smacked Molly on the shoulders before she could finish her sentence. Sometimes Molly couldn't be the brightest person. She came to realize what she almost said before saying, "Sorry".

I sighed, not wanting to bring up old memories. "No, no, it's fine. But no, I didn't run into him. He hasn't been released anyways. It was someone else." I fixed my hair into a ponytail then turned back to my friends. They were watching me, waiting for me to continue. "Oh, you wanted to know who?" As if saying, 'duh', they looked at me expectantly and nodded. I gave a weak laugh. "Oh, okay. I literally walked straight into Daniel Storm." They gasped.

"Did he threaten you?"

"Did he yell at you?"

"Did he hurt you?"

"Did he kill you?" Molly asked last. We all turned to her, dumbfounded. When we saw she was serious, we all face palmed.

Andrew growled in annoyance, "Obviously not, airhead! She's sitting right there! Gosh, how did I get stuck with you?" Andrew and Molly were twins. And Andrew would technically be classified as the smarter one. Although they were close, they didn't always get along. Sometimes, they would straight out hate each other. But you know, it's a sibling thing.

I laughed. "No, he did none of those things. He actually said something along the lines of, 'Are you new here, because I would remember a face like yours' and 'You're cute when you're mad'." They all gaped at me. I could tell they didn't know whether to believe it or not. You see, Daniel wasn't the one to normally say those kind of things. Usually, he would throw you to the other side of the hall or smash your face in. He was well known for fights and uncontrolled anger. And when he made a threat, he usually stuck to it.

"What! What did you do?" Charlie screeched.

"I stomped on his foot and ran down the hall." I stopped to take a bite of my apple. Andrew had a look of disgust while the rest of the girl gaped in shock.

Charlie was first to speak up. "Mia, be careful. He usually only talks to girls when he's going to 'play' them. If he comes up to you again, be careful." She was sincere and worry filled her eyes.

I smiled at her. "Don't worry, I'll be fine. He won't mess with me."

Andrew chuckled, "She's right, Charlie. She's one tough cookie." I whacked him on the back of his head laughing. As I got up to throw out my trash, I'm pretty sure I caught a glimpse of a familiar smirk.