Knight

18

Mason Maloney

No one tried to hide the fact that they were staring at me when I walked into school the next morning. Nathan walked by my side, glaring at everyone we passed.

When I looked at myself in the mirror this morning, I finally got a good look at my injuries. Purple and brown bruises littered my face that looked as painful as they felt. The cut underneath my left eye was red and swollen along with my nose. I looked completely broken and defeated and I suppose I was.

"Stop following me," I commanded Nathan, shifting the strap of my backpack on my shoulder.

"I'm not," he said, shrugging his shoulders.

I shook my head while shooting him a glare. At this rate it seemed like he was never going to leave me alone.

By the time we got to my locker, it was obvious that Nathan was indeed following me. He never stopped at my locker, especially not in the mornings when he usually went to throw a football around with his friends before classes started.

I was about to reprimand Nathan, but a loud, high-pitched gasp cut me off. The two of us turned to see Bella with both of her hands covering her mouth in astonishment. Her eyes were wide and glossy as she walked over to me a placed her hand lightly on my face.

"What happened?" she asked, her voice so soft it was nearly a whisper.

"I don't want to talk about it," I answered seriously.

Bella turned to Nathan for an explanation, but I shoved him lightly on the shoulder, signaling that I wanted him gone. He sighed before turning and walking away, undoubtedly going back outside to where his friends were.

Ross and Pete were quick to make their way over to Bella and me, both with wide eyes.

"What the fuck?" Pete said.

"Mason?" Ross asked worriedly. "What the hell happened?"

I had never seen Ross look so worried.

"Don't worry about it," I said, brushing off their concerns.

"How can we not worry about it?" Bella asked in disbelief.

I just shrugged and pursed my lips together tightly.

"Just don't."

***

Sam Knight

There were a lot of things I never imagined I'd see in my lifetime, like seeing Freddie Mercury perform live and viewing Earth from space. Needless to say, I was surprised when I noticed Nathan Maloney leaning against my car, glaring at everyone who spared him a glance.

I stopped suddenly, Christo and Jake on either side of me. The three of us watched Nathan curiously, as if afraid of what he was going to do. Without waiting for the others, I began walking over to my car confidently with my head held high. I wasn't going to let Nathan Maloney make me look weak. Not in this lifetime.

When he noticed me walking toward him, he pushed himself off of my car and stomped over to me with his face set in a hard expression. His teeth were clenched and his hands were in tight fists.