Perfectly Mean

The Incident

Ava and Hayden sat in the back of a sleek black Mercedes, zipping along the highway to Ava's school. Ava was Snap-chatting with her young cousin, giggling every few seconds over how adorable six-year-old Abby was.

"This picture is so CUTE!" she would squeal. "Abby's sending me pictures of her baby rabbit!"

Hayden honestly didn't care about how cute Abby's baby rabbit was, but he didn't say so. He was too busy doodling on the front of his composition notebook with a Sharpie. He was drawing a Blue Jay, and he desperately needed a thinner tipped marker. The lines in the wings were far too thick.

The car sped over a pothole, and Hayden's marker slid over the cardboard cover. He groaned, as his Blue Jay was completely ruined. Ava didn't even notice him and giggled again at her cousin's misspelled words.

The car slowed, and Hayden glanced up out the window. He watched as they pulled up outside the school, realizing that this school was a fancy one. The large silver letters above the door read: "Miller-Halloway High School." He quickly pieced together that Ava's family had played an important role in funding the school, only giving Ava all the more reason to be cocky.

The car pulled to a stop and Ava confidently stepped out of the vehicle. She was immediately greeted by six or seven other teens. Hayden waited until the group had gone inside before he left the car, slinging his backpack over his shoulder and trudging inside.

No one ever bothered even glance at him, which certainly didn't bother him at all. He sat quietly through his classes, thankful that he wasn't called on by any teachers.

While he and Ava waited for their ride home at the end of the day, she chatted with her friends. Hayden sat off to the side, doodling in his notebook.

The rest of the week was exactly the same, and even the weekend proved to be eventless. Monday and Tuesday passed just the same, and finally, Wednesday rolled around. It was the last day before fall break started, and everyone was ready for the week off.

Wednesday afternoon, Hayden sat on the bleachers drawing a landscape in his notebook. He overlooked the football field and had a perfect view of the football and cheerleading practices. He sighed, as this was one of the last places he'd like to be. His class was out for one hour due to the practices, and since he wasn't on the football team, he had nothing to do.

He most certainly did not mind that he wasn't a part of the team, though. He'd be murdered before he even set foot on the field by those players. The quarterback was by far the most intimidating player. First off, he was huge in terms of muscle mass. Several times he had disrespected the coach, mistreated the other players, and on one occasion, bloodied someone's nose.

Ava had only identified him as "Big Sam," and indicated there was some rivalry between the two.

Ava was the captain of the cheerleading team. She and her teammates were cartwheeling across the field, backflipping and tumbling in the way of the players since the football coach had disappeared for a few minutes. She finally called the others together to practice their cheers, some of which were quite impressive.

She was standing on the shoulders of two other girls when Big Sam started to yell at them, demanding that they "keep their girly racket down."

"Our 'girly racket' is what keeps people interested in your stupid little game," Ava replied smartly, twirling her high ponytail.

"They come to see us play, me specifically," Sam bragged. "And we can't focus with all that noise. So keep it down!"

"How much focus can it possibly take to run around with a ball?" Ava shot back smoothly. "I guess a lot for you brainless bozos."