Youngblood

Chapter 22

Dianne's POV

"Wh-what?" I falter.

"They've found Katya," Joe repeats. "Come on! I'm sorry Mum, Zoe, Alfie, Andrew, but this is serious stuff. She's put two of our friends in hospital!"

"Calm down Joe!" Tracey says. "Course you can go. Just ring us if you need us."

"You'll be fine, right?" Andrew asks, tentatively. I nod.

"I've got Joe," I say. We shove our shoes on and leave the house, following the directions that Lauren has sent me.

We arrive, seeing the girls and Oli having Katya pinned against a tree.

"Let... Go... Of... Me!" Katya squirms.

"What? How?" Joe asks.

"We were just walking when we saw her," Amy explains. "But now I'm not entirely sure what we do."

"You could let me go!" Katya says furiously.

"What? And let you hurt others?" Chloe says, who has her hand tightly gripped around Katya's wrist. For such a petite girl, she sure has a lot of strength.

"I'm sorry ok!" Katya says.

"Ha, like we believe that!" Oli says. Then the Maynards come over, including Jack this time.

"Jack! Good to see you!" Joe says. "And, er, congrats, I guess, by the way."

"Thanks," Jack says. "What are we meant to do with Katya now?"

"Ok Katya, where have you been these past few days?" Chloe says, her grip tightening on the girl as Katya's face gets redder with anger, nearly being red enough to give my hair some competition.

"None of your business," Katya mutters.

"Sorry, what?" Chloe says, shoving the girl up against the tree, causing a tear in her T-shirt and a graze on her cheek.

"Well, my parents are out of the country," Katya succumbs. "So I've been bunking at home. If there was a knock on the door, I didn't answer it."

"Well that explains it then," Anna mutters.

"You put AJ and Josh in hospital!" Jack says. "Surely even a girl like you can feel some sort of guilt."

"Well, I did think AJ would be out by now," Katya admits. "But then again, I don't really care."

Jack then pushes Chloe aside, yet she still keeps a firm hold on Katya, and Jack punches Katya in the face with all the strength he can muster. Blood starts dripping from Katya's now lopsided nose, and a little purple mark begins to form around her right eye.

"How dare you?" Katya yells.

"Now you know what it feels like," Jack says. "And don't you ever say you don't care about AJ."

"Ok fine. Can you just let me go now? I care about your stu-... I mean friend," Katya says. "And I'll come into school tomorrow too."

"How do we know that you will?" Anna says.

"I just will, ok?" Katya snarls. "But this blood doesn't taste very nice, and I'd like an ice-pack for my eye. I guess I feel bad for AJ and Josh now."

"So you should," Chloe says, her grip loosening until she lets go altogether. "And I expect to see you at school tomorrow."

Time Skip – The Next Day

Joe's POV

I arrive at school with Dianne, Byron and Oli. We filled my mum, Zoe, Alfie and Andrew in about what has happened, and they were all shocked and concerned for us. I also spoke to my mum and Andrew about finding somewhere for Dianne to dance, and we've come up with a few suggestions for her that we can share with her later.

"Jack, do you know when AJ's out of hospital?" Byron asks.

"I think in the next day or so," Jack says. "I can't wait to see him at school again."

Everybody else apart from Caspar arrives, as he's late as per usual, and then the bell goes and we head off to form, Caspar catching up with us just at the last second.

The first twenty-minutes of science is boring as ever, but then part way through the lesson, the door creaks open, and Katya wanders in.

"Ah, Ms Jones," our teacher says. "How great of you to finally attend a lesson. However, as excited as we all may be to have you back, Mr Johnson says that you need to head to his office."

Katya rolls her eyes.

"Mr Maynard," our teacher says, referring to Conor. "Can you escort her over there."

Begrudgingly, Conor gets up and leaves the room with Katya, and returns a few minutes later.

The bell rings and we hurry to pack away our things. I head over to Conor with Dianne as we walk out of the classroom together.

"Do you know what's happening?" I ask.

"No, but at least we know Katya's in his office," Conor says. We arrive at English, and I spend the whole hour wondering what punishment Mr Johnson will issue out for her.

Finally, break arrives, and we all make our way to Mr Johnson's office. Josh knocks on the door, and Mr Johnson opens it.

"Thought I'd see you all," he says. "Come on in. It'll be a bit crowded though."

We all stand in his office, huddled together, and I put an arm around Dianne.

"Katya's in isolation," Mr Johnson says. "We were going to expel her, but with her parents apparently out of the country it's just an opportunity for her to roam free. We're meeting up with the girl's parents when they get back in two days time."

"Thank goodness," Mikey says.

"So there's no need to worry; everything's sorted now," Mr Johnson says. "Thank you all for being so patient."

We head out of the office and back down to the benches, where we all just let out a sigh of relief. The girl's been dealt with at last.

"There's no need to worry now," I tell Dianne. "Katya's sorted, AJ will be out of hospital in no time, and there's a surprise waiting for you at home."

Dianne's face lights up.

"Really?" she questions.

"Yeah," I say. "I've been discussing it with Mum and your brother."

Dianne smiles and rests her head on my shoulder. For the first time in a while, we both feel perfectly safe and free.

A/N: Another chapter up! This fanfic has only got around three chapters left, however I'm going to be starting a new one at some point based around their Strictly journey. If you have any questions or things you would like to see in the last few chapters of this book, or the next fanfic, just comment them below. Thank you for all the support :)