“Oops,” Olivia says with a fake smile glued to her lips, straightening her frilly jacket with so many feathers on the collar I can’t help but wonder how she breathes in it. Mum used to like her, they share similar tastes. I push that memory out of my mind, me and Liv are done. “Sorry. I didn’t see you there.”Giggles come from behind her, I cock my head to the side and I see the girls. Her friends, minions, name it, that’s them. Four of them. Charlotte. Riley. Chloe and Zoey, the only twins at our school. They follow Liv around like their lives depend on it. They are not like the usual minions, they genuinely care about their master. Massaging my stiff shoulders, I turn to my locker, reminding myself to ignore her. She hates being ignored more than anything else in the world but Maria does not take kindly to my silence. “Of course you didn’t see her, you blind bat.”I stifle a laugh as I retrieve

I hate crowds, so why am I here? In a pub with noise and more noise, shitty beats in the name of music. Maria slides a glass of iced coke to me, I make a face and take a sip while she gulps the weird content in her shot glass with a grimace. Lucky her. I need a clear head and sharp mind for tomorrow’s fight.  In less than a year, we will both be eighteen and eligible to drink and party the right way. I squint at the bright, colourful lights swirling above the small crowd moving on the dancefloor, bobbing my head to the beat. Though our fake IDs allow us entries into a few clubs, alcohol is off limits. For fun, we have them serve our drinks in shot glasses and act like it’s the almighty margarita we have heard so much about.  Only tonight, Maria got lucky. She got her first real taste of margarita. “Ryan Raynoldz, smash or pass?” she asks, shot glass turned over to catch the last drop of her cocktail. I fake gag. The man might be fine but no

The first round lasts fifty minutes. Blood rushes to my ears, I am bleeding behind the mask and my heart beats so loud above the cheers, I can hardly hear what Coach is saying. He squats in front of me, holding the water bottle to my mouth and I take a swig until my stomach protests. I wince when I lift the hem of my tank top and see blood. Coach presses a warm towel to my side, my teeth sink into my lip to stop from screaming or punching him. He should have discouraged me from getting into that ring tonight.“Are you okay?” Coach asks with a worried expression and I nod. I am not in the least bit okay. My body hurts like hell. I need to soak in a tub full of ice for a week and lock myself inside with buckets of ice-cream. “Tee.”“I’m fine.”At a regular taekwondo competition, we would have gotten helmets, shin guards and body protectors. The rules would have also applied—no kicks below the waist; headshots. But he

By Monday morning, I am still trending. It turns out a video of me getting dunked with iced coke by the Queen B herself is far more interesting than a video of Ben pecking Olivia in the middle of the cafeteria. Either way, the entire school is having a laugh at my expense and my fame doesn’t seem to be expiring soon. I don’t need the spotlight, they should be going crazy over Maria’s voice in the background of the original video. She sounded like an angel but no, those teenage devils will rather come for innocent me. “Sweetheart, you are going to be late,” Mum calls from somewhere downstairs. “I’m almost done,” I reply. I hear shuffling and her footsteps fade. Another ping comes from my phone, I ball my free hand into a fist, glare at my reflection in the mirror before taking a look at the sender. This time, it is Daniel, he wants to know if I am okay. Okay? I scoff. If they are taking turns sending me messages, then they must be super worried by my silence o

I skip the second and third period. When the bell rings to signify the start of fourth period, I am feeling much better. AP Calculus class is empty, I take my place beside the window and plug in my earpiece. Maria’s voice floats into my ears, my head bobs to her cover of Beyonce’s solo. She has a whole album dedicated to covers. I chuckle at the reminder of this morning incident, she slapped Ben on my behalf. She has never slapped anyone in her life, not even a fly, she’s all bark and no bite, a total sweetheart. On instinct, my eyes lower to the seat I occupied on Friday. Will he come? If he will, I hope he trips on his way in and breaks his neck. Pressing the can of coke I snuck into class to my stomach, I drag down my shirt as the door opens. Abigail, a redhead with hot brains troops in. I know her name because she answers almost all of Mr Sam’s questions. She doesn’t say a word to me, no surprises there, we are not friends but her furious glare has me squirming. Okay, th