The school bell goes, so I wave goodbye to Emma. Walking down the school corridors and past the lockers, I look the other way, suddenly hearing a loud, metallic thud, as well as the scream of a child.

Turning around to see a young boy, I note that he looks about thirteen, perhaps fourteen at the oldest, being pinned against the lockers by a member of The Jax.

This member is wearing a grey hoodie, with the hood over his head, and a black jacket over it. Also, he's wearing matching grey jogging bottoms. He has leather winter gloves on his hands.

I stop in my tracks and walk towards the lockers to the boys. "Hey! What are you doing, punk!" I ask angrily.

The Jax member turns around to face me, and ... damn. I didn't expect that face to greet me.

He has dark, deep, chocolatey brown eyes, olive skin, and long, black curly hair. He also, however, has an angered expression on his face.

"What's your problem with this, huh?" he asks with just as much anger as me. His voice is rather high pitched for a male, but it suits him because it has a certain masculinity about it.

"Let him go, would ya? Can't you see you're scaring him!" I scream madly.

The guy's eyes avert to something behind me, then I suddenly hear loud clapping. "Michael, Michael, my man! That is coming along great!"

It's Daniel, the leader of The Jax. He advances on the guy I've just been having an arguing match with, who I now know is named Michael. Daniel and Michael fist bump as the boy Michael has been clutching runs away, screaming, on the verge of tears.

I stand staring at them both. Daniel must feel my stare, as he turns around with a menacing expression on his face. "Whatchu staring at, huh, punk?" he demands.

To appear dominant, I stand with my arms folded. "Just some over-the-top, crazy, evil ditwits that refuse to do anything better in their lives than torment and ruin younger people's lives!" I answer, my icy blue eyes clearly intimidating him, even if only a little.

Seeing Michael looking into my eyes, I click my fingers in his face to bring his attention back to me and Daniel.

"You don't scare me, Costello. I know you think we ain't no good for nothin'; we all know you hate us, but guess what? That ain't gonna change my attitude towards you. So, I'd watch your back, alright? Cos if you're not careful ... " Daniel sucks some air between his teeth before continuing, "You could end up like every other "smart" kid we've seen to."

My eyes roll, as if I'm bored, then I turn my back on them. "Yeah, I'm real scared," I scoff, before beginning to walk off.

Man, today is already going badly.

First, I'm late for class; second, I'm late for class because of a pair of idiots; third ... I now have a huge headache.

It's that Michael. There's something about him that I just can't work out.

~~

-Edited June 3, 2016-