The Romance In Our Rivalry

31 | Fight the Girl, Get the Guy

Nova

November 7, 2021

I was super excited when I woke up, but that was probably because my birthday was in six freaking days! Not that I was gonna do anything, because Nick and I breaking up ruined my plans, but it's okay. Maybe Hailey and I, or Lewis and I will do something, who knows?

"Hey girl!" Hailey said as we just happened to meet right outside of my apartment door today. She wore navy green biker shorts, a black shirt, and black sneakers. I wore black leggings, white canvas slip on shoes, and a short sleeved white shirt. Both Hailey and I had our hair pulled back in slick ponytails.

Hailey and I became walking buddies, and I basically considered her my best friend. Maddie and I were once very good friends, but Nick is her cousin, so you can take a guess on how that went. I'm not losing sleep over it though, I understood that would most likely happen, so it's okay.

When Hailey and I got to school, we split up like usual. Not too long after Hailey left me, Aubrey joined me. Along with her came a serious look of concern. "Are you okay?" she asked me.

"Huh?" I questioned, "why wouldn't I be okay?"

Aubrey tilted her head, "well aside from the fact that the girl you were just with looks like an off brand version of me with blonde hair, you're the front headline in the Norwood Newsletter." I went wide-eyed, fast.

"W-What?" I stammered, as I began to speed walk through the corridor, examining the faces of judgmental teens who all looked as though they had already read whatever it was that was written about me. Aubrey followed closely behind, trying to assure me that it wasn't that bad.

"If it's not that bad" I began, abruptly stoping and turning to face Aubrey, "then why is everybody staring at me like that?"

Aubrey nibbled at her lip for a moment, "well okay, it depends on what you call bad" she finally answered, and I scoffed before continuing to speed walk to the Newspaper stand.

"Nova in a Nutshell" the title line read, "three days, two men, and a whole lot of audacity." I stared at the cover which featured Lewis and I, with a picture of Nick and I edited to look ripped in half, at the top of the photo of Lewis and I.

"That's not the worst part" Aubrey stated, watching me read, "go to the next page." I listened and flipped the page, which talked about Nick's "side of things."

"I wasn't surprised that she ended the relationship the way she did" the first line read. "She's very immature, she likes spreading rumors and playing victim. She's in love with the idea of being some type of survivor. It's just sick that she took somebody else's man, like there's so many other options here. Norwood is a pretty big school."

I took a deep breath then shook my head. "He wants a reaction out of me" I said quietly, "but he's not getting one. No matter how I feel." Aubrey looked at me sympathetically, "I'm sorry you have to deal with all of this" she said, "but it gets better."

As if Aubrey was some kind of bad luck charm, I heard a familiar female voice call my name from behind. I turned to see May, who had an army of kids with cameras behind her. "What's up bitch!"

"Girl what the hell?" I asked, now very clearly confused. "What's going on? Did you write this?" May shook her head, "no."

"But" she continued, "I read it. And since you didn't know, Lewis is mine. Your fast ass needs to lay off."

I scoffed, "Lewis pursued me dummy" I replied, giving May the same amount of attitude she gave me. I could feel Aubrey lightly removing my bag off my shoulder. I had an idea of where this was going.

"She's testing your gangster May!" I heard a random male voice in the little audience behind May say. I examined May for a second, who looked as if she came prepared to fight me, but also looked as if she was just trying to look comfortable today. She was somewhat scrawny, but not skin and bones scrawny. She was slim actually, maybe that's the better term. My body was similar to hers, but May at least had some boobs and a kind of butt, so she looked a little more feminine in that manner. I guess.

"I'm giving you one last chance Nova" May warned, folding her arms. "Agree to back off Lewis or I'm gonna fuck you up!"

I laughed, although it was very much forced. "You're gonna fuck me up cause Lewis doesn't want you? Yikes, you're insecure as hell."

That was it for May, who swung at me but not fast enough. I quickly grabbed her hair and yanked her to the floor. I've never fought before and didn't exactly know what I was doing, but I did know that the biggest objective in fighting was making sure you don't get hurt, and the other person does.

"Oh shit!" I heard another male voice exclaim as May tried to get up, but I was still swinging her rampant by her high ass pony.

"Swing!" Aubrey yelled, and I finally began actually swinging fists at May's face, while gripping on to, and controlling her ponytail for dear life with my other hand.

At this point a crowd was forming, which was kind of intimidating to me. "Fuck her up May! Get up, get up!" I could hear Brynn yell in the back, which angered me. Finally, May found a way to slowly get back up, so she and I were now standing level with one another. She shoved me, or at least attempted to, which did nothing but cause me to let go of her hair. I angrily swung on her, a weird mix of a slap punch, and she fell to the ground, holding her nose.

Gasps and little comments echoed throughout the surrounding crowd, and finally, a teacher came to see what was going on. "Milan, office, now!" she demanded, as May being on the floor with a bloody nose made me look like some kind of bully. I went, although I really didn't want to, and Aubrey followed behind me, so that I could get my stuff.

***

"That makes no sense" my mom said. "She's literally being bullied by these other girls yet she's the one that gets in trouble?"

I nodded, "she hit me! She approached me with a crowd, over a boy that I'm not even dating. That whole group of girls have been starting with me day in and day out since I got here."

"So, who's Nick Rosa?" the principle asked, and I rolled my eyes. "He's my ex boyfriend and he has nothing to do with this situation."

My mom looked surprised, as if she didn't expect I'd ever have a boyfriend, which also confused me because she's definitely seen Nick around me in school before.

"Are you sure he has nothing to do with this situation?" The principle further asked me, "because he was testifying against you earlier."

I was damn near a point of rage, but because my mom was there, I tried to not say much. "He's mad about how we broke up. Now that I'm hanging around Lewis he's being annoying. He has no real part in this situation." The principle nodded, "so you didn't plan to jump May? And you weren't planning to have boys jump Lewis?"

"No to both" I began, "but especially the latter. I didn't even know that May wanted to fight, and I wouldn't wanna hurt Lewis anyways. I like him."

Nick

"Damn, she likes him" Matt said, as he and I hid outside of the principles office. We stood at a position where we could escape quickly if needed.

"We'll see how long that lasts" I voiced, trying my best to sound like I wasn't bummed out. "Nova loves me deep down, and I was her only real boyfriend. I mean, I took her virginity. She'll come back."

Matt shrugged, "not so sure about that" he began, "but that thought definitely isn't far fetched either. I guess only time will tell." I sighed.