The Comeback Season

|chapter fifty-nine|

"This is a bad idea," I say looking at Tyler. He convinced me to come to school this morning. "Babe, you're not going to get suspended. None of the students are going to say there was a fight yesterday." He reaches over and holds my hand on the center console.

"Fine." I look at the bandages on my hand. Tyler did a pretty good job at covering the scrapes and bruises. "Just keep your hand in mine," Tyler says, noticing me steadily looking at my hands. I give him a gentle smile and nod my head. I open the passenger door and jump out of the car. Tyler walks around and takes my hand in his.

We walk across the parking lot towards our friends. I smile at Nova when I see Drew and her holding hands. She smiles back at me when she notices Tyler and I holding hands. "Are you feeling better today, Cahlia?" Parker asks, giving me a sneaky smile. I smile at him before moving forward, punching him in his arm. "Now I do," I say, smiling at him as he rubs his arm.

"Are we going to Rodrick's party after the game on Friday?" Drew asks as we start walking down the sidewalk. I glance at Nova and I immediately sense her nervousness. I quickly realize that she has not told Drew about her encounter with Rodrick. "I'll go only if you boys win," I say looking up at Tyler. "Oh, we are going to win. There are no questions about that." Tyler bumps his fist with Bryce while nodding his head.

We walk through the back doors and all eyes immediately hit me. "Fuck," I say under my breath. Tyler's grip on my hand becomes a little tighter. "Why are they staring?" Wesley asks in a low voice. Reid, Coco, Nova, and I all look at him with a "shut the hell up" look.

"Lia." I didn't even notice Tyler was pulling me towards the staring eyes. I slowly start moving my feet, trying to take back any composure I just lost. As we're walking down the hallway, a group of cheerleaders come and stand in our way. I notice their leader is missing, but her minion steps up.

"You're not going to get away with what you did." Sarah gives Nova and me a wicked smile. "Aww, I'm sorry you didn't have enough makeup to cover your black eye," Nova says in a baby voice. "Also, did Sabrina not make it in today?" Her hands turn into fist after I asked my question. Instead of making a comeback, she loudly sighs and walks away. "Smart choice," Nova and I both say in unison.

Tyler and Drew both laugh at us before we start walking again. Tyler walks me to my first class. "Ok, so I will see you at lunch." Tyler presses my body gently against the wall behind Mr. Parker's classroom door. "Yep," I say, pulling him closer to me by wrapping my fingers around his belt loops. This moment is making my body incredibly hot. I lean up on my tiptoes and press my lips to his.

"Get to class Mr. Williams and Ms. Robinson." We turn around to see Mrs. Brown walking past us. "Yes ma'am," we say together. He leans down and kisses me one more time before walking away. "Have fun in class, babe," I gently yell before walking into Mr. Parker's class.

As soon as I walk in, Mr. Parker stops me dead in my tracks. "Cahlia, Principal Bell wants you to report to his office this morning." I take the yellow slip from Mr. Parker's hand. Bryce gives me a concerned look before I turn around and leave the classroom.

As I walk down the hallway, I think about what Mr. Bell might know. Will he know that I beat Sabrina's ass yesterday and I'm about to get suspended? "No way," I say to myself before entering the office. It seems as if all the staff knows why I'm here because they just point me towards Mr. Bell's office.

I nervously knocked on Principal Bell's door and he tells me to come in.

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"No, I have no idea why Sabrina isn't here today." I place my hands on my lap, attempting to hide the bandages on my hands. "You have zero ideas, huh? Well, a student came in here earlier and reported a fight that happened after school yesterday. She said that you were involved." I know the student was Sarah, but he's not going to tell me.