Like Nobody Else

Even though the residental area's speed limit was twenty-five, Marley was doing well over forty as she sped to Huntington Beach High School. Marley's demeanor was usually laid-back and calm—typical behavior for surfers—but since she didn't know what the "incident" involving Rhia was, she found herself abnormally worried and anxious.

She had pulled into the school's parking lot within minutes, and in her haste, she swung into an empty parking space reserved for one of the teachers'. She didn't bother to check the name, and at the time, she could care less. Marley rushed into the school, heading directly for the office that she had only visited once at the beginning of Rhia's senior year to sign off for a "school-related field trip" that wasn't until December.

The second she opened one of the doors to the office, her eyes fell onto Rhia. She was holding a tissue up to her left cheek, though a rather bored expression had set on her face.

"Shit, what in the hell happened?" Marley didn't keep her language in check—something that she tried to do in front of Rhia—and earned a small, amused smile from the seventeen-year-old.

"Uh, Rhiannon, I'll handle this." And that would be Principal Janie Hoy. Unlike most principals, she was polite and understanding—seeing the potential in all of the students, even the burnouts and slackers.

Marley had come to the conclusion that she had taken a special liking to Rhiannon as soon as she entered high school—winning several academic achievements and earning money to fund the art program.

"Sure, Janie." Rhia smirked, leaning back comfortably in the leather seat she was in.

"Miss Luna, if you'll please just take a seat, we can get this sorted out." Janie offered an apologetic grin, and Marley figured it was from her wide eyes and bewilderment. "Well, Rhiannon got into a confrontation with another senior earlier today during lunch. From what I've been told, said senior made an unnecessary comment about Rhiannon's choice of sexual orientation—" Before Janie could completely finish the story, Marley silenced her by shaking her head and putting her hands up.

"Is the girl getting suspended for blatant discrimination?" Marley asked, her tone was cold and harsh—something Rhiannon had never heard before that made her tense...not that she would ever let her older half-sister know that.

"Actually, it wasn't a girl. It was a young man that made the remark. Josh Leeway, the quarterback of the football team—" Once again, Janie was cut off.

"Are you saying a guy physically attacked my sister?" Marley raised her voice, obviously angry—an emotion that Rhia gathered she didn't like on her—as she pointed to Rhiannon's partially covered face.

"No, his girlfriend did that." Janie nodded to Rhia, and it was as though it was a silent signal for Rhia to remove the tissue momentarily to reveal four long scratch marks that went from three centimeters below her eye down to the bottom of her cheekbone.

Staring at the cuts with her jaw practically hanging to the floor, Rhia mumbled, "You should see the power couple," with a smirk.

As if on cue, Marley looked through a doorway that led into the connected clinic to see Josh Leeway and his unnamed girlfriend. Josh was probably handsome before he had two black eyes, an indentation of a heart with a bruise surrounding it on his cheek—most likely caused from Rhia's heart-shaped ring, and a busted lip. The girl's long, blonde hair was clipped back away from her face for the time being, and Marley could see why. Blood crusted in her hairline, and the bruises lining her cheeks and chin were nothing compared to when she weakly smiled at the nurse, exposing her two front teeth to be chipped.

"Well, fuck." Marley cursed openly, chuckling once the two in the clinic's office turned to glare at her.

"I've gotten you to cuss three times in one day, I think that's a world record." Rhiannon smiled, slumping down further in her seat as Janie shot her a look that said, 'stop pretending like you didn't just beat the shit out of two people'.

"Josh is being punished accordingly, and from what I've discussed with Coach Buxley, he is being removed from the football team. He will be suspended for the next two weeks, and he faces possible expulsion and charges if you decide to press them." Janie explained, looking from Marley to Rhia.

When Rhia finally spoke, she said, "No need for that." Though she could be heard murmuring, "His rich daddy would just get a lawyer to make it all go away."

"Bethany Parker," Janie motioned to the blonde sitting beside Josh in the other room before continuing, "Is being suspended for a week for fighting...which brings us to Rhiannon." Janie turned her attention to Rhia, who became fascinated with the chipping purple nail polish she had been picking at most of the day. "If it had simply been her tiff with Josh, I would have let the situation go, but since she engaged in a fight with Bethany, she is to be suspended for the next three days." Janie smiled softly and whispered, "She's getting off easy, trust me."

"Well, thank you. Come on, Rhia, I'll get you bandaged up and take you to that Thai place I love." Marley led Rhia out of the office after accepting the paperwork about Rhia's suspension from Janie, and the pair headed towards Marley's Jeep.

"You totally parked in Mr. Sanders's parking spot! That's hilarious." Rhia laughed loudly, and it sounded so foreign to Marley that she looked over at her half-sister as if she was questioning her sanity. "He's one of my teachers. Probably my favorite, actually. I've had him every year since I was a freshman. He's normally a dick to everyone, but he's nice to a few select students that he believes have actual talent. I'm surprised he didn't wait for you to bitch you out about taking his parking spot..." Rhia pondered this aloud before pointing to the black muscle car parked far out in the lot. "That's his, and his classroom is on the farthest side of the building."

Marley found herself at a loss for words. It was the most and longest Rhia had talked to her without making a nasty comment about anything.

"Unless he somehow knows it's a girl car, and he thought in the near future that he could get laid or something." Rhia snickered with an eye roll, climbing into the passenger seat of Marley's Jeep.

And the moment disappeared like that.


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