Start a Revolution

Drew looked around as she opened her locker, her top teeth biting into her bottom lip.

It's Monday morning. The usual crowds were bustling around her, laughing and chatting and hugging as they make their way toward their homerooms. She tried to relax as she stuffed her Calculus textbook into her locker, swapping it for her American History one. But she still felt as if everyone were judging. Staring. Looking.

It was hard to compromise with all the feelings going on inside of her. She didn't leave her room this weekend, mainly because she didn't have the guts to but also because she was grounded. She was still grounded, which she was fine with.

As long as she didn't have to see anyone.

But now it was time for school, and she couldn't avoid everyone like she wished she could. She had to face them head on and she was not prepared to do that.

Drew didn't want to face Lisa. Her best friend would just try to convince her to go for it with John, which is definitely not something Drew could do for many reasons. She didn't want to face Joey either, afraid she would spill the truth if he found her and talked to her about Friday night. Their date was amazing, but the events that happened after it were what scared her. And she definitely wasn't ready to take on John. She didn't know what she was going to say to him, and he was in her first hour of the day.

She was stuck in hole and she didn't have control of the shovel.

She glances in the mirror that was stuck to the door of her locker, her lips drooping at her reflection. She looked like hell and she knew it. Her short dark hair was pulled back in a ponytail against the nape of her neck, her bangs curly and tucked behind her ear since she was way too lazy to pick up her straightener, let alone plug it in. She didn't put on any make-up this morning and couldn't find her contacts, so she was left with a pale face and her thick-rimmed glasses that made her look like she lived in the seventies. She was a mess and she felt the need to blame it all on John.

But Drew couldn't do that. It was partly her fault as well; she could have gotten in her car and driven off after meeting up with John at Corona that night. But instead, she went with what she was feeling and drove off with him to some unknown location. Man, does she wish she could go back and redo that night.

Just as she closes her locker, she jumps at the sight of someone leaning against the locker beside hers.

She felt her pulse knock up when she thought it was John, but relaxes when she sees it's just the comforting sight of Joey, his hazel eyes sparkling at her as an easy smile settles on his lips. A comforting feeling buried in her stomach.

"Don't run off on me, kitten," he murmurs. "I just got here."

The smile on her mouth was wry. "Sorry. I'm just a bit uneasy."

"Why?" he asks, cocking his head to the side. Simultaneously, his hand comes up and tucks a stray lock of her bangs behind her ear. Her brown eyes come into view.

This is what she was afraid of. She didn't want to tell him what had happened to her late night on Friday. She closes her eyes briefly, remembering the Renaissance Festival, the dragon slide, the talk of her sister and his brothers, the mystery of it all, and, of course, the kiss. Her stomach bubbled at the thought and she swallows the bitterness down.

"It's nothing," she mutters, looking down at her shoes. Joey was so good at getting the answers out of her. That gaze... "I just got grounded over the weekend, so it's all I can think about."

Joey's brows shoot up immediately. "How did you get grounded?"

Fuck. "No reason."

"You're parents wouldn't ground you for no reason," Joey replies, his eyes rolling. "You're parents are strict, but not that strict. Just tell me."

"No."

Joey groans. "Did you rob a bank or something? It's not like you performed a high act of criminal injustice. Just tell me." He jokingly runs his thumb down her face and he felt a twinge of disappointment when she doesn't respond to the move.

"I..." she breathes out, biting her bottom lip. Oh God. It's like Mean Girls. Word vomit. "Isnuckoutafterourdate."

Joey shakes his head. "I didn't understand any of that. What?"

Drew cusses quietly to herself, bringing her face up to lock eyes with her old flame. She tried to stand strong, clenching her fists so hard that her nails dug into her palms. "I snuck out after our date, all right? God." She felt a large weight move off her shoulders after telling him, but still felt a heavy feeling since she didn't really tell him the whole truth.

"You snuck out?" he asks incredulously. "With who?"

Drew's gaze once again averts to the tile beneath her. "I thought it was you I was meeting up at midnight, but it turns out it was someone else."

"And who was it?" Joey voices impatiently.

Drew squeezes her eyes shut, her heart pounding in her ears. "John."

"What?" Joey leans closer to hear her incoherent whisper, feeling his fingertips itch when he thought he head misheard a certain name. But she had muttered it, so he may have misheard. He strains his ears as she talks again.

"John."

Joey froze, his eyes staring down at her like she was an alien life form. Finally, he speaks, his voice hoarse. "You snuck out with John?"

She shushes him, glancing around at the people passing by. "Yes. Shut up about it!"

"Why did you sneak out with John?" he asks, his voice still rising in volume. She slaps a hand over his mouth as he speaks the last word, so the name of her long-time enemy was a bit muffled. She huffs in relief knowing no one heard it.

Before she could answer, the devil himself turns the corner and starts walking down the hall.

He wasn't necessarily walking toward her locker on purpose, he was just walking this way because this hallway led to his first hour, English with Drew. If John had to admit, he was hoping to run into her so they could walk to English together and maybe discuss Friday night. But his heart drops when he sees her there, looking gorgeous as always, even in sweatpants, but Joey was there with her.

"What?" Joey asks, noting the way she was looking over his shoulder at something.

He turns before she can stop him, his eyes finding John easily. John stops in the middle of the hallway as he and Joey make eye contact, Joey's fist clenching. Then, in one second flat, Joey lunges at John and throws him against the lockers, skin ripping at the contact of the locks, and gets right into his face, Joey's fingers curled into John's collar.

John puts up an I-give-up hand motion, keeping a calm composure. "What the hell dude?" he asks, scrunching his brows. "At least talk before making physical contact."

"Don't mess with me right now, O'Callaghan," Joey seethes.

"Calm down," John smirks, noticing Drew's gaping figure a few feet away. "There's women present."

Joey releases one hand and pulls it back, his fist so tight the skin was turning white, ready to slam it into John's face repeatedly. He was beating with such anger toward the other boy right now, for no particular reason, yet he knew it was over Drew. Joey saw how John looked at her; and that was not acceptable.

Just as Joey was about to connect his face with John's smug little face, John hooks his arms over Joey's and shoves him off, Joey backing up and hitting the other side of lockers, the locks hitting him in the back this time. He winces but doesn't stop, his old wrestling skills kicking in and tackles John to the ground. Drew shrieks as the two boys go at it, rolling around, kicking and scratching, but never getting a solid punch in. The rough movements continued, and then Joey finally got his wish. His fist hits John's cheek with a quick force, waking John up. The O'Callaghan boy felt stunned, before he seethed loudly, and attacks Joey once again, the fight growing immensely.

Finally, when Drew finds her voice as the shock wears off, she screams, "Stop!" The one word echoed around the hall, the two boys freezing their motions.

Joey was straddling John, his fist once again ready to punch, when they look up at her.

A crowd had gathered, not too big since many were already in homeroom, and they all booed as they stopped fighting. Drew was blazing with frustration and she grabs Joey's arms, pulling him to his feet. "What the fuck is wrong with you!" she hisses, her heart pounding messily behind her rib cage. "Are you insane?"

"What?" Joey asks. "I was doing what needed to be done."

"I can fight my own battles!" she yells, hitting at his chest, which he ignored since they were weak hits. "I don't need you to fight them for me! Especially not in the way you want to fight them. John never did anything to you."

"But he did something to you!" he yells back, the crowd dispersing as they realized no more punching would be happening. "And that isn't acceptable."

"I'm not yours defend."

Joey's face droops. "I thought you were."

Drew swallows, realizing she had just denied everything that they had rebuilt. She knew what she was giving up, but this is what she believed in. "You thought wrong," she mutters before turning away from him, going over to the surprised John, who was still splayed against the floor, propped on his elbows as he had watched Drew and Joey fight.

"Come on," Drew murmurs gently, helping him to his feet. "Let's get you to the nurse." She noticed the cut on his cheek from Joey's class ring and it was already starting to swell.

John winces as he stood, his shin throbbing from where Joey had kicked him. "You don't have to do this," he says, flinching as he puts weight on the shin. Drew shakes her head, not saying anything else as she links her arm in his, leading him down the hall toward the nurse.

Joey watched them go, his anger growing until red was around his vision.