The Rules of Life

Sophia was going to die. She was going to die because I was going to kill her. I took the bus to school for the first time in weeks, glaring meanly at anyone who looked at me. Despite my reunion with my dad, I still harbored angry feelings towards almost everyone in my life who wasn’t Soe or Paul. I think I shoved a few freshman aside when I got off the bus. People jumped out of the way when they saw me. It was like I was an ambulance, my sirens blaring, and everyone had to get out of the way or get run over.

I knew where I would find her. She was by Dash’s locker, arms wrapped loosely around her textbooks, a small circle of perfectly put together girls around her. Dash was walking towards her, Travis by his side. They looked like they were having a very heated discussion. Travis was waving his arms around and I could see his mouth forming over curses. We would get to Sophia at the same time but I wasn’t worried about Travis and his promiscuity or Dash and his disinterest. I was only interested in beating Sophia to a pulp. One of the girls from the gaggle looked over her shoulder, brown eyes widening when she saw me. She turned around quickly and Sophia’s gaze locked on to me. The girls moved aside so she could step forward. Out of the corner of my eye, I could already see the circle forming.

“You bitch,” I hissed. Sophia smirked at me but the expression didn’t stay on her face for very long. My fist connected solidly to her nose and I felt the satisfactory cartilage break. Sophia shrieked, clutching at her nose which gushed crimson blood all down the front of her probably cashmere sweater. Dash grabbed my shoulder and spun me around. I waited for the blow but it didn’t happen. Travis punched Dash in the side of the face and soon they were lunging at each other, throwing punches and slamming each other against the lockers. Sophia wailed, creaming out “my nose, my nose!” repeatedly. My hand throbbed but I found out I wasn’t done yet. I slammed my palms against her shoulders and pushed her back until she jolted against the lockers.

“You conniving, backstabbing little cunt!” I screamed in her face. I shook her shoulders. Her head rolled back and forth like a bobble head. “You fucking whore!” I’m certain I would have kept yelling at her, kept shaking her, until she passed out from blood loss or until she died. But the principal showed up with two security guards in tow, plus Matt. I don’t know where the hell he came from but just like my fight with Travis, he yanked me away from Sophia.

There were words exchanged between Matt and Principal Tanner, I think about it being the last straw. Sophia was with the nurse who had come, too, and looked absolutely miserable. Her shirt was ruined and nearly the entire lower half of her face was stained red. The two security guards had separated Travis and Dash.

“Let me talk to her first,” Matt was saying.

“Matt, this is it for her,” Tanner said.

It for me? Were they going to execute me? The thought sent me lashing out and I think I smacked Principal Tanner but Matt reined me in. “Come on,” Matt said, “Deal with Elton and Shepherd first. Call me whenever that’s over with. I’ll get Mitchell to cover my class.”

I fought against Matt’s arms but they were like iron wrapped around my body. I looked back over to Sophia but she was gone. The only remains were the droplets of blood splattered on the tiled floor. My heart was pounding like a million race horses inside my chest. I didn’t know what to feel, whether it be anger that I didn’t get to properly kill that bitch or relief that I’d been stopped or fear that I was really going to be expelled.

“Fine,” Tanner said. “You can talk to her.” So Matt dragged me away. When had all the people left? He didn’t take me to the classroom but to the office. We went down a hallway and into an empty conference room. Matt put me in a chair.

“What the hell was that about?” Matt demanded.

I crossed my arms over my chest. “Why the fuck should I tell you? You’re fucking my mom. I have nothing to say to you.” I was surprised at how hard it was for me to force those words out. He was fucking my mom. A day was not long enough to get used to something like that. The pain was still fresh, still raw, still bleeding. I dug my fingernails into my palm to stop the sadness and replace it with something I could use: anger and pain. I wanted to find Sophia and inflict more pain on her because it was easier than dealing with this and goddammit, she deserved it.

Matt ran his fingers through his hair. “I’m sorry, Kinley, I really am,” he said. “But what did you expect? You’re my student. I can’t just date you.”

“So you picked the worst person ever to date? My mom?” I dug my nails in deeper. I felt a trickle of blood slide down my palm and I wiped it away with a finger, smearing it over my skin.

“By the time I realized it was your mom, it was too late.” He pulled out a chair and dropped into it, leaning forward and taking my hands. He pulled my chair closer so that our knees were touching but he didn’t drop my hands. “I liked you, Kinley. That’s not okay. I tried to stop but you didn’t make it easy for me. Like I told you before, I didn’t realize that Alex was your mother at first. Then I figured it out and I was in too deep with the both of you. She loved me and I loved you. I didn’t know what I was supposed to do so I didn’t do anything.” He squeezed my hands. “I’m so sorry.”

The anger kind of ebbed away. My shoulders slumped forward. “Sophia, she,” I took a big breath, “she spiked my weed at the party. I shouldn’t have done it anyway but Travis kept pestering me and god, I was just so tired of everything. I hate all those fucking populoids. They’re all fucking bitches and clones. But she knew. That bitch fucking knew that I would do it and she knew it would be Travis who would get me there. So she spiked it. She fucking spiked it.” I pulled my hands away, leaving small smears of blood across his fingers. “She fucking ruined my life once and now she’s fucking done it again. Fuck!”

I pounded my fists against the wooden table. On top of everything, I was going to get expelled. Matt reached over and brushed a strand of hair away from my face, letting his fingertips linger on my cheek. But before anything else could happen, the door opened. Matt pulled away quickly. Principal Tanner looked livid. “You, my office, now.” It was directed at Matt, not me. I opened my mouth, confused but Tanner shot me a glare. “You, stay put.”

They walked out, slamming the door behind them. I wiped my bloody hands on my jeans, staining them with rusty blood smears. What the fuck was that about? Matt was a good teacher. He wasn’t involved in the scuffle. He’d helped keep me from beating the shit out of Sophia. Maybe he knew something about Dash and Travis. I tapped my nails on top of the table, listening to the rhythmic clacking noise. There wasn’t anything that could have happened to get Matt in trouble. Except… oh shit. I jumped out of my chair, knocking it over. I wrenched the door open and slammed right into Travis.

“Is it true?” he asked me.

“Is what true?” I asked, glancing down the hallway. I was shifting my weight back and forth, ready to run. I wasn’t sure where my destination was: Tanner’s office or to find April. It wasn’t like I could get into anymore trouble; I was already pretty much expelled.

“That you’re fucking Hardacker.”

That fucking bitch spilled. “What the fuck?” I said. “Who the hell told you?”

Travis looked hurt and a little pissed. I could see that his knuckles were split open again, not yet healed from the last time he’d thrown a punch at the locker. “So it is true,” he said. “Dammit, Kinley. I was fucking loyal to you.”

I snorted. “Yeah, cause what you did last Thursday was definitely loyal,” I replied sarcastically. It was a gamble. I wasn’t sure if Sophia’s information was entirely accurate or if she’d just said it to piss me off even more. But judging by Travis’s flabbergasted expression, I’d say she’d known what she was talking about. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.”

“Who told you?” he said, looking away.

“Who told you?” I echoed.

Travis hesitated. “April,” he said finally. “She’s telling everyone. She told her dad.”

“Fuck!” I tried to shove past Travis but he grabbed my arm.

“How long?” he said.

I stared at Travis for a moment, wondering if I should tell him the truth or not. “The whole time.” Honesty is the best policy. Travis looked away again and nodded, jaw tight. “I’m sorry, Travis.” And I really, truly was. He didn’t have anything to do with the drugs and yeah, he’d cheated but so had I. Travis shrugged off my hand and walked off. I watched him go for a second before following after him. Tanner could wait. There was one more person I needed to kick the shit out of before I was officially expelled.