The City Is at War

I turn the combination on my locker uneasily.

No drama today, please.

I've only gotten to the second number in my combination, when someone taps me on the shoulder. I take a deep breath, before turning around slowly.

It's only Victoria.

"You slapped Gabe...again!?" she exclaims.

"He-"

"Sabrina, the project is due tomorrow!" Victoria puts one hand on her hip and sighs at my shocked stare.

She grabs my arm and pulls me through the hallway, stopping in front of Gabe and his friends.

"You two have a project due tomorrow, so stop acting like babies!" she yells, before walking off.

"I'm not apologizing," I mutter angrily.

"Neither am I," he retorts, pushing past me.

"What about the project?" I ask, uncertainly.

"You'd rather get an F than work with me right?"

Gabe doesn't wait for my answer and he turns down the corridor. The late bell rings and I rush to class hoping Mr.Stertz, will go easy on me.

"This project counts for half of your grade. You will fail this class if it is not completed," Mr.Stertz is saying, as I slide into my seat.

"I'll see you for detention this afternoon, Ms.Serrano," he continues and I groan.

"Anyway, I'd like to see some of your progress with this project," Mr.Stertz continues.

I look around the room and realize that Gabe is nowhere to be found. I glance at Victoria who is furiously texting and poke her with a pencil and she waves me away. I sigh, rip out of sheet of paper from my notebook and begin writing. Needless to say, it's not very good. When Mr.Stertz finally calls on me, I stand up in front of the class.

"Maybe you should just give me an F," I mutter, rereading the crap written on my paper.

"Read it, Sabrina."

Well here goes nothing.

"Well, um -" I begin, but stop when Gabe walks into the classroom, looking slightly out of breath.

"How nice of you to join us Gabe, you also have detention this afternoon. Now take your seat."

"Actually, Sabrina and I have to go pick up that thing," he says nervously.

"Wh-"

Gabe nudges me in the side.

"Oh, right! Yeah, for our project, we have to pick up our...costumes!"

Mr.Stertz gives us a suspicious look, but finally nods and lets us go.

"Costumes?" Gabe asks, as soon as the door closes behind us.

"Shut up! Just tell me what's going on!" I hiss.

Gabe doesn't answer and keeps walking.

"Hey! Answer-"

"Sabrina, just shut up!" Gabe yells, pushing open another door.

"Not until you tell me where we're going!" I shout back.

"You talk too goddamn much," Gabe hisses, pinning me against the wall.

His body is pressed against mine and his face is way too close to mine.

"Get off of me," I hiss.

"Then shut up," he retorts angrily.

"What are you gonna do if I don't, huh? You gonna beat me up, Gabe? You gonna to send some stupid text message?" I say mockingly.

Gabe leans down closer to my face and out of the corner of my eye I see Sisky.

"Sisky!" I cry out, and Gabe instantly backs away from me.

It’s like magic.

"You okay?" Sisky asks, shooting Gabe a glare.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just...um...what's going on?" I ask.

"That's not important, right now. I just want to ask you something," he says, grabbing my hand.

"Ask me what?"

Sisky takes a deep breath, "Um, do you want to maybe go on a date?"

"Yeah, of course, Sisky," I say, pulling him into a hug.

"So, where exactly are we going to go?" I ask, pulling away.

"It's a secret," he winks, just as the bell rings.

Sisky skips off down the hallway and someone clears their throat behind me. I turn around, ready to tell Victoria everything, only to realize that it's not Victoria.

It's William.

"Why have you been avoiding me?" he asks, knitting his eyebrows together in confusion.

"Oh...well...um...I..."

Shit.