5

'There is no such thing as an accident;

It is fate misnamed.'

- Napoleon Bonaparte

_ _ _

-Caden-

At the beginning of the day, I'd never imagined that I'd be spending half of it in the nurse's office. I'd met Kara, teased her, and had my curiosity flutter. I was looking forward to school for once. Running into her would've been great but, the way it happened...that could've been different.

I lifted my head and my eyes connected to dazed grey orbs.

"You're awake.", I said, looking at Kara on the bed, with a small bruise forming on her cheekbone and a surprised look on her face.

• A few hours ago •

I whizzed past the buildings and vehicles, the scene blurring as my thoughts wandered. Kara was unexpected. Something about her was intriguing and she was totally different from the usual crowd around me. I liked that.

As I parked my motorbike in the parking lot, school had already started but, I had no interest to sit in calculus and listen to Mr. Grober blabbering on for longer than necessary anyway. It was a waste of time.

I entered the class with ease; I was the bad boy after all. I might be a straight-A student but, in no way was I a rule follower.

"Welcome, Mr. Pierce. I see you're no longer than 10 mins late. Please sit down and I hope we have a wonderful time during detention today, which of course you will be attending, I presume...?"

"Of course, Mr. Grober." But, some appearances had to be kept up.

I was greeted by my friends as I sat down; Ezra Warren, Gavin Hunt, and Jordan Castillo.

"Hey man! I heard about the race.", Ezra said.

"Too bad you'll be racing Devon. He's definitely gonna lose and you're gonna get an easy win, no sweat.", Jordan added.

"Will you guys shut it already? Caden gets riled up hearing that guy's name, I thought you'd know."

"I'm right here. We'll talk later. Now, shut up and tell me what Gorber's been ranting about."

"Yeah, okay... The..."

***

The next two periods went on fine. My stomach was growling by the time I hit the cafeteria.

"Hey! lookie who's here... The great Caden Pierce...", a voice greeted me as I entered the cafeteria.

Damn it. Josh Gavenhall. The SOB never learns to stay away from me. How does he always pick the worst timing?

"Shut up, Josh"

"Oh! Someone's riled up. Scared to race Devon, are we?"

"Don't."

"Don't what? Tell you that Devon is better than you. He's gonna kick your ass..?"

Shut up asshole! I saw red and before I could stop myself, I punched him right in the stomach.

"You son of a bitch!"

That was it. We began throwing punches at each other and soon a crowd had gathered around. I dodged and punched him getting him in the jaw, shoulders, and forehead. He reached up and wiped the blood off his split lip and aimed a punch at me. I should dislocate something. That'll keep him away a bit longer.

"Caden!"

Chloe's voice rose above the chorus of Fight! Fight! Fight!

Chloe better not tell mom.

The thought of my sister distracted me for a second and as I turned around Josh's fist connected with my jaw. Coming out of my daze I saw his fist coming toward me again and I ducked.

"Karaaaa...."

I heard my sister scream just as I heard Josh's fist collide into something.

Thud!

what did she cream 'Kara'?

I turned around to see Kara crumpled on the ground, with Josh standing in front of her. The sight had me burning with fury.

He's losing a bone today!

I grabbed Josh and started punching the daylights out of him. When in a matter of seconds, he lay unconscious in front of me, blood dripping from his broken nose, and a finger twisted at a weird angle. I turned and pushed through the crowd to reach Kara lying on the ground, her head in my sister's lap.

"Chloe?"

She looked up at the mention of her name, her eyes filling up with tears.

"Caden...", her voice broke and she looked down at her friend.

"I'll take her", I said and bent down to pick Kara up into my arms. The act felt possessive.

"It's gonna be okay...", I whispered.

I walked to the nurse's office with Kara in my arms, Ms. Karp rose to see me. I set her down onto a bed just as Ms. Karp entered.

"What happened?", she asked, her voice clipped.

"There was a fight. She got hit by accident."

"Go on now. I'll treat her."

"I'd rather stay, Ms. K."

"As you wish.", she replied as she set the ice pack on Kara's cheek.

This is all my fault.

I thought and buried my face in my hands as I sat down to wait for Kara to wake up.