Chapter Three: Detention

Cole pulled his bag out from the back of the car and shut the door roughly. For some reason he was mad this morning.

He walked into the school hallway ignoring everyone that came his way but as usual there were mumurs.

He liked them, they were talking about his looks and some were checking out the price of his outfit. He was basically a star in his school .

He walked a little and met Jayden resting on the lockers doing something with his phone.

"What's up?" Jayden asked as they jammed palms and made their shoulders touch.

"Bad things, that's what's up," Cole replied, throwing his bag into his locker.

"Why? What happened?" Jayden asked in curiosity, shoving his phone into his pocket.

"My COD account got hacked!" Cole broke the news.

"Again?!" Jayden eyes widened.

"Yeah, again!"Cole said with an eye roll, slamming his locker close.

Jayden burst into laughter, clapping.

"It's not funny!" Cole became angrier.

"I thought you were gonna say something about Katniss but this is even better," Jayden said and continued laughing.

Cole ignored him,"Can you help me get it back?"

"Again?!" Jayden asked still laughing.

Cole glared at him and he stopped.

"Don't look at me like that, I'll see what I can do." Jayden said, relaxing on the locker as he pulled his phone out again.

Jayden had a thing with computers.

"Thank you," Cole sighed in relief.

"By the way, did you go to kat-"

"I didn't!" Cole spoke before Jayden could finish.

Jayden's gaze left his phone to Cole.

'He's joking.' Jayden thought.

"What'd you say?" Jayden asked, curling his hand behind his ears.

"I didn't go, alright!"

"You disobeyed my orders?" Jayden couldn't quite place his mind on what he was hearing.

"I said I didn't want to go," Cole repeated.

"Cole!!" Jayden called out.

"Bro, I'm right in front of you-" Cole whispered.

"You disobeyed my orders?" Jayden asked again to confirm his hearing.

Cole shrugged.

This is the end of Katniss talk. Jayden told himself.

Jayden nodded," Don't ever talk about Katniss again, are we clear?"

"Come on man, don't -" Cole wanted to laugh at Jayden's reaction.

"Are we clear Cole?" He cocked a brow.

"Alright, I went over and I apologized like you said and we're cool now," Cole spat out.

Jayden gave him a skeptical look.

"I'm serious, you can call Ashley if you want to."

"You better not be lieing to me," Jayden pointed.

Cole chuckled,"Why you so worked up about it? Is there something-"

"You're an asshole, that's what you are." Jayden pointed, "I'll be a bad best friend if I don't help you also you'll never be able to date the girl of your dreams."

"Oh please," Cole rolled his eyes.

"I really hope you learnt something from the class you had with her yesterday,"

"I did," Cole smiled.

°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°

DING DONG

The bell tinkled for classes to commence.

The students were sitted and shortly after, Mrs Stella, the English teacher walked in.

"Good day students," She greeted the class.

"Good day ma'am," They chorused.

"In our last class, we talked about grammatical accuracy, we said that grammatical accuracy is-" Mrs Stella stopped because there was a hand in the air." Is there a problem James?"

He stood up," Grammatical accuracy is another requirement for good public speaking," James said and took his seat.

"That's wonderful James, I -"

"You also said that grammatical accuracy will be affected if we fail to master the correct pronunciation of words in English," Evie said.

"That's very correct Evie but-"

"Grammatical accuracy also has to do with the ability to use correct forms of suffixes," Daniel added.

"Exactly Daniel, that's -"

"Suffixes such as past tense -ed, the plurals -s, and the po-"

"That's enough!" Mrs Stella hit the table," It's good to know that you're studying but you will not sabotage my class."

The class laughed chorusly.

She knew she had smart students but she was the teacher here.

"Let's just move on to what we have for today," she turned to the board," Emphatic stress," she said after writing it down.

James put up his hand again.

"Put you hand down James!"

The class laughed again.

She ignored them," I will write a little note then we'll discuss it after, okay?"

"Yes ma'am," They chorused as they flipped pages of their notebooks to jot down.

With that, Mrs Stella turned to the board and started writing.

A classroom will never be quiet, there were clinking of pens, whispering from students. Most teachers found it tiring to stop them except the really strict ones.

Minutes into the class...

"FUCK YOU!"

Mrs Stella turned towards the class the moment she heard that. She dropped her notebook and marker on the teacher's table.

"Really? In an English class, you have to say that." Mrs Stella was disappointed." Who said that?"

The class was dead silent, you could hear a pin drop.

"I'm not joking, I've been too kind that you guys have learnt to use fowl language in my class." Mrs Stella said, walking between the columns of the class chair arrangements.

The class was still silent. No one dared to speak.

"You all will be in the counselor's office and maybe the principal's if you don't tell me who said that."

The class... more than silent.

"Everybody on your feets," Mrs Stella commanded and they gradually stood up."Who said that?"

Half the class knew who said it but the other half were unaware.

"Okay, let's go." Mrs Stella said, turning to the door.

"Mrs Stella!!!" Maddie called out.

All eyes were on her.

She gulped, you could tell it was a fake one.

"We'll figure out who said it,"Maddie said

"This whole thing is interrupting my class, there's no time to figure things out."

"Katniss did!!!"

"What!!!" Ashley and Katniss said at the same time as the two pair of eyes widened.

"I can't believe you would want to put the whole class in trouble," Maddie said.

"I-I-I--" Katniss went into shock.

She was so shocked that words became hard.

"Katniss did you say it?" Mrs Stella asked.

"She did not," Ashley replied.

"Ashley," Mrs Stella warned" Katniss tell me did you say it."

"I didn't," she shaked her head " I didn't say it Mrs Stella."

"Let's go then,"

"Katniss come on, say the truth." Maddie spoke again.

"Shut up!!!" Ashley shouted.

"Ashley!" Mrs Stella warned again.

"I'm sorry Mrs Stella," Ashley apologized, folding her arms and looking away.

"Mrs Stella, I would never blame some one falsely, especially Katniss but..."

"Katniss didn't say it Mrs Stella," Lucy spoke.

"You don't know that," Katherine argued.

"Katniss would never say that, you know that, we all know that. Don't blame her." Lucy defended.

"This is not the time for your silly arguments!"Mrs Stella

"We aren't arguing Mrs Stella, Katniss is the only suspect,"Elliot spoke, as always.

"Ashley's her best friend, she'll always defend." Oliver added, pointing.

"The girl said she didn't say it, so why'd you keep blaming her?!" Cole shouted in the last line.

Jayden knew things were going to get bad, he secretly held on to Cole wrist for safety measures. Cole ignored him.

"You all think this is a joke?"

"Mrs Stella, Maddie's the only one that has been in detention for such offences, she should be the suspect." Ashley pointed at Maddie.

"Excuse me," Maddie pulled back, feeling insulted.

"No!"

"That's enough," Mrs Stella raised her palm, "you all are going to the principal's office."

"I did," Katniss stepped forward.

"Katniss what are you--" Ashley gripped her wrist, trying to stop her.

Katniss peeled it off, giving her an assuring nod.

"I said it Mrs Stella," Katniss said.

Cole chewed his cord and clenched his fists. The heat was intense,he took off his jacket.

Dumb. He thought.

"Why did you deny it Katniss?" Mrs Stella asked.

"I was-" she sighed, preparing herself for what was coming her way." I was scared,"

If she going to detention meant the whole class wouldn't miss the lesson, then she'll do it. Who knows today's lesson could be very important. She would take notes from Ashley when all this was over. Afterall no one actually knew who said it.

Katniss packed her stuff and exited the class room. She didn't know where she was going but she walked out.

That minute of silence...

"Back to your seats everyone, let's go on with that class." Mrs Stella said with a little guilt in her tone.

Everybody took their seats.

"Great," Ashley mumbled and sank into her seat.

She looked around the class, what kind of people did she have as classmates. They knew Katniss didn't say it but they had to blame her.

Animals. She scoffed.

She didn't feel like having this class anymore, she felt guilty too. Katniss was all alone in detention class, she's never been there before. She needed to get out of here.

Maddie... she's a bitch, she's an asshole.

"FUCK HER!!!" Ashley said and regretted it instantly.

The whole class turned to her.

Mrs Stella chuckled as she turned to the class again.

"You're becoming notorious, aren't you?" Mrs Stella asked the class.

"I said it this time Mrs Stella," Ashley raised her hand.

She'd rather be in detention with her best friend than stay here.

"No!"Cole said," I did," he stood up.

Ashley turned to Cole. He nodded, assuringly.

"This is not the time to joke!" Mrs Stella yelled.

Jayden was confused, should he take the blame too... He didn't want to say but he expected this from Cole.

At this point, Cole packed up his books.

"I'm sorry Mrs Stella," he walked out of the class.

He wasn't sorry...

The class was going to be on for another 40 minutes, which meant there was nothing to admire for 40 minutes.

He'll die.

Something bugged him, he's teacher's stupidity.

'she couldn't tell the difference between a female and a male's voice.' he scoffed 'stupidity was an understatement.'

°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°

It wasn't his first time here, he knew his way around, he was also familiar with the teacher present.

"Why are you here today?" Mr Carter asked.

"I cursed," Cole said, putting his name down on the paper presented.

The classroom was silent and they were alot of culprits today.

He saw her behind, she probably didn't notice his presence because her head was on the desk.

He took an empty sit beside her.

Few minutes into the day...

"Katniss," He whispered her name.

She pulled her head up and turned in his direction, when she realized it was Cole, she looked away.

Cole saw it.

Her eyes, the tears. Her eyes had tears in them.

Why was she crying? She took the the blame, no one forced her.

This girl's character shocked him some times. If she knew she'd cry, why'd she take the blame?

He looked around for someone suspicious but no one was near her.

"Cole, what are you doing here?" Katniss asked, she was shocked to see him.

Cole stared at her, she wiped the tears off her face but not the sad look.

"I did something bad," he folded his arms and looked away.

"Oh," her mouth formed an 'O'.

"Why were you crying?" Cole asked, not sparing her a glance.

"Me?"she touched herself, "I wasn't crying," she shaked her head.

Cole didn't want to worry, but he couldn't comprehend why she was crying.

"You were crying Katniss," he turned to her, "why?"

The cold and sharp glare Cole gave made Katniss heart thump against her chest. It was fast.

*Hiccup*

She looked away, "I said I wasn't crying,"

Cole scoffed.

"I saw your eyes, they had tears in them."

"Leave me alone,"

Cole sighed, this girl was driving him crazy.

"You are so dumb," Cole said, looking away.

Katniss slowly turned to him," Excuse me?"

"Allowing Maddie win, taking the blame for the class," he turned to her. "It was dumb." He smiled.

"Oh okay," She nodded," It was dumb when I stopped the whole class from going to the principal's office?"

"Yes, it was."

"Well, thank you. I didn't know." She said, sarcastically.

"It's even more dumb considering the fact that you're crying after doing that,"

"I wasn't crying!"

"You were! Why won't you tell me?!"Cole shouted, not minding how loud his voice was.

"I don't want to!"Katniss shouted back.

"Both of you, outside now!" Mr Carter commanded, pointing.

When they looked, the class had their eyes on them. They've been noisy for a while.

"Take a stand outside  and don't come in until I say so," He punished.

"Perfect," Katniss said, sarcastically.

She stood up and walked out with Cole trailing behind. They stood outside by the door waiting to be called back in.

"I'm sorry," Cole apologized.

He made this mess.

"Don't worry about it, it's not your fault." Katniss said resting on the wall.

Cole let her breathe before he spoke.

"By any chance," he said and Katniss turned to him," were you crying because Maddie said it was you?"

"No," she shaked her head.

Cole wanted to ask why but Katniss beat him to it.

"I've done so much to stay out of trouble in school. I skipped school each time the class got into trouble and I wasn't involved. I participated in many extra curricular activities just to get a good record report for the position of school president," she chuckled at her silliness.

Cole watched as tears welled up in her eyes, he was confused.

"I guess nobody can be perfect afterall," She sniffled. "I destroyed my hardwork with my own hands, didn't I ?"

Cole wanted to nod but now wasn't the time. This girl needed encouragement. It's over a year since she came into this school and she hadn't gotten into trouble and then she's saying nobody can be perfect.

She's not perfect but she's on the road to perfection.

"You can still be the school president " Cole encouraged, feeling sorry for her.

"I can't," she shaked her head," You need a good report to be one."

Was she serious?

He had gotten into fights countless times, he's been in detention times with number but still he was the school most presentable boy.

"It's only your first time in detention right, you can't assure me that our present school president didn't get in detention once,"

"I've heard a lot from her, I'm sure she didn't,"

"Well I believe you can still make school president," Cole shrugged," It's been a while since anyone talked about being the school president from our class, they're not interested."

"You didn't know I thought about being the school president, did you?" Katniss asked," It's the same for others, you don't know what they're thinking."

Cole sighed.

He watched as a single tear rolled down her cheeks, she wiped it immediately.

He didn't know how else to console this girl. Each tear that dropped felt like a knife piercing his heart. They weren't even dating and he was so attached to her, he was already feeling her pain.

"You know in our school, you can't be school president except the students like you. You have to campaign for school president, you know that right?"

She nodded slowly, realizing he was right.

"Well, I don't see why someone would hate you. It's gonna take your time but you can do it." Cole said.

She wiped her eyes.

"You think so?" She asked, wiping her eyes.

"I wouldn't say so if I didn't think so, of course I think so." Cole replied.

"Thank you so much Cole," She smiled at him.

Cole didn't know how she'd react if he hugged her, he stroked her hair.

*Hiccup*

Cole pulled his hand back. Katniss hit her chest twice, while looking at Cole.

"I'll help you with your campaign if you don't mind."

Katniss nodded, " Sure, you can help me." She smiled.

Least he forgets...

"By the way," Cole spoke raising a finger and she turned to him,"don't do it again,"

"What?" Katniss asked, noticing Cole's serious expression.

"Don't take the blame for the class again, no offense but it was really dumb."

"I won't ," Katniss assured.

"Just saying because I -" Cole paused

He couldn't let his guard down, not now, not yet. He looked at Katniss, she was waiting for him to complete his sentence.

"Ashley won't want you doing that, it's wrong." Cole said, looking to the ceiling.

Katniss nodded understanding Cole's point.

°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°

Ding Dong.

That was recess.

Katniss thought that it was finally her time to talk to Ashley but Cole told her that detention students had a different cafeteria. Strictly detention students.

"Oh no," she bumped her head.

"Come on, let's go." Cole said leading the way out of the class.

"Cole!" Mr Carter called him.

"Mr Carter," he called back.

Mr Carter gave him a sign to come. He sighed.

"I'll see you in the cafeteria," Katniss said and walked away.

Did this man really have to call him when he was finally getting along with this girl?

He reluctantly walked over to Mr Carter.

Katniss had no idea where the different cafeteria was. So, she just followed the other students and boom! There she was.

She grabbed her lunch and took a seat, feeling very uncomfortable. She didn't know this part of her school.

Shortly after, Frank Douglas came her way. He placed his tray on the table and sat across her.

Katniss rolled her eyes when she realized who it was. Frank tried to talk to her one time and Ashley went crazy.

Apparently, he's an entitled student and he just does anything he wants, right or wrong and they just cover up the wrong ones. In short, his parents are great donors to the school.

What was he even doing here, he wasn't in detention.

"Katniss Everdeen," he called her full name," what are you doing here?"

She looked up from her food.

"You first," she said.

"Honestly, I heard you were in detention. I was shocked though but I figured your friend or should I say friends won't be here, which means I can talk to you alone so I came," He smiled.

"Hmm," she hummed, continuing her food.

"So you're here because?" He asked.

She sighed.

"You got information that I was here, right? I'm sure that information also gave you the reason," she said not looking up from her food.

"It was Maddie, wasn't it?"

She shrugged.

"Your friends couldn't stand up for you, fools." He cursed, picking his cutlery from it's position.

Katniss dropped her fork.

"Stop it, don't curse my friends." She glared at him.

Frank chuckled.

"Okay," he shrugged.

With that, Katniss continued with her food. She was more hungry than she thought.

"You and I know that things would have been different if you accepted my offer," he continued," You would be a god or should I say my goddess."

"I don't want to be a god or whatever," she said with her gaze not leaving her food.

"You wouldn't have to face all this,"

"Go away frank!"

His plan wasn't working, this girl didn't seem to be changing her mind.

"Cole's better than I am, is that what you think?" Frank asked as he relaxed on his seat.

Katniss paused in her food for a while. She ignored him.

"You guys are even dating, it's on the news."

Katniss ignored him till he poured youghurt in to her lunch. She pushed the tray away from her.

"What is wrong with you?"

"I hate been ignored," he said with a tightened teeth.

Katniss sighed," what do you want?"

"You think Cole's better than I am?" Frank asked, rephrasing his former question.

"What'd you want me to say? Huh? You want me to say yes, fine I'll say it. Cole better than you one hundred percent," Katniss blurted," please leave me alone."

"I knew you were stupid but I didn't think you'd choose Cole over me, that's even more stupid." He whispered the last part.

"Leave this table or I will," Katniss said, already fed up.

"Don't bother, I was already leaving." Frank stood up with his tray in his hand," see you around doll face," he patted her hair before walking away.

Why did life have to treat her this way?

Why did she have to stay by someone side to make sure she was safe?

Being the school's president was one of her top priorities and she ruined her chances with her own hands in the twinkle of an eye. Even though Cole told her that she still had to campaign, having a good report gives the highest points.

She groaned, placing her head on the table.

Her life was now monitored by students she didn't even know. All because of fake news, fake pictures even.

She was tired.

3...2...1...

The crashing noise came and everyone turned to the source.

Frank was on the floor, he crashed.

Cole turned to Frank, "My bad," he withdrew his leg which frank tripped on. Standing up, he walked towards Katniss.

"Are you okay?" Cole asked,touching her shoulder from behind.

She stared blankly at him. Cole cocked an eyebrow waiting for her response.

"Y-Yes," she stammered.

"Cole!" His name echoed in the cafeteria.

Katniss saw Cole roll his eyeballs, knowing who it was.

Frank walked back to her table and pulled Cole by the collar. Frank was... filthy, his clothes were soiled with food stains.

"Get your hands off me right now,"Cole said, as calmy as possible.

Frank looked around, noticing the attention he was pulling, he let go pushing Cole in the process, Cole dusted himself.

"You think you're so powerful now, right?" Frank asked," It's fun for you, king of the school!"

Cole chuckled.

"Sure, you can call me that but stay away." Cole warned, pointing at him.

"Son of a bitch!" He shouted.

"I'm not gonna fight you Frank, I'm in detention that's enough for me today."

Frank nodded, stepping backwards. He grabbed a chair and tried to hit Cole.

Katniss tried to stop him by pulling the chair from him but, Frank pushed her to the floor. She clutched her elbow.

That gasp the crowd let out and the silence that followed was...

Cole blinked twice to make sure he wasn't dreaming.

He wasn't.

His pulse raced and he breathed heavily, almost as if he would burst. His muscles grew tense and he clenched his fists, making his knuckles crack. His body temperature rose and he could feel his blood boiling.

He was angry.

"Save her no-"

Cole punched him.

It wasn't just any punch, it was a nose breaking punch.

Frank spent a few seconds on the floor, before making his way up to his feet. The blood, steeping out of both nose holes to his upper lips.

Cole wasn't satisfied.

He kicked Frank in the chest which sent him flying backwards and crashing into the ground again, this time on his back. Frank could have lost his spine.

He walked over to Frank and crouched.

"I said - leave her - alone! but - you wouldn't - listen!" Cole said, throwing a jab at his face on everyword.

He gripped Frank's jaw.

"Listen!" Cole said, tightenen his grip," I didn't want to do this."

"Oh really," Frank smiled," You're going to jail Mr Perry, it's jail Time."

Cole pulled him up by the collar planning to throw another punch.

"Stop!" Katniss shouted, making Cole's fist hang in the air

"You're one lucky bastard but I won't repeat myself, stay the fuck away from her, okay?" Cole whispered.

He stood and walked towards Katniss who was still on the floor.

"Are you okay?" Cole asked because she has tears in her eyes.

She diverted her gaze from Frank to Cole. She nodded.

She said she was ok but her eyes were telling a different story. Cole helped her up.

                              The infirmary....

The nurse kept glancing at Cole who was standing by the door as she treated Katniss' wound.

"The last time you came here, Ashley was the injured one. You've started fighting in school now, huh?" Miss Tessa, the school nurse asked staring at Cole.

She was labeling him a bad influence with that gaze and he wasn't comfortable with it.

"I didn't fight, I slipped." Katniss replied.

Cole's eyes widened on her reply.

"Be careful next time," Miss Tessa said, taking off the disposable gloves," wait here," she said walking into her office.

Cole walked to Katniss." Is she done?"

Katniss nodded, "I think so but I was told to wait though,"

"Oh," Cole nodded.

Katniss stared at Cole's knuckles, they were sore from all the punches he threw. He got hurt because of her. Why did she have to bring trouble and pain to anyone around her?

Katniss cleared her throat.

"D-Did you..." She sighed.

Cole turned to her, "What?"

"Why did you fight Frank?" She changed the question.

Cole shrugged," Won't you do the same if you're friend got bullied?"

Friend.

"You didn't know he bullied me,"

"I did, I was only two tables behind yours, I heard him say and I saw him do."

******************

"You think Cole's better than I am?"

"What'd you want me to say? Huh? You want me to say yes, fine I'll say it. Cole better than you one hundred percent," Katniss blurted," please leave me alone."

******************

She gasped, inwardly.

"What?" Katniss asked.

"I said I heard everything, what's wrong?" Cole asked, noticing her restlessness.

Everything.

"Nothing," she shook her head. "By the way, you hurt your knuckles when you fought."

"I didn't," Cole looked away, shoving his hands into his pocket.

Katniss tilted her head to one side, was he lying? Or maybe he didn't know.

"You didn't feel it?" Katniss asked, tilting her head.

"What?"Cole chuckled," I didn't hurt myself."

Why would she think that he didn't feel pain?

She glared at him. She stood up and pulled his hand out of the pocket.

"Look at it," she said, showing him his knuckles.

"Oh," Cole withdrew his hand," it'll heal."

"Why didn't you tell the nurse to help you,"

"I don't like school nurses,"

Katniss grabbed the bottle of spirit and some cotton. She took Cole's hand.

"If the school nurse wasn't professional, I'm not sure she'll be in this school." Katniss said as she touched Cole's wound with the moist cotton wool.

Cole smiled. He never saw this day coming. He would fight everyday if it meant that she'll have to treat him.

Katniss looked up to him and his gaze averted.

"Thank you for-"

The door drifted open, Katniss released Cole's hand and stepped backwards.

°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°

"What were you thinking?" Ashley scolded Katniss.

"I'm sorry alright, I won't do it again." Katniss replied rubbing her arm.

"You're sorry?" Ashley asked.

Katniss nodded.

"Really? You think sorry is gonna bring back you're clean records, right?"

Everyone knew about how bad she wanted to be the school's president.

"I know it's not but I had to, I just had to take the blame." Katniss shrugged.

"What the hell!!!" Ashley hit her arm.

"Hey!" Katniss pulled back.

"Ashley you don't have to-" Cole interfered but he stopped on Ashley's glare.

"You just had to take the blame, hmm?" Ashley cocked a brow.

Katniss faced dropped. She didn't think of how mad Ashley would be.

Ashley would beat her up right here and her mom would support. She preferred it when her mom scolded, Ashley would take actions.

She wiped the tears that dropped on her cheek, "Everyone said it was me, they were against me. I-"

"Everyone?" Ashley chuckled not with joy." I wasn't, Jayden wasn't, Cole wasn't, Lucy too, so please tell who is everyone?" Ashley tried to be calm as possible.

Katniss gaze dropped to the ground. She knew she was wrong.

"Look at me!" Ashley shouted and she looked up." What happened to your arm?"

Frank. She didn't want to tell her about Frank. This anger was already too much for her.

"I-I-"

Ashley sighed, ran a hand through her hair. "Katniss," she called.

"Yeah,"  Katniss mumbled.

"You can hear me right? I can't hear you!"

"Ashley look-"

"Cole shut up! Just be quiet." Ashley cut in.

"Listen Ashley, I don't think this is necessary." Jayden spoke.

"Get lost! Get lost now!"

  ~ Cole Perry please report to the counselor's office ~

The school speaker echoed.

Jayden sighed and started walking away but Cole didn't budge so he pulled him along.

Ashley turned back to Katniss," Come on girl, start talking. What happened to your arm?"

"Frank pushed me," Katniss said," I tried to stop him from hitting Cole,"

"I don't understand, you're stepping up for everyone. What are you? A fighter? Super girl?" Ashley asked, sarcastically.

Katniss shaked her head, sobbing.

"Young lady, you have no right to cry," Ashley voice quivered as her eyes welled up with tears.

"I'm sorry,"

Ashley pulled Katniss into her arms.

It wasn't easy for Ashley too. They've not been best friends for long but she took Katniss as a younger sister. She felt like it was her responsibility to protect her since she won't learn to fight back.

"Listen! From now on, I want you to stay by my side or Jayden's side, Cole even. I don't want you to be walking alone, anywhere outside your house, you can't be alone. If anyone threatens you, you better tell me or your mom. Okay?" Ashley said.

Katniss nodded as Ashley stroked her back.

"Stop crying, will you?" Ashley pulled her up.

Katniss wipped her eyes.

"Come on, I'll take you to the washroom." Ashley said.

"You will apologize right?" Katniss asked, pausing in her steps.

"To who?"

"Jayden and Cole, you literally scolded them and they did nothing wrong plus they're older," Katniss reminded.

"Right," Ashley nodded," By the way, what was that?"

"What was what?" Katniss asked, confusedly.

"When we came into the infirmary, you were holding Cole's hand and you were only a few inches away from him, are you guys dating now?"

*Hiccup*

Ashley stepped back,"Why?"

"What?" Katniss asked.

"Does Cole make you nervous, you didn't that when the school app said something about the two of you."

Katniss scoffed,"Nervous?" She pushed Ashley's arm."Please, we all know that hiccups are physical response to-"

"Ok, then can you explain why it only happens when we're talking about Cole?"

"No," she shaked her head.

"There's something going on," Ashley pointed." I'm sus." She sqinted her eyes.

"Oh my God Ashley! There's nothing going on." Katniss covered her face.

"You were so close to him minutes ago and neither of you seemed irritated of each other, so what is going on?"

Katniss sighed and became silent.

Ashley took her silence as defeat.

"What stage? Flirting stage?" Ashley's eyes widened in curiosity.

"Do I really have to explain?"

Ashley gasped,"Of course yes, you have to."

She sighed,"He fought because of me and he got bruises on his knuckles," Katniss showed Ashley her knuckles," he didn't like school nurses, so I helped him. You probably didn't see me with the cotton wool." Katniss explained.

"Oh," Ashley's face dropped." Then why did you pull back?"

"You pushed the door so hard, I was frightened." Katniss explained.

Ashley sighed, she was the defeated one.

"Don't expect anything," Katniss shaked her head.

"I will, now come on." Ashley pulled Katniss by the hand.