"dibs" around, Alice was more than happy to wrap her arms around my neck and give me a searing kiss. Nobody paid us much attention.

Sam gave me a warm smile when I came in the door for our shared first period. At the end of class, she came over to me, looped her arm through my elbow, and we chatted happily on the way to Calculus for our second period. So far, the day had been going just like any other school day.

That all changed at recess.

Sam and I were walking arm-in-arm from Calculus to our usual Lunch table to meet up with the BTC when a sudden commotion from off to our left drew our attention. The noise level escalated quickly, and at first I just looked over in puzzlement. But when a girl screamed, I immediately dropped Sam's hand and took off at a dead run.

The scream, you see, had been instantly familiar. I'd only heard that exact pitch and tone once before: the night I'd accidentally invaded

Mari's virgin asshole and then complimented her on her body built for sex. She'd even started screaming the exact same words.

“Get off me! Get off me! GET OFF ME!!!"

Queen Mari --

Pushing my way past bystanders at the periphery of whatever was going on, I briefly came to a wall of backpacks formed by the students who had circled around the commotion.

“OUT OF MY WAY!" I roared, physically shoving people to the sides as I fought to get to the center.

“ALL STUDENTS! BACK UP!" a male voice boomed in a tone of authority, accustomed to instant obedience. Some of those in my way separated and started backing off, which gave me an opening to dart through.

“Mari!" I shouted as soon as I saw her, huddled on the ground. But she wasn't alone.

She was clutched together with a boy, both of them holding each other fiercely. It was Gerald. He had his left arm up to try and shield himself from the hammering fists of some punk I didn't immediately recognize. But before I could rush in to reach them, the punk looked around, realized his audience was bailing, and also noticed Mr.

Cartwright, Physics teacher and our school's basketball coach, closing in.

The punk took off at a dead run.

“Hey! You! Freeze!" Mr. Cartwright yelled, running after him.

Most everyone else dispersed as well, but Mari and Gerald remained on the ground. I quickly approached them, with Gerald reflexively throwing up his left arm as a shield between us. But I blew right past him to kneel next to Mari, asking, “Are you okay?"

“Wh-wha?" she blubbered, her eyes filled with water. She didn't recognize me at first and recoiled when I tried to hug her.

"It's me," I said hurriedly. "You okay?"

"Matty!" Mari exclaimed through her tears, letting go of Gerald and burying her face in my chest. I held her tightly, stroked her spine, and tilted my head left and right inspecting her for scratches or bruises. There didn't seem to be any.

Sam was suddenly beside us, barking, “Gerald, what happened?"

I turned my attention to the other boy. Gerald had the beginnings of a black eye and was cradling his ribs protectively. He looked at Sam blankly, perhaps still a little in shock himself. I turned back to

Mari, my immediate focus on her while Sam repeated, “What happened?"

Just then, Mr. Cartwright returned alone, having apparently not chased the punk very far. He was breathing hard and Looking around Left and right as if the kid would magically appear beside us, then approached and called out in his booming voice.

“Did anyone see what happened?"