"If a man talks shit, then I owe him nothing
I don't regret it one bit, 'cause he had it coming"

"Ready?" Noah asks me, watching me put on the last of my makeup. He offered to give me a ride to school today then proceeded to arrive an hour early, meaning he is now sitting on the edge of my bed watching me impatiently as I get ready. 

"Almost." I reply, coating my lips in a matte nude lipstick. 

"Ready?" He asks when he sees I've got the lipstick on, I pull out my highlighter and touch up my cheeks and nose. "You already did that one." He comments flatly, clearly bored out his mind as he twiddles his keys.

"I need to touch it up." I explain defensively. "Now you're ready?" He asks hopefully as I start to pack up my makeup.

I finish off my makeup with at least 50 sprays of setting spray. I get my perfume out and start spraying it everywhere.

I pull on my heels and stand up. "Why do you wear those?" He asks gesturing to my heels. "You're just mad I'm almost as tall as you in them." I giggle.

"Not even close, Spence. Why do you wear them when everyone always complains they're uncomfortable?" He asks me.

"Brand deals, and it makes me look hot." I shrug with a cheeky grin.

"You can say that again." He comes up behind me, wrapping his arms round my stomach and kissing my cheek from behind.

"I think I'm ready." I grin, a blush glowing from under my makeup.

Noah takes my hand and leads me out, heading through the house past lots of maids who eye us strangely.

We get to his car and he opens the door for me then takes a seat behind the wheel. As we're driving out of the driveway Noah slams on the breaks, making us both lurch forward.

"What was that?!" I yell at him. He doesn't even need to answer before I see the dark silhouetted outline of a cowboy. He is standing proudly behind Noah's car to scar us. 

He knocks on the window of the driver and Noah immediately rolls it down, swallowing with fear.

"Care to tell me why you're driving my baby sister?" Nash challenges.

I roll my eyes and slouch into my seat. "Well by law we're sort of supposed to go to school-" Noah jokes nervously. 

"Funny guy are you?" Nash comments firmly.

"Yes sir." Noah squeaks, staring straight ahead.

"You dating my sister?" He asks. "Yes sir." Noah nods. "You the kid that's been beating her?" Nash warns calmly, but I know he's nothing close to calm about the situation. When Nash and Grayson found out they looked like they could kill. I told them I'd tell them when I was ready, which was my way of stalling them and hoping they forget.

"Never." Noah replies sincerely. 

"You two sexing?" Nash asks. 

"Oh my god!" I squeal with embarrassment.

"If you're mature enough to have sex, you're mature enough to tell me so I can make sure you're being safe." Nash insists.

"Jesus! Noah, drive." I beg. Noah is bright red with embarrassment.

"Wrap it up. Get my sister pregnant and I kill you." Nash smiles, but there's nothing particularly pleasant about his words.

"We're not having sex. Not yet." Noah assures.

"Not yet?" Nash booms, his voice echoing and scaring off nearby birds in trees. Noah doesn't need me to tell him once more, he just steps on the gas and drives away, both of us in fits of laughter.

We head into class moderately late thanks to me because I insisted we stop in for coffee on the way, but thankfully we have a workshop with Quinn first so we don't miss much.

"Are we like.. telling people now?" I ask anxiously. "I dunno.. I don't want you getting a hard time because of it." He tells me sadly. "Why would I get a hard time for dating you?" I frown sympathetically. "Well they give you a hard time for everything." He answers honestly.

"Yeah.. I guess you're right. What if we keep it private but not secret?" I suggest. "Like tell people when they ask if we're together but never go out of our way to tell anyone?" He asks. I nod. "If it works for you it works for me." He grins, placing a kiss on my forehead.

We walk inside the workshop, both glowing with joy as we take seats next to each other.

Quinn makes it through the talk about healthy relationships telling us stuff about how it feels to be in a strong and healthy relationship. All I can think of is how safe and comfortable I feel with Noah.

"Of course there are always going to be those unhealthy relationships. We're gonna watch a short movie depicting a relationship that is toxic. There are some pretty heavy topics so if any of you need to step outside by all means just let me know." Quinn tells the 5 of us, starting the video.

It's one of those recreations of real events, some girl telling her story. 

The guy starts yelling at her for something, calling her a slut and accusing her of cheating.

I can feel my heart beat raising as the climax builds, then suddenly he slaps her. 

I physically flinch in my seat in fear, earning stares from everyone in the room. 

"I should've known you'd do this! You were a slut when we got together and you're a slut now!" The guy on screen yells. Tears float down my cheeks.

"What am I then?" I cried out. "A whore. That's all you'll ever be. A prostitute with big tits and a loose pussy for every man in this world to enjoy. But just know kid, this pussy was mine before anyone else's." Ant yelled.

"You can't make me sleep with you to fix this. Just talk to me! I'm sorry!" The girl pleads.

"Ant.. I don't want to sleep with you to solve this." I told him sternly. 

"I'm not giving you an option." The guy yells out. I can feel the tears on my cheeks slipping down my chin and onto my chest. 

"You think you've got a choice in this?" He growled.

The guy in the video starts trying to take her pants off and I realize my full body is trembling.

When I made no moves to undress myself, Ant did it for me, pulling my ripped up shirt off, until I was only in underwear.

He slid his hand inside my bra, I seized up and felt chills run over my body. "Don't be nervous. Just lay there and take it like usual, baby." He whispered.

Quinn stops the video, informing us it's too mature and her supervisor must've sent the wrong one instead of the teen friendly version.

The lights turn on and immediately Quinn notices my tears. "Spencer?" She asks carefully.

Immediately I push to my feet, my chair scraping as I bolt out. I stay outside the class, only because of the pure fear that Ant could be lurking and find me alone.

I slide to the floor, back against the wall with my head in my hands. 

I must be there for a couple minutes before I feel a hand on my shoulder and the body of a male beside me.

Immediately I sit up and throw a punch to the guys nose, realizing all too late it's Jameson.

"Fucking hell!" He groans, clutching his nose. "Sorry." I apologise frantically. "It's fine. That's good actually, nice punch. Just next time thumb over your fingers instead of under so you don't break your own bones.." He suggests before remembering something and trailing off.

"Avery texted me.. said you were having a hard time in there?" He frowns.

"I'm fine." I shrug off, wiping all my tears and sitting up straight.

"She also told me it was because you guys were watching some video about abuse? Now I know you're insistent that you're not ready to talk to us about it yet, which is totally fine, we all just want you to be okay. I just need you to know that whatever went down, whatever that guy did to you that you haven't told us about, you're still the same girl. You're still the strongest little girl I know, you're still brave, you're still powerful. Even if whatever happened made you feel weak and defenceless, you're still the best person I know." He tells me, gripping my hand tightly.

"Do you guys hate me for not telling you sooner?" I look to him with sad eyes.

"Spence, you're our baby sister, we'd never hate you for something like this." He assures me. "But you'd hate me for something else?" I laugh, realizing how his words could be interpreted. 

"You can be a real pain in the ass sometimes but you're always gonna be everyone's favourite. You keep this family together, without you I have no clue what we'd do."

"You're a great brother." I sniffle. He wraps an arm over my shoulder and comforts me.

As it turns out, threatening your gym coaches entire career for fucking you on the down low has its perks. Because here I am in 4th period getting ready for the hell that is high school gym class, when a perfectly kind looking lady in a pink lululemons set informs us she'll be our new gym coach after a trading of teachers. I can imagine that trading was suggested by Mr Jenkins himself in order to avoid me. All the girls seem mad that they won't have him to gawk over any more, and I can imagine the guys in Jameson and Noah's class are mad too that they don't have this pretty teacher anymore. However I'm overjoyed.

Miss Winters has us run laps on the track at our own pace, which for most people is a gentle jog. I however have a mind that needs cleared, so I put my headphones in and run.

It's only after class in the locker rooms when I finally refocus all my attention to something other than my music. I'm changing out of my sweat soaked clothes, taking off the white over shirt and packing it away. Wearing nothing but my blue sports bra and leggings, I start listening to today's drama. 

So far I've gathered that Missy Jones has missed her period for 2 weeks now, Laura Windsor gave Steve Rodriguez a handie, and that Marshal Scott may have fucked his second cousin at a party.

"Spencer Hawthorne was fucking Noah Thatcher at the sports camp." I hear a familiar voice hiss. Fucking Kassidy.

I immediately turn around to find all the eyes in this room already on me. "No she wasn't Kass, stop spreading shit." Maja dismisses, sounding so over her bullshit just like me.

"You wouldn't know because you didn't catch them in her bed together. I did, and they told me not to tell anyone." She persists.

Maja glances back at me, and she must see something that I can't control my face from doing, a furious scowl. "So what if I did?" I challenge.

"No! You're not allowed to date my brother!" Maja yells angrily, hands in her hair.

"I'm sorry are you jealous?" I mock with the way she's reacting.

"He deserves so much better than you!" She grits furiously.

"Better than me? Why shouldn't he date me?" I scoff.

"Because he's too kind. He can't see you for what you are." She shakes her head disgustedly. "And what's that exactly?" I frown teasingly. 

"A slut!" She finishes. "There it is." I nod knowingly.

"It's not personal, i mean a little, but he just deserves a different kind of girl." Maja tries to defuse the fire but I'm quick to relight it, "What kind of girl is that?" I smirk.

"A girl who doesn't date a million guys for sex." She suggests. 

"That all?" I gesture for her to go on, knowing she has a lot more to say in her fury.

"A girl who knows what love is." 

I nod, encouraging her to keep going, "Any more?"

"A girl who won't fuck him and never call him back." 

"Well that's too bad, because instead he has this girl. Anything else you'd like to add?"

"Maybe a girl who doesn't sleep with her fucking teacher." She spits.

Despite my originally cocky confidence, I completely falter at those words. My fists move faster than my mind and all of a sudden Maja's nose is bleeding and she's throwing punches back my way. Cameras are out, everyone is watching and cheers are echoing.

I grab Maja and throw her to the ground, she is quick to get up, grabbing a chunk of my hair and throwing me against a locker. We've both got a couple bruises but we sort of just share a look, confirming the fight's over, because neither of us want to get in that much trouble.

That's when Kassidy steps in, wrapping a hand in my hair and directing my face forcibly into the lockers. My nose making a quiet crunch noise and immediately surging with blood. I groan and grab my nose, in my moment of falter, Kassidy throws me to the ground and kicks me in the gut.

"Alright that's enough!" Maja yells. Kassidy has a couple other girls join in at kicking me from all angles. I struggle, but thankfully manage to grab Kassidy's foot, sweeping her off her feet and making her drop in a second.

I crawl towards her, landing a couple punches before Miss Winters walks inside and detains me, screaming furiously at the both of us.

"She just came for me! I swear I didn't even do anything!" Kassidy defends in a high pitched squeal.

"Hawthorne! Principals office!" Miss Winters orders. "You're fucking with me?! She smashed my face on a locker and kicked me to the ground!" I shout angrily.

"The principal can be the judge of that! Thatcher you're bleeding, no doubt you were involved too! Go!" Miss Winters insists.

I storm out furiously, Maja trailing behind me, both of us only wearing our skirts and bras because of the poorly timed fight. 

Arms folded insecurely over my open stomach I make my way to the principals office, taking a seat in the waiting room at opposite sides, avoiding eye contact. The only sound being the slow ticking of a clock.

Boys Locker Rooms - Noah's perspective: 

I'm in gym class, changing into my shirt, sweat soaking my chest.

Jameson Hawthorne walks inside and gives me a small nod of acknowledgement. I've been his brothers best friend since a young age, he's also my girlfriends brother — not that he knows that, so we know each other quite well, but we'd never go out of our way to talk outwith their house.

"Yeah I fucked her." A guy nearby says.

One of the perks of having no friends in my gym class is that I hear everything discussed in the locker rooms.

"No shit?" The other guys he's talking to all chime in, slapping his back proudly.

"A while back, maybe 5 months ago?" He nods. "How was she?" One of his friends asks.

"Fucking magical. I came all over her huge tits. You know that rumour that it's all plastic? I guarantee you everything about that girl is real." He assures proudly.

"Shit man." Another of his friends gapes.

"Yeah, she's got the hottest moans as well, fucking whimpers like dog." He adds.

"And her pussy? Fucking tight." He groans in memory.

"Spencer Hawthorne? Tight? How the fuck does that work?"

That name triggers a physical reaction in me. They're talking about my girlfriend.

"I dunno. You'd think that fucking every guy she lays her eyes on would made her loose but no.. she was so tight, could barely fit." He taunts.

I grit my teeth. Clenching my fists and trying my best not to get involved. Whoever she may or may not have hooked up with before we started dating is none of my business. But when it comes to that girl I always seem to get myself involved. 

"I'm gonna try to get her to send nudes. I'll save them and send them to you when she does." He promises.

"She doesn't do nudes." One guys points out. "For someone who's such a whore, she can be such a prude at times." Someone remarks.

"Whore or prude, her body is like the perfect jerking material." The first guy assures everyone.

This just sets me off. I physically can't hold myself off a second longer. I immediately pounce on him, gripping him by his shirt and throwing him against a wall. Feeling the most satisfying surge of energy when his head smacks off a tile and subsequently leaves a small trail of blood as he slides against the wall.

"The fuck?" He yells, pushing to his feet and landing some punches on me.

I've never really fought anyone before. But I work out a lot and i'm quite tall, so I do some great damage. Playing soccer has meant I've seen my fair share of fights before. He's a better fight, having done it a lot before. But the ache in my chest when he talks so disgustingly about her is stronger than any punches he can get on me.

He's got me pinned down, punching me until my vision blurs up. But I still manage to flip him to his back and beat the shit out of him.

Everyone around watches intrigued and records, cheering and laughing.

Jameson seems to finally jump out of shock having realized i'm the one fighting, jumping into action and pulling me off the guy.

"Noah! Calm down!" Jameson yells. I growl and spit out blood.

"He's talking about her." I say with fury, ready to jump back in and snap his neck.

"Spencer?" Jameson immediately realizes.

"Yeah. Care to tell her brother what you were saying?" I challenge. The guy stays silent with genuine fear of Jameson.

"What was it? She's a whore for having sex and a prude because she didn't send you photos? Something about you coming on her tits?" I provoke Jameson, who now immediately lets go of me and starts beating the shit out of that guy.

When the guys laying in a pool of his own blood, our new teacher walks in, having heard the noise.

Mr Jenkins tears Jameson off the guy and has to push him against a wall as he seethes, squirming to get free.

"Office! Now!" Jenkins yells, louder than I've heard anyone yell besides my Dad.

"Hawthorne and Thatcher! Get your asses to the office and pray to god this kid is okay!" He warns.

I'm physically heaving as I stalk down the corridors in only my boxers, my half buttoned shirt and my socks. Dripping blood down the white shirt.

Every part of my face throbs with pain. Jameson is right beside me, wearing only his trousers and shoes as we walk to the principles office.

"That your first fight?" Jameson questions, wiping a stray stream of blood from his nose, that being the only hit the guy got on him.

"How'd I do?" I groan in pain. "You did good, kid." Jameson taps my back proudly.

"Hawthorne." The lady at the reception scowls, to which he winks teasingly. "I see you've recruited a new backup." She gestures to me.

"It was completely valid this time, I swear." Jameson promises.

"I'm noticing a pattern today with the Hawthorne - Thatcher fighting schemes." She tuts, pointing us down the corridor to the waiting room before slamming the glass window shut.

We both glance to each other confused before walking down the narrow hall to the small room filled with seats. In one of said seats is Maja, a bruised eye, wearing only a bra and skirt, scowling at the person across from her.

I turn my gaze to find Spencer sitting in the waiting room, a completely destroyed nose, bleeding from both nostrils, a busted up lip, also wearing only a skirt and bra. Not to objectify her or anything, but if it wasn't clear she was in pain, it would be hot as fuck. Her arms cling around her thin body, covering up her stomach in what would almost seem an insecure way.

Spencer Hawthorne has always been a marvel to me, she's this incredibly gorgeous and adorable girl but since getting to know her I've realized she isn't as confident as she appears. To an outsider, she's the idealistic beauty standard, she seems confident, she takes her shirt off at parties and wears these cropped t-shirts with crazy provocative slogans, she's sex positive. She has plump lips, gorgeous eyes, the most fortunate bone structure, big boobs, a big butt, soft silky hair, an hourglass figure, a skinny figure. Pretty much every girls dream, and every guys wet dream, right? 

But I don't see that, I see a girl who covers her stomach with her arms when she thinks nobodies looking, a girl who skips meals in secret, a girl who's brothers get protective of her when they find out she forgot breakfast. I see a girl who wears shorts and a t-shirt over her bikini until the very last second, a girl who uses the bathroom after lunch every day, a girl with an unhealthily skinny waist. 

It's not super obvious to anyone who isn't looking out for things like I am. It was after Spencer's race during field week that I first picked up on it, when she almost passed out because she forgot breakfast and Jameson insisted on her eating his lunch. 

Maybe I'm a bad boyfriend for noticing two weeks ago and not saying a thing. But I don't think it's that easy. I went home the night I realized and googled eating disorders. Even though there are physical signs, the disorder is something going on inside her mind, so I can't just jump inside her mind and fix it as much as I'd like to. I don't want her to push me away if I try to talk to her about it. I want her to come to me so she doesn't feel targeted — something I read online. So for now all I think I can do is make sure she eats. 

Every time I see her with her arms over her stomach I feel a stab at my heart. 

She eyes me curiously from her place on the waiting room seats. Jameson plops down a couple seats away from Maja on the opposite side.

I sigh and sink into the seat beside Spencer, wrapping an arm over her shoulder and kiss her hair. Jameson raises a brow, to which she flips him off, nuzzling her face closer to my chest.

"Your nose looks broken. You okay?" I frown. "I'll live." Is all she says.