"Take note of this: everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry, for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires." – James 1:19-20

Bright and early Monday morning, Alana stepped out of Cole's Volkswagen with the Anderson twins on her heels. They were all sore from two fun days of surfing over the weekend, but now it was time to get back to business. Though the first week of school had been fairly easy, things were starting to pick up. Alana had already missed a few homework assignments, so she knew she needed to crack down and get focused.

But getting back into the school groove was awfully hard, especially when the sun was out and the water was warm. September in Southern California still felt like summertime. Alana was finding it difficult to readjust to life as a student.

"What's your first class?" Cole asked, swinging his keys around his finger. "Psychology?"

She nodded, noticing a little clump of fur on his shoulder. She laughed and reached over to brush it off.

"Oh," he said sheepishly, "I guess that belongs to Dude."

She shook her head. "I still can't believe you named your kitten Dude! Who does that?"

"Hey," he said, slightly offended, "I think it's a good name."

"See you guys later!" Blaine hollered. He waved as he headed to the opposite side of the school.

Alana used the interruption to switch topics. "Are you excited for this weekend?"

"Excited is an understatement. There's supposed to be a nice swell hitting Orange County by then."

"And I'm pumped to get to surf Huntington waves again," Alana gushed. They had agreed to meet Trevor at a surf shop near Huntington Pier early Saturday morning. After surfing throughout the day, they would make the two-hour drive home in the evening.

"Just try not to get run over this time," Cole reminded her.

Alana made a face. "Yeah, that wasn't fun." The last time she had surfed Huntington Pier, a beginner had knifed through part of her leg with his surfboard. The loss of blood had caused Alana to lose consciousness.

"Well, if it does happen again, I'll be there to paddle you into shore," Cole said with a reassuring smile.

"I know you will." They exchanged a look, remembering how Cole had been the one to make sure Alana reached the beach safely. It had been a nerve-racking experience.

They passed through the breezeway and briefly went separate ways, Alana to her locker and Cole to his. After retrieving her books, Alana shoved her way through the throngs of students towards Cole's shaggy mop of blonde hair, which stuck slightly above the crowd. She spotted a few familiar faces but didn't stop to say hi. When she had almost reached Cole, she paused, suddenly confused by his demeanor. He was standing completely still, one hand on his backpack and the other resting against his open locker door. His gaze was fixed somewhere in the crowd, and whatever he was looking at caused him to frown.

"Cole!" Alana called over the loud chattering of students. She was at his side in a few seconds. "Ready to go?"

The concerned look in her eyes told him that she knew he'd been staring. He quickly shook it off and gave her a quick smile. "Yeah, of course." He closed his locker and swung his backpack over one shoulder, and they set off to class.

Alana was reluctant to part ways when they reached the first hall, but her psychology class was in a different wing than Cole's art class. They split up, knowing they would see each other during break. But no sooner had Alana gone ten steps when she heard a loud burst of laughter and a muffled grunt. Then something hit the concrete, hard. She spun around and saw Cole's backpack lying on the ground. A few feet away, Cole himself was glaring at the boy who'd knocked shoulders with him. The boy merely laughed again and gave Cole a look of contempt.

Anger bubbled up within Alana. She recognized that kid as one of Cole's old friends, someone who often hung out with Taylor's crowd. The nerve of that guy, she thought bitterly. She was about to rush over and help Cole, but he had already grabbed his backpack and headed to class as if nothing had happened. Maybe it was nothing—maybe it was just some bully trying to put Cole in his place.

Still, Alana felt like she had to do something. She reluctantly made her way to psychology, knowing she could talk to Cole during break.

It was a long two hours before the bell finally rang, signaling the end of second period and the beginning of a fifteen-minute break. Unfortunately, when Alana met up with the gang in their usual spot, Cole was nowhere in sight. Koa, who shared the last class with him, explained that Cole was staying late to help the teacher for extra credit.

"Did you want to tell him something important?" Koa asked curiously.

"Oh, well, not really," Alana stammered, realizing she was probably making a mountain out of a molehill. Cole was fine, she reassured herself. Bumping shoulders with an old friend was no big deal. People could be jerks, and it probably wasn't anything personal.

Alana glanced back at her friend and realized Koa was regarding her with warm, compassionate eyes. She quickly looked down at her shoes. It hadn't been that long ago since she had found about Koa's crush on her. That conversation had been awkward, to say the least.

"You care about him, don't you?" he asked quietly.

"I care about all of you guys," she said.

Koa shook his head. "No, I mean, you really care about him. You two are close."

Alana swallowed, hoping her nervousness wasn't showing. Blaine already knew about the sparks between herself and Cole. Maya had her suspicions, and now apparently Koa did, too. Had the whole gang caught on already?

"I don't mean to put you on the spot," Koa added. "I just...noticed things. Little glances. Touches. You know, small stuff that wasn't there before."

"So?" Alana asked.

He shrugged, his bright Hawaiian smile suddenly missing for once. "I just want you to be happy," he said. "I know Cole has changed a lot since turning his life around, but I don't know if he's the best guy to be interested in right now."

Alana felt slightly touched, yet also slightly peeved. She knew Koa was only looking out for her best interests, but he didn't have any right telling her who to have a crush on. She pursed her lips. Koa was probably just saying that because he was jealous of her relationship with Cole.

"Maybe," she said vaguely. "Cole is a great guy, though."

Koa noticed the different tone to her voice and decided to back down. "Well, the bell's gonna ring in a few minutes. I think I'll go get my books from my locker."

Alana nodded and watched him walk away. Her heart was a mixture of anxiety, annoyance, and hurt. She waited until Koa's dark brown hair disappeared from view before looking away, wondering if he was right or if he was just letting jealousy get the best of him.

Fortunately, her next two classes slammed her with such a whirl of lectures and assignments that she had no time to think about her boy problems. She focused her mind on school and got busy, cranking out multiple papers and ideas for projects. She was mentally drained by the time lunch rolled around. Her stomach growled as she headed to the quad.

Surprisingly, the first person to be seated at the gang's usual table was Cole himself. He had packed his own lunch today and was already pulling out a sandwich and a baggie of crackers. Alana felt her spirits lifting as she made a beeline towards him. She watched as he ducked his head and said a quick prayer before reaching out to take a bite of his sandwich.

Suddenly, a girl and two guys strutted past him, throwing a few rude remarks his way. Cole didn't even turn around to acknowledge them.

"Hey!" one of the guys said, stopping in his tracks. "Didn't you hear me?"

Cole calmly swallowed and turned around. "Yeah, I heard you."

"Then what do you have to say for yourself?"

Alana perked up her ears. She recognized him as Logan, one of Cole's friends from last year. They'd often partied together.

"Look, man, I didn't mean to get you in trouble," Cole said. "I had no choice—"

"You did have a choice, Anderson." Logan folded his arms over his chest. "If I get busted for this, it's all your fault."

Now it was Cole's turn to become irritated. "How is it my fault? You're the one who was caught plagiarizing on your first paper. That's on you, man."

"I could get suspended because you ratted me out!"

Cole remained silent, his mouth drawn in a tight line.

"When did you become such a goody two shoes?" the girl piped up. Alana suddenly realized it was Taylor Rosalind, one of Cole's exes. She had cut her blonde hair short and tanned her skin an even darker shade than normal, giving her a fierce and unnatural look.

"You missed out on last week's party, man," the second guy put in.

"Good," Taylor sneered. "We don't want a loser like him showing up anyway."

Alana was only a few feet away from the table, but she paused. No one was paying any attention to her. She tried to calm her racing heart, telling herself that this was Cole's fight, not hers. He could handle this.

"Are you guys done?" he asked quietly.

"Not until you get me out of this mess," Logan demanded. "You owe me, Anderson."

"What am I supposed to do? You were caught plagiarizing."

"You ratted me out." Logan grabbed Cole by his shirt collar and yanked him to his feet. "If I get suspended, there goes my starting position on the football team and my scholarship for USC!"

"Whoa, man, you don't know that," Cole reasoned. "You're making too big of a deal—"

"Am I?" He took a step back and shoved Cole, hard. "How about now?"

"I'm not going to fight you," Cole said irritably. "This is stupid."

Taylor snickered. "I knew he wouldn't do it. He's a wuss now."

Alana could see the muscles in his jaw clenching and unclenching. Don't do it, she thought. They're just trying to rile you up.

Logan leaned forward and spit in Cole's face. He laughed. "You won't even lift a finger, Anderson. How cute." He straightened up, and one hand suddenly shot out and slugged Cole across the face.

Alana gasped. She immediately sprinted to Cole's side, but he was already on his feet. Within seconds, Cole countered by throwing a punch of his own. The two boys attacked each other as if no one was watching.

"Stop!" Alana screamed. "Cole, stop!"

The quad was suddenly deathly silent. Everyone's attention was fixed on the fight taking place on the outskirts of the lunch tables. Two teachers quickly sprinted to the boys' side and pulled them apart. Logan immediately started swearing. Both boys were bruised and bleeding.

"Principle's office," one of the teachers said firmly. "Now."

As the boys were marched away, all eyes fixed on them, Alana numbly sat down at the table. She watched as the shocked silence was slowly overtaken by loud chattering and laughter. The fight would be the highlight of the day, and probably the rest of the week too. She felt sick.

"Alana!" cried a voice. Maya rushed over, her brow creased with worry. "What just happened?"

"A fight," she explained. When the rest of the gang arrived, she told them what had happened.

Blaine took the news the hardest. His face was etched into a permanent frown. "I can't believe Cole would be dumb enough to get into a fight," he muttered.

"Logan was the instigator," Alana said.

"But Cole went along with it anyway." He sighed. "He let his temper get the best of him."

Lunch was an awkward affair. Everyone's thoughts were on Cole and the fight, but no one wanted to voice their opinion. Obviously, the true facts behind what went down were only known to Cole and Logan themselves. The gang would have to wait to hear the truth.

At the same time, things were a little uncomfortable between Alana and Koa. Regret pricked at Alana's heart, reminding her of Koa's warning. Maybe he had been right—maybe Cole wasn't the best guy for her. The fight was a perfect example of that. She was relieved when the warning bell finally rang, signaling three minutes until lunch was over. She muttered a few goodbyes before heading off to chemistry, wondering if Cole would even come to class. He was probably still stuck in the principal's office.

To her surprise, Cole was standing in the hall in front of the door to the chemistry room when Alana rounded the corner. She immediately rushed to his side. "You're here!" she exclaimed.

Cole grabbed her wrist before she could reach out and touch his face. It was a patchwork of bruises, and a dark purple color was forming around his right eye.

"They let you go?" she asked curiously.

"I'll tell you all about it," he said with a sigh. "Come on, let's sit."

They walked to the other side of the hall and took a seat on an empty bench. Alana played with the sleeves of her jacket anxiously. "I saw everything," she said. "Logan started the whole thing."

"I know he did, and so does the principal," he affirmed. "Apparently he's been caught cutting class, vandalizing, hiding drugs in his locker—and now plagiarizing. The principal took my word over his."

Alana wanted to point out that Cole had been caught cutting class and vandalizing a few times too, but she remained silent. Cole's reputation had already improved since last year.

"The plagiarizing is what started the whole thing. In English, we had to write an in-class essay, and the teacher caught him copying stuff down. Since I was sitting across from him, she asked me if I had seen him doing it."

"Oh, no. She put you on the spot."

"Yeah. I couldn't exactly deny it, so I ratted Logan out. He was furious."

Alana crossed her legs and leaned back, thinking about everything that had happened. "He's so busted," she finally said. "With plagiarism being added to his record, he's probably never coming back to this school again."

"You got that right."

"One less bully to worry about."

Cole groaned, running a hand through his curly hair. "You saw that?"

Alana nodded. "Someone purposely tried to knock you over before first period. What was that all about?"

"Apparently all my 'friends' have turned their backs on me," he muttered. "They think I'm a loser because I won't hang out with them, party with them, drink with them..."

"But that's good you're staying away from those things."

"Well, yeah, but my old friends don't think so."

Alana gently squeezed his hand. "You can't let other people dictate what you should and shouldn't do. They're the losers for making fun of you. Being a troublemaker isn't necessarily cool. I know you were the bad boy of Ventura High, but where did that get you? Popularity only lasts as long as you're on top. We're graduating in nine months, and all of this"—she waved her hand as if to indicate the school—"will be history."

"I know," Cole sighed, burying his face in his hands. "It's just hard right now."

Students continued to stream past them, hurrying towards their classes before the final bell rang, but Alana didn't move an inch. Despite a few curious stares in their direction, she reached over and gave Cole a tight hug. He responded by hugging her back, his shoulders tense and muscles strained.

"So you're not in trouble?" Alana asked.

"No," he mumbled, reluctantly pulling away. "I have to stay after school and do janitorial work for two weeks."

"What? But what about the surf team?" she cried.

"It's postponed for now," he said with a shrug.

Alana let out a deep sigh. "I'm sorry, Cole. That sucks."

"Well, I really shouldn't have gotten sucked into fighting Logan. That was my fault."

They stood up and headed across the hall to chemistry. Alana glanced over and saw Cole bracing himself for the stares and whispers that were sure to come. She quickly licked her thumb and wiped a few excess trails of blood off his forehead.

"Thanks," he said quietly. They shared a brief smile. Alana knew then and there that no matter what anybody said, Cole would always be best for her.