I'd planned on Deanna laying an ambush for me before school, so I was purposefully ten minutes late for the bell. It meant I had to trudge all the way to the office for a late slip, but it also meant that whatever confrontation she'd been planning had been thwarted...for now.

     But by lunch, I wasn't so lucky.

     "You didn't think you could avoid us forever, did you?" Deanna asked sweetly, coming up behind me and snatching my arm with a vice grip. Courtney fell in on my other side, shooting me an uncomfortable sidelong look.

     "You haven't returned any of my calls," she whispered, as Deanna marched me towards the cafeteria.

     "Because I really don't want to talk," I said, feeling like crap for saying something to my best friend. But Courtney just looked straight ahead as Deanna led me to my old table. She only released her grip when she'd plunked me down in my old chair. Through the crowd, I could see Ethan enter the cafeteria, casting his eyes around until they landed on me. His brows crashed together in a frown as he beelined our way.

     "I get that you're mad, "Deanna started, leaning across the table from where she'd sat down across from me, "But you don't get to just quit, okay? You're our friend and it sucks to see you hurting when you won't even let us help,"

     "You had your chance and not one of you raised a finger to help," I snarled at her, my arms crossed as I sat there, miserably hunched over among the A-listers. Ethan was almost upon us, glaring daggers at Deanna's back.

     "It was a freaking party Madison! We were all drunk!" Deanna snapped, rolling her eyes, "I mean, come on! One guy makes a mistake and-"

     "You wanna go get some food?" Ethan said loudly, cutting her off as he stopped behind her. Deanna craned her neck to see who dared interrupt her diatribe, only to leap to her feet when she saw it was Ethan.

     "And you," she hissed, planting her hands on her hips as she faced off with him, "Who in the hell do you think you are brainwashing our girl against us?"

     Ethan cocked an eyebrow, sparing Deanna no more than a glance when he looked back at me.

     "You coming?" he said. I stood, despite Deanna's glare.

     "Absolutely," I replied, hoisting my purse over my shoulder. Deanna didn't move, so Ethan had to go around her, her eyes shooting us daggers the entire time.

     "Maddie, please," Courtney said quietly as I passed her, reaching up to grab my hand. I paused, but Ethan snaked an arm around my shoulders, coming up behind me after going around Deanna.

     "Sorry Courtie," I said quietly. Her hand dropped and I turned my eyes forward as Ethan led me away. Tyler had just come through the swinging double doors of the cafeteria, his eyes flicking from me to Ethan, whose arm was still around my shoulders. I couldn't even look at him as we walked away towards the lineup for food.

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

     "Thanks for saving me," I said, as Ethan and I wove through the hallways after lunch towards math class. We'd taken up our same spot at the end of the band geek table, only to get death glares from both my old table and Ethan's old table. Clearly neither of them were happy we'd made our own little clique of two.

     "Next time I hope I won't have to," he said, holding the classroom door open for me.

     "She's just...I don't know, she just gets to me, you know?" I said, as we slid into our seats. Ethan sighed.

     "Because that's how she bosses everyone around. If no one was scared of her, she wouldn't be half as intimidating as she is," he said, flipping open his notebook.

     "I'm not scared of her," I snapped. Ethan shot me a sidelong look.

     "Sure, Buttercup. Whatever you say," he said, barely masking his smile. A frustrated growl escaped my lips as Mr. Collins called the class to order. Ethan was grinning in earnest now, happy he'd won the last word.

     Math class dragged on and I couldn't help replaying the hurt in Courtney's eyes when I brushed her off or the look on Tyler's face when he saw me and Ethan together. My stomach gave an almighty swoop every time that last image played in my head, which only forced me to pay extra attention to what Mr. Collins was writing on the board if only to stop thinking about Tyler's hazel eyes. Needless to say, I took the best notes I've ever taken in math class that day.

     When the bell rang, I was of half a mind to skip out early again despite the threat of a third pink slip looming over my head. But if I collected another one of those, I'd be stuck serving detention after class this Friday and my parents would hear about it. The return of my car was still too new and too precious to gamble until I was sure I was solidly back in my parents' good books.

     So it was thanks to the hope of keeping my car, my freedom on Friday, and as much determination as I could muster that I walked into English class. I could feel the stares from the A's already, but I noted with some satisfaction that Katie's usual seat was empty. I hadn't seen her around all day and I'd guessed that wasn't a coincidence, what with Deanna apparently hell-bent on winning me back to her dark side. Katie wouldn't be welcome now that it was abundantly clear she was part of the problem.

     Unfortunately enough for me, it was only Katie's seat and my seat that were left unfilled. But instead of sit next to Deanna and endure her death stares, I took the seat in front of her, next to Danielle Burke. Deanna scoffed behind me, immediately leaning over to start whispering something to Craig.

     "Are you okay?"

      I looked over towards Danielle, sure that I'd misheard her. Sure enough, she was looking at me with something akin to concern in her eyes.

     "I'm fine, why?" I asked, part of me daring her to bring up the weekend so I could throw a fit. Except as soon as I'd said it, the other part of me twisted with guilt. Tormenting Danielle Burke was an A-lister pastime. And despite all that my friends and I had done to her, here she was asking if I was okay.

     "You just seem...I dunno, different I guess," she said, shrugging, "And it's no secret you're fighting with them,"

     "Oh look at her getting all close to Danny Burp," Deanna said loudly behind us. I inhaled to calm myself as I turned around to face her. The look she met me with was textbook Deanna. Apparently I'd pushed her too far and now she wasn't playing nice anymore.

     "It's Danielle Burke, actually," I said simply.

     "Oh really? Well I think I like Danny Burp better," Deanna snapped.

     "Well we all know Craig does," I said, shooting her boyfriend a look. Craig went beet red as I brought up easily the biggest piece of gossip from sophomore year. Rumor had it that Danielle and Craig had been spotted leaving a bathroom together at one of the A-lister parties, a rumor which was the reason for Danielle's fall from grace the second Deanna caught wind of it.

     "You bitch," Deanna snarled, only to be cut off as class was called to order. I shrugged, knowing it was the exact reaction that would ignite her temper even more.

     "Sorry for bringing that up," I mumbled to Danielle, when we were all instructed to fish our copies of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night from our bags.

     "Thanks for sticking up for me," was all she said, offering me a smile as she reached down into her backpack.

     When the bell rang at the end of class, I was already prepared to dash out. Deanna yelled my name the second I stood up, but I was already halfway to the door. Danielle, bless her heart, knocked over her stack of books and papers, effectively blocking Deanna's way from intercepting me. I mentally noted that maybe the queen of the B-listers would make a good ally if I ever needed a new friend.

     "Wow, where's the fire?" Brandon asked, coming up beside me to lean on the locker next to mine as I frantically dumped books into it and pulled homework into my bag.

     "I just need to get out of here," I said, shooting a look over my back. I knew Deanna wouldn't settle for me going after Craig without putting up a fight.

     "Okay, then let's get out of here. Crystal's having some people over tonight, I wanted to see if you wanted to come with," he said. I zipped my bag shut, slamming the locker before turning on my heel and leaving.

     "So that's a yes?" Brandon asked, jogging to catch up to me.

     "I really don't think that's a good idea right now," I said, squeezing my eyes closed for a second as I prayed for the patience to deal with my brother's best friend.

     "None of the juniors are going to be there if that's what you're worried about," he said, following me out of the school. I said nothing, still walking.

     "Come on Maddie, it'll be fun," he said, jogging forward a few steps to halt me in my tracks, "Maybe it'll cheer you up,"

     "I seriously doubt that," I said, "Brandon can you please just let me go home?"

     "Okay, so what about Friday then?" he persisted.

     "What about it?" I asked, now unable to hide my annoyance.

     "Why don't we do something after the game? It's a real bummer to see you so sad all the time," he said. He looked at me with those puppy-dog eyes of his, waiting patiently for my answer. I ran a hand through my hair.

     "I'm not really up to doing anything right now, okay?" I managed, "I just want to go home,"

     "Okay that's cool too," Brandon said, stepping out of my way, "But at least think about Friday,"

     "Sure," I said halfheartedly, resuming my trek towards my car.

     When I slid into the driver's seat, I had to retrain myself from banging my head against the steering wheel. Just when I'd thought I was in the clear, something else had to come up. And the most annoying part was that now I'd have to find something to do on Friday so Brandon wouldn't come wandering over after football to bother me. Did no one get that I just wanted to be left alone?!

So this is the much overdue chapter from Friday that I never got a chance to post. I will try to post more soon since this is a little short. Please don't forget to vote and comment!