Kendall knew things were bad this time. She might have gotten away with a slap on the wrist the first time, and a hefty bribe leading to community service the second, but she had a feeling leniency had now run out. The female police officer sitting opposite her certainly didn't look too happy. She glared at Kendall through her blue rimmed glasses.

"Don't you think the handcuffs are a little much?" Kendall made a show of rubbing her wrists - or at least trying to rub her wrists. The handcuffs restricted the movement. "I'm hardly a dangerous criminal."

The glare intensified, but there was no response, even though it was clear the officer would dearly love to give Kendall a piece of her mind. Kendall liked the challenge, and she sighed loudly, attempting to aggravate her further. "My parents are talking to the officer next door, so it's not like I'm going to run off. Can't you just remove these?" She jiggled then about hopefully. It wasn't an unreasonable request; they were uncomfortable, and even if Kendall thought she could flee the police station, she knew her parents would soon track her down. A member of the public might even spot her and realise who she was the daughter of.

"You might hit me." The officer's voice was prim, and Kendall realised with delight that her anger was mixed with fear.

"It's not like I randomly go around hitting people." Kendall affected a hurt tone. "I'm not a psycho."

"You just got picked up for being involved in an illegal underground fight." The officer reminded her.

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, but it was an organised fight. I didn't, like, jump into the ring and start punching people wildly. If I did that, then I'd recommend tasering, not just handcuffs. Do you have a taser?"

The police officer raised an eyebrow at her, but declined to comment. Kendall rolled her eyes. "Okay. Play it that way." She craned her neck round to look at the closed office door, picturing her parents bamboozling the officer behind it with their fame. Unfortunately, the policeman who accepted the bribe last time had since retired, but her parents were pretty persuasive. They didn't want headlines about their delinquent teenage daughter. "What do you think I'll get this time? A fine? More community service?"

"If it was up to me, you would have been sent to juvie a year ago." The officer snapped at her. Kendall was surprised by her bitterness, but she could understand where it came from. It must be annoying to see someone walk off scot-free because of who their parents were. Sometimes Kendall herself got annoyed about the influence her parents had. Just because they could pretend to be other people they won BAFTAs and got nominated for Oscars and were revered by everyone across the world, not just their English counterparts. Their acting was deemed to be awe-inspiring and oh-so-important, but Kendall thought her own ability to knock a fully-grown man out cold was far more impressive.

All the same, she kept her tone light as she replied, "A year ago I just got into a street fight. It hardly seems fair to send me to juvie for that."

The glare returned in full force. "Yes, and by the next time we picked you up you'd beat up three older girls, hospitalising one. It's ludicrous that you managed to avoid a battery and assault charge."

"Those girls never filed charges against me." Kendall pointed out. "Because they knew they'd instigated the fight." It was hardly Kendall's fault that one of them couldn't handle losing inside the ring, and had gotten her mates together to try to attack her. That one was purely self-defence, even if she did get a little carried away and could have stopped a long time before she actually did.

"You still nearly beat one of them to death."

"And yet she lived!" Kendall burst out into a grin. "A miracle! Praise the Lord, and all his creations!"

She knew she hit a sore spot when the officer's lips tightened. "Don't take the Lord's name in vain." She hissed.

Kendall shook her head. "I wasn't taking it in vain. I was using it to praise the world. Is that not what you're meant to use his name for?"

The police officer seemed to have no comeback for this, so Kendall smiled innocently, knowing it would aggravate her further. She wasn't sure why she felt the need to annoy this woman, but it was kind of fun to watch her head nearly explode. Unfortunately, her time with the police officer was up, as the woman turned her head and pointedly looked past Kendall as she said, "I hope you've come to the correct verdict?"

"Bring the girl into my office." The voice came from behind her, so Kendall didn't get a chance to look, but she was pretty sure it was a standard white male speaking. The female officer got up and hauled Kendall to her feet, forcing her towards the office. She caught a glimpse of her parents, her mum's ultra-fake blonde hair and her dad's just as fake black hair, from behind. The officer unlocked her handcuffs before shoving Kendall into a seat beside her parents. She lingered awkwardly in the doorway until the other policeman said, "Close the door behind you." She could sense the woman's reluctance - she obviously wanted to hear Kendall's sentencing - but she couldn't ignore a direct order.

The policeman was a white male, as she suspected, and rather good-looking. He was a good fifteen years her senior, but he had the whole sexy-older thing going for him. Kendall had snogged some older guys before, and if he wasn't a police officer, she'd be totally up for snogging the man in front of her.

At least, until he said, "Miss Thorne, your parents and I have both agreed that you show no signs of changing your ways, despite getting caught three times now in various fights. We've had a police team trying to bring down this underground fighting ring for months, and we're coming down hard on everyone involved. Despite being the youngest fighter, you've earned yourself a bit of a reputation, so we cannot be lenient this time. My original thought was to send you straight to juvenile detention, but I am concerned that once there, you'll instigate fights and cause problems, and once released will return to your criminal activities. Therefore, I've decided alongside your parents that the best way to deal with you is rehabilitation."

Kendall was confused. "You're sending me to rehab? I'm not an alcoholic."

The policeman sighed. "Yes, Miss Thorne, you're not a traditional addict. But you are addicted to fighting, and I believe you need serious help with your mental state that you simply won't receive in juvie."

Kendall couldn't help butting in again. "My mental state? I'm not crazy. You're not sending me to some psych ward-"

"We're sending you to Hamilton Heights." Her dad interrupted, casting Kendall a stern look when she showed signs of protesting again. "It's a boarding school with a high success rate of helping troubled young kids. We've paid a lot of money to send you there instead of juvie."

Kendall snorted. Her parents trying to play the money card was predictable at best. Although the policeman talked on about the benefits of this school, she quickly realised it was a school for bratty kids with parents who had enough money to buy them a ticket out of juvie. She zoned out as its 'marvellous facilities' continued to be discussed, and was barely fazed when she was told she'd be starting next Monday, as she'd already missed the first few weeks there and she still stood a chance of getting caught up if she went as soon as possible. Instead of thinking woefully about her lost freedom, she instead started wondering if her parents had paid more to let her start late.

"Kendall? Are you even listening?" Her mum's voice rudely interrupted her thoughts.

"Yeah." Kendall shrugged. "I'm going to a school for delinquents, starting Monday. That's the summary."

"You seem remarkably blasé about this." Her dad's tone was suspicious.

Kendall simply shrugged. She didn't see the point of getting all worked up about this. She was an expert in pissing people off; she reckoned she'd get kicked out of the school by Christmas, tops. She'd find somewhere else to fight once she got back, and continue causing mayhem. It all seemed about right to her. Although the boarding school thing was unexpected, she could easily handle it.

Or so she thought.

_________

I am so excited for this new story! I have so many ideas of ways for Kendall to get into trouble. This is going to be a humorous, light-hearted novel which I hope you'll enjoy. Thanks to anyone reading this, and thank you emilyawesome383 for the cover, go check out her graphics shop!

- Zoe