A/N: Trigger warning- The beginning has mentions of injury and physical violence.
Also, look who got inspiration and time to write! This guy! Okay, to the story.

Song: Roar by Katy Perry

September 29

Thank God it is Friday honestly.

Thank God for Sarah too. I don't know how she does it, but she can worm her way out of anything with enough attitude and a little flair.

As soon as we stepped foot on campus, we were called to the office to be questioned about the fight yesterday. Xavier, Christian, and Kyle were slumped in chairs, sporting an array of bruises and bandaged cuts all over the visible parts of their body. There were probably a lot more hidden by their clothes. Leonard was sitting next to them, desperately trying to hide a smug smirk every time he looked our way. We were informed that Blake couldn't make it because he was in the hospital for a broken arm, a broken rib, and a severe concussion.

I would have felt bad if it weren't for that fact that they had left Sarah and I in similar states on separate occasions. Remembering Blake spitting in her hair made my blood boil. I turned away from Leonard and took a deep breath to calm myself down before looking up at the principal, nurse, and counselor. If we were going to pull this off, I could look like I still wanted to murder them.

It actually wasn't that difficult on my part to get away with what happened. I let Sarah do most of the talking, and she obviously knew what she was doing. She got all three administrators on our side in less than five minutes. She told them that the gang had cornered her in the hallway and confronted her about the rumors being spread around town. They then proceeded to physically assault her until I showed up and protected her. This was obviously all true, and I was starting to sweat a little about how much of the truth she was telling them. However, it was then when she started telling them the lie she made up. She said that I pulled them off of her and told them to leave her alone. At that point, I allegedly took her away from the scene. She said the boys must have been knocked out and beaten up by someone else, and they only assumed it was us because we were the last people they actually remember seeing which implies that they might have suffered memory loss due to the extent of the injuries. The reason Leonard said it was us was because he ran to get a teacher to blame me for assaulting her right before we left and the attack happened. He obviously wanted us to get in trouble because of the rumors and his own bias.

At this point, the nurse spoke up. "While that does sound like it could be the truth, why didn't you two come directly to me after the attack happened?"

I squirmed around in my chair uncomfortably because I couldn't think of a single excuse not to have gone, but again, Sarah saved me from talking with a prepared answer. "My dad is a doctor. I didn't want to go see you because I was afraid that we would run into Leonard in the hallways, and I wasn't in a condition to run. Austin had to support me for me to be able to walk, and he didn't want to leave me alone to get a teacher in case they came back. I told him if he could get me to my house, my dad would be able to help me. It was his day off yesterday."

The nurse nodded along as if the story made total sense to her, and for the record, it did sound like a decision a hurt and scared teenager would make. It also helped that Sarah was an exceptional actress. Throughout the entire meeting, she stayed behind and pretended to look fearfully at the boys every so often before flitting her eyes downward. I could tell her trembling was fake because I've seen her tremble with real emotion yesterday when she told me her secret at the pond. Even though she only looked up at the administrators for a few seconds at a time when she had to talk to them, I knew she was no more scared of the gang and of getting in trouble than she was scared of a bee flying near her. (She's been known to swat at them if they became increasingly annoying.)

"I see. I assume you do not have any witnesses besides yourselves?" The principal asked.

"No we don't. Not at school at least." I said, trying to play along with Sarah's story.

"Our only witness is my dad. You can call him if you want, and he'll confirm it." Sarah said.

The principal only nodded. "Alright. You may go back to class. You four on the other hand have some more explaining to do."

The look of shock on Leonard's face was priceless.

Nothing very interesting happened during class. When lunch time rolled around, we went back to our usual spot to eat.

"Okay, how did you do that?" I demanded as I took out my tuna salad.

Sarah wrinkled her nose in disgust at my food before taking out an apple. "A magician never reveals her secrets, Lakewood." She gave me a wink before taking a bite out of her apple. "It also helps that my dad seems to like you from what I've told him about you especially with what happened yesterday. He's used to working his way around the school system, so when I told him the story I came up with, he whole heartedly agreed to be an alibi. By the way," she looked around to make sure no one was nearby before leaning in a little to talk quieter, "what pronouns do you want me to use today?"

I smiled and leaned in too. "She, her, hers."

Sarah nodded and sat back up and took another bite of her apple. "How did it go with your parents?"

"They grounded me for a month. Like that even means anything." I laughed. "They haven't taken my phone, and I have a tree right by my window that I can climb down any time I wanted. As long as I go straight home and come back by eight, they won't catch me. They never come to my room, and I'm always quiet in there anyway." I finished off my tuna salad and wiped my hands on my jeans. "How did you even get them to believe you though? I assume they have heard the rumor, and it wouldn't surprise me if they already had a bias against you because of it."

Sarah shrugged indifferently. "I said it was a rumor. When people hear the word 'rumor,' they assume it is false, especially if the person claiming it to be a rumor is who the rumor is about. I never said it was true nor false. It was just their assumption. Besides, any good lie is based on truth. You give them as much of the truth as possible and stretch the details on parts of it, and they'll believe whatever you want as long as you have the act to go with it."

I laughed at that, and I was about to say something else when the bell rang. I sighed and stood up, shoving my lunch box in my backpack. "Do you still want to go to the pond after school? I can't be seen out in public in case someone sees me and mentions it to my mom."

Sarah nodded. "I'll bring something from the cafe. Do you want the usual?"

"Yes, thanks," I said with a smile. We started making our way to AP English together. "Meet me at five?"

"Yep! See you, loser." Sarah said with a smirk as we entered the classroom. She took a seat at her desk, and I made my way to mine.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Random poem I wrote in English because I was bored.

Forget Nothing, Stand for Something
Spreading my wings
She helped me fly
She let me see
New things in the sky
New experiences made
None forgotten
And then the feelings came
Along with knowledge

I found something new
About myself
A new cause to believe in
A new strength to grow in
A new day to fly in
None forgotten

We were chained apart
Restricted at heart
Then we broke free
And found freedom of our own
Through friendship and kindness
Siblinghood and the like
We find our voices
We stand to fight

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We were laughing by the pond as usual. I had finished my coffee and sandwich a while ago, and Sarah was in the middle of recounting the story of how her first date ever went. Some of her middle school friends had paired her up with a guy they knew in a blind date.

"It was so awkward!" She choked out between breaths of air. She was holding her stomach and rocking back and forth from the pain of laughing so hard. "When he went to pick up my fork from the ground, he bumped the table, and my juice spilled all over my dress. He looked absolutely mortified, and it didn't help that I was so awkward in social interactions. I didn't even know the guy, and we had nothing in common. I honestly don't know why my friends thought he was a good match for me. Well, besides them not knowing I like girls. Anyway, I just stared at him. I really wanted to tell him it was fine and not worry about it, but all that came out was 'I have juice on my dress' as if he didn't know. He just gave up and ran out of the restaurant then. Poor guy. He probably didn't try to go on another date again for a few years after that."

We laughed until we were out of breath, and we laid down to look at the passing clouds as we gasped for air. The blind date story had reminded me of something, but I couldn't remember what. It was something important too. When I finally figured it out, I turned over to look at her. "I just remembered! The homecoming dance is October 13th. I was wondering if you wanted to go."

Sarah put a hand over her heart and feigned astonishment. "Is that a date, Lakewood?"

I smirked and played along with her. "Only if you want it to be, Osborne."

She wrinkled her nose and pushed me playfully. "Nah. I don't date losers."

"Hey!" I said with a smile.

"Alright, how does mediocre people sound to you?" She said.

"Well if you put it that way, I should rescind my offer," I said.

"Well played, Lakewood. You are learning my young Watson." She patted my head before standing up.

I rolled my eyes and stood up too. "I need to head back before my mom tries to call me down for dinner. I told her I had a lot of homework which technically isn't a lie."

"All of the best lies are based on truth." Sarah winked at me be for heading back toward the trail. "Coming, Watson?"

I ran to catch up to her. "You know, you never actually said whether you wanted to go."

"School dances aren't really my thing, but what the heck. I'll go just for the laughs. I wonder how many people will dress up in ridiculous looking outfits."

We both laughed and went our separate ways when we reached the park entrance. I had to run home to make it look like I had been doing homework the whole time when my mom knocked on my door to tell me dinner was ready. I still have a lot of homework to do, so I think I'll leave this off here.

~Austin