"Geez, that hurt," I grumbled from the heap where I lay on the floor. Before I even opened my eyes, the intensity of the entire class staring bore into me. "Oh, ow." I covered the side of my cheek with my hand and massaged the throbbing muscles.

When I opened my eyes, students in the class had encircled me, and some of them had their phones out taking pictures. God, please say no one got that on video. I can see the meme pictures now. Ugh. 

They just stood there gawking at me like some kind of sideshow attraction. That is everyone, but the two striking pitiful looking dumbbells that started the whole thing. Kellan was crouched in front of me running his hands through his hair, ruffling it up everywhere and making him look a little haggard for wear. And Jaxon was busy assessing whether or not Kellan was done.

When Kellan noticed I had come to, he let out the breath he was holding. "Wren, I'm so—"

"Sorry?" Jaxon said interrupting him. "Yeah, nice one, Kellan. You come into class like a bull in a china shop, knock her unconscious and you're sorry? I don't buy that." His voice got louder with each word. "By the way, great way to welcome a new student to our school." He turned to face me and reached down to help me up. But before I even had a chance to respond to anything that just happened, he said, "I wouldn't listen to his pathetic attempt to apologize or whatever other excuses he has to come up with." He wrapped his arm around me and helped me to my feet.

"All right," the teacher hollered. "Everyone out of the way and back to your seats." She pushed her way through the crowd of students to find me. "Everyone except you three. You can report directly to the principal's office. After you see him," she said when she faced me, "You might want to go to the nurse's office."

"What? How am I involved in this, I—"

"I have no idea young lady, but I'm sure the principal will sort it all out when you get there," she said cutting me off.

Has she lost her mind? Since when did the victim get sent to the principal's office? "But—"

"I'm not interested in hearing it," she said in a disapproving tone. "After the three of you disrupted my class and destroyed school property—I don't want any of you back in my class—that is until you can muster up behavior more suitable for students from this school." She shook her head and left us standing there in a daze.

When I looked around the room, I noticed the stools that Jaxon and I had been sitting on were lying on their sides busted beyond repair. That would be awkward to sit for the rest of the lecture on a chair with no seat. I swallowed a laugh, getting in any more trouble wasn't something I needed today. A blue book bag rested on the seat next to mine and the person claiming it was hosting it to his shoulder to leave. God help me, I had no idea how I was going to survive a year being sandwiched between the two of them. Given that my chair wasn't exactly usable, at least not comfortably, the principal's office was looking like the surprisingly better option right now.

My head felt thick, and my jaw ached. Jaxon handed me my bag off of the floor. That was when I finally realized he had his arm around me this whole time. The mind halted to grasp that thought again like I hadn't really understood the importance of it before. He has had his arm wrapped around me this whole time, this gorgeous blonde specimen of a guy. I halted my thoughts and tried to regain my composure, but my emotions had already betrayed me when I felt my face flush with the awareness of his touch.

"Thanks." His fingers brushed mine when I took the bag from him.

"You, Okay?" Jaxon said looking concerned. "Do you need help walking to the office?" His emerald green eyes sparkled like gemstones caught in the light. They made me want to reach out and caress his cheek. Then he leaned in and whispered, "Can I help you there?" When he spoke my skin tingled down my arms making my hands tremble and heat.

But before I could answer, Kellan blocked our way and just stood there with a sheepish look on his face and his hands stuffed in his pockets. "Hey, how about you let me carry your bag, you still look a little unsteady." He reached out his hand. "It's the least I can do," he said with a sincerity that I hadn't heard in any of our previous conversations.

Feeling like a pawn played on a chessboard, I replied a little snappier than I intended. "I've got it, both of you." I squirmed out of Jaxon's hold, shouldered my bag and firmly held onto the strap in my hand. Daring them even to try andtake it from me, I glared at them both. "Now, if you both can just lead the way to the office, so we can get the impending reprimand over with that would be great. I'd like to get some ice for this." I pointed to my swollen cheek. "Lead the way angry birds. If you can try not to kill each other before we get there, I will consider it a great personal favor. I don't think I could explain being expelled before noon on my first day of school to my Gran."

Jaxon laughed. "Yeah, I don't think a call home with this story will go over very well either."

The teacher had already begun the lecture. Kellan looked at Jaxon then over to me and said, "Sure, I suppose I can call a truce. That is until we get to the office, after that, I'm not making any promises." He turned and headed out the door with us trailing behind.

"The principal will be here in a moment." The secretary opened the door of his office to reveal a row of old mismatching chairs across from his desk. "You three can have a seat there," she said.

Jaxon took a seat first, leaving me to sit between them. Our chairs faced a big window that looked out over the front lawn of the school, where a big elm tree shaded the grass below. Its branches hung slightly over an old cobblestone walkway that led up to the front doors of the school.

His desk had almost every square inch of its top covered in books, papers, files and other scraps of paper. Several pens were scattered over some documents and made it look like he'd been working on something but left before finishing.

From where we sat, I could see his computer screen with its little reminder notes stuck to the display. The mesmerizing zigzagging colored lines floated across the monitor and captured my attention.

While I sat there in the silence, I could feel the presence of both Jaxon and Kellan weighing on me. On my left, stretched out leaning back in his chair with his foot over his knee, Jaxon looks like he'd been in this office more that once before. It was almost like it was his native territory with the way casually draped himself in the chair without a care in the world. When I peeked over to look at Kellan. His hair hung a bit in his face and made him look somewhat disheveled.

Oh man, he totally caught me checking him out. When his eyes meet mine, I noticed they had gone a sky blue color in this light, a color so true it made me feel like I could lay under their stare forever and just be contented to have them stretch out over me.

"Wren . . ." Kellan whispered. He looked like a small boy who had just lost his puppy.

"Can it Kellan." Jaxon grinned and leaned back in his chair. "Actions speak louder than words and by the looks of Wren's jaw, that message is loud and clear."

"What's wrong with you two? Are you always at each other like this? I've been in this school for like five minutes, and you've somehow dragged me into the middle of your little war. It's obvious you don't like each other, please go on and despise each other all you want, but leave me out of it," I said meaning every word.

Jaxon had his hands clasped behind his head, and was now stretched out with his legs crossed at his ankles. "Ah, if it were only that easy princess."

Before anyone could say another word, the door creaked open and our attention fixed to the principal walking in.

"Kellan, Jaxon, we meet again," he said sounding a little more frustrated than one would expect at the beginning of the term. "The first day of school too, huh? You couldn't wait for a week or two before trying to kill each other on school grounds?"

"Mr. Weatherford . . ." Kellan started to say.

"Kellan, I don't want to hear it today. I'm not in the mood, with everything going on today for the start of school." He picked up a pen and tapped it on the desk, then pointed it at the boys. "You both will pay for the property you destroyed. You'll also complete a little painting project I have been looking for some volunteers to finish."

Up until now, I'd sat there silent and speechless, feeling thankful to be somewhat invisible between them. Then Mr. Weatherford looked at me directly, "And for you, you're new here. Wren is it?"

"Uh-huh."

"I don't know how you've already gotten in the middle of this mess with these two, but it looks like you have probably got the worst of the interaction." He tilted his head to get a better look at my throbbing jaw. "Not sure how you ended up in my office instead of the nurses, but perhaps you should head there now."

I nodded. It was clear he wasn't going to suspend or expel us, so I wasn't about to argue. "You're probably right," I said.

"All right you three, get out of here before I change my mind and suspend the lot of you. Gentlemen, be here Saturday morning at eight." He smiled and pretended like he was painting a wall. "Oh, Kellan, don't even think about being late. Wren, if you want to get some ice for that." He pointed with his pen. "The nurse's office is out the door and to the left. It's the last door in the hallway."

"Yeah, I think I do. Thanks." I turned to leave and followed the procession through the doorway.

Jaxon was a pace or two in front of me when he looked over his shoulder. He stopped to face me before I turned to go in the direction of the nurse's office. "Hey, I'll see you later?" he asked sounding hopeful. Then he lifted his hand and took hold of my chin and turn my face sideways to get a better look at the inflamed side of my face. By the way it felt, I wouldn't be surprised if few different shades of purple. "You should get some ice for that. It will help with the swelling. It's starting to look pretty bad." His eyes shone when he smiled. "But that's not going to stop me from appreciating how beautiful you are." He released his hold and walked out of the office whistling a tune.

I was frozen like an idiot with my feet were rooted to the ground. Did he just call me beautiful? That's when I heard someone in the hallway yell, "Ugh." Something sounded like it hit one of the lockers hard. It was the crushing sound of the metal that shook me to my senses. But before I turned toward the nurse's office, I peeked through the doorway and scanned the hallway in both directions. There was no one there—just a locker with a vast pulverized dent in it.

I turned back into the office and headed past the secretarial staff toward the last door in the hallway. Someone was sitting on the floor leaning against the door of the nurse's office.

"Wren!" She leaped up when she saw me. "OMG, I got a text from a friend while I was in class and she said someone knocked you out cold."

"Hey, Sage."

"Wow, that looks like it hurts." She cocked her head to get a closer look at the damage. "Come on let's get some ice on that," she said, then she turned the doorknob and opened the door.

"Isn't there a nurse on duty or something?"

"Oh, not yet. She retired at the end of last year, and they haven't been able to fill the position yet." She reached into a drawer, grabbed a cold pack and twisted it hard until it made a loud pop sound. She gave it a good shake, activating its coldness then handed it to me.

"I've been a lifeguard over the past few summers and have taken all my first aid courses. So, the school lets me help out with the football team wrapping ankles and bandaging minor cuts and stuff," she explained. "So, I get to rummage and use the room whenever there's a game. And until they hire a new nurse, which should be any day, I also get to take care of any minor injuries during school hours. It's my dream to be a doctor." She sighed. "I need all the extracurricular activities I can get to look good on my college application. The competition is pretty fierce."

Brrrring! The bell rang.

"Great, I'm hungry, and you look like you could sit and chill for a bit. Come on there's a little diner around the corner we go to sometimes. I think with the morning you've had we need to perk up your day with some greasy fries. My treat." She smiled and motioned for me to follow. "I'll text the rest of the group to join us there. On the way, you can tell me what happened for you to land that gorgeous purple bruise."

I may have thought I wanted another friendless, invisible school year, with Sage, I couldn't help but change my mind. I stood up and held the ice pack against my face with one hand and my bag in the other, then followed her out the door to the promise of food and friendship.

So happy you're keeping up with the tale of Wren, Kellan, and Jaxon! Thanks for reading...if you like this chapter, please consider VOTING for it. Thanks for your support!