Needless to say, I didn't catch much sleep last night. With the sun rising outside my window, the day I dreaded had come. Mercilessly. Only my second day of school and I was already dreading the moment I'd be setting foot on its grounds.

Way to go, Hope.

As I drove up to the parking lot, I kept looking at my bruised knuckles. Proof that I had not dreamt all that had happened the day before.

I took a deep breath before getting out of the car. The school looked much more sinister to me than just the day before. I almost expected Blake or one of his friends to jump at me and shout "Surprise". I kept watching my back, waiting for them to make a move against me. All was the same. People stared at me and then largely ignored me.

I carefully opened my locker, expecting something nasty to jump out of it. But all was fine. And there was no sight of them. I knew they were not someone who would just let things be. It would be too much to ask. We also had bullies at my school. All bullies thought alike. Their favorite tools are - force and intimidation.

When the morning classes ended and I headed outside during lunch break, the air was knocked out of my lungs when I saw what their move was: they had plastered the entire announcement wall with my face and the words "Bitch, go home" written on it.

Everyone stared at me and laughed. I pressed my lips tight. They must be thinking very little of me if they believed that this would get to me.

Determined, I walked up to the wall and peeled all of the pages off. With that, I marched off to search for those shitheads.

I found them in the cafeteria. There were seating around the table and by the looks of it were having a good time. Blake, Frank, Josh, and Liam, all were there, and a few others also. Blake was the one facing the door and he saw me march up to them first. He stiffened at the sigh of me and that alerted others about my approach. All eyes were now on me.

I was so angry and that made me even braver and more reckless.

I threw the crumpled papers into Blake's face. He brushed them away as if it was nothing. His lips now drew into a hard line and the look he gave me was filled with coldness.

"If you have a problem with me, then come and face me like men. This, anyone can do," I told them pointing at the crumpled paper.

I heard whistles. Someone cheered, but I wasn't sure if for or against me. One glance was enough to see that they were the Rileys. Not that I cared for their support. To me, the Rileys were the same as the Shields.

"I told you we were going too easy on her..." I heard Frank say. I looked down at him, at his bruised eye. And then I kicked his chair so hard, he landed crushing on the floor. The drink Frank had held in his hand spilled all over Josh. A yellow stain began spreading over his white shirt.

"What the hell!" Josh was on his feet now too, giving me a most murderous look.

Liam, on the other hand, was barely containing his laughter. I would have loved to stand there and analyze what it all meant, but I had greater worries. Then Blake was now also slowly rising to his feet and his eyes glittered dangerously.

Frank was on his feet and ready to make a move at me, but Blake held him back.

"Just who do you think you are?" Blake asked me. The way he pronounced every single word, I found more threatening than anything else.

"And who do you think you are?" I demanded to know in return and took a step closer. "I'm warning you. Don't mess with me."

"You are warning me?" Blake asked sounding incredulous, also taking a step forward, only the table between us. "I am warning you. Pack up your things and go back to the can of worms you've crawled out of. Don't let me ever see you at this school again."

Standing this close, I could see that he was a head taller than me. His dark eyes were filled with barely contained anger.

He would have easily intimidated any other girl, but not me. I was a police officer's daughter. I grew up around big guys and knew how to stand my ground with them. So I stepped even closer and told him right in his stupid face, "Make me!"

He almost looked awed by my audacity. His jaw was clenched. I could feel the wheels in his mind turning and looking for words to fire back at me, but I wasn't gonna wait for him to get back, instead, I turned and headed for the entrance.

I heard laughter and whistles from the Riley corner. But it was the next words that chilled me to the core.

"You are as good as dead..." I heard Frank shout after me.

No, my friend is as good as dead. Because one of you retards almost killed her. I clenched my fists even tighter as I marched away.

The girl was brave or maybe just foolish. When I saw her just march in and walk up toward us, I got a really good look at her. Blond, hair made up into a ponytail. Large eyes that burned with fire. She had the guts to challenge all of us publicly and then stomp out like she owned the place.

I owned this place.

She was lucky to be a girl and I mostly left girls in peace. The plan was to scare her a bit, make her understand that she was unwelcome here, and have her go packing.

I picked up one of the papers she had thrown at me and had a good look at it. There was a picture of her and "Bitch go home" written all over it. I barely continued myself from rolling my eyes because of how childish it was.

"I assume this was your brilliant idea, Frank?" I said showing it to the others. Frank averted his eyes. Why am I still tolerating this guy around me, I wondered.

"I have a bet to win..." he mumbled. I grabbed him by the collar of his shirt.

"Really smart move," I said not letting him off the hook. "From now on you don't do anything I have not first approved. Understood?"

"It was meant to be funny..." he replied pulling himself out of my grip.

"We gotta be smart with this one. No more "lone wolf" moves. If not, your next bruised eye will be on me." I let go of him.

"Hey Shields," I heard someone call after me. I didn't have to look to know that it was one of the Rileys. "That girl just wiped the floor with you."

"Shut up before I wipe the floor with you," I replied throwing them a murderous look. I got a roaring laughter in return. I clenched my fists and took a deep breath. It wasn't worth having a stand-off with the Rileys because of some delusional girl.

I wanted her out, without the whole world knowing about it and our war ending up on social media. But now, the news would spread like wildfire and the whole school would know by the end of the day that something was up thanks to Frank. It's the second time in less than 24 hours that she made complete fools out of us. No more holding back with her. Girl or no girl.

I felt a shiver run through my body for the next hour as I sat in the class. The rumors about the standoff in the cafeteria were spreading. I was the talk of the school. People were not just staring at me, but they were also pointing at me and I heard snickering and gossip. Maybe it had not been a good idea, after all, to challenge Blake and his friends so publicly. But I had little choice. With my face on the announcement wall, I knew they were planning to get the whole school behind them. It wasn't anymore about whether I'd have a quiet time here or a really tough time, it was now about whether I stay or leave. They wanted me gone.

I was now in an even deeper mess than the day before. "You are as good as dead..." That was what Frank had promised. That one was vindictive and sneaky. I was alone, against the four of them. Against the whole school, more precisely. Except maybe the Rileys. But I could not possibly expect any help from them, even if Claire had been nice to me yesterday. The Shields and the Rileys had their own issues. I had observed enough to see that, while there was a truce between them, each stuck to their own "part of town" even at school and the animosity between the two sides was barely contained.

I made sure to avoid Blake and his friends and went to great lengths to do so, even risking getting late to class. As much as I hated doing that on my first week of school.

All the while, I was hoping to catch sight of the scary rabbit guy from yesterday. It was all his fault after all. And I needed some answers. I was hoping that maybe we could team up and come up with a plan for us to work together.

But there was no trace of him.

Maybe he was smart enough to hide and I should have done the same. Be damned my pride.