Cause in my head
It's always been you
Heart in my hands, hopeless
Cause no one can take it from you
- Always Been You, Jessie Murph

HAYDEN SANDERS never knew how to keep her calm in the environment she was raised in. Especially with the kind of people she grew up around in South Los Angeles. She had seen her fair share of violence, poverty, and crime, which might be why she was so accustomed to resorting to violence. Like a second nature.

Where some people had a natural sense of fight or flight, Hayden had the automatic instinct to fight. It didn't always end well for the girl, coming home with a bloodied lip and bruised eyelid, but that never swayed her stubbornly ways.

That's not to say she went poking and prodding for a fight. No. That wasn't Hayden at all. Hayden only ever fought in defense of herself or others.

Which is how it came down to it with Eliza Miller. Hayden would've fought wars for Eliza. That had been her best friend throughout middle school. Maybe that was her problem. She was fiercely loyal to those whom she believed had her best interest at heart.

It was clear, though, that Eliza Miller did not and never did have her best interest at heart when she caught her and her boyfriend of a year, Grayson Winters, together at a party.

Maybe she should've taken the high road. Let karma do its thing and leave the situation alone. But Hayden wouldn't be Hayden if she hadn't responded in some way shape or form.

So she did.

That's how she got expelled from South High School her freshman year. Her records would show you endless amounts of fights, but the sole reason was the fight that ensued that day. Plus the fact that she had vandalized Eliza's locker in which Hayden spray-painted FAKE FUCKING SLUT in bold red paint and then went on to paint CHEATING ASS PRICK on Grayson's.

Hayden went home with a swollen lip but Eliza? She went home with fractured ribs and bloody nose. Grayson had the pleasure of finding his tires flat, glitter in his locker, a snake in his bed, and a his windshield completely shattered.

Her mom may not have been happy with it, and she also may have made her swear off fighting, along with several other grueling lectures, but Hayden walked away victorious in her mind.

Being expelled from the only school in her area, Esme realized it was time for a change for Hayden. A changed environment, Esme hoped, meant a changed outcome.

Which is how Hayden ended up going to West Valley High. And how she ended up in the midst of a karate war... and having to make a difficult decision between her two closest friends.

Jessie Murph as
HAYDEN SANDERS

Additional Cast
Nessa Barrett as Logan Sanders
Emmy Rossum as Esme Sanders
Leo Howard as Grayson Winters
Kelli Berglund as Eliza Miller

Authors Note.
Revamping and re-editing is one, giving me something to keep me busy with this summer and two, making me super excited because I feel like I continue to grow as a writer everyday.