TO SAY LOGAN'S ABSENCE HAD GONE UNNOTICED AROUND THE APARTMENT WOULD BE A LIE.

Usually, Hayden would be woken up to her alarm, but in true teen fashion, would never get out of bed.

No, the sole reason she would get out of bed was to bask in the warm steam Logan left in the bathroom after having taken a hot shower.

Today, she woke up to an alarm, but no steam. Because there was no Logan anymore. Instead, she padded into a cold bathroom, and for some reason, that frustrated Hayden to no end.

It put an instant damper on her mood, setting the tone for the rest of Hayden's day.

"Who pissed in your cereal this morning?" Demetri had been the one to daringly ask the girl.

She had slumped down into her seat with a permanent scowl etched on her face and her arms crossed. "Fuck off." She grumbled out, staring straight ahead.

"Suffer in silence type, got it." Demetri immediately nodded, looking away from her and back to Miguel, who was staring at Hayden. "So, that's it? No more karate?"

Hayden looked over at Miguel, eyes widening and she forgot why she was in a bad mood for a moment. "Holy shit! What happened to your face?" Her mouth hung open at the sight of Miguel's bruised eye.

"Got into it with Kyler at the dance." He answered, staring down at his books.

She looked at the boys. "Who?"

"Doesn't matter. No more karate." He answered Demetri's question, closing the textbook that sat in front of him.

"It's probably for the best. It was starting to boost your confidence."

All eyes turned to Demetri. "Isn't that a good thing?" Miguel asked in confusion.

"No," Demetri responded to the question as if it were a dumb one, "What has confidence ever gotten anybody except for a black eye and their backpack thrown in the trash?"

Hayden shook her head, too distracted with the sight of Miguel's eye. The pattern at which her heart beat at completely changed at the sight.

She didn't know who Kyler was, but she did know she would be getting familiar with him soon. Not in a good way either.

"Well, I thought it was kinda cool how you stood up to Kyler." Eli spoke quietly, throwing Miguel a sincere look.

"Are you insane?" Demetri asked in disbelief. "Let me ask you. What is the best superpower anyone could have?"

"Super strength." Miguel and Hayden answered simultaneously, sharing a smile.

"You're both wrong. It's invisibility. A distant second would be super speed to run away really fast." Demetri responded.

Hayden ran a hand over her face, a mix of annoyance and frustration in result of her shitty day in her tone. "Piece of advice?"

Demetri motioned for her to go on. "Don't say shit like that out loud. It's.. sad."

"What? It'd be so easy to run—"

"Run away from who?"

Hayden turned her head at the new voice, her brows snapping together.

"Whom." His friend corrected him, making all eyes shoot to him. "It's the object of a preposition. Remember English class."

The boys took this as their moment to hastily get up from their seats, "We were just leaving, Kyler." Miguel uttered out lowly, taking a gentle hold of Hayden's upper arm and tugging her up.

Hayden's face screwed up in disgust when she realized the boy was Kyler, looking him up and down with dark eyes.

"Hey, where you going?" Kyler, oblivious to Hayden's glare, yanked Eli by his sweater. "Look at this freak. What kind of girl would ever kiss this shit?" They all laughed, holding Eli by his neck.

Hayden clenched her fists at her sides; Kyler had caught her on a great day.

Hayden quickly squeezed her way between the two, giving Eli enough time to get away. "Skylar, that's your name, right?"

"It's—"

"No, I don't actually care." She waved him off, "Fuck off, yeah? I don't know what your deal is, and again, I don't care. But you need to leave my friends alone."

He stared down at her, a vein popping out in his neck that made Hayden grin. "What? Cat caught your tongue?" She gestured down to his balled fists, "Gonna hit me?"

She laughed when Kyler remained silent, knowing his ass would be in significant trouble if he tried it with a girl.

"You're not shit. Instead of making fun of something he can't control," she pointed at Eli behind her, "Maybe do humanity a favor and fix something you can control, like that ugly ass haircut. No one wants to see that shit."

Kyler swallowed, his face reddening when he could hear scattered murmurs around the room. The scene unfolding was quickly gaining an audience, a few people snickering and pointing.

Hayden took a step closer, voice dangerously low as she spoke. "If I see you around my friends again, your ass is gonna be on the floor so fast, it'll be embarrassing. That's a promise. Got it?"

Kyler wanted to argue. He wanted to make her feel little, like he managed to do to her friends. But, even he could admit when he was bested. And Hayden had definitely beat him at his own game.

So, tucking his tail between his legs and staring at the floor, he nodded meekly. "Got it." He muttered.

"Good." Hayden's once hardened gaze turned into a smile, patting his cheek harshly. She turned sharply to face the three boys, lifting a brow at their surprised expressions.

The bell ringing caused everyone to disperse from the scene.

"Let's go to class." She nodded towards the exit, walking off with another word.

The three boys followed her with their gaze, jaw ajar and eyes full of awe and admiration.

"Woah." They spoke at the same time.

"Guys!" Hayden shouted at them, and they quickly scrambled to follow after her.

authors note.
I'm so sorry another short chapter today 😭 I PROMISE THEY WILL GET LONGER AS THE EPISODES GO. DONT BE MAD AT ME but yes, I'm so far loving how this is turning out thus far.