Mid-freshman year was when I'd transferred from Southside High to Riverdale High. With my mother being sentenced to three years in prison and my dad living on the Northside, the state had left me no choice but to move in with him. That was last year.

It wasn't quite clear where I belonged, as was the case with most teenagers. Students at RH had given me a hard time at first, but things hadn't been much easier on the Southside. Somehow I always walked the middle path, and it wasn't nearly as peaceful as it sounded. To the Southside I was a flashy half-blooded prep, but I was too chaotic and unpolished to fit in with the kids at Riverdale High.

My name was Sol Madani, but no one ever called me that. To the people around me, I was either 'Sunny' or 'Mutt', there was no inbetween. The latter was a rather offensive dig at my mixed background. My mother was Peruvian, which explained the first name, and my father was half white and half Middle-Eastern.

The tormenting only stopped when I came into my own. I developped an attitude, got a backbone and learned how to push back when someone took it too far. It also helped when I became friends with Midge Klump, who in turn introduced me to her own clique.

I was no longer that girl. I was that girl. That girl who wore pumps and tight clothes, but would turn you inside out if you dared to be lewd about it. The girl who had a bright smile and dimples, but who could claw your eyes out with her pampered, baby-pink fingernails if necessary.

Speaking of manicures, Midge and I had just finished getting our monthlies.

"So, are you still going out after the jubilee tonight?" I asked, as I stuck my key in the ignition. I started the vehicle, but not before checking my lip gloss in the rear view mirror.

"Yeah, I can't cancel on the guys now," said Midge. "I can't believe you're not coming. I don't think you've ever missed a night out with us. Trev's gonna be upset for sure."

I rolled my eyes. "Shut up," I laughed.

"Seriously, he asked me three times to make sure you were coming," Midge said, as I pulled out of the mall's parking lot. "One of these days you're gonna have to let him know you're..."

"Emotionally unavailable?" I suggested. "A stone-cold bitch? Incapable of love?"

Midge snorted. "Jeez, lighten up a little."

"I mean it, the poor guy has no idea how messed up I am." I shook my head.

"I feel like you're just using all that as an excuse to make yourself feel better about not being interested in a nice guy like Trev," said Midge, idly scrolling through her phone. "Makes it seem like you're not into him because he's too good for you, when you know you'd be head over heels for him if he were just a little more of an asshole."

I frowned, taken aback. Honestly, all this was news to me, too. "That makes no sense," I said.

"Sure it does," said Midge. "You crave more sexual tension than Trev can offer you. Also I know you have a thing for cheekbones."

"I'm not that shallow," I insisted.

"Relax, girl, that's not being shallow," Midge chuckled. "We're young, it's okay to want excitement. Sometimes you want dessert before dinner."

I raised an eyebrow. "Dessert before dinner?"

"Yeah." Midge gave me a toothy grin. "Sweet and satisfying, but ultimately bad for you. Yeah, we'll all find our stable life-partner someday, but until then, we're okay with giving ourselves a cavity or two."

I chuckled under my breath. "You and Moose seem pretty long-term, though. He's a bit of a meathead, but he's not trying to play you, I don't think."

"Eh, after the tragedy that was me and Thomas Golds, I think I was ready for a main course," Midge said. "Now, you on the other hand, could use some sugar. So I'm suggesting you come out with me tonight and I'll, uh, hook you up."

The wonderful thing about Midge was that, no matter the circumstances, she always made me laugh - whether she meant to or not. I shook my head in amusement. "I can't," I said. "I have an early shift at Pop's and I can't show up with a hangover."

"Fine, but it's not gonna be as fun without you there," said Midge with a pout. I giggled and reached over to pinch her cheek affectionately. She slapped my hand away.

o0o0o0o

Pop's didn't usually get many customers first thing in the morning, since it was more of a diner. The only customers in, currently, were Fred Andrews and his son Archie, who had arrived a good twenty minutes later after his dad.

I didn't run with the same crowd as Archie, but a boy that nice was friends with everybody. We were in the same year and shared some classes. He was a sweet kid. I had done some group projects with him before.

Archie disappeared into the back for a moment to wash his hands, and I was just bringing their order to the table, when the unthinkable happened. This was the fateful day that kicked off a series of traumatizing events.

A masked - no, hooded man came in with a gun, and before anybody could react, he was already on the counter.

"Show me the safe!" the thief hollered, grabbing onto Pop's collar. My blood ran cold. The shouting startled the tray out of my hand, sending its contents flying over the floor.

The hooded man turned his attention in my direction, his gun pointed. Fred Andrews put a hand on my wrist and stood up, slowly pulling me backward. Archie emerged from the bathroom in that moment, and the rest went by in a blur.

A gunshot going off, Archie running forward, someone pushing me to the ground. I just remember screaming.

The next thing I knew, the robber was gone and in Archie's arms lay his fatally wounded father, while Pop Tate called for an ambulance.

"Oh my God," I gasped, scurrying over. Fred's wound was oozing blood like a faucet, and I hadn't a clue on how to stop it. I put a hand on Archie's shoulder. He couldn't stop shaking.

"I have to get him to a hospital," he said through his tears.

I nodded. "The ambulance-"

"Will take forever," said Archie, cutting me off. "I'll drive him."

"You're too shaken up. I'll drive," I said. Archie didn't have it in him to argue, so he handed me the car keys and I helped him get his father in the backseat of his truck. His blood stained my work uniform, but that was the last thing on my mind right then. It was true that I was less erratic than Archie, but even my hands were shaking. I couldn't get the eyes of the robber out of my head. Green. Blank.

"Can't you go faster?" asked Archie.

"I'm going as fast as I can," I promised.

He turned to check on his wheezing father. "It'll be okay, Dad," he breathed, his voice on the verge of breaking. "We're almost there."

Archie jumped out of the vehicle before we'd even come to a halt. I quickly shut off the truck and aided the redhead in carrying Fred into the hospital.

"Help, please!" Archie choked out. "Help, hey! Someone help my dad!"

Nurses came running.

"What happened to him?" one of them asked. "Does he have any medical problems? Any conditions?" They took Fred off our hands and put him on a stretcher. Archie ran a desperate hand through his hair as he tearfully told the nurses his father's name. He followed them to the emergency room, but I couldn't bring myself to take any more steps forward.

I wanted to call someone, but who? My dad was at work, and we didn't get along much anyway. My mom, who was the only person I really wanted to talk to in that moment, couldn't take calls until Monday. As for my friends, I tried Midge's phone first.

She picked up on the third ring. "Sunny," she said groggily. "What's up?"

Tears were spilling over my cheeks before I could even think of words to say. My voice was thick with emotion when I spoke. "Something really bad happened," I said.

I stayed in the waiting room, finally dry-eyed after a long, satisfying weep to relieve the shock. Archie joined me sometime later, and despite not being that close to him, I got out of my seat and hugged him. He needed it, judging from the helpless look on his face and the trails of dried tears on his blood-stained cheeks.

"How is he?" I asked, when I finally pulled away.

"He - he's in surgery." Archie rubbed the back of his head, red-faced from worry. "Thank you. For driving us here. I don't have my license yet and if you hadn't - I mean, maybe moving him in his condition made it worse, but..." He struggled to speak, his eyes welling with tears once again.

"I'm sorry," I said, exhaling shakily. "If I hadn't been there, maybe the thief wouldn't have shot his gun at all. Your dad took a bullet for me. I feel awful, Archie. I'm so, so sorry." This time he went in for a hug, but this did nothing to relieve me of the guilt bubbling in my chest. "Let me do something. Get you or your dad a change of clothes, buy you lunch - anything."

Archie smiled despite himself, though the smile didn't reach his eyes. "Thanks, Sol, but you don't owe me anything," he said. "My friends are already on their way. They'll be here any minute."

I nodded. "So will Midge," I said. And the news spread from there. Students and teachers poured into the hospital waiting room, little by little. I was sat in the corner, giving Archie and his friends some space to talk about what had happened. My head was resting against the wall and my knees were pulled up to my chest.

I only looked up when I heard Midge's voice.

"Sunny," she gasped, her kitten heels clicking against the hospital floor as she rushed to my side. "Oh, good lord, you're okay." She embraced me tightly, which gave me the chance to look behind her at the guys she'd come with. Moose and Reggie were there, dressed in their Bulldogs jackets.

"Hey, we heard what happened from Midge," Moose said. "Where's Andrews?"

I glanced at the seats he and his friends had been in a while ago, but they were empty now. "He was just here," I sniffled. "He can't be too far."

Midge's eyes were full of concern as she took in my appearance. "Is any of this blood yours?" she asked, pointing at my uniform.

I shook my head and showed her the back of my arm. "No, but I did cut myself on broken glass when Mr. Andrews pushed me out of the way," I said.

Reggie made a pained face at the cuts. "You, uh, gonna get that stitched up?" he asked. "Or checked out, at least."

I shrugged a shoulder. "I'll just wrap it when I get home," I said, before turning to Midge. "You didn't happen to bring me an extra set of clothes, did you?"

Midge dug into her backpack and pulled out a neatly folded top and skirt, which I was sure would fall way too short on me. Midge and I wore the same size most of the time, but I was a head taller, being 5'7.

My theory was proven correct as soon as I'd changed into the clothes in an empty bathroom stall. The shirt ended right above my belly button and I was sure that one wrong move would give everyone a free show of my butt.

I sighed and turned to look in the mirror. My usually olive skin had a sickly yellow glow to it and my lips were as white as paper. I washed off my smudged makeup, leaving me barefaced. I finger-combed my black, waist-length curls and decided I was good to go.

Once outside, I tugged on the arm of the first semi-friend I could find. Reggie craned his neck down to look at me.

"I need your jacket," I said. "My whole stomach and half my ass are showing in Midge's clothes."

Reggie eyed me up and down, before giving me a shrug. "I don't see the problem with that," he said.

I glared. "This isn't the time," I said. I was used to Reggie's inappropriateness by now, and he was honestly the only one that could (sort of) get away with the sex jokes and 'peeking'. But with everything that was going on, I couldn't see the humor in anything.

Reggie shrugged off his jacket and held it out to me.

"Thank you," I said, before putting it on. The thing swallowed me up like a big blanket, and I couldn't complain. The jacket was still warm from Reggie's body heat, making it feel like a whole hug. On top of that, I had expected the collar to smell overwhelmingly of men's cologne. Instead I was met with a pleasantly sweet scent and just a hint of spice.

Reggie was doing that dumb pouty smile thing when I looked back up at him. I raised an eyebrow.

"What?" I asked.

He shook his head, but his smile only widened. "Nothin'."

"Okay then, weirdo." I turned away from the taller boy, off to find Midge.