Here's Chapter 2, up and running! As you may have noticed, I've altered lines and character responses to show what I think would happen if I was there instead. This will show up more often in later chapters. So, enjoy!

….

The next day I did my usual routine. I was wearing my usual uniform of ponytail, jeans, and a tee-shirt, a sage-colored Palm Springs one today( I'm going to be naming tee-shirts I own). When I got on the bus, I displayed my usual exterior of calm disinterest, but inside I was an emotional jumble. I was dreading seeing Dana again, as I didn't know what he'd do next, but most of all, I was thrilled by the idea of seeing the barefoot guy again.

I got on to less twittering than the day before, but there was still some drama. I made my way to the seat across the isle from Garret, who looked up from his book as I sat down. He looked me over.

"Sweet threads." He noted. I gave him a distracted smile and thanks. He must have noticed my discomfort, because he gave me a sympathetic smile. He then looked back at some commotion at the back of the bus, and I followed his gaze. It was Dana, the jock's jock, wrestling with a couple of his buddies. Garret looked back at me and sat back down. "Hey, man! Looks like it might be your lucky day!"

I sighed. Great. If I had had any luck remaining, he'd just jinxed it. True to my pessimistic thoughts, Dana spotted me and started to move my way. I glared Garret, who gave a sheepish "Sorry.", and quickly turned back to my book, in the vain hope he would leave me alone if I were busy.

"Hey, babe." I sighed. No such luck. "What 'cha doing tonight?" Not looking up from my book, I shot back, "None of your business, jackass." He glowered at me. "Well then, I'll take it that you'll be going with me to the movies, then, since you apparently have nothing to do."

I looked up then. The nerve! "Actually, I'm going to dinner with my parents. And even if I wasn't, there is no way I would EVER go out with you."

He grabbed my hair then, and yanked it hard. He just had the chance to spit into my ear "Listen, BITCH….", before I did what any self-respecting girl would do. I clocked him. Hard. I spun around, like I did for discus, and punched him in the nose with a resounding CRUNCH. I caught a glimpse of a tanned blond blur out of the corner of my eyes, and with a split second thought, was of like a shot. I grabbed my stuff, just as the bus was slowing, and, to Garret's protests of "Where are you going?" ran off the bus. As I was shooting through the doors, I bumped into a girl only a couple inches shorter than me. She had blond hair, lighter than mine, in a cool braided design that I noted for future use.

"Watch it!" She snapped at me. She had on red glasses, and had brown eyes.

"Sorry!" I gasped as I ran past. I could hear Dana screeching from the bus, and I didn't want to be there for the aftermath.

I shot down the street in pursuit, finding my rhythm as I ran. Running off my adrenaline was a relief.

"Hey! Wait!" I shouted. I was about 40 feet behind him now. He looked back, and I saw a shocked expression on his face, most likely from the fact I was gaining on him. I smiled at that. He's probably never seen anyone as fast as him before. No one's ever seen me run full out, not even me.

I decided to give it a shot. I ran after him a while longer, crossing a bridge, and following him onto a golf course. Finally, I stopped. I watched him run into the forest surrounding the course. I wouldn't chase him. I assumed he had enough on his plate without worrying about some psycho chick running after him. I decided to come back later, and started heading back home, when I heard some frantic shouting.

I turned around just in time to see a golf ball headed towards my forehead. I felt it collide with my head, and blacked out, but not before I heard one of the guys ask "So, what kind of club did you use?"

I hate golfers.

…...

When I woke up, I saw Mama and Dad sitting on my bed. They looked worried.

"Hey," I said hoarsely as I sat up. "What happened?"

"We were hoping you might be able to tell us." Dad, of course. Mom shot him a quick glare, before turning to me. "Honey, why did you punch that boy?" I groaned. I knew I forgot to tell them about yesterday.

"It was in self defense, okay? You know me. If some guy threatens me, I'll go down biting."

"What did he do?" She was deadpanning. This had happened before. But less dramatic as this time. Less physical violence, and more pointed remarks and exclusion from the whole class. Normally, I tell my mom anything important, but this time, for some reason I kept my tongue.

"He got a bit….overenthusiastic when asking me out. He grabbed my hair, and I was trying to get free."

"Well, you broke his nose." I did a short victory dance in my head. Served him right. And if I was taking fairly large pleasure in the fact I broke a guy's nose, well, that was my business, wasn't it?

"And you aren't allowed on the bus for three days."

"Fab! I can ride my bike!"

"That's not the point. Now, I'm glad you stood up for yourself, but I think you went to far." I gaped at him. "Now your principal and I agreed that you should write him a letter of apology." I couldn't believe what I was hearing! Why would they do this to me?

"You're joking!" I gasped. "Why would you do this to me? And, more to the point, who'll help him read it?"

Mom chuckled, but quickly quieted down after a glare from Dad. He was looking seriously at me, and I was gazing angrily at them.

"Please get out of my room." I said stonily. "I'm feeling sick, and I want to sleep." Mom looked upset, and Dad looked angry. He would start shouting soon. "Please." Then they left, leaving me feeling angry and betrayed, to wonder at how he could be so cruel.

…

The next day I was feeling better. I was still seething from Dad's betrayal, but I figured I might as well get the thing over with. At least I was spared the humiliation of reading it to the class. I would be holding this grudge for a while, though. I had ridden my bike to school, so I hadn't seen Dana, thank god.

As I walked out of the cafeteria with my lunch tray, a hand on my shoulder yanked me around. I came face to face with the girl I had jostled on the bus. "You nearly knocked me over yesterday." She stated forcefully. "Why were you running?"

"Look, I had just broken the nose of the meanest jock in school, after having my hair yanked out for turning down a date with the winner." I said the last part with my voice was dripping with sarcasm. "I wasn't going to stick around."

"Oh, I heard all about it, Cali girl, but that's not why you ran off, was it?" My face hardened. She took that as a yes. She pinned me against the wall with my lunch tray, and spat "Tell the truth."

I let her pin me, but it hurt. If you're a girl, you'll know what I'm talking about. I winced, which she, again, took as encouragement. "You were chasing someone, weren't you?" I liked her interrogation style, but less so than if I weren't experiencing it first hand. Then I absorbed what she'd just said.

"You saw him, too? The guy with no shoes?" I winced internally at the eagerness in those words. She got an expression I recognized as the same one I had whenever I talk about wolves, or my dogs. A fierce, protective gaze out of a guarded face. "Oh, I didn't see anything. And if you know what's good for you, neither did you. Got it?" She said it in a way that warranted no disagreement. I gave a tense nod, and she let me go. As I looked at her retreating figure, I wondered how she knew him. And was horrified to feel a bit of jealousy at the thought.

…

"'Dear Dana, I promise not to hit you ever again, so long as you don't ask me out on a date again. I think that's a fair arrangement. I don't date, and would like you to respect that. Most sincerely, Sasha M-F.'" I folded the paper I was reading and leaned forward. "So, what'd you guys think?"

I was reading my 'apology' letter to my parents. I had finally arrived at what I thought was the letter least likely to be rejected by them.

"That was good, sweetheart, but do you think it could be a bit more tactful?" My mom, the diplomat.

"Mom, trust me on this, that is the most tactful way I could possibly think of to say 'bugger off and I won't break a more important part of your body.'"

"The letter's fine. You did good, sweetheart." Well, thank you, Dad. I didn't say anything, because it goes without saying that I was still livid.

"I'm going to go read. Let me know when dinner's ready."

….

At school the next day, (he had been sick) Garret was nearly vibrating with excitement.

"Nobody in the history of Trace High School has EVER hit a Matherson before. Let alone a girl!" At this I glared at him. "Even," he chuckled nervously, "a scary Amazon girl. You're a legend already!"

"Look," I had to stop him. "I'm glad I've left my mark on history. Can we please drop it? Okay look," I added, "I wrote him a note and with any luck, that'll be the end of it."

"A note?" He said with disbelief, "That's adorable. What'd you say? 'Sorry I smoked you, but please don't make me break every bone in your body. If I'm in a forgiving mood, I'll leave you one good arm so you can feed yourself.'"

I started laughing about halfway through. I chuckled, "That's about it, but sadly more subtle, so he probably won't get it."

He joined in, and we were both laughing when I heard a familiar voice say "We've got a game to win. Let's be a team for once." I turned around to see the blond girl walk by.

I nudged a chuckling Garret, and nodded in her direction. "What do you know about her?"

He followed my gaze and deadpanned. "That's Beatrice the Bear." So her name's Beatrice. Interesting. She glared at me as she walked past. "Please don't tell me you messed with her too." I just looked at him. He groaned. "What IS it with you, dude? I mean, seriously?"

"She just got all up in my face for some reason, I'm just wondering why. What's her story?"

"She's a major soccer jock, with attitude. Actually, now that I think about it, you guys are pretty alike. But, off topic. First Dana Matherson, now Beatrice the Bear? You must have one huge death wish, dude."

I thought about what he'd said. I liked Beatrice. She seemed pretty cool, a person I could be friends with. I resolved to talk to her tomorrow, to try and see if we could clear the air. Maybe we could be friends.

…...

There we are! Chapter 2 complete! I'm going to take a break for a little bit, and then see if I can write some more later tonight. Hope you're enjoying the story! Don't forget to Read & Review! Otherwise, I can't tell how many people read it!