I went to school the next day wrought with anxiety. In fact, I was a nervous wreck!I walked into the school, and looked frantically, (but inconspicuously) around the commons area, looking at every face for Amy. I felt an arm hit me, and I looked at Holly, who had just stopped next to me.

"Did you hear anything?" she said anxiously.

"Not a thing." I said back. She looked at the floor.

"We'll find her, don't worry." I said with faked enthusiasm.

"You think so?" she said without looking up from the floor.

"Yeah, I do. In fact, she'll probably make fun of us for worrying about her!" we both chuckled, but the fear remained…

……………………………………………………………………………………………....

Amy wasn't in class, or at lunch. The worry we'd felt in the morning, was now turning to fear. Holly came to me in the hall, and shook my shoulder fiercely.

"Where is she?! Why isn't she in school?!" I saw tears threatening to fall from her eyes.

"Calm down…she's probably sluffing with Justin. Don't worry…"

"But what if she's not? She wouldn't sluff for TWO days! What if she was kidnapped, and being tortured at this very moment, and we're not thinking about saving her?!" Her hand clenched on my shoulder, and she closed her eyes.

"Holly, um…ow." She took her hand off of my shoulder, but didn't open her eyes. I didn't know what to say, I didn't know how to comfort her, I didn't know what to do…This was turning into too much to handle.

I went through the rest of the day trying not to think about the things that could be happening to Amy. I was even considering telling an administrator, or going to the Police, but I didn't want to get too carried away just in case she was just sluffing a day. I was soon annoyed to find out that I had to stay after school for Debate, I texted Holly to let her know.

I've gotta stay after for Debate, so don't wait for me.

She's a fast texter, so a reply came quickly,

Okay.

I like that about Holly, short and sweet, and not a lot of fluff.

……………………………………………………………………………………………....

My Debate practice went very well, and I was in the lead for first slot at the upcoming tournament. The excitement only lasted for a minute, and then fright gripped my stomach again. The feeling was like being carsick, but not the throwing up kind, the kind that makes you want to kill yourself because you feel that it will never go away, no matter what you try.

I dropped by my locker on the upper floor quickly, and put my Debate materials away. I marked the date for the tournament on my magnetic calendar quickly, and then turned to my pocket sized mirror stuck to the locker door. I pushed my hair up with my fingertips in a weak attempt to give it more volume, but it was the end of the day, so I wasn't too worried about it. And then I heard someone down the hall, wait…two people? They sounded like they were having some sort of argument…

Curious, I walked around the hall of the school. Gotham High is shaped almost like a semi-circle, but at a more of an obtuse angle. It looks exactly like an 'elbow-roni' noodle. So I walked around the rounded wall of the school, getting closer to the arguing.

"Stop it! Just stop-!" I could tell it was a girl saying it. But there was no reply from the other person. I thought I heard…grunting?

"Shut up!" the other person finally replied. There was a noise of scuffing shoes, a few bangs, and the girl began to whimper. I turned the corner to see, to my horror and relief, Amy and Justin.

But something was wrong.

I turned the corner just in time to see Justin backhand slap Amy onto the ground. She let out a shriek, and before I knew it, I was charging towards Justin. Rage gripped my body, and I felt my temperature blow its top. My mind wasn't functioning, I only had one objective…

Kill Justin…kill him…

I felt my shoulder swing back, and my fingers curl and clutch into a fist. I felt my left hand grab his right shoulder, spin him around, and I saw his face of surprise as I punched him as hard as I could in the face.

He fell to the ground with an, "Augh!"

I leaned over and yelled straight into his face.

"DON'T YOU EVER, EVER TOUCH HER AGAIN, YOU…YOU-!!!" I couldn't even come up with an insult or a threat to frighten him with, I was so enraged.

"IF YOU DO, I WILL KILL YOU! DO YOU HEAR ME?!" I shouted again. I felt the air in my throat coming in short bursts, and my body was shaking from the rush of adrenaline. I glanced over at Amy. She was lying on the ground, gaping at me with a horrified expression. Her hand was over the spot on her face where Justin had hit her, and her body was racking with silent sobs. She blinked her eyes twice, and I saw the tears begin to spill over.

In one swift movement, I was over to her, picking her up quickly, but gently. We began walking back towards my open locker, and I took special care to make sure that I stomped on Justin's outreached hand as we passed. I glanced backwards, and saw Justin struggling to his feet. We turned the corner, putting Justin out of view, and behind us, we heard him bang his fists against the lockers lining the hall.

The noise echoed throughout the halls, and was joined by the sound of my slamming my locker closed as we walked past it. We walked in silence until we reached the front doors, and as soon as we passed the doors, her knees collapsed, and she fell into my arms sobbing.