"Only two more months until I can get out of this hellhole," Tara said to herself as she pedaled her bike harder to get up the biggest hill in her small town.

Tara always took her bike out for a long ride through town whenever she was upset about something. She took her anger out on the pavement beneath her wheels and grumbled to her bike about her problems. Tara had had a particularly bad day at school.

Though she didn't have any friends, everyone in her small school, the only high school in the county, knew her name. She was the school lesbian and she had held that title since the time in 9th grade when she was caught making out with Darla, the Regina George of Peace High School. Darla and Tara had been secretly dating each other for almost a year when one of her minions saw them together in the back of the school library. Of course, Darla claimed that Tara had forced herself on her; of course, Darla outed her; and of course, she made it her life goal to make Tara's life a living hell to keep her quiet about their time together.

Today had been a day like any other until lunch. The cafeteria was serving carrot cake, one of the few school lunch items that actually tasted like the food it was supposed to be. It, being the most popular dish, was almost sold out halfway through lunch. Through some grace of God, Tara managed to get the last slice of the cake. And as though she were in some sort of movie, Darla happened to be directly behind her. Darla casually reached around and took the cake off her tray without so much as a look at Tara.

"Um, hey," Tara said quietly, so as not to cause a scene, "I've been craving that cake all day. Please give it back. Or maybe we can split it?"

"Sorry. I don't share with dykes," Darla replied loud enough to catch the attention of everyone in the cafeteria.

Tara really hated the d-word. And even when she tried to be polite, Darla was a bitch. She had even said 'please' for Pete's sake! Tara was fed up.

She leaned in close enough to smell Darla's perfume and spoke only loud enough for her to hear, "But I'm not the only dyke here, am I?"

If one looked close enough, he could see the small golden sparks jumping in Tara's eyes.

Tara felt the heat radiating from Darla's skin, and when she leaned back, she saw that Darla's face was almost purple. Tara knew she had made a big mistake, but she could not back down now. She stood waiting for Darla to make the next move.

She saw Darla's knuckles whiten as she gripped her tray harder. Before she could make another move, Tara felt Darla push her tray onto her shirt hard enough to shove her back a few steps. Darla threw punches hard enough to knock out a grown man, but only one of them landed on Tara's jaw. Tara managed to block any other blows with reflexes even quicker than a cat's.

Tara had never been in a fight, but it seemed as though her body already knew exactly how to handle the situation and was acting on autopilot.

Eventually, one of the resource officers was able to pull Darla off of Tara, but not without a struggle. The 350 pound man was having a surprisingly hard time trying to control the tiny waif of a girl.

Another officer appeared to take Tara, but she stood up by herself and did not put up a fight when he grabbed her arm. She ducked her head in embarrassment letting her hair cover her face as they left the cafeteria and headed towards the principal's office, but she was not ashamed of what she had done.

Tara, covered in school gravy and mashed potatoes, sat in one of the chairs in the office as they called her mother. The secretary had already called Darla's parents, but they were in Spain on a business trip, so they left them a voicemail, and sent her home with a 10-day suspension. As Darla was leaving, Tara's mother arrived with a stony expression on her face.

"Come on in, Mrs. Maclay," Principal Flutie said with a sad smile, "You too, Tara."

Tara stood and followed her mother into the office.

"Have a seat."

Tara sat next to her mother and across from Principal Flutie at his desk.

"I've called you here today to talk about-"

Tara tuned out the rest of the conversation as she got lost in her own thoughts. Why did she say what she said to Darla? She knew that she would only provoke her. Tara had always been a docile child, but Darla just made her so angry. Nothing and no one else in the world could piss her off with so few words. She needed to leave the school, and she needed to do it sooner rather than later.

"-expulsion. It's just-"

"Wait. I'm expelled?" Tara said shocked.

"I said that it is not expulsion, Tara. Please pay attention." Flutie gave her a concerned look.

"Sorry." Tara sank down further in her seat.

"As I was saying, we're not going to expel her," Flutie turned to Mrs. Maclay, "The normal course of action for fighting on school grounds is a 10-day suspension, but this seems like a special case. Tara is a star student, and I have only heard good things from her teachers. Also, witnesses have said that the other student was bullying Tara and had been doing so for a long time now-"

"Excuse me, but if it has been going on for so long, why is the school just now taking action?" Mrs. Maclay cut in.

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Maclay, but I cannot do anything until there is concrete evidence of bullying," Mrs. Maclay was not satisfied with his answer, but she let him continue, "Anywho, witnesses saw the other student harassing Tara, and she started the fight, so we can record this as self-defense. However, we still have to take disciplinary action. What do you want to do?"

Mrs. Maclay glanced at Tara and her features softened as she saw her daughter so upset.

"Can she finish the year at home?" Mr. and Mrs. Maclay knew that their daughter was unhappy at school, and they had been trying to find ways to help her with that. Mrs. Maclay saw this little altercation as a blessing in disguise.

Tara's heart skipped a beat at her mother's suggestion. Being done with the idiots at Peace High School a couple months earlier than she expected would make her happier than anything else.

Principal Flutie hesitated before he answered.

"Well, I would hate to take a student out of school, but since she is such a good student and she is almost finished anyway, I think I can make an exception. Though there will be a mark on her permanent record. Of course, I'll have to talk to the school board about this first."

"Of course."

"I do, however, have to send Tara home for the rest of the day."

"I understand."

"Just sign these papers and you can be on your way."

Mrs. Maclay signed the papers, and the two women left the building without incident. Tara buckled herself into the front seat and did not say a word to her mother. As happy as Tara was about the possibility of never having to see Darla again, just the thought of the girl who had tormented her for the better part of their high school career pissed her off. They were halfway home before Mrs. Maclay broke the silence in the car.

"I'm sorry this happened, Tara, but you know that fighting is never okay."

Tara wanted to snap, but she just could not bring herself to be angry with her mother.

"I know. I'm sorry." She spoke quietly then turned to watch the trees pass by her window.

Mrs. Maclay knew her daughter well enough to know that she need some space, so she gave it to her. She knew that their inevitable conversation could wait. They rode the rest of the way home in silence.

Once the car was parked in the garage, Tara quickly got out and moved to unlock her bike.

"I'm going for a ride," Tara said tersely as she swung one leg over the bike.

"Be back before dinner." Mrs. Maclay called as she watched her daughter speed off around the corner.

Mrs. Maclay stood in her place a little longer. She hated to see her daughter so upset, but she knew it was all necessary to fulfill the prophecy. She went inside and dialed Grandma Maclay's number.

"Hello?" Grandma Maclay answered.

"It's started."

"What's started, dear? You sound exhausted. Relax."

"Tara. We saw the first sign."

"Oh," Grandma Maclay paused and let the new information sink in. Her voice was slightly deeper and much steadier when she spoke again, "I'll call the others. Tell Chris, but don't fret. I'll handle everything."