Attention, make sure to read chapter 6 first, uploaded only three hours before this one was. Thanks for waiting, and thanks for reviewing :)

Warning: This chapter contains foul/offensive language and violence.


The Cafeteria

Cory Matthews was on cafeteria duty today. After the fight that broke out between Riley and Maya, the school wanted the lunch room closely monitored for at least a week. He walked around aimlessly, not knowing what to do.

His daughter was acting strange all week, ever since that Monday she came home late. She had skipped his class a few times, stayed in her room more than usual, and got into a fight with her best friend. What had gotten into her?

He grabbed a tray of lunch food and sat at an empty table. He didn't get why the kids hated this food; it wasn't that bad. While taking a big spoonful, two seventh grade girls from one of Riley's classes walked by. Cory recognized them since they were the same age as she was, going to school together since elementary.

"Did you see the fight between Maya and Riley?" one of them said.

"No," the other girl whined. "I missed it. I heard they were fighting over that kid who came to the school this year from Texas. Lucas?"

Her friend nodded. "Yeah. I guess Maya was hitting on Lucas and Riley got jealous, and then they fought."

"Why would Riley be jealous?"

"Because," the girl said, and tried to lower her voice. "Riley and Lucas are a thing, and they're getting serious."

Cory jumped at her words. "WHAT!?" he exclaimed, and the two girls turned around. They looked terrified.

"Mr. Matthews!?" they both exclaimed, and looked at each other. They both turned around and ran out of the cafeteria.

"Wait!" Cory called out, but they were gone in the blink of an eye. He looked around for them, but didn't seem to find them.

He looked ahead and saw him. Lucas was sitting at a table with Maya, talking to each other. He felt anger rush through him. In his mind he had no doubt that this was going to be the day he lost his job, and he was going to kill Lucas. He began to stride over to them before someone grabbed his arm.

"Mr. Matthews?" a boy asked, looking up at him. "The principal wants to see you in the security office."

Cory was confused. Had he killed Lucas already? He looked back at the table. Nope, Lucas was still sitting there with Maya. "Can this wait?" he asked, fighting the urge to run over to Lucas and teach him a lesson.

"He said immediately," the kid responded, and walked away.

Cory groaned and forced himself to walk away and leave the cafeteria. Lucas would be safe for now.


Security Office

Mr. Matthews finally stepped into the security office. There, the principle and Farkle were waiting for him. Cory raised an eyebrow at them.

"What's going on?" he asked, and closed the door behind him.

The principal shrugged. "Your student Farkle Minkus claims that it is something important that we both need to see."

Cory turned to Farkle, and Farkle nodded. "It's about Riley," he said, and went to work on one of the computers there. "Have you noticed that she's been acting strange?"

Cory nodded. "Yes, I have, but what does that have to do with any of this? I need to watch the cafeteria," he said, thinking about Lucas and what the two girls said about him and Riley. The last thing he wanted them to be was a couple. Even worse, a "serious" one.

"And, she has been acting strange since Monday?" Farkle asked, clicking some more.
Cory started to wonder how he knew that. Was it that obvious to her friends too? "Yes actually, she has. How do you-"

"Mr. Matthews," he said, and took a deep breath. The principal crossed his arms and waited for him to speak. "Riley was hurt that day. It was after school when she was leaving detention. And the security camera evidence," he said, and pointed to a file on the computer, "is here."

Cory raised an eyebrow. "Evidence? What do you mean?"

Then, he thought back to that Monday. Riley came home late, and was so evasive. Her face had red marks, and she used a fight as an excuse. She didn't want to be close to her mom, and she quickly went into her room and never came back out for dinner. Someone hurt her. He knew it all along, but wasn't sure until now.

Farkle stood up. "I'm sure this is the right footage from Monday, but I don't think I can watch it, if that's okay with you," he sighed, and walked to the door. "I'm really sorry, Mr. Matthews," he said, and left.

The principal and Cory looked at each other. They knew that now, they had to see what Farkle had found. The principal went over to the computer and sighed. "Well, let's see what this is about," he said, and clicked on the file.

The footage started to play, and it wasn't the best quality. The video was a little dark, and it was of an empty storage room. It was filming from a corner in the ceiling.

Cory was a little nervous. What could this have to do with Riley? Did some girls beat her up or play some kind of cruel prank on her? Was it about Lucas? God, he hoped it wasn't about Lucas! Was it something worse?

It seemed like forever before the door in the video finally opened, and in walked a small dark figure. The lights turned on, showing a pixelated Riley. She slowly walked in and seemed to be looking around.

Then he noticed a figure behind her. A boy, but it wasn't Lucas. Riley had never talked about this guy before. Who was he?

The boy had turned around and closed the door, and locked it. Cory saw Riley turn around and back up as the boy stepped closer. Cory tensed up, he didn't like where this was headed. The boy grabbed her hands and pushed her back against the table, and Cory turned around. "No!" he yelled in anger. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. It couldn't be right! He ran a hand through his hair and turned back around to see the boy slap Riley across the face. Cory's heart was beating fast with rage. "Damn it!" he yelled and went to the office door and slammed his hand on it. This is what happened to Riley? This!? He couldn't wrap his head around the idea. "This can't be happening..." he said, putting a hand against the door and leaning on it.

"Cory, I..." the principal said, hoping to find words to calm him down. He didn't know what to say, and just stayed silent. Cory put his hands on his head and paced around. What was he going to do? His daughter was...

He couldn't even think about it. It made him angry. He wanted to kill this guy who did this to his daughter. Cory turned to the principal. "Find out who he is."


Riley's POV

I backed up again before he caught my wrist. "Don't tell me what to do," Jason said to me angrily, and pulled me closer.

I pulled my wrist back away. This would not happen again. I was tired of feeling victimized every day. It had to stop. "Let me go," I said, and attempted to walk away.

When I turned around, Jason grabbed me by my hair. I screamed and he put a hand over my mouth. "You could've done this the easy way, Riley," he said in my ear, and led me to that same room that I hated so much. I kicked and tried to use my arms to hit him, but he was too strong.

"No!" I screamed, and he out his hand tighter around my mouth. He opened the door to the room and threw me onto the floor. I slid and hit the table on the ground, and grabbed at my side with my hands. That probably bruised me. I looked up and saw him towering over me.

I looked to my side and saw a wrench on the ground. Quickly, I grabbed it and threw it at him. It missed, and made him angrier. "Are you trying to hurt me?" he asked. He didn't wait for an answer, and hit me in the face with his fist. I let out a yelp, and my nose felt like it was broken. A tear streamed down my face as I held my nose, but I wasn't going to give up yet.

Moving fast, I moved to the side and got up. I ran straight for the door. "Get back here!" He yelled at me, but I had already opened the door. I stumbled out and he followed after, and I noticed something out of the corner of my eye.

"Riley?" Maya asked, standing far away from me. She honestly looked scared, something I hardly saw from her. Maya knew Jason, and what he could do. Lucas was standing beside her, but he wasn't looking at me, he was looking at Jason.

"Who are you?" Lucas asked angrily, walked over to us quickly.

My heart started to beat fast. They were going to fight. I wanted my friends to stay out of this. "Lucas," I said, and stepped forward. "Please, just-" I said, but stopped when I felt something drip down on my face. Lucas looked at me, and I realized my nose was bleeding.

He walked past me and in front of Jason. They were about the same height and glaring at each other. "Who. Are. You?" Lucas ordered him to answer.

Jason grinned, and stepped closer to Lucas. "I'm the guy who fucked your girlfriend," he said, pushing Lucas away. That made Lucas really angry. I could see it in the way he clenched his fists and the way his eyes glared. He swung a fist and hit Jason in the face. I gasped, because Lucas was never this violent before. I had never seen him hit someone. Jason only stumbled about one step back before he looked back up at Lucas. He used his hand and wiped blood away from his nose. Jason didn't back down and punched him back, and they both started fighting.

I looked over to Maya, who was frozen in place. She had never been this afraid before. She saw me looking at her and quickly started to make her way over to us.

When I looked back at Lucas and Jason, I saw Jason pull something out of his pocket. It was metal and sharp. I panicked and pushed Jason away. "Don't!" I yelled, and Jason wasn't happy about that. He took the object and swiped it across my stomach. I clutched my stomach with my hands and he pushed me away hard. With more pain than I could handle coming from my stomach, I stumbled and fell into a stack of old desks that were in a corner. The one on the top started to fall, but I was too weak to move away.

It finally lost its balance and fell. The desk landed right on my ankle, and I yelped in pain. "Riley!" Maya exclaimed, and ran over to me. Kneeling down, she pushed the desk off of me and propped me against the wall. I squeezed my eyes shut at the pain.

"Maya," I said, but I couldn't finish my sentence. I let out a small cry and grabbed my stomach harder. It felt like it was on fire.

"Riley," she said, "Lucas and I called the police already, they should be here any second now, maybe with an ambulance, I don't know. But just hold on, okay?"

I shook my head. Everything hurt too much. My stomach, my leg, my nose was possibly broken, and Lucas and Jason were still fighting. I didn't want him to get hurt, and it was making me go crazy. "Maya, I can't, it hurts," I said, and doubled over in pain.

She put me back against the wall. "Just stay still Riley, you'll be okay," she said, and looked at me. Her face was getting blurry, and my eyes were starting to shut. I tried to get myself to stay awake, but I couldn't. I was sure the pain was taking a toll on my body. "No, no, no Riley, you need to stay awake," she said frantically, lightly shaking my shoulders.

I tried to tell her I was going to be fine, but I couldn't talk anymore. I felt more and more lightheaded by the second, and my eyes could hardly stay open anymore. Maya put a hand on my face. "Riles?! Can you hear me? Riley?!..."