I'm so glad you all enjoyed the last chapter! I never knew I'd be able to make so many people fangirl!

Shout out to Extended Experience, Jazira, CRAZYisprayingforMiannaNEKO, A Willowy Foot, ZeroDays, and MarshallAlexandraAnderson for your first time reviews! I enjoyed reading everyone's fangirl reviews!

THIS WHOLE CHAPTER IS A FLASHBACK

Nothing had changed since sixth grade. I thought that moving into the seventh grade would make everyone slightly more mature…but that was wishful thinking. I was still getting pushed around in the halls, getting my books dumped, and being called "freckle face" and/or "ginge" by all the same kids.

"At least I've got you," I sighed, walking down the hall with my math and English books in my arms.

"And at least I've got you," Winston said right back.

"Oh come on," I groaned, "You've got plenty of friends in the Chess Club,"

"Did you…"

"Yes! I took my pills this morning, okay?" I snapped at him.

Winston bit his lip and looked at his feet.

"Sorry," I mumbled, "I just thought things would be different,"

"Heh," Winston laughed bitterly, "Nothing ever changes,"

"Rowy!" a voice called from down the hall.

"Walk faster," I hissed to Winston.

We both picked up the pace, trying not to make any eye contact with anyone. Suddenly, I felt a hand grab my shoulder and spin me around to meet one of the many bullies I ran from every day. Was PE cancelled or something? Or were they skipping because they usually didn't bug me at this time of the day?

"There you are lil' Rowy!" the girl chimed.

Everybody knew Katy, or Kat, the queen of the seventh grade class. She moved through boyfriends like it was nobody's business, set all the trends, and was my greatest fear. Behind her stood her seven friends who were starting to surround me, and right beside her was her boyfriend, Daemon.

"Hi Kat…" I muttered, trying to look for a way out of the ring of girls.

"So how's your first week of being a sevy (seventh grader), treating you?" she asked with her sassy tone.

"It's great," I said stiffly then muttered under my breath, "It would be if you would shove off,"

Kat dropped her innocent sassy act, "What was that?"

I pursed my lips, wishing I had kept it to a minimum.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" she asked again, putting her face in mine.

"Nothing…" I tried to say.

"Say it again," she ordered.

"No…"

"Say it again!" she stomped her high heel on the floor.

I averted my eyes, hoping if I looked away long enough, she'd poof away.

"She said to say it again," Daemon stepped into the fight.

I felt a hot sweat go through me. Now Daemon was involved, shit just got scary. Winston broke his way through the ring of girls and stood beside me.

"She doesn't need to. Let's go Rowan," he said, a sweat noticeable on his face too.

Daemon gave Winston a good shove to the side.

"I wasn't talking to you, nerd," he growled then turned back to me, "Well go on, say it again,"

If I said it, he'd hit me. If I didn't, he'd hit me. And either way, Kat would beat me up later for it.

"Aw come on, Rowy," he smirked, grabbing my cheeks with one hand and mushing them together, making me look like a fish, "Don't be like that,"

"Hey!" one of the girls in the circle was tossed firmly into one of the lockers by some unknown force, leaving an opening in the ring.

A girl with black hair, a Skrillex haircut, bulky hipster glasses, combat boots, fake black pearl earrings, tons of mascara, skull headphones, a Skrillex T-shirt, ripped jeans, and fishnet gloves stepped into the circle with me. All the other girls didn't need to be thrown against a locker, they all scattered at the sight of her. Daemon, quickly let go of my face while Kat hid behind him.

"Is that Crazy Kadence?" one of the bystanders whispered.

Kadence was well known for being just that: crazy. She snapped at almost anything, got into plenty of fights, and was feared by many (even a few of the teachers). That's why she had no friends, not even the gangster kids could get close to her, she'd snap at them too!

"What do you think you're doing?" she asked Daemon, her brown eyes burning into his.

"U-uh, we were j-just talking to Rowy," he said quickly, failing at trying to hide his fear.

Kadence scrunched up her face at him, looking him over from head to toe. Kids were already clearing out of the halls at the sight of her.

"BOO!" she yelled, making everyone, including Daemon, jump back.

"W-what w-was that?" Daemon asked, still trying to look cool.

"Oh, I was just scaring you like you were just talking to the girl," she snarled, "And now I'm just gonna let you have it!"

Kadence slammed her boot into Daemon's stomach, knocking him to the ground, curled up in a ball. She ran up to his body and continued kicking him in the stomach like a soccer ball, rage written all over her face.

"Stop it! Stop it!" Kat cried, pounding her fists onto Kadence's back.

Kadence turned her attention to Katy and gave her a good bitch slap across the face! Silence filled the halls as tears filled Kat's eyes.

"You're going to pay for this!" she shrieked as she helped up her limping boyfriend.

"Oh yeah?" Kadence yelled back, "Who are you gonna tell? The school? One, they don't care and two, even if they did tell my dad, HE'S TOO DRUNK TO HEAR!"

Kat just burst into more tears and ran down the hall with Daemon. I could feel myself shaking in terror, feeling the pure anger coming from Crazy Kadence, I had never been this close to her before! She turned to Winston and I, making us jump back.

"I've seen you before," Kadence squinted her eyes at me.

"U-u-uh…yeah…" I stuttered, backing as far as I could into Winston.

"You're one of the patients in the therapy office, right?" Crazy Kadence asked.

"Y-yeah…you go there too…right?" I asked timidly.

"Yep," Crazy Kadence sighed, "So what are you in for?"

"D-depression…" I squeaked.

"Anger management," she said, pointing to herself.

"Why did you help me?"

"Hey, we both have our physiological struggles," she shrugged, "I couldn't let someone like me get ragged on,"

Our therapists decided to pair us up for sessions, saying that we complimented each other nicely. Kadence taught me to stand up for myself and be a bit forceful about things I wanted. And I taught her to chill and think before she knocked somebody's skull in. I learned all her anger came from the lack of family and care she had at home, her brother living with his girlfriend and her dad drunk and/or not at home. Eventually, Winston stopped being afraid of her and she joined our tiny group. But the softer she became, the less feared she was as well. Soon, she too became a victim of the bullying Winston and I endured but she had excelled so well in her therapy, she shrugged off every insult. She even told me about this weird obsession she had with…Jane Austen books.

Alright so that's how Rowan and Kadence became friends!

Hikaru: Kadence was scary back then...

Rowan: Yeah so you better watch it or I'll sick her on you!

Hikaru: Pffft.

Kadence: Hey, I never signed up for this!

Rowan: Next time we delve back into the world of Realmz for a final showdown between Hikaru and I!

Hikaru: Bring it on!

Rowan: Tune in for Chapter 22, The Bet!