Hello fellow humans! New chapter today as promised. An interesting chapter if I say so my self. The next chapter will be posted on Tuesday so remember to be on the lookout. As always, enjoy and be safe.

Chapter 18

A few weeks pass by smoothly. Dani is in Algebra class with Emma, Amelia, and James. The teacher, Mr. Gainer, was explaining different methods to use when it comes to finding the slope of an equation. He was explaining this in a slow, monotone voice which led half the class to sleep. Emma and Amelia had their heads down, taking a nap. James was on his phone while Dani was trying to pay attention to the lesson. She never liked math but needed the class to pass. She just never understood the point of learning so many equations that she was never going to use in the future.

"Are you paying attention to the lesson, Dan?" James asked while taping her shoulder.

"I'm trying to," Dani replied. "But half of the stuff that the teacher says doesn't stick to my brain."

James chuckles. "At least you get half. I have retained zero information about this," he says while pointing at his worksheet. "And the girls most definitely are on the same page as me."

The teacher walks around checking if the students are doing their work. He is near Dani and her table so Dani shoves Emma and Amelia, waking them up.

"What happened," Emma said, rubbing her eyes.

"Teacher is coming," Dani replied. Mr. Gainer arrives at their desk looking at their work.

"How come you haven't started Ms. Emma?" he asked.

"I uh… Don't have a pencil," she replied. She looks at Dani with a smile. "Do you have a pencil I can borrow, Dani?"

"Why yes I do," Dani replied. She opens her folder and takes out a mechanical pencil, handing it to Emma.

"I hope you all finish your work before the end of class," said the teacher. "You guys have 5 minutes before we leave."

"On it, sir," Emma said. The four friends do their work and finish roughly a minute before the bell rang. The teacher was at the entrance collecting students' work as they left. Dani and her friends hand over their work and leave the class, heading towards the cafeteria.

"I'm glad class ended," Amelia said. "I am starving."

"Me too. Sleeping can make a person very hungry," said Emma.

They are walking in the middle of the hallway when out of nowhere someone throws a water bottle at the group of friends, hitting Amelia on her shoulder. They turn around and see Amanda and Max laughing.

"What's the big idea?" Asked Amelia while rubbing her shoulder. "Why the hell did you do that?"

"I don't know what you are talking about," replied Amanda, giving her a fake, clueless face.

"You know exactly what you did," said James, arms crossed across his chest.

"Don't talk to my girl like that," Max said, stepping forward.

"You can't tell me what to do," James said in a slightly higher volume. "You don't scare me for crap. You don't have your monkeys here with you to defend you."

Dani rolls her eyes, annoyed. "C'mon guys let's go. They aren't worth our time." The three friends look at her and nod in agreement. They turn around in direction to the cafeteria when Amanda says something to them.

"Dani, Dani. Always running away from your problems. Is that why your brother died?" She had searched up Dani days before. She came across a news article written years back about the death of her brother.

Dani pauses. She bit her lip and turned around. "What the hell did you just say?" She asked in a low, angry tone.

"The day your brother Lucas died. You probably ran away instead of helping," Amanda said, staring at Dani. She knew she would get a reaction from her if she said this.

Dani frowns and walks closer to Amanda. "You keep his name out of your filthy mouth," she stated, biting her words. Emma walks towards Dani and places her hand on Dani's shoulder.

"Dan, let's just go. All she wants is trouble," Emma said, hoping her words would calm Dani.

"How does it feel being the reason why your brother is dead?" Amanda said, walking closer to Dani.

"If you don't shut the fuck up, I will make you," Dani said in an intimidating tone.

"I mean, let's all be honest here," Amanda said, stretching her arms. "He probably deserved it." She said with a smirk.

Those final words were Dani's last straw. Dani dropped her folder and looked straight at Amanda. She clenched her jaw and threw a punch at Amanda's face, which made her stumble back. Out of nowhere, another girl came out from behind the lockers and swung a punch, aiming at Dani's jaw. Dani steps back and looks at the girl, recognizing her as one of Amanda's minions. The girl takes another swing but Dani dodges it. Amanda kicks away Dani's folder and lunges at Dani. Amanda manages to scratch Dani's face, but Dani throws a punch right at her stomach, causing Amanda to fall.

When this commotion was happening, Max took out a small bag the size of his palm and slid it inside Dani's folder, which was on the floor. James steps in and grabs a hold of Dani, stopping her. Max goes next to Amanda who was on the floor. A group of students gathered around the comotion, recording everything that was happening. They hear security running in the hallway, yelling at them. Security arrives and quickly takes all three girls to the office.

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Emily was in the lounge, eating lunch with Penelope and JJ. They all agreed on ordering Italian so they were all enjoying their lunch. They were in the middle of a conversation when Emily's phone rang. She stood up and answered the phone thinking it was about a new case.

"This is Unit Chief Prentiss speaking," she answered.

"Hello, Ms. Prentiss. I am Principal Farmer from your daughter's school," said the man from the other side of the phone.

"Principal Farmer? Is everything okay?" asked the brunette in a worried tone. She wonders why the principal of Dani's school is calling her.

"Ms. Prentiss, I have to inform you that Daniela was involved in a fight that took place today. She won't be released until you pick her up."

"What?" Emily said, shocked with what she was just informed. She couldn't believe what she was told. Dani was not the type of person involved in violent incidents in school. It had to be some sort of misunderstanding. Penelope and JJ look up and wonder what was going on in the phone conversation.

"Yes, Ms. Prentiss. Daniela is here with me in the office," answered the principal.

Emily lets out a frustrated sigh. "I will be there in ten minutes," she said.

"Very well. See you then," said the principal. Emily hung up her phone and turned around, shaking her head. She sees that Penelope and JJ are both looking at her, curious about what happened.

"What was the call about?" asked JJ.

"It was from Dani's school," the agent pauses and takes a breath. "Dani got into a fight."