Disclaimer: I only own Holly, Madison's name, Mrs. Nelson, Principal Rooney, Parker and Todd. Please review! Thanks a bunch!! :)

Chapter 8

            I had an exceedingly disturbing dream. I don't exactly know what happened; I just had this overwhelming feeling of dread and despair. There were shades of black and grey and dark purple…then shouts of cruel laughter…I woke up feeling scared and worried.

            Two-Bit was snoring peacefully beside me and that gave me some reassurance knowing he would protect me no matter what.

            I gently poked him in the stomach and me made a noise and shoved my finger away. I stroked his hair and he still shoved me away. Then I bent down and kissed him, only this time he grabbed my head and pulled me against him.

            I tried to laugh but he held my lips in his. He deepened the kiss, prying my mouth open with his tongue.

            He drew back a while later, wearing a grin. "Thanks for the wake up," he chuckled. I giggled and got out of his bed, brushing off my shorts and sweatshirt. I quickly put my white sneakers back on and followed Two-Bit into the kitchen. Madison was sitting at the kitchen table, playing with a doll. Mrs. Mathews was bent over in the fridge, squinting at something. She looked at us when we entered. "Oh, hello Holly! Good morning Keith. Keith, do you know where the half-gallon of milk went?"

            Two-Bit shuffled his feet. "I'm a growing boy; I need my calcium."

            Mrs. Mathews laughed. "Keith! Well, I guess I can't hassle you for drinking milk. Do you two want a quick breakfast before you go?"

            We had some time to spare, so Mrs. Mathews made us some scrambled eggs and sausage.

            It kind of made me feel guilty eating food from Mrs. Mathews. She had a real tough time with money, and had to work as a barmaid to support Two-Bit and Madison ever since their father ran out on them. I didn't really know Two-Bit's dad, and Two-Bit never talked about him. I didn't even talk about my dad. I guess us greasers just don't like to talk about the past.

            We finished our breakfast and hopped into Two-Bit's car. "Ugh, what I would give to skip school forever," I sighed unhappily.

            "Tell me about it. But Mr. Jackass will call our parents to make sure they knew we weren't in school and we'd get busted. Say," he said, "How about we swing by Curtis' and pick up Pony and Johnny?"

            "Sounds good! Let's go."

            Two-Bit made a sharp right that almost launched me out of the car. "Jeez! Where did you learn to drive?" I yelped, and Two-Bit just laughed.

            Thankfully we arrived at Pony's without any major injuries and honked twice. Pony stuck his head out the window and Two-Bit shouted that we'd give him and Johnnycake a ride to school. Pony gave us a 'thumbs up' and dashed back inside. Him and Johnny appeared a couple seconds later and hopped into the backseat. "Thanks, Two-Bit!" Pony said, and Johnny grinned at us. I knew he wouldn't open his mouth if he weren't forced to.

            We arrived to school with only sheer minutes to spare, so we ran out of the car and into the school. We all branched out into different hallways, and I bumped into Sandy. She smiled at me. "Hey Holly, running late?"

            I grinned back. "Just a bit. How many minutes until homeroom?"

            She checked her watch. "Er, three. Better hurry. Want me to wait for you?"

            "Yeah, if it isn't too much trouble." I dashed to my locker and spun the combination. I took out my math notebook, binder and a pencil, and hastily slammed my locker shut. Sandy and I hurriedly walked to first period, which was just the next door on the left.

            We made it just in time; we slid into desks on either side of Evie just as the bell rang. Mrs. Nelson looked at us suspiciously, but couldn't press charges because we were on time. Barely, but we were.

            "Alright class, please take out your homework from yesterday. Switch with the person on your left and…"

            There was a knock on the door that cut Mrs. Nelson off. She looked surprised; her eyebrows furrowed as she marched towards the door. She swung it open, revealing a student and Principal Rooney.

            Rooney cleared his throat. "Ahem, Mrs. Nelson? Mr. and Mrs. Ryan request that their son be put into your class. I do hope this isn't a inconvenience. Good day." And with that, Mr. Jackass strode down the hall, leaving the teacher and student looking perplexed. Well, the teacher was…the student looked somewhat arrogantly…and familiar.

            It hit me like a load of bricks. That's Parker!

            The blood drained from my face and my eyes grew to the size of saucers as Parker strode into the room. There were two empty seats in the whole room; one in the far back right corner of the room, and one…next…to…me!

            I silently prayed, but of course Mrs. Nelson assigned him the seat next to me. How else to spice up my life than by sitting my worst enemy next to me? I suddenly remembered my dream and shuddered. Parker was dressed in baggy blue jeans and a black t-shirt.

            He slid smugly into the seat next to me. "Why, hello there Holly," he whispered, "Fancy seeing you here."

            "What are you doing here?" I asked furiously, shaking off my fear.

            "Weren't you listening? Didn't you hear the principal say my 'parents requested that their son be put in this class?'"

            "More like Todd," I shot back, shuddering, "Why don't you forget about Todd and start being nice to me?"

            Parker scooted closer to me and leaned in. "Because blood is thicker than water."          

            I gasped. "You're cousins?"

Parker chuckled, but said nothing. Mrs. Nelson started talking, but I couldn't concentrate. No wonder a middle classer would help out a hood; they were cousins!

Math was over before I knew it. Evie and Sandy stayed behind to ask Mrs. Nelson something about volume, but I wanted out of that classroom.

Parker followed me out and casually draped an arm around my shoulders. I shrugged it off, but he put it back. "What do you want?" I snapped, walking faster in the direction of my science room.

"It's not what I want," he said, "It's what Todd wants. And I think you know what he wants."

"Why are you his slave?" I asked, disgusted.

"He's done a lot for me in the past. Helped out my family and crap. So he wants me to pay it all back to him by giving him you."

I shuddered again. "Well, he's not going to get me, so just forget about it," I said, trying to sound defiant and confident. I hoped I succeeded.

But you should know by now I'm hardly ever right.