NOTE: this chapter kind of gets creepy at the end... i hope you like it... rating might go up

"You," he gasped, fuming. "You, are in very big trouble. I think that a suitable punishment would be…"

"That's enough," came a crisp voice from behind him.

All of the kids looked up to see Principal Claire Fletcher-Wolfe.

"Mr. Murney," she said sternly. "I think you have hurt these children enough. Why don't you go back to your office now?"

Mr. Murney left, but with the look that Zoe saw in his eyes, he was going to get revenge.

"Zoe, Lulu," Mrs. Fletcher-Wolfe asked, "Where's Seth?"

"Probably in the guys' bathroom," Zoe said.

"Or somewhere really quiet," answered Lulu softly. "He stays alone when he's sad."

"Is everything alright at home?" Mrs. Fletcher-Wolfe inquired.

"Yeah," said Zoe half-heartedly.

The principal couldn't help but notice the way she was holding back, not ready to open up her inner emotions.

"Everything ok with you and Shane?" Zoe asked, changing the subject.

Mrs. Fletcher-Wolfe blushed. "Yes." She and Lieutenant Shane Wolfe had gotten married the summer before. "Lulu, Zoe. I want you to go to class now. Tell them you're excused by me. I'll send Shane to go find Seth. He does have wrestling today, you know."

Zoe and Lulu nodded, and did as she told.

Seth was curled up on the playground, hidden from view. He rocked himself back and forth, trying to block out the words, the incidents that had happened that morning.

He had cried all he could; he couldn't anymore. He knew he would be picked on, again. They thought he was weird, but before his dad's death, he had had a lot of friends. But after the accident, he felt as though his life was being destroyed, and became depressed. One by one, even his closest friends left him and joined the wrestling thugs. His ex-best friends were now his worst enemies.

Seth heard a noise in front of him, and didn't bother to look up. Just someone going to make fun of him. Again.

"Seth?" he heard a voice call.

Seth raised his tear-streaked face from his lap. "Yeah Shane?"

"Hey Seth," Shane, his wrestling coach and past friend asked. "You okay?"

"Yeah," Seth sighed, quietly, wiping tears from his eyes.

"What happened?" Shane inquired, softly. "Was it Murney?"

"Yeah," Seth answered.

"Don't listen to anything he says," Shane told him. "Do you want to talk about anything?"

Seth considered it. He considered releasing all of his emotions that tore inside of him, reaching, clawing to get out. But he decided not to, and keep them, running from them, trying to silence the screams of the past. "No."

Shane sighed. He could tell Seth was bluffing, but he didn't want to push the teen. He was moody enough as it was. "Ok, but you know, you can talk to me about anything."

"Ok," Seth replied, looking at the floor.

"Why don't you get to class now?" Shane said. "And I'll see you at wrestling today, ok?"

"Okay," Seth said. "But you're not going to see me anytime other than that."

"But what about the party for the wrestling team?" Shane asked, alarm rising in his voice. "Aren't you coming?"

"No," Seth replied quietly. "Zoe and I are grounded for smashing each other's CD's and for me flushing Zoe's stuff down the toilet."

Shane laughed, and helped the troubled teen up. "Come on Seth, go to class."

Seth looked behind him. "Ok," he said simply, and stalked off to class.

At recess, Lulu saw Mr. Murney creeping around, talking to the kids. She thought he was a wacko, and turned away.

Zoe sat with her group, next to Scott. But then, her biggest enemy, a girl named Sonya Smithenson came and sat on the other side of Scott.

"What are you doing Sonya?" Zoe yelped.

"Just sitting with your boyfriend," Sonya replied, feisty. "He probably likes me better anyway."

"Yeah right," Zoe argued. "If he likes you better, than why is he with me?"

Scott was starting to look a little uncomfortable. "Uh… guys, I mean, girls, can you stop talking about me?"

"Why shouldn't he like me?" Sonya intruded. "I mean, I'm thin and I'm prettier than you'll ever be."

"Are you calling me fat?" said Zoe, in an incredulous tone. "I'm fat?"

"Yeah," said Sonya snobbily. "It doesn't take a genius to notice that."

"I'm not fat!" Zoe screamed. "I'm not. I'm not, right Scott."

Scott hid his head in his hands. He didn't want to get involved.

"Fine!" Zoe yelled. "Scott, WE'RE THROUGH!"

She burst into tears, and ran off into the distance.

Seth witnessed everything. He dropped his lunch to the ground in surprise as his sister ran off.

"Zoe!" he shouted, running after her.

Zoe was uncontrollable. As he caught up, she stumbled to the floor, and kept on sobbing.

"Zoe!" he yelled. "Ignore them; they're just jerks! Come on, Zoe. It'll be okay; you can do better than Scott."

Zoe raised red-rimmed eyes, and began crying again.

Seth just hugged her, and quietly rocked her back and forth until she calmed down.

"I'm not fat, am I?" she choked.

"No!" Seth yelped. "You're like the thinnest person I know! Don't think like that!"

"Yeah, ok Seth," Zoe whispered. "I have to go clean up now, ok?"

"Ok," Seth told her. "Just ignore everything they said. They're just crazy."

Zoe looked at her unhappily at her reflection in the girls' bathroom.

She stepped backward a couple of steps, and looked at her figure. She wasn't fat, was she? But the body that she had been so happy with this morning, now looked ugly and fat.

Fine. She would skip lunch, skip a couple of meals, and lose weight. Zoe looked at her uneaten lunch, and resisted an urge of hunger and threw it in the trashcan. It wasn't thelast time she would do this.

eh... Zoe is going to be anorexic or bulimic; haven't decided yet... lulu's and seth's problems come later.

if u wanna find out what happens to all of them, please review.

FiNnGrl