Tell The Truth!

I don't own Fillmore.

The pops fell down through the machine, and Ingrid bent over to get it. Putting some more money in she waited for the other pop. I'm going to tell him, she convinced herself, if I tell Cody he will be there and I won't be alone anymore. Smiling happily at the thought of him, she bent over, took the pop and turned around to go back to the library. But stopped short and backed into the lockers behind her, because Derek West was walking down the empty hall towards her. He had an expressionless look on his face; he stopped in front of her. She knew that she had paled and was shaking, as he brought his hand up to brush a piece of hair out of her eyes. She flinched at his touch and tried to lean back into the locker was a mistake, his expression turned into fury.

" Ingrid Ingrid Ingrid," he smirked evilly, " why do you flinch at my touch? Are you going to run away? Didn't you miss me?" she stared into his eyes, she was scared, but knew the answer that he wanted. Slowly she nodded her head like a robot, and glanced towards the hall to the library. If she shouted for help, Cody would hear her but then he would come running and Derek might hurt him. That thought went through her like an icy knife; forcing herself to look back at him she saw that he looked like he was going to hit her.

" Ingrid did you take the exam?" he asked calmly, glaring into her eyes.

" Wh-what exam?" she stuttered, still not looking away.

" You know the exam!" he practically shouted, grabbing her chin with his hand, " the one that decides the future of people like us!"

" Yes I took it…" she whispered looking at the ground, realizing what test he was talking about, and then suddenly she heard footsteps walking towards them.

Cody having gotten slightly concerned due to Ingrid's lengthy absence decided to go and search for her. He remembered when they had been talking about Derek West; something had changed on her face when she heard his name. He didn't know what, but he wasn't going to let anything hurt her. He walked out of the library and glanced down the hall, where he saw Ingrid and Derek West, with Derek holding her chin like he was about to kiss her. The rage flooded through him like white hot flames attacking his insides, he was about to race down the hall and hit Derek, hold up, you and Ingrid aren't together no matter how you feel, she can do whatever she wants. He was about to turn back into the library, when he remembered that Derek was suspected of arson, so he turned and started to walk down the hall towards them.

Derek turned towards the footsteps and saw Cody, realizing that he had to go he turned to Ingrid one last time, " don't forget about what we had Ingrid, and what happened when you beat me! If you do, you will regret it." With that he kissed her roughly, causing her to gasp with pain when his lips left. Glaring at her darkly one more time, he turned and ran down the hall. Ingrid just stood there shaking, until she felt a hand on her shoulder, looking up she saw Cody standing there with an unreadable expression on his face. She realized he had seen everything, and opened her mouth to explain but was silenced by his finger on her lips.

" You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," he said softly looking deeply into her eyes, she knew that she was blushing, " but I want you to know that I'm here for you no matter what happens later on." She smiled, just him saying that proved that he cared for her.

" I will tell you," she whispered against his finger, he just smiled; she started to tell him but his radio squawked.

" Hey Cody," Anza's voice came through, " we found a couple of things, so let's meet back at HQ and go over what we all found."

" Sure Anza," Cody replied, holding the radio, " we'll be there in a little while." He turned and walked into the library with Ingrid following. They stopped at the computer that they had been on, but both scowled. The file that they were reading was gone, and the computer was shut down.

" So there was something in that file that someone didn't want us to read," Cody said as they walked into HQ.

" File?" Anza asked walking up to them.

" We found Derek West's file," Cody said, " but we both left the library and while we were gone someone deleted the file, before we could finish reading it." He glanced at Ingrid, who gave him a look that said thank you.

" Okay, well all we found was that he transferred here at the same time as you and some other kids," Anza said in a bored voice.

" What other kids?" Cody asked sharply, making Anza walk to his desk and back.

" Uhhh, here it is," Anza said running a finger down the list, " Jack Curtis and Shawn Roman. Why Cody? Hello…hey man are you okay?" Cody had visibly paled this is it! His mind screamed at him, if you don't tell someone X Middle School is going to go down in flames, literally!

" I'm fine," he reassured everyone, " I just need to go and talk to Principal Folsom, I'll be back later." He turned away and walked out the door, not giving anyone and second glance. He looked left and right nervously all the way, he finally walked down her hall and thought he was safe he heard a door open behind him. He tried to turn around but an arm slinked around his neck and pulled him into an empty classroom. Jack and Shawn were in there, and he assumed that the person holding him was Jack's hired muscle, Derek West, he was right. West released him and shoved him into a wall making him gasp with pain.

" Going to the principal eh Cody?" shouted Jack, he was really pissed off, he punched Cody making him fall.

" No…no Jack I wasn't," Cody tried to reason with him, but instead he got a blinding pain, on his left temple. Jack had hit him again and he was wearing rings on his fingers.

Reaching up he felt the blood that was running down his cheek, Jack, Shawn and Derek moved towards the door.

" Try it again and I'll take care of your friends," Jack snarled at him, " everything goes down tomorrow, by five o'clock, there will no longer be an X middle school here!" Cody swore under his breath as the door shut behind them.

" Nice bandana," Ingrid commented as Cody walked into HQ early the next morning, he didn't answer. " What I was kidding it looks good on you," she said giving him a smile, but he just collapsed into his chair. She walked over and undid the bandana that he had used to stop the blood, when she saw what was under it a look of horror and anger came to her face.

" Cody who did this to you," she whispered looking down at him, " Cody?"

" Jack Curtis," he answered softly, " accompanied by Shawn Roman and Derek West."

" Derek West!" Ingrid gasped he just looked at her.

" We've got a good hour before Vallejo gets here if I tell you my story will you tell me yours?" he asked, looking into her eyes, she nodded slowly. So he told everything, how they threatened him and what they had done. She looked shocked when he finally stopped, he sighed.

" I'm not done," he whispered, " Jack is my stepbrother, so is Shawn. My mom married Jack's dad when I was really young, I don't remember that much about him except that he used to hurt me a lot. She remarried to Shawn's dad when I was about eight, but that didn't last either, he's okay though, I think Jack is threatening him too, Shawn's a good kid."

" Tell your mom," Ingrid said, " she can help you!"

" No she can't," Cody murmured walking to the window and looking out with a somber face, " she died, almost three years ago, that's why I had to move I had to go and live with my dad. She was killed in a car accident with her latest boyfriend." Ingrid was just sitting at the desk, looking sad. She opened her mouth but he stopped her.

" If your about to say what about my dad, save your breath," Cody sighed, " he doesn't give a damn about me. In his words, I was a mistake, something that wasn't supposed to happen. Just a drunken mistake, I'm just some kid to him, I live on my own he's a biker who still bikes around the country. He hasn't been to see me in about six months, he just sends money every month so I can live." Ingrid had tears running down her face, realizing that his life must have been so horrible. He noticed and just smiled, shocking her again.

" I don't care about him," he said smiling sadly, " my mom loved me, she said that I wasn't a mistake, I was a surprise, which means if she could go back then she wouldn't change how it happened. Now I get to hear your story." Ingrid sighed and stood up beside him.

" Derek West was once my boyfriend," she grimaced at the memory, " but we weren't very serious, he's just like me very smart and a model student. I beat him on a test and he turned nasty, we had broken up by then but he came after me and hit me for beating him. A backhand across the face, no one saw and it never got reported. My dad got relocated again and we left almost immediately, I hadn't seen him until just now. I heard he got kicked out or something. I'm not sure though." Cody looked shocked, as the pieces of the puzzle all fell into place.

"Ingrid," Cody said as he turned towards her, " I need you to go straight to Principal Folsom and tell her everything, and get her to call the police and the fire department. Jack and Derek are going to burn down X."

" What are you going to do!" Ingrid snapped, " I'm not just going to leave you!"

" I'm going after them," he said simply, " I have too, this is just something I have to face. Don't worry Ingrid I'll be fine. I promise." He turned and walked to the door, but stopped when she caught his hand.

" Cody," she whispered as he turned to her, " I need to tell you how I feel before you go, I think that I really do lo…." She was cut off by his lips covering hers, slowly her arms hooked around his neck and his arms slipped around her waist. They broke the kiss, needing air but remained in each other's arms.

" Ingrid," he whispered into her hair, " I think that I love you too." With that he kissed her one more time, just softly and walked out the door. She stood there letting what happened wash over her, and then she ran to Principal Folsom's office.

Sorry for taking so long to update. Hope you liked it! Please review! Next chapter should be up tomorrow! Review!