Hey hey! i like this chapter, but is it too short? i dunno, R & R pleeze!

luv, sarah

HOA Mrs. Norbert's Office 8:41 am Monday, August 26th

"Why students would behave in such a manor, I have no idea, especially with new students and when it is so early in the year," Mrs. Norbert paced around her tiny office and looked every student in the eye as she passed them. Just as she was about to approach Steph, she looked down and gazed at her feet. Though she noticed that out of the corner of her eye, she could see the tip of Zack's green and yellow Puma's. Steph wondered if he was looking at her, but she didn't dare look up. That was, until she felt a cold bony hand on her shoulder.

"Since you, of all people, is the one that I suspect has been behind all of this chaos, and since no one else chooses to speak out about what I have just witnessed, I would like to hear this incident from your point of view, Ms. Fritz ." Mrs. Norbert said, as she took her hand away from Steph, sat in her big brown leather chair behind her desk,
folded her hands on the table, and looked her in the eye. Steph looked at Michelle, Hallie, and Alex for backup, because she knew that she would be uncapable to answer. Steph took a deep breath and looked up at Mrs. Norbert. Just as she opened her mouth, she heard Zack speak.

"Mrs. Norbert, can I go, I don't really have anything to do with this," Zack stood up, and started to walk out the door. Steph was so surprised at him, she thought that he was going to stand up for her. "Since you are so eager to get to class, which I am surprised at, since your grades have been poor lately, why don't you share you side of the story, to get this over with more quickly, because it seems like no one else is willing to talk." Zack reluctantly shut the door and halfheartedly threw himself into the chair behind him. He sighed and straightened up. "Well... talk," Mrs. Norbert said briskly. "Well... Me and my friends were talking to Jess, Lexi, Rachel, and Jill, and then Steph and her friends came over."

At that moment, Steph seemed to float out of her body and go to the ceiling like she was a helium balloon, getting a bird's eye view of the tiny office. Zack hadn't said 'steph, hallie, michelle and alex', or 'the gurlz', and most importantly of all, he hadn't said 'hallie and her friends'. 'he must think i'm the most important'. Suddenly Steph rushed back to reality. "Are you actually going to believe 'him'?" Jess stood, up and yelled. "Well, why shouldn't I?" Mrs. Norbert said, lifting her fist to her chin. "Because it's a total lie! Why would you-" Jess was cut off by Hallie, who stomped over to Mrs. Norbert's desk and slammed her manicured hands on the cold oak. "Oh my gosh! I don't make up that much bull crap when I lie to my parents!" Her voice instantly softened. "Mrs. Norbert, wouldn't the explanation of a completely outside third party in this matter be a more trustworthy story that one of whose that was involved with the incident itself?" Steph couldn't help but laugh to herself when Hallie tried to use fancy lawyer words like her father did. She always did that when she was trying to pursuade and impress an adult. "Well..." Mrs. Norberts seemed very torn between both sides. "Come back during lunch and we'll talk about it." She stood up and showed the students to the door.

Steph: y did he stand up 4 me?
Hallie : i dunno... ill find out

Steph silently thanked Hallie with her eyes. Whenever she had to find out something, Hallie found it out. Hallie walked up to Zack in the hallway after 6th period, and poked him in the back. "Oh, hey." Zack turned around and his eyes beamed. "Why did you stop Steph today? Do you think she can't fight her own fights?" Hallie slowed down so he would too.
"Or do you like her?" Zack waited to answer the question. "I didn't only try to stop her, and I know she can fight herself, cuz she was kicking Jill's butt." Zack made that statement come out sounding like he was saying "Duh, the sky is blue." "So you like her?" Hallie turned to him and looked straight into his eyes. "No, that's not what I said, I said that she wasn't the only one I tried to stop, I tried to hold back Jessica first." Hallie noticed a strange flicker in his eye. She knew exactly where this was going, she had heard this speech a million times. "Sorry, I gotta go to English," Hallie tried to bolt away from him and into the second door on the left, but he grabbed her by the elbow. "Wait," Zack said, a pulled Hallie back. For the first time, he didn't look like his normal immature boy-ish self, he was serious.

TA DA! did ya like it? i should have made it less obvious of about what's going to happen, oh well.

R & R!