Mariah gathered her hair into a high pony and inspected in from all sides. "Do my bangs seem like they're too long? Maybe I should trim them,"

Mariam put down the magazine she was reading while lounged across Mariah's bed. "Don't touch your hair before you leave the house," she said flatly, looking at Mariah in the mirror. "I shouldn't have to tell you this."

"They just seem uneven or something," she muttered, twisting the shorter strands between her fingers.

"Your bangs are fine. What's got you all eager, anyway? It's not like you're going on a date."

Mariah let her hair down. "I'm not eager," she denied. In truth, she wasn't sure why she was overthinking her appearance. She'd changed her outfit twice before Mariam arrived and her hair was starting to get knotted from how much she was playing with it.

And for what? Ray and Tyson and Hilary, three people she'd seen practically all week in all sorts of situations? She could hardly believe that it was only five days ago that she met Hilary on the side of the road.

So much had changed it just a week.

Her door opened at the top of the stairs and she could hear Julia's light steps falling down the steps. "Here," she held out her large makeup bag to Mariam who moved from the bed eagerly, a wicked smirk curving up her lips.

"What's that about?" Mariah asked as Mariam disappeared into her bathroom and shut the door.

Julia shrugged, turning the seat at the desk so she could face the room. She tucked her legs under and balanced effortlessly in the chair. Mariah was fairly flexible but had always been awed by Julia's natural talent. How could she sit like that and not get dead leg after five minutes?

"Mariam called earlier and said she had a plan and needed some of my makeup," Julia said. Narrowing her eyes, she looked critically at Mariah. "Your bangs are falling in your eyes, want me to cut them?"

"Please!"

By the time Mariam emerged from the bathroom, her makeup dark and dramatic, playing into her natural aura, Julia had cut and braided Mariah's hair away from her face. The two girls admired Mariam's handiwork with glee.

"And you said I was eager," Mariah complained when they were done, "but what's up with you."

"I may have a plan," Mariam said coyly, indicating that if they inquired any further, she'd tell them everything.

Mariah's golden eyes met Julia's deep green as they shared a knowing look.

"Which is?" Julia urged.

"Well, I had mentioned, offhandedly in passing, to Max that I was going to be hanging out with your crowd today and he reminded me that he actually used to go to school up there,"

"Oh, yeah," Julia nodded, clearly remembering the information

Mariah had only ever met Max a handful of times and never for very long. He transferred to the same school as Julia and Mariam the same year she'd started at her school, so he'd have gone to middle school with all of her current classmates.

He seemed nice – too nice for her crowd to take seriously – which was why she never really understood Mariam's interest. She swore up and down it was just because he was so kind to her back in their first year and she felt the need to protect him like a puppy, nothing more. Julia told Mariah she suspected there was much more to it.

Mariam continued, "And it reminded me that he had mentioned before about some guys named Michael, Eddy, and Steve used to bully him."

"I can see that," Mariah confirmed. She had a distinct disgust for them. In her first year, they bribed another girl to break into her gym locker and steal her bra. She caught them with it but they'd never received anything more than a warning for their "boyish antics".

Mariah paid the resident tech kid – a kid no one talked to but had given the nicknamed The Professor – to hack the CCTV in their school halls to catch them in the act of admiring said bra. She then had fliers printed and distributed around the student body. It ruined their dating life for a good year before people forgot about it.

It also was the start of her reputation as a bad girl. She, of course, received detention for harassment.

"So, what's the plan then?" Julia asked.

"We know that good jocks can't resist a girl from the wrong side of town, right?"

Mariah grimaced. "Please tell me you're not going to go out with any of them,"

"I'll do whatever I want, drive them crazy, and then when they're good and hooked, I'll be done with it. They'll never know what hit them," Mariam smiled impishly, "You want in?"

"Hard pass," Mariah threw her hands up.

Julia smile, holding up a fist for justice. "I'm in. For Max,"

"For Max!" Mariam shouted.

"Plus, it just sounds fun,"

Mariah rolled her eyes. "Just don't do anything that will get me in trouble. I've got one more year and then I'm done with this place."

"No promises," Mariam replied.

After Julia redid her makeup to match the scheme, they piled into Mariam's car and drove into town toward the diner where Mariah had agreed to meet Ray. He wanted to come and pick them up, but in his two-door, the four of them would have been cramped. Besides, something about that felt a little too close for comfort to Mariah.

On Friday, he mentioned that she'd been missing at lunch on Thursday again and she felt the compulsion to tell him that she'd been in the Psych professor's office begging for extra credit because she knew she didn't do well on Wednesday's exam, and Friday morning she was taking a make-up test. All because she knew if that her parents saw that grade, they'd ask her to quit tutoring again.

And she really didn't want to.

She tried not to think too much what that meant.

But instead, she brushed it off and said she was eating lunch alone to get some extra study in.

She tried not to be bothered by the lie.

"I'm excited to finally meet this guy you've been spending all your time with," Julia mentioned from the back seat, as she stretched out her long legs.

"Not all my time,"

"More than we've seen you," Mariam agreed.

"I heard you still made time to see Tala,"

Mariah and Mariam shared a worried look at her tone.

"I did, but it wasn't for fun,"

Mariam snorted. "Is it ever?"

"Who told you," Mariah turned in her seat to look directly at Julia.

Her blonde bangs flew wildly in the wind coming in from the windows. "Claude told Raul at school that you'd stopped by to tear into him and brought your new friend. I'm a little jealous Kai got to meet him first."

"Kai's met him?" Mariam scoffed, "Mariah, what kind of friend are you to introduce him to Kai first?"

Mariah clenched her jaw. She'd strangle the kid the next time she saw him. "I needed to get something off my chest. Don't worry, he deserved it."

"How'd he seem?"

"Why do you care?"

Julia shrugged, her gaze drifting out the window. "I don't, just curious."

Mariah turned back around, her eyes catching Mariam's. When the three of them started to get involved with boys, they'd made a promise that they'd help each other keep their heads. Mariam rarely needed it; born critical of true love and romance, she really never took anything seriously.

Julia could be the same in some ways, but for whatever reason, Tala was a shot of crazy to her heart that she never got over.

They pulled in to the diner's parking lot soon after and parked. Mariam's car stood out, a rusted heap among the newer, shiny models but they'd never let that bother them.

"Okay, I don't care what you do with the jocks," Mariah reiterated before they got out, looking at both of them pointedly, "but don't make trouble for me."

Mariam rolled her eyes. "We got it," she said before getting out. Her sturdy black boots hit the ground and she pulled herself out of the car. Mariah watched as she shimmied her shirt up just a bit so that just a sliver of her skin showed from the top of her dark jeans. The ribbing of the shirt emphasized the long curve of her waist.

Behind her, Julia also got out, flicking her long hair over her shoulder. Her dark lip-stain and winged liner gave her a mysterious look. She rolled her skirt up once, exposing even more of her slender, toned legs.

Between the two of them, those boys didn't stand a chance.

Mariah would have usually matched her style to theirs, but the thought of meeting her schoolmates in her more revealing articles of clothing had her reeling. She'd finally settled on tight jeans and a tee, but no matter what she pulled out, she knew it would reveal what her friends liked to refer to as her greatest weapons against boykind.

She'd always hate being shorter than the other two, but they'd kill for her bust.

It all balanced out.

Ray's car was already parked in the lot even though she was right on time for once. She looked for the familiar face when she walked in and smiled when she saw the three of them in a corner booth.

The booths were bright red, the tables were white, and there were mini-jukeboxes on the tables, feeding to an American 50s theme. By early afternoon, it was already bustling with a crowd, some of which she recognized from school but she ignored them as she led her friends to the oversized booth.

"Hey," she said as she slid in. Julia followed behind her and then Mariam. The table already had several trays of chicken tenders and fries. Mariah pointed, "Did you get these?"

Ray waved it off. "Yeah, there for the table. Feel free,"

"You didn't need to do that," Mariah said.

"Shush, 'Riah," Mariam intervened, reaching for fries. "Thanks, we really appreciate it."

Mariah sighed. "This is Mariam and Julia. Guys, that's Tyson, Hilary, and Ray."

"Thanks for inviting us," Julia nodded to him. "We never get to see her anymore,"

"The more the merrier, right guys," Ray said.

Tyson had his own tray of what looked like a large order of chicken tenders. "Yeah, always happy to share. So, what's your story?"

Mariam arched an eyebrow. "Story?"

"Yeah, like what's your thing? What makes you, you?"

Hilary hid her face in her hands. "You'll have to excuse him. He hasn't met anyone new since we were in elementary school, except for Mariah."

"What are you supposed to ask to get to know someone, they're shoe size?"

"How long have you guys been friends?" Ray interrupted, drawing attention away from his bickering friends.

Mariam took some more fries. "Long enough,"

"Oh," Ray looked Mariah. She didn't know why she thought this would be a good idea.

In fact, she hadn't thought it was a good idea. As she promised, she asked them if they would be interested, expecting them to blow it off but Mariam agreed right away. And Julia was fine spending her weekend anywhere as long as she was with them.

So she was left with no choice.

"We've all been friends since kindergarten," Ray continued.

Mariah felt grateful for his persistence and good nature. "We met before that. Our parents used the same babysitter when they went to work; this old woman in our neighborhood."

"Yeah, she was pretty great," Julia laughed. "Crazy, but great."

The silence settled heavily over the table. Mariah kept sneaking peeks at Ray and at her friends, waiting for something to break.

"So, do you guys remember a kid named Max? He used to go to your school?" Mariam asked, taking a piece of chicken.

Tyson's eyes popped with excitement. "You know Maxie? Man, that kid was cool. I always wondered what happened to him."

"He moved, Tyson," Hilary added, sounding tired. "We went to his farewell party at the end of the year, remember?"

"Oh yeah! I thought that was just a pool party,"

"So, you know Max, huh?" Ray asked Mariam. "How's he doing?"

Mariam answered shortly, "Good."

"He's in our year at school," Julia said. "We look out for him sometimes, make sure no trouble comes his way. He's really nice and that's easy to take advantage of."

"That's cool of you," Ray smiled. "I'd like to see him again. Maybe we can include him next time."

"Why wait for us, did you lose his number?" Mariam asked, staring directly at Ray.

Mariah recognized that look. Mariam had a way of paralyzing people with her intense gaze and with the dark makeup, the look was even more stunning.

"No, I guess not," Ray said slowly. Mariah was impressed he didn't bow under it like most. She liked to think she had something to do with that. "I'll give him a call. Thanks for the reminder."

Whatever Mariam was trying to do, she relented and moved on from Ray. Mariah ducked her head to hide her smile.

Just then a loud crowd came into the diner, collecting around a group of tables. Mariam turned to Julia, "That's our cue,"

Julia looked over Mariam's shoulder. "Who do you want?"

"You can have who you want," Mariam replied, "but Michael's mine,"

"Um, what are you talking about?" Hilary asked. "They all have girlfriends,"

The two girls turned back around, sly, mischievous smiles pulling at their made-up lips. "Don't worry about it," Mariam said. "Just sit there and be a good girl. That's a cute top, by the way."

Hilary looked to Mariah with doubt but she could do nothing but shrug helplessly.

Mariah tried to keep the conversation going while Mariam and Julia worked their magic. Sure enough, five minutes later, Michael nodded to Steve and Eddy and the two came over.

"I recognize four of you," Steve leaned against the booth over Mariam, "but two of you are a mystery,"

"You hear that, Julia? We've confused him,"

Eddy laughed, punching his shorter friend.

"What about you, bamboo stick? Are you confused?" Julia asked.

Steve took his turn to laugh at Eddy's shocked expression.

"No, I think I know what's going on here," Eddy said, regaining his confidence.

"I'd doubt it," Mariam said, "from what I hear, boys from this side like to think they can run with us, but they never last very long."

Steve laughed. "Well, they weren't talking about us. How 'bout you find out for yourself,"

Mariam and Julia looked at each other as if they had a decision to make and had not planned this hours ago. Mariah had to admit they were in sharp form.

"What's going on?" Ray asked once they left with Eddy and Steve to join their group.

Mariah wasn't sure what to tell him. Would he judge them? Would he judge her, thinking she'd be the same?

Well, maybe she was. She didn't mind what they were doing, after all. And how were they going to have a real friendship if she was constantly keeping secrets from him?

Leaning on her elbow, pretending to be bored with the explanation, Mariah went on, "I'm not really sure, but I guess those guys used to bully Max when he was in school with you all."

"So they're flirting with them? I want enemies like that,"

Mariah laughed at Tyson's response. She could never figure out if he was serious or if he just never thought things through, but based on Hilary's heavy eye roll, she bet the latter.

"Are you two okay now?" Mariah asked, eager to get the attention of her friends.

Tyson picked at another plate of tenders. "What do you mean?"

"We're good," Hilary responded for them. "We apologized yesterday and now we're back to the same old,"

Mariah looked to Ray, who seemed to be equally at a loss for his friends and she was for hers.

"I'm still not sure what we were fighting over,"

She could see Hilary winding up and stopped her. "Here, let me," Mariah leaned across the table, using her hand to shield her mouth as if she was keeping a giant secret. "Tyson, don't admit that after the fight is over. It's a guaranteed way to start the fight up again."

Tyson opened his mouth but Mariah held her hand out to stop him. "No,"

Ray and Hilary laughed as Tyson continued to try and reason his point with Mariah who resisted him every step of the way. Eventually, the conversation moved on and it was easy between the four of them. The sound of the room faded into the background as they continued to eat and joke about school.

One thing she did appreciate about the three of them is that while they were popular and involved in school life, they seemed to exist outside of the in-crowd, and wholly in their own bubble. And Ray seemed entirely unbothered by what people seemed to think about him. He was who he was and that was all that mattered. It was just that everyone liked who he was.

Julia appeared by her side, jarring Mariah back to the world where her friends were there. "We have a problem,"

She looked around Julia to see into the group on the other side of the diner. They were pressed against the windows, looking outside and murmuring excitedly among themselves.

Mariam was not with them.

Her heart rate spiking, Mariah asked, "What's happening?"

Julia grabbed Mariah's hand and dragged her from the booth. "It's Ozuma,"

That was the last thing she wanted to hear. Mariah followed Julia out, panic setting in when she saw the scene. Ozuma and Mariam in an intense conversation across the parking lot standing next to his car. Well, Mariam was intense. Judging by Ozuma's easy smile, he found the situation humorous.

"Why is she even over there?"

"Joseph's in the car,"

Mariah groaned. "Of course, he is. Stupid kid,"

"Kevin, too."

This was the last thing she needed. As selfish as it was, as the kids from her school poured outside to watch, all she could think was anything that happened would now reflect on her. From that point on, it would always be, "Remember the time those kids Mariah brought got into the fight in the parking lot?" She'd never hear the end of it.

And she felt bad for that because where Mariam was concerned, her school reputation should be the least of her worries.

"What's going on with that?" Ray asked from behind her.

Another thing she didn't want to tell him because of how it might reflect on her. "That's Mariam's ex-something. He follows her around and keeps tabs on her, mostly just to irritate her, but he's not exactly safe either."

"He looks dangerous," Hilary said, scanning the dark-haired boy up and down distastefully. "Why doesn't she just walk away."

"She would but her little brother doesn't know what's good for him," When Hilary gave her a questioning look, she clarified. "He's in the back seat."

The shouting from Mariam got louder. She shoved Ozuma, getting in his face and started losing whatever cool she had. She could handle the cocky man fine on her own but when it came to her brother, Mariam had a very low limit and Mariah was worried that they were getting close to crossing it.

Grabbing Julia, they rush over and pulled Mariam away from him. "Hey, you need to calm down or someone's going to call the cops,"

Mariam refused to take her eyes off Ozuma. "Call them, he's gonna need it if my brother doesn't get out of that car,"

"Mariam, think," Julia said, "he's just using Joseph to get to you. If he can't get to you, he'll drop those two idiots off back home. We should just walk away,"

"Not a chance," Mariam said. "I want my brother, Ozuma. Get him out, now!"

Ozuma checked the back seat. "Nah, he says he's fine where he's at."

Mariah wanted to tear into him. It was pathetic that he was using such a low tactic to get Mariam's attention, she didn't expect anything better from him. What bothered her was that it was working. Looking over to the group, she saw Michael and his friends pacing around, looking at Mariam and Ozuma as they continued fighting. She'd seen that posture before and knew what would inevitably come next.

Mariah jogged back over to Ray. "You've got to stop them. Ozuma is not someone to mess with," she pleaded.

Ray looked over at the boys. "They can handle themselves,"

"Ray, I wish I had time to explain, but I promise you, they do not want to get on his radar. You have to talk to them."

Ray shrugged. "I'm not sure they'll listen to me,"

"They like you," Mariah insisted, "they'll listen. But please, do it now."

Shaking his head, Ray went over and pulled Michael's attention. She couldn't hear what they were saying but she hoped that Ray was being persuasive enough.

"Mariah," Julia said, catching her attention.

"Yeah?"

"You should know I called Tala before I came and got you,"

Mariah's eyes widened. "Because that would be so helpful right now?"

"I didn't know what else to do. We got to get him to leave somehow."

Mariah wanted to scream obscenities at her.

One rule. She gave them one rule: do not cause trouble.

How could they have broken so quickly and in such an unexpected way?

Before Mariah could think of what to do to salvage the situation, a familiar car rolled into the parking lot followed by a large white truck. They pulled into two spots at the other end of the lot, away from the crowd that was, thankfully, diminishing as others lost interest and went back inside.

"Great," Mariah muttered.

Tala and Kai got out of his car and waited for the rest of their group.

"Dude, check out the muscles on that guy. He's jacked!" Tyson said to Hilary, eyeing the driver of the truck. "You know them, Mariah?"

"Would you shut up and stop drawing attention," Hilary snapped at him.

It was no use. Once he said it, those who were left noticed the group of four walking over. Even if Tyson hadn't mentioned anything, it would have been impossible to ignore Spencer who towered heads over everyone.

Tala nodded to Mariah as he got close, coming to stand next to Julia. Despite her frustrations, she knew Julia was right. Tala and the others would be able to get Mariam out of there with as little damage as possible.

Julia motioned to Ozuma. "He's using her brother to taunt her. She won't leave without Joseph and he doesn't want to get out of the car."

"This is ridiculous," Tala muttered. "What are you even doing up here?"

Julia shrugged. "Just meeting new people,"

"Oh, really?"

"It was me," Mariah interrupted, knowing they'd go on forever if she didn't. "I wanted to hang out with school friends and them at the same time."

Tala's eyes drifted over the group closest to them. He smirked when his eyes landed just beyond Mariah. "Hey, Hilary, how's it going?"

Hilary adverted her eyes momentarily. "Tala," she smiled.

Tyson looked at her, pulling her behind him slightly so that he was standing between the newcomers and Hilary. "You know him?" he said in confusion.

Ray rejoined them. "Okay, I've talked them out of it for now, but I think they kind of want to fight," he nodded to Kai. "Hey, man"

Kai acknowledged him with a slight dip of his head but otherwise appeared bored.

"Does everyone just know everyone except for me?" Tyson looked around wildly.

"Can we focus on the problem, please," Mariah asked, looking at Tyson.

Tala sighed, breaking away from the group. "You owe me. Driving all around town for you and your friends,"

Kai and Spencer followed him over as he approached Ozuma and Mariam. Immediately, Ozuma stood tall, but even then, Tala still topped him by a foot at least. The difference between him and Spencer wasn't even worth comparing.

Mariah felt a nudge at her side. She turned, happy to see to Bryan regardless of the situation. "Who pulled you out of your room?"

"And miss the action? Any day I can see Tala fight someone he hates is a good day,"

"Well, I hope it's not as eventful as your expecting,"

She looked over to Tala and Ozuma again. At the moment, they seemed to be playing some weird game of posturing, like hooded cobras getting ready to strike. She could hear the crowd that still lingered taking bets already.

Ozuma's muscles were flashy and his sleeve of tattoos gave him an air of danger, but Tala had height and while he wasn't a bulky as Ozuma, he had muscles.

And Spencer.

And Kai wasn't one to underestimate either.

The passenger door of Ozuma's car opened and Dunga stepped out, coming to Ozuma's side. By the smirk on his face, it was clear he was ready to be a problem.

There was a noticeable uproar from the crowd. Mariah was irritated. She wanted to ask if they thought this was a game. It probably was to them – they didn't know anybody over there, so what did it matter if anyone got hurt.

Bryan nudged her again, motioning to her arms. She'd crossed them at some point and her nails were digging into her skin, leaving little crescent marks. Thanking him with a smile, she loosened her grip.

"Mariah?" She turned again. On her opposite side was Ray. She expected him to be bothered by the chaos of the circumstances, scared of her and where she came from, but he looked fine. He looked concerned.

She unfolded her arms, taking a softer stance. "I'm sorry about this. It's not how I wanted today to go,"

"I know. I just want to make sure you're okay."

Mariah nodded. "I will be, but we'll probably go after this,"

She saw the moment Ozuma back down and breathed a sigh of relief. It could have very easily dissolved into a fight between them, and then she doubted even Ray could keep the jocks from joining in. Whose side they'd be on was anyone's guess, but thankfully it wasn't an option.

He opened the back door of his car and Joseph got out. Behind him, she saw the other green-haired kid and knew for sure it was Kevin. She could already hear Lee's disappointment when she told him.

Mariam grabbed her brother and dragged him away. A few more seconds of staring between Tala and Ozuma before they turned their backs on each other and the whole thing was over.

The crowd started to disperse but Mariah didn't go back inside with the other.

"That was tense," Tyson stated.

"Happy?" Tala asked when he came back over.

"Appreciative," Julia refused to give him any ground, though he didn't seem to mind.

He nodded towards the cars and Spencer and Kai left without a word. Bryan winked at Mariah and then followed behind them, getting in the truck with Spencer.

Before Tala left, he smiled again at Hilary and Mariah almost shouted at him. "Let me know if that tire gives you trouble, Hil,"

She jumped at his words, nodding enthusiastically. Julia's sharp eyes looked at Hilary for a moment before traveling to Mariah.

Mariah shook her head; this was a conversation she had wanted to avoid and if Julia wouldn't kill her for it, she'd skin Tala alive.

"Guys, let's go!" Mariam shouted from her car where she'd already locked Joseph into the backseat. He wasn't at all happy and Mariah didn't look forward to the strained ride home.

Julia waved goodbye but didn't say anything. Mariah couldn't blame her; she was emotionally exhausted too.

"Are you going to be okay?" Ray asked.

"I'll be fine," Mariah shrugged. "It happens sometimes. It just we don't usually have such a big audience."

"At least we know that if we ever what to hang out with all of us again, it can't get much worse than this, right?"

She laughed. "Yeah. And also, we have to invite Max if we want Mariam to behave, apparently."

"You'll have to explain that to me one day,"

"I don't even know about it."

Ray took a deep breath and then paused, looking at her. "Maybe we did too much too soon. Maybe next time we try just the two of us,"

"We do that all the time,"

"True," he agreed but Mariah got the feeling she was missing something. "Then I'll just see you at school?"

Mariam honked her impatience.

Mariah rolled her eyes and waved as she jogged to the car.

All-day long, she'd struggled with what to say and what not to say to Ray. Now, she wasn't sure how to say goodbye.

A part of her feared it was because she wasn't ready to say goodbye at all.

Thank you to everyone who gave this chapter your time! I had eagerly anticipated the release of this chapter and hope you all enjoy it as much as I did writing it. Any thoughts are welcomed - Konix