Chapter Nine

Sam disengaged herself from reality for a few minutes in order to simmer down and reflect on what just transpired. She felt a rush of different emotions at that moment, such as exasperation, humiliation, and regret.

She truthfully didn't regret her fight with Tiffany because she felt like she had no choice but to fight the girl back. Instead, she regretted fighting Paulina because ever since that day, school has been hell for her. It always seemed like someone was picking on her or trying to start a fight with her almost everyday.

She was sitting on the ground outside, her back slightly hunched forward with her knees pulled up to her chest. Her arms were folded on top and her forehead was pressed against her right wrist. She wanted lunch to end so she could just rush to her next period, where she didn't know anyone, and have some alone time. Not that she minded Danny and Tucker's presence; she only needed some time to regain her composure.

"You should go and talk to Principal Ishiyama about Paulina and her friends," Tucker suggested. She pretended she didn't hear him and kept her head low, though he continued speaking. "Especially because Tiffany just fought you. You won that fight, so there's no way she's going to lay off of you now."

She raised her head up in time to catch Danny mouthing to Tucker, telling him to leave her alone. He gave a respectful nod and turned away, walking back over to their lunch table. The back patio door leading into the school opened once again, and to everyone's great irritation, Paulina stepped outside and started to approach them.

"Before anyone says anything, I'm not looking for trouble." She stopped just before Sam and knelt down so that they were at the same level. Sam propped her chin on top of her arm and glared at her, though it wasn't as strong as she intended it to be.

"I want to be alone." Her voice shook a bit, as she was still seething about what happened a few minutes ago. Paulina didn't seem to care too much about what she wanted and casually swept her hair behind her shoulders.

"Look, I'm done fighting you and I'm done arguing with you. I have so much more important shit to worry about." Sam nodded in understanding, so Paulina exhaled softly before finishing. "I apologize for what happened out here with Tiffany, but I can assure you that it won't happen again."

Sam's eyebrows moved together and she turned her head to the side, resting her right cheek on her wrist so that she didn't have to look at Paulina anymore. The cheerleader's assurance meant nothing to her because she didn't trust her at all. That was something that had to be earned, and her actions seemed to speak louder than her words.

"Can you not ignore me? I'm trying to talk to you," Paulina told her. She reverted her head to its original position and raised a shoulder in a half-shrug. The girl before her rolled her eyes and drew a breath. "Being cordial with each other doesn't really seem to be working out for either of us. I think the drama would die down if we didn't speak to each other."

Sam raised up her eyebrows. "Sounds like an amazing idea." She looked to Danny almost distressfully, but all he did was raise his shoulders and glance over at Tucker, who had a similar reaction. Luckily for her, Paulina got up and started to walk back over to the building.

After she was gone, Danny shuffled towards Sam and hunched over, extending his hand out to her. She eyed him for a few seconds before grabbing onto his hand and allowing him to pull her to her feet. "You know I don't like seeing you upset, Sam. Please try to calm down before the bell rings."

"I would love to, but unfortunately, that's easier said than done." She pulled her hand away from his and moved it to her forehead, pushing her hair out of her face. "Junior year is stressful enough already. The last thing I need is catty drama with two A-listers who won't leave me alone. I'm sick of having to fight them."

"Well, Paulina said she was done fighting you. Let's hope she stays true to her word. As for Tiffany, we'll just have to see about her." Danny then leaned over to retrieve her backpack, which was carelessly kicked to the side during her fight. "The bell's about to ring. Let's clean up out here and then head to class."

Sam ended up skipping the character education club after school. Her fight with Tiffany really dampened her mood for the day, so she decided to just hang with Danny and Tucker at Danny's house. Nobody seemed to be aware of the fight that broke out on the patio, which meant that Tiffany must've kept her mouth shut about it.

She was much more calm than she was earlier, but the situation still bothered her. She was hoping that Paulina would stay true to her word and keep Tiffany off her back, as the girl had no genuine reason to hate her to the point where she felt like she needed to attack her.

She saw nothing but red after Tiffany socked her in her face. The next thing she knew, Danny and Tucker were hauling her away from the scene while Tiffany sat there with her nose slightly bleeding. She knew that it wasn't about the size of the person in the fight, but rather the size of the fight in the person.

That didn't mean she wanted to fight, though. She knew her own strength, which is why she only regretted fighting Paulina. She always knew that she could easily beat the girl in a fight, so that's why she never stepped up to her, but when she was provoked on an already bad day, she lost her cool.

Tiffany, however, got exactly what was coming to her. She chose the wrong person to push around and, when it came down to prove how tough she really was, she failed. Something about Sam intimidated her enough to make her feel like she needed to challenge someone who she thought was weaker than her in order to prove that she was stronger.

It was just weird.

Tucker took sympathy upon her and bought her favorite dark licorice, black frosting ice cream with gummy bats sprinkled on top. As she gratefully accepted the treat, Danny ordered a pizza for both he and Tucker before popping in an action-packed movie that they all mutually enjoyed watching.

They watched different movies back-to-back until about seven-thirty, when Sam and Tucker decided to head home. Usually Jazz would drive them both home after they were finished hanging with Danny for the day, but because she was away at college, they were reduced to walking. Danny usually accompanied them, and if his ghost sense went off during that, they'd deal with the situation together.

Fortunately, that didn't happen this time. Sam was the first one they walked home, so as soon as she entered her house, she made a beeline for her room. Her mother and father asked her how her day went, to which she ignored because she knew they were just going to harass her for details about the club. Her evening was already much better than her afternoon was, but if she told them she ditched for the day, they were definitely going to scold her and ruin it.

She was somewhat reluctant to go to school the following day, but to her surprise, it almost seemed like things were back to normal.

Almost.

After gym class ended for the day, she exited the locker room and started towards the cafeteria for lunch. She, Danny, and Tucker decided to eat inside just in case Tiffany tried to storm out onto the patio for revenge. To her surprise, Tiffany brushed right past her in the hall. At first, she thought maybe the girl just didn't see her, but the powerful glare she cast her definitely told her otherwise.

Once in the cafeteria, she fished into her pocket to grab her phone in order to text Tucker that she was waiting for him and Danny, but as she did that, she discovered that her student ID wasn't where it was supposed to be. She was positive that she had stuck it into that specific pocket, so when she didn't feel it there, she decided to backpedal her way over to the locker room.

Sure enough, shortly after arriving, she saw her ID lying on the floor a few inches away from her gym locker. She snatched it up and stared down at it to confirm that it was hers before walking over to the exit of the locker room. She didn't get very far, though, as the faintest sound of someone sniffling captured her attention.

She listened closely for a few seconds, but when she was met with nothing but utter silence, she was about to pass it off as her mind playing tricks on her until she heard it again, this time louder. "What the heck?" She spun over her shoulder and started to walk through the locker room, glancing down each area as she passed by. Near the last row of lockers, however, she spotted Paulina.

She was seated on the bench with her back hunched over and half of her face was buried in her hands. Something about seeing the most popular girl in school sitting in the locker room crying by herself made Sam a bit uncomfortable, and while her heart told her to just silently make a break for it, she followed her head, which told her to say something.

"Uh, Paulina, you good?" It was a really stupid question to ask, but she truly didn't know what to say. She was never really good at comforting people, especially people she wasn't close to.

Paulina weakly nodded and her voice rose through her hands. "Yeah, I'm fine." Sam pretty much gave up after that and was about to turn around, preparing to exit, but then Paulina raised her head to reveal the tear tracks glittering her cheeks and her smudged mascara. "Hold onto Danny because boys suck, especially ex-boyfriends who use you for temporary pleasure," she advised.

Sam felt her muscles stiffen when she realized what type of conversation she was being roped into. She couldn't even empathize with her on that topic because she was never in a situation like that. She was just about to ask for more information when she heard Paulina take a deep breath.

"This guy was my first love. He was the one I gave my virginity to. We met each other's parents, texted and called each other everyday, and he always bought me flowers. I gave that boy my heart." She paused to swipe underneath her nose with the sleeve of her shirt before sniffing. "Long story short, he put our relationship on hold. I've been waiting for us to get back together for months, but I just found out that he has another girlfriend now."

"Damn. That's tough." Sam's response was instant, as she said the first thing that popped into her head. Sure, there were things that happened to her that broke her heart, but none of them pertained to a relationship.

"The girl he chose over me isn't even pretty," Paulina continued. "She has nothing on me. I'm prettier than her, I'm a cheerleader, and I have a nicer body. I can give him way more than she can."

Sam's eyebrows dipped in the center. "That's not really necessary." When Paulina frowned at her, she sighed heavily and lowered herself down onto the bench. "Believe it or not, Paulina, not everyone cares about looks. Your physical appearance shouldn't be the only attractive thing about you."

"Then what else should?"

"Well, I'd say personality. Most people would prefer to have a beautiful conversation over a beautiful face to look at." Sam crossed her right leg over her left and flattened her palms on either side of her against the bench. "Beauty starts from within. Maybe the girl's personality is what attracted him to her. Instead of focusing on her flaws, work on building your strengths."

In a way, she was speaking about herself. Many people wondered why Danny liked her over Paulina without getting to know her for who she really was, and Paulina was a perfect example of that.

"Wow, I've never thought of it that way." She watched as the heartbroken cheerleader wiped at her tears with her wrist and wilted her shoulders. "Then that means I can't get him back with my looks. How can I make him see that I have a beautiful personality so that he'll love me?"

"Well..." Sam lifted her hand to the back of her neck and rubbed it. "You can't. You can't make someone love you and you shouldn't have to. It should be natural."

"What am I supposed to do then?"

"Ghost him. Cut off all means of communication you have with him and focus on yourself for a little while." She wasn't sure if Paulina was genuinely accepting her advice or not, but she decided to continue anyway. "That will hurt you at first, yes, but I promise you'll feel much better once time heals the pain and turns it into a distant memory."

Paulina's eyes glazed over as she thoughtfully stared at the floor of the locker room. After several minutes of silence, Sam took that as a sign that she wanted to be alone, so she slowly rose to her feet and left the locker room.