A/N: Hey! Sorry for the delay, my 8th grade Language Arts teacher expects her whole class to write an autobiography! It is flat out torture to write, not to mention INSANELY time-consuming. I hope to start updating more frequently, but that plan is not going too well. I have been rambling and you most likely are not here to hear (or read) about my literature problems.

Take it in Stride: Chapter three

That day, Lindsay told Coach Sylvester that her mother's sister's husband's son's wife was in town, so she had to leave Cheerios early. Luckily, Sue was having a good day, seeing as she made some good cracks about Will and Emma, so she let Lindsay go.

"Marissa?" The brunette cheerleader inquired as she walked into the gym. "Where are you?' Lindsay waited in the gym for about a half hour before deciding that Marissa must have ditched her, which was not totally untrue.

_Samrissa_

"What the hell is your problem?" yelled a terrified Marissa. She was already running late getting to the gym, and now she figured Lindsay would leave before she ever got there. "Marissa, it's me. It's… uh… Sam." Marissa was silent for a moment, then immediately moved to get out of the darkened classroom.

"I don't want to talk to you, Sam. And if I remember correctly, you 'never want to see my face again!'"
"Look, I, I was wrong! Come on 'Rissa. Please give me another chance! I want to be with you. I-I… adore you." Marissa groaned at his last two words.

"It has always been the same Sam. You adore me. You heart me. You want me. You can never say what I said to you, because you know that coming from you, it would not be the truth. You are a coward and you are weak. Why don't you go and write a sad song about some random hooker?"
"If I started to write a song," Sam began with a lopsided grin, "it would end up being about you. I would write about your flowing red hair. I would write about your beautiful eyes. Not to mention your amazing smile. Please, Marissa, give me another chance. I will make it up to you. I swear."

"NO! Sam, you broke my heart. You not only broke it, but you tore it out, ripped it to pieces, and then you stomped all over it. I HATE YOU SAM!" Then the redhead ran from the room, tears flowing freely down her face.

"Whoa mama! Are you alright? Oh my gosh, you have been crying. Come with me, NOW!" Marissa had no idea what hit her as she exited the classroom, but apparently it was her best friend, Hannah.

Between sniffles, Marissa told Hannah about her first encounter with Sam.

~Flashback~

"Hey. I'm Sam." The tall boy with long dreadlocks had just knocked all the books Marissa was holding out of her hands. He was bending down with her to help pick them up, a rare occurrence at McKinley High.

"Hi. I-I'm Marissa. Um… thanks for helping me. Not everyone would do that."

"Well I'm not everyone. So, can I walk you to class?"
Marissa smiled at her newfound friend. "Yeah, I would like that." That was the beginning of a long friendship.

Marissa was laughing hysterically at Sam's most recent run-in with the ravaging Emily. He had a light in his eyes that only appeared when she was around. He was slowly plucking up the courage to ask her out, but whenever he saw an opportunity, something or another got in the way. With a sudden burst of courage, Sam stuttered, "Uh, Marissa? I was, uh, wondering if maybe you wanted to, uh, go to Breadsticks with me this Friday. Like, on a date." Sam was sweating like crazy. Why did she make him so nervous?

Marissa hid her grin and tried to appear nonchalant. "Uh, sure. I can do Friday."

"Great! It's a date."

It had been two years since the two began to date in eighth grade. Marissa walked into the astronomy classroom completely but accident. She had been looking for her third period math class. The minute she walked in, Marissa looked around and ran from the room. Sam looked up from his spot on top of the head Cheerio, Emily, the school's whore. He yelled after her, "Marissa! Wait!" He sprinted out of the classroom after his girlfriend. After looking all period, Sam gave up.

Meanwhile, Marissa had found her best friend Lindsay. She hugged the crying girl and comforted her. Not soon after that, Emily got pregnant. Sam was luckily not the father, some douche named Bryce was, and Lindsay became head Cheerio. After that, the two stopped talking. Marissa was heartbroken again.

~End Flashbacks~

Hannah held Marissa as she sat crying, just like Lindsay had the year before. Sam was now back in Lima, probably just to haunt her. She tried to forget about him, and was doing a pretty good job until now. Sam was really back, and all Marissa could thing was, "God bless it."

_Samrissa_

Lindsay walked by a dark classroom and could not believe her eyes. "What the HELL do you think you are doing here?"
Sam looked up surprised, "Lindsay?"
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE!"
"I came to see Marissa. No need to yell."
"Of course there is!" She continued yelling. "You broke Marissa's heart! How could you possibly come back here? Do you care about her at all?" Once it came out, Lindsay realized she should not have said that. Sam began to see red, and he ran forward. Sam punched Lindsay square in the jaw. She stumbled backwards, looking stunned. He immediately began frantic apologies, but then saw why she didn't fall on the ground. A brown haired, blue eyed boy had caught her, mid fall.

"Oh! Yari? What the hell did you do that for?" Damian directed the last question at Sam.

"I-I-I… I have no idea. She- she said I didn't care about Marissa!" He yelled the last part like it justified his action.

"So? You're response is to punch her!" Damian now looked pissed. His moral compass was fine tuned. Punching a girl did not look good in his book. As he placed Lindsay on the ground, he asked again, "Yari?"
"Oh my gosh. I don't understand your leprechaun talk! Please, please just tell me what you mean."
"I asked if you were alright. You might have a nasty bruise tomorrow." Sam began to slip away while Damian was translating for Lindsay.
"Wait!" The Irish boy yelled. "You didn't even apologize!"
Sam looked at the ground, trying to control his anger. "She doesn't deserve my apologies."

When he heard that, Damian pounced. He knocked Sam to the ground in a matter of seconds. With the bigger boy pinned, Damian snarled in his face, "Apologize. She probably had a damn good reason for saying that to you." Sam heard the last sentence and began to sit up. When the boys stood, Sam punched Damian in the stomach. The hunched over boy recovered quickly and punched Sam in the face, breaking his nose. Lindsay watched from the side as a boy she had been nothing but bitchy to took hits for her. Eventually the two boys stopped fighting. Both were bruised and had a couple cuts from being slammed into walls. Sam spit out a sarcastic apology and matched it with a dramatic bow. Once he was gone, Damian sagged to the floor. Lindsay ran forward and began checking him over for any serious damage.

"Why did you do it?" Damian suddenly asked.

"Do what?" Lindsay tentatively replied.

"Why did you insult him? Clearly he cares about that girl, or he wouldn't have fought for her."
"Last year," Lindsay started uncertainly, "Sam broke my best friend Marissa's heart. Then he left without a backwards glance. If he really cared about her, he would have stayed away." By the time she finished her summary, Damian was on his feet.

He stretched, saying, "Well, any guy who would take that kind of beating for a girl is either really in love, or just a good guy. Not to judge a guy from appearances, but I would say he does not fall under the latter of the two categories." With that being said, Damian limped down the hallway and out the door.

A/N: So that was the new chapter! Like it? Hate it? Are you completely neutral? Any new pairings you want to see? Click the little button down there and tell me!

P.S. Sorry if Sam seemed kind of like an ass, but he was pissed at Marissa's rejection. Maybe he will be happier next chapter…

P.S.S. If you don't review, evil bananas will take over the world with me as their leader. P.S.S.S. Does anyone else want their child to look like, act like, and just be like Jack Hotchner? Please tell me I am not a pedophile!

~DS22