"Discretion is the better part of valor"

-William Shakespeare

Just as the bike was pulling into Bullworth's gates, there was a shrill bell ringing that signaled the beginning of afternoon classes. Kids scattered from their respective groups towards the school's main building. Gary made a sharp right turn at the Bullworth Bull statue, narrowly avoiding a group of leather-clad teenagers. He continued to pedal down the stairs, then suddenly making a screeching halt in front of a large brick building.

Amelie dizzily planted her feet on the ground and reluctantly removed her arms from Gary's waist. She looked at him foolishly expecting some sort of affirmation or comforting touch. Instead, Gary remained stationary on the bike, looking at her with an intense glare.

"Better get to gym, Miss Bee. Make sure not to break a nail on the way to the locker room." There's the sarcasm. Amelie let out a soft giggle but was met with Gary's serious expression. His eyes bore into hers with a slight squint. Furrowing his eyebrows, Gary looked upset but kept a controlled look on his face. "Be at the gate at nine tonight." That was all before he turned on his heel and heard the horrible noise of burning rubber on the asphalt.

He was gone.

Honestly, Amelie was disappointed and a little miffed at Gary. She had just had her first kiss just a half hour before the same boy was intent on treating her like an enemy.

There was no rhyme or reason for his behavior, especially when she had been nice and accommodating to all his demands. Usually, Amelie could win people over by being coy. It was also the easy way out of her social anxiety; she really didn't have to deal with rejection. Anxiety was bubbling in her veins, the sure sign of a massive migraine approaching.

A girl walked in front of Amelie and waved her manicured hand in front of her face. "Hello? Anyone in there?" The girl joked, giving Amelie a smile. "Are you going to gym?"

"Oh… yeah. Sorry, I was zoning out."

"Oh, okay! Let's go then!" Her arm was linked by the red haired, taller girl and Amelie was sufficiently dragged through the gym's double doors. Suddenly, the girl let out a shocked gasp and turned to face Amelie. "Oh my gosh! You're the new girl, aren't you! Amy!" The girl squealed with joy. Amelie was trying to figure out if the girl's enthusiasm was genuine, but she chose to play along.

Amelie put on her best fake smile. "Yeah, I am. It's Amelie, by the way."

"Oh.. Emily?"

"No… Ah-meh-lee." The forced smile was quivering. No one ever pronounces it right. I wish I could just change it to something normal.

The taller girl continued to smile and babble on. "Cool name! It sounds foreign! So do you like it here? I bet it's worse than your old school. I heard you won, like, a spelling bee. How cool is that? I'm not very good at spelling. I'd probably lose on the word 'knight' by forgetting the 'k' or something." She snorted at her own ignorance. "Wow, I'm so rude, I didn't even tell you MY name! I'm Christy. Nice to meet you," Christy's smile dazzled like she was trying to sell a luxury car to a poor person.

Amelie decided to not try to pick the insincerity out of Christy's manner and instead smile and nod. It was easier to talk to people like this.

"So, how do you like Bullworth so far? It's your first few days, right? I bet you hate the weather, considering you lived, like, right on the equator in Florida."

Ignoring Christy's incorrect geographical statement, Amelie was taken aback by the vast knowledge this girl she had just met had known about her. "How did you know all that?"

"Word got around," Christy shrugged. "We all heard about the fight that day. It was pretty brave of you to try and fight them off," Christy said admiringly. "No one has seen the bullies since. We think that Crabblesnitch has them on probation until they've learned their lesson."

"Whoa, whoa, wait. What are you talking about? I didn't try to fight anyone off." The girls made their way down to the locker room, Amelie changing into the gym clothes at the foot of a locker.

"Don't be so modest, Emily."

"No, really, I didn't. I elbowed some guy in the chest, but I did nothing to him."

"Girls! This isn't 'Days of Our Lives'! Get out of the locker room!" A booming voice sounded in the walls of the room. The girls quickly pulled off their clothes, Amelie's still slightly wet, and changed into the ugly blue sweats.

"There's no way in hell you could get all those guys offa you."

"Yeah, there isn't. That's because-"

"GIRLS! Do I have to repeat myself? That's laps around the football field! Don't make me drag you out!" A woman teacher, probably the gym instructor, barged down the stairs towards the girls. Christy pulled on Amelie's arm and rushed them out of the building out into the fresh air. As they jogged towards the grassy field, Christy looked curiously at Amelie. "Because of what?"

Amelie continued jogging, focusing on controlling her breath. "Gary, mainly. He basically knocked them all out until the prefects came," She shrugged, secretly happy with the memory of Gary's rescue.

Christy halted to a stop and struck out her arm, blowing the air out of Amelie's lungs. As the brunette wheezed with her hands on her knees, Christy let out a shriek. "Gary? Gary Smith?!"

The shorter girl nodded, gasping at her. "Why, what's wrong?"

The redhead looked infuriated and deliciously intrigued at the same time. "That can't be possible. I knew he had come back, but this… this is… news." Christy grinned to herself, seemingly pleased that she had new gossip.

Once Amelie had regained her breath, the pair continued to jog. "So you know what he did last year, right?" Amelie's confused look told Christy she had no idea. Without pausing, Christy went through the entire story of Gary's disturbing reign of terror that nearly burned the entire school down, keeping every juicy detail intact: from the overhaul of the cliques, turning against a boy named Jimmy, and the trip to Happy Volts. It all seemed unbelievable.

Amelie couldn't quite make sense what she was hearing. She had faintly remembered Pete's vague warning about Gary, but she had completely forgotten about it due to recent events. Namely, the events that took place at the beach. But no way she was going to tell a girl she just met the details of her and Gary's relationship.

You should have kept your damn mouth shut.

"That's something, right? Gary's a freak, but he's always been entertaining at least. I'm surprised he would actually do something like that and save you, he hates everyone here," Christy waved her hands carelessly, as if she didn't care what anyone thought of her. "What do you think?"

Am I talking to a girl or a reporter? Why does she care so much?

You're overreacting. She's just being friendly. God, you always think everyone's out to get you.

Something didn't sit right about Christy to Amelie. Then again, she wasn't going to let go of her opportunity to talk to someone normal (at least more normal than Gary) and possibly make a friend. Christy looked at her in anticipation.

"Well, he's been helping me around school and stuff. He showed me to my dorm, actually." A furious shade of red appeared on Amelie's face when she realized how sexual that sounded. Christy let out a giggle and widened her eyes. "You didn't-"

"No! We didn't- um, no. I don't do… that stuff." Her hands began to sweat.

"What, are you a prude or something?"

Before Amelie could answer, or even deny her assumption, Christy shoved her playfully on the back with her hand. "Relax, Amily. Everyone does that stuff, you don't have to be embarrassed."

Amelie felt an odd comfort of Christy's touch and began to pick her head up. "Oh, good." She lied through her teeth.

Christy pressed further. "So what about Gary? Do you like him?"

This question had Amelie stuck. She had no idea what she thought or if she could even trust her thoughts at this point.

To say Gary was a little frightening was an understatement. He appeared out of the blue and stuck himself to her. His looming presence always seemed to be there and ready to grab her at any moment. Then, he would bring himself away just as Amelie wanted to get closer. It was a confusing game of cat and mouse. And now she knew he was a possible raging lunatic.

On the other hand, she did feel attracted to him: the dark, scarred boy with deep brown eyes. And the way he touched her. She never had those feelings for anyone before…

"Yes, I like him," Her voice having a little more confidence than usual.

You're going to regret this…

"And he asked me out for a date tonight. I don't know where." Amelie continued.

This new revelation piqued Christy's short attention span. Her smile could not possibly grow any wider.

Great. You blew it.

Hey, she's a girl. Maybe I should be hanging around more girls like a normal person.

"Are you kidding?! You need to tell me everything that happens! When are you going to see him?"

For her paranoid fear of giving out too much information, Amelie faked like she didn't know what time Gary was picking her up when in reality she knew exactly when he would be parked outside the iron gates.

"I don't know, that's the thing. He's too mysterious."

Christy looked at her appreciatively. "That's kind of hot, actually. Too bad Gary isn't my type," she drawled. "Y'know, psychopaths. Don't really go well with my personality."

A shocked look rose on Amelie's face but Christy laughed it off. "He's not a psycho," Amelie defended. "If he was I would be dead or something, right? And I think I know better than to hang around people like that."

Or so you hope.

"Hey, I get it. Do your thing. But just be careful is all I'm saying." An awkward pause passed. Then Christy lit up with joy once again. "This is gonna be good. Hey, where's your room?

A friend. "I think it's the one all the way down the hallway on the left."

"Alright, I'll bring some pizza and Beam to your room tonight and you can tell me all the details," She licked her lips with anticipation. Christy smiled at her, waving goodbye as she sprinted back to the gym's building.

Amelie wondered to herself what she had done. There were so many things wrong. Gary, for one, could very well be a sociopath preparing to kill her. But this was not the boy she knew. Not the boy who had selflessly rescued her and showed her around while she had no one. Not the boy who had kissed her in the ocean. Not the boy who wanted to see her tonight.

It was weird: she hardly knew Gary, but she felt like she had known him forever. Maybe it was the way he carried himself, as if he had already known her. Amelie admired his boldness. He wasn't the problem, she was. Self-doubt constantly raced through her mind. The stupid anxiety. Hadn't she been given pills for this a few days ago?

Oh yeah. Why didn't you take those yet? Because they're non prescription panic pills. Doubtful that they're safe or even legal in the first place. Even if the nurse did give them to you.

Once the brunette had changed back into her school clothes, the gym was nearly empty except for the sound of sneakers squeaking against the tile. She looked up as the sound came closer and saw a raven haired girl with a ponytail and a skimpy blue cheerleader outfit. The girl looked slightly annoyed.

"You're that new girl, right?" The black haired girl questioned with a slight frown.

She nodded, hoping she wasn't in for more bullying. This girl looked ready to fight if she needed to.

The cheerleader sighed with relief. "I heard you're a teacher's pet-I mean, a smart, bright student." She laughed meanly and loomed over Amelie, who was slowly crouching from the other girl's presence. "I'm Mandy, but of course you already knew that. Everyone knows me. The point is, geek, I need your help. I'm going to fail English and if I do, they won't let me cheer at the next game. And gawd knows what that will do for my rep," Her voice was high and annoying, almost on purpose. A sharp, newly polished nail pointed into Amelie's chest. "So you're going to help me." Mandy demanded.

Amelie managed to squeak out, "Why should I? What can you do for me?" She paused for a moment, surprised to hear her own voice defending herself.

"What, you want money? I'm rich, I guess I can spare some change for the poor." Mandy began to fish out her wallet from her purse, when she stopped herself. "No… I've got a better idea." After a dramatic pause, a small, almost genuine smile appeared on her lips. "I'm going to make you popular. You can't pay money for that."

The brunette considered this briefly. Did she really want to be popular? No. She wanted to be normal.

But maybe Mandy could help. "I need guy help," Amelie whispered as if she was afraid someone might hear at any moment.

Mandy grinned mockingly. "GUY help? Alright, well… you're not half bad looking," Amelie blushed as Mandy scanned over her body unabashedly. "Depends who you're trying to get." She waited for the brunette expectantly.

Fuck. I'm definitely not telling any more people about Gary.

"Just this guy I've been talking to, you probably wouldn't know him." She saved herself from becoming more paranoid about her relationship getting out. Mandy frowned. "Whatever. As long as it's not one of the football players, I could care less. Come on, let's get out of here."

The girls exited the locker room and walked out to the outside. The taller girl was swinging her hips and acting like she wasn't watching everyone's stares, the shorter girl was nervously brushing her hair in her face, hoping Gary wasn't around.

Amelie had to admit, it was kind of nice talking to people and getting invited over. Perhaps she didn't want to be popular, but she did want friends. With Christy and Mandy, she might actually fit in at Bullworth.

But then she remembered what Christy had told her about Gary. The psycho.

It can't be. Psychos don't just come on to girls like you. And I don't think they'd let a psycho back on campus. Plus, a psycho wouldn't ask for consent before he stuck his tongue down your throat.

"Only if you want it…"

Gary's words loomed in her mind. What did it mean? What was it? What was he planning tonight? Would she even go to the gates?

Stupid question. Of course you will. We're just getting started.