The next day, I'm not looking forward about going to school today. I'm never like that, but this is different for the way the guys have been treating me. I'm still debating go talk to Mr. Gomez and tell him about what they did, but I'm scared to. I'd worry what the guys would do if they found out I went to the principal. I was planning to talk to Dad before I do that so he can help me face my fears.

The phone rang as Sharon answered. "Hello."

"Hi. Is Richard around?" asked Mark.

"Sure, Mark," Sharon said as she went to him. "Richard, dear, it's Mark."

"Okay," said Dad.

"I have to leave early for work anyway," said Sharon.

"See you later," said Dad.

He got up for the phone while she left.

"Hi, Mark," said Dad.

"Hi. It's your day off, but I just found out about meeting for jury duty, so can you come in for that?" asked Mark. "It's only from 8:00 to 11:00 am."

"I can come in," said Dad.

"Thank you," said Mark.

"Not a problem," said Dad.

After they finished talking on the phone, when Carlos and Dawn left for the bus, Dad came up while I was finishing up getting ready for school.

"Are you almost ready? I'll be taking you to school on my way to the meeting," said Dad.

"I'm ready, but can we talk in the meantime?" I asked.

"Sure," said Dad.

When we left, Dad said, "You looked worried about something, honey."

"I'm still debating going to Mr. Gomez, but I'd just worried to make things worse," I said.

"I can understand, that's normal. I bet he'd be glad you went to him," said Dad.

"I suppose you're right," I said. "I'm starting to dread going to school because of the guys. I know it may sound crazy to mention that."

"I bet," said Dad. "It's not crazy at all. I know this week have been tough for you."

At school, I took a deep breath while I headed to the principal's office. I managed to show Mr. Gomez about the torn wallet.

"I didn't notice it was missing until yesterday after school. I knew it was the guys right away. I found it like that way while I was with them last night," I said. "I did fixed them good. I tell them it doesn't have their name on it and that doesn't belong to them. I had to dash out when Dad before they could try to take it back."

"That's right," said Mr. Gomez.

"I knew I could smell weeds on them, which is why I called home," I said.

"You're smart to do that because you would've been in that car accident," said Mr. Gomez.

"I saw that on breaking news," I said.

"I suppose you heard they got arrested," said Mr. Gomez.

"No. I didn't want it to bother me," I said.

"They also lost their license for 90 days. I'm suspended all of them for five days," said Mr. Gomez. "It's funny you came to me because one of the girls heard they spent money on drugs."

"That explains why my money went missing. It was for the phone bill. I didn't hear about that," I said.

I was glad I made that move. I told Kayla that I'd explain the whole thing at lunch.

"Makes sense," said Kayla.

When I got to class, April was mad at me for something. Kayla and I started at each other in a puzzled way. But if it's about telling her mom, I didn't care. I'm not sorry for doing that. In English, my teacher and I are talking about redoing the test.

"You can do it for tonight's homework," said Mrs. Mason.

"Okay. I can do it," I said.

At lunch, April was trying to yell at me for calling her mom.

"You need to quit yelling at my best friend," said Kayla.

"You can't tell me what to do," said April.

"I just did," said Kayla. "She did nothing wrong. She was trying to protect you. Come on, let's go, Mary Anne, April could've cared less."

She and I walked away. I was already ignoring April. We went to join our girls.

"How did things go with Mr. Gomez?" asked Kaylee.

"All three guys got in trouble and got suspended for five days for what they did," I said. "He was glad I reported him the torn wallet."

"I'm glad you went to the office," said Kayla. "They got what they deserved."

"I got a bit nervous at first. I didn't want to make things worse," I said. "I'm not great at speaking up for myself."

"At least you made the move," said Kaylee.

"Dad reminded me about something I didn't think about. If the guys were my friends, they wouldn't pressure me to do stuff I refused to do," I said.

"I agree with him," said Kayla.

"I'm thinking of getting rid of them anyway," I said.

"I don't blame you," said Kayla.

"Mr. Gomez told me one of you heard the guys spent money for drugs," I said.

"Yes, I heard about it," said Kayla. "I think that's terrible."

"I had a feeling that's where my missing money went," I said.

"Us, too," said Kayla.

"Oh, I read something interesting in today's paper. The young couple, who were killed, were set to get married next month," said Kaylee.

"That's worse," I said.

"Top of that, the woman was nine months pregnant with their first child. She was going into labor when it happened. The baby also died," said Kaylee.

"Wow," said Beth.

"Speaking of which, we had just saw April trying to yell at you. What was that all about?" asked Kaylee.

"She's just mad because Mary Anne called her mom last night," said Kayla.

"Tough," said Kaylee.

"I added she was trying to help," added Kayla.

"I ignored it," I said.

"Good," said Kaylee.

"I'm not sorry for what I did," I said.

"I just told her to quit doing that," said Kayla.

"Thank god you were there," said Kaylee.

"She's also in a bad mood because she and Andy broke up," said Beth.

"It's about time," said Kaylee.

"I see a big change in her after telling her about him," I said.

"We see that, too," said Beth.

"If she can't see what I was protecting her, I'll just take a step back from our friendship," I said.

"I would," said Kayla.

"She should see friends help each other," said Kaylee. "You were smarter than her to see red flags from those idiots."

When April was coming towards us, we all got up and walked away. None of us wanted to deal with her.

Later, I managed to do some of the chores. For some reason, I like doing chores first before doing anything to rest my brain after school. I just wanted to do so I can keep my mind on the test. It worked after that because I was in my room doing the test. It helps me every time I have homework. I still get it done before dinner. I was about finished when there was a knock on my door. I looked up and it was Dad.

"I just made some tea. Do you want any?" asked Dad.

"Sure. I'll be down in a minute," I said.

"Take your time. It'll be ready in a bit," said Dad.

When I finished it, I put it in the folder and my backpack and went downstairs to join Dad in the kitchen while he was pouring the tea.

"Mrs. Mason was letting me to retake the test for homework," I said.

"That's good," said Dad.

He came to the table with the tea while giving me one.

"Thanks," I said. "I actually made out fine talking to Mr. Gomez and he was glad I went to him."

"I was just about to ask you on how it went," said Dad.

"He was telling me the guys got arrested and lost their license for 90 days and are getting suspended from school for five days," I said.

"That will teach them a lesson," said Dad.

"So, I'm just glad I don't need to face them during that time. I feel better about doing that part, so round one is done," I said. "There is round two I'm trying to deal with now. It's a long story. First of all, Beth was telling us that April and Andy broke up last night."

"It must have happened after you told her about it," said Dad.

"Kayla and I noticed April didn't even talk to me during English. I thought she could've been glad I told her about what was happening. Instead, she found out I called her mom last night and was trying to yell me at lunch," I said.

"What is wrong with her these days?" asked Dad.

"That's what I would like to know, too," I said. "She should know I was trying to protect her."

"Of course. You were a good friend," said Dad. "She should've thanked you for it."

"I came close to tell her she'd do the same for me if she was in my shoes," I said.

"That's true that she would've," said Dad.

"I find April has changed since I told her about Andy," I said. "Even the other girls see that."

"I believe it," said Dad.

"Even Kayla told her to quit yelling at me," I said. "They told me I had a better sense when I saw red flags. Plus, I didn't ignore the girls when they told me about the guys."

"I agree," said Dad.

"I might take a step back from our friendship if she can't appreciate it," I said.

"I don't blame you," said Dad.

"I suspected she was trying to act like nothing happened because she was coming over to us, but we all walked away because none of us wanted to deal with her," I said.

"I paid the phone bill by the way after I finished with the meeting," said Dad.

"Oh, good. I'm glad you did that," I said. "I forgot you were doing it today."

"It's okay," said Dad.