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Dakota lost his balance for a quick moment. Once he regained it, he looked at how many people he was up against, measuring up his competition. It was three against one; he was unfairly outnumbered. Despite seeing that he was at a disadvantage, he tried to take a swing at Pierson, but Doug jumped into the fight and pushed him right across the chest. This blow to the chest eventually caused him to tumble to the floor. They crept in closer to him- like a pack of hungry wolves, going in for the kill- as Dakota struggled back on to his feet.

"Stop it!" I shouted and practically threw myself on to Dakota. I felt like Pocahontas, protecting Dakota as if he was John Smith. All we needed was some intense music to set the mood.

A teacher who was supervising the cafeteria finally caught on to what was going on. Pierson and his friends stepped back from Dakota as she approached us.

"What's going on here?" The teacher asked, lowering her glasses to look at Dakota and I. We were still on the floor. With her hard glare, Dakota and I rushed back to our feet and stood before her. No one spoke at first. "I hope you can all explain what is going on."

"Nothing to worry about, Mrs. Logan," Pierson said. "Dakota here just slipped."

"Yeah, slipped on your fist," I hissed softly.

"What was that?" Mrs. Logan asked, clearly unaware to what I'd said.

"Nothing." Dakota filled in for me. "I fell. Silvia was just helping me up but then she fell as well. We're just clumsy."

"Yes. Very clumsy," she added and examined the both of us one last time before facing Pierson and his friends. "I want you to separate and get back to your lunch. It'll be over in fifteen minutes."

"Yes, ma'am." Pierson chimed, linking his arm with mine. "We'll be going now. I'll get you away from him." He said his last words softly so that I was the only one that heard it.

I pulled away from his touch, but Dakota shook his head.

Go with him, he mouthed.

I hated this plan more than him now. I didn't want to be aware someone who hurt my Kota-

I meant Dakota.

He wasn't mine. What was going on with me? I shook my head and followed Pierson, unwillingly. From the looks of it, they appeared to be heading to the gymnasium. My guess was proven right when we took a left in the narrow hallways. Seated against the lockers outside of the gym doors were two very familiar faces. Beth and Xander sat there were their trays on their laps.

The look on Beth's face told me that she wasn't surprised with Pierson showing up at the gym. She was surprised that I was there, too. I could see the frown creeping on her face, consuming that smile that was there before.

"Hey, Beth," Doug said, but it was a less enthusiastic greeting than what he usually gave her. I had a feeling that he knew about what she'd done to Pierson at his party. Poor guy. He was unaware of the psycho he was in love with.

I hadn't talked to her at all after that interaction in the hallway after Pierson's party. We had kept our contact between each other at a bare minimum. The few classes we did share, she made sure to not sit near me or to not make direct eye contact. I did the same thing, not wanting to make things anymore awkward.

I did have a few questions for her though. Most of those questioned started with a "why" and they were quite repetitive. They all revolved around her and how she pretended to be me. She said she was drunk, but I doubt it the more I thought about it. It was both sick and vial, not to mention twisted and extremely wrong.

"Hi Doug," she said meekly. "Hey, Pierson. How ar-"

"Don't bother asking how I'm doing. Because then I'll feel obligated to ask you the same question in return. And frankly, I don't care how you are." Pierson cut in and opened the heavy metal gym doors, letting it creak and squeak. "Let's go guys."

The doors banged shut behind us when we were inside the gym. There were a few other students in the gym, playing basketball on half of the court. Coach Williams was on his phone near the entrance, occasionally looking up to make sure everyone was okay. Hunter and Doug went off to pass around a soccer ball on the other half of the gym. It left me all alone with Pierson. A gnawing feeling started up in my stomach. I was hyperaware of distance between our bodies and in the direction his hands fell when he sat down.

"You know, that wasn't very nice," I commented, sitting down on the bleachers beside him. "You shouldn't be so hard on her."

"The conversation between us could've gone a hell of a lot worse. I could've told her to feck off." He shrugged. "Enough about her though, how have you been? I haven't seen you for ages."

"Are you serious? You've seen me every single week day. You've just chosen to not acknowledge me."

"Well, Dakota basically said to not talk to you. And with you guys dating and all I didn't want to get in middle of that. Of course, when I saw that fight at lunch just now, I knew I had to step in."

I crossed my arms over my chest. Pierson had another thing coming for him if he thought I'd believe that lie. "Dakota did not tell you that."

"Yes, he did. Why would I lie about something like that?" He assured me and pulled out his phone. "I don't know who gave him my number, but he started texting me."

I glanced down at his phone, and sure enough, I saw Dakota's number at the top. He hadn't gone as far as saving it into his phone, but I knew his number well enough. The text messages dated back to when we found out what Beth had done at his party. The texts were pretty aggressive and clear that he didn't want Pierson anywhere near me.

All this time, Dakota had acted like he didn't understand why Pierson was ignoring me. Even though I now had proof that Dakota had a part in this, it still didn't explain why Pierson made an alliance of people against me. I had no interest in learning why he did it. It was obvious at this point. He was projecting his hate for Dakota on to me.

"I don't even know why you hung around him so long without losing your mind. He's a complete and utter ass-hat." Pierson huffed and stuffed his phone into his jeans. "He's clearly got a few screws missing if he sends messages like that."

I darted him a dark look.

"Just saying," he said, raising his hands up in the air. "Can I ask you an honest question?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Is that what you guys typically do? Scream at each other, not regarding the fact that you're in public? Also, has he ever done anything more than...scream at you? Has he ever done anything else violent?"

"Are you asking me if he's hit me? Because if you are, I can tell you that he has never laid a hand on me."

"Well, if there's no physical abuse, then I guess it's emotional abuse."

I unintentionally found myself glaring at him. "Abuse is a heavy word that shouldn't be thrown around lightly. I don't have the most picture-perfect relationship with Dakota, but it isn't emotional abuse."

"That's exactly what someone who has been emotional abused would say. Denial is the first stage. It's okay. I'm here for you whenever you're ready to admit it." He rested his hand on to my shoulder and pulled me into his chest. "I'm here for you, Silvia. We can over come this together."

"I'm not in an emotionally abusive relationship." I stated even louder and eased away from him. "What would even make you even come to that assumption? Just cause of one heated argument?"

"No, there's a lot of things that contributed into me saying what I did. Dakota's dad was kind of infamously knowing around town for treating his wife like shit. He only got worse once he found out about the other guys she was getting involved with ....and then there was the fire and all."

"Wait. Slow down." I gaped at him, wide eyed and with my mouth open. "You're going to have to rewind a bit and tell me what the hell you're talking about because I didn't understand most of what you said. You're going to need to be a lot less vague. Her husband abused her?"

"Well, I don't know for sure, but that's what I've heard around town. Dakota never told you?"

"He must've forgot to tell me about." I said earnestly. If I was Dakota, I wouldn't have told either. I kind of understood why he wouldn't. It wasn't like I'd told him about the things I'd seen throughout the years.

"There's a lot you don't know then and I don't think I'm the right person to tell you."

"Don't be silly," I huffed. "You can tell me."

"No, honestly. Silvia, it's best if you ask someone else...I don't know, maybe your father."

"Why in the hell would I ask my dad?"

"He was one of the people involved in the affairs, from what I know."

I refrained the urge to gag. I didn't want to show Pierson my disgust though. "My dad is the last person who would tell me anything."

He shrugged. "You could always try."

Once the bell rang, I exited the gym alone. Pierson, Doug, and Hunter had P.E. next so they didn't need to leave. They only walked to the locker room. I waved goodbye to Pierson and made my way to my next period. It was after I turned the corner when I stopped walking.

Xander and Beth were in front of some lockers, talking quite loud. She was rummaging through her opened locker, searching for a textbook while he stood there.

"I don't want to go, Alex." Beth declared.

"I didn't ask you if you wanted to go." He countered. "Franklin invited you."

"That doesn't mean I'll say yes to going."

"I already said yes for you." He beamed. "You can thank me later at the wedding."

She slammed her locker shut. "I'm not even interested in starting conversations with brainless buffoons like Franklin. He's only going to push my limits and ask for more. I know I don't have any evidence that he's a part of the Segg, but I have a feeling that he is."

"Who cares if he's a part of Segg? Most boys his age are." He supplied. "And trust me, you'll like him a lot more once you go."

"He's not really my type. You know that, Alex."

"Oh, I'm sorry I couldn't get drunk Pierson for you instead." He rolled his eyes. "The only time he'll give you the time a day is if he's half responsive and thinks you're that annoying Silvia girl. You know it better than me that he didn't like you until you dressed up like her. Full on makeup and outfit to match. I must admit, that was a good plan. Fucked up, but very effective in getting him into bed."

She hushed at him and glanced at the students, rushing past her locker. "Shh. People are still around. Can you not be so loud?"

They wandered off further down the hall and away from where I was standing. I hit my back against the wall, trying to digest what they were talking about. The only useful information that I had gotten from them was that there was some kind of group called Segg. I had a feeling it was an acronym for something, but I couldn't figure it out.

After the last period, I divulged on all of my findings to Dakota. Heath met up with us on school grounds and we walked over to a pizza place close to the campus. I lied to Evelyn and told her that I had a study session at the library and that she should wait about an hour and a half before picking me up.

We settled into a vacant booth with red leather cushions and checkered detailing on the countertops. Other than the tacky wallpaper and the obnoxious pop music that was playing over the loud speakers, I didn't mind this place all that much. By the time our food came to our table, I'd retold the story to Heath in its entirety and also the eavesdropping I did outside the gym.

"Are you a thousand percent sure they said Segg?" Heath questioned with his mouth full of cheese pizza.

"I'm more than a thousand percent sure." I answered. "They said something about how Franklin might be about of it. But then Xander said most boys his age are a part of it anyway. What's Segg?"

"Segg is something that hasn't been done in Crescent Height since my mom was going to school. It's where certain senior boys partake in pranks, competitions, games, and other stupid things. A lot of it revolved around humiliation. The pranks and humiliation was thrown toward the teachers and rarely ever the students. It wasn't until the late 80s when it shifted more towards student humiliation. Your dad is kind of a legend for pulling the stunt he did during his senior year." Dakota retorted. "Something happened during our parents senior year that made them put a ban to this type of senior tradition."

"If it's really back, then we're all screwed." He announced. "Its pretty secretive on who is a part of the selected few who do it. And not ever member inside knows who's all apart of it unless they're the leader. They do this to insure there won't be lots of names a snitch can give out."

"That makes sense." I said, setting down my pizza. "Who was my dad humiliating back in high school?"

"My mother." Dakota informed.

________ _

NEW STORY: Picasso's Promise

Please check it out :) *14 chapters up*

trailer

https://youtu.be/vlkdwL54WRA

________

Song for the chapter: Just Saying by 5 seconds of summer

Lyrics:

❝You've got a boyfriend. And he's a total loser. All your friends tell you that he's got no future. But they like me. Just saying.❞

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