After leaving Mrs. Gupta's office my phone buzzes. It's a text from Cynthia, instructing me to meet her in the music room at lunch. Apparently, Blake had spent the weekend figuring out the lyrics for the song we were going to sing for the English assignment. The first two periods go by in a blur and lunch comes too quick.

In the music room, Cynthia is chatting with a short and thin man wearing all black. When she sees me, she rolls her eyes but moves towards me. Her skirt rises up and she pulls it down quickly, scanning the room with her eyes narrowed. The wall directly across the door is covered with a beautiful mural, showing a group of students playing different instruments.

Chairs are scattered across the large room and the ceiling is high, unlike the other rooms in the building. The remainder of the walls are plastered with posters of famous musicians and quotes. "Hey, Audrey. This is Mr. Lee," Cynthia says, gesturing to the thin man and breaking me from my spell.

"It's nice to meet to you," he says.

"He's letting us use his piano for our presentation," Cynthia adds. "Which is super cool of him."

Mr. Lee rolls his eyes slightly and flicks his hand. "Stop. You're making me blush." After that he steps out, grumbling something about having a meeting and telling us to watch the instruments. Cynthia and I sit awkwardly on opposite sides of the room. She is on her phone and is choosing to ignore me. Which is something I am totally cool with.

Blake finally walks into the room, his gym bag slung over his shoulder and his mouth in a scowl. Cynthia groans when she sees him. "What's your problem, Blake?" After dumping his bag on the floor, he goes to the back of the room and pulls out a guitar from a small room.

"It's okay. Don't worry about it," he mumbles. He gives me a nod before taking the guitar out of its case and sitting on one of the tables at the front.

Cynthia snorts but joins him at the front. "You know we have to finish this project, right? Unlike you, some people actually have to keep up their averages." Blake gives her a look but remains quiet as he fiddles with the pegs on the guitar. From the looks of it, Blake and Cynthia had made up after last week's fiasco.

"It's due soon," I add, sitting in front of the piano and playing a C minor. It has been a few months since I last played the piano. Sitting before one reminds me of my neighbor and piano teacher, Agatha. I miss her so much that I want to take the next bus out to visit her.

"You should just come to the gym with us on the weekends," Cynthia says. I turn but realize that she is looking at Blake.

"Can't do that." Blake strums the guitar before returning it to its case. "I work on the weekends and I can't afford a Goodlife membership. Working out at school is cheaper." He pulls a notebook out from his backpack and sits beside me, facing away from the piano.

"Did you figure out the lyrics?" Cynthia asks, coming to stand in front of Blake.

He nods and shows them to us. "Some of it." They're great and are surprisingly accurate, despite him not reading the whole book.

"This is awesome," I say in awe.

"Damn, these are good. You made such a crappy book seem cool." Cynthia laughs.

He keeps his head down but I can tell that he is happy that we like what he has written. "I tried figuring out a tune last night. I'm not sure how I feel about it, though." Blake picks up the guitar again and returns to sit beside me. After adjusting a tuner for a final time, he strums a calm and slow melody. Blake starts singing the first lyric softly but pauses to clear his throat. Both Cynthia and I fall silent as he sings the song. His voice is so raw and beautiful.

My phone buzzes. It's a text from Tamara that makes me jump to my feet. My heart hammers. "I have to go." Blake stops playing and looks up me, confusion spreading across his face. "It's Tamara." Without waiting for him to respond I race into the hallway and run outside. Tamara's text flashes through my mind and makes my blood boil. Come to the back of the school. Your gay cousin is going to get his ass beat today.

There is small a field behind the school, the grass fading in color and covered in leaves. At the far end, near the metal fence, there is a crowd forming. Ignoring my doctor's warning to take it easy on my leg again, I run. With no teacher in sight, I push past the crowd and find Josh standing in the middle with Gabriel in front of him.

My cousin stands with his hands at his side and shoulders slumped. He looks so defeated and heartbroken. "Why don't you tell them, man!" Gabriel yells and then snickers as he circles around Josh. "Or are you too scared of your dad?" Josh's hands form into fists and his jaw tightens as he studies Gabriel.

"Don't do this, Gabriel," Josh mutters under his breath and I hear someone boo in the crowd. It's Tamara. When our eyes lock, the smile fades from her mouth and she glares at me. A tremor runs through me. Blake was right. Tamara couldn't be trusted. My hands start to sweat as I take in the scene before me, trying to figure out what to do. Alarms are going off in my head to get a teacher.

"You're an ass for what you did to Tamara." Gabriel points a finger at Josh accusingly. Fire ignites behind his eyes. "You deserve this," he whispers. Putting his arms up he yells, "All of this."

"No," I murmur, reaching my arm towards my cousin. Josh wants to come out to his friends and family but not like this, never like this.

"Students of Lakewood High!" Gabriel spins around before he continues. Everyone falls silent. "I stand before you today to tell you that Josh Collins, the star basketball player, bears a dark secret."

My cousin's face pales and he starts to blink rapidly. The knot in my stomach becomes tighter and I can't take it anymore. Josh doesn't deserve this. No one did.

Before he can go on, I gently shove a freshman to the side and stand in between the two boys. Hands on my hips and eyes narrowed, I stare Gabriel down. Shock spreads across Gabriel's face but he recovers, giving me a once over before closing the distance between us. "Don't do this," I plead, ever the pacifist.

"You can't fight your own battles? You have to have your cousin fight them for you?" He tilts his head to look at Josh, grinning because he thinks he has the upper hand. Looking back at me again, he mutters. "What a pussy."

Gabriel leans down, putting his mouth near my ear he adds, "a gay pussy." His breath is like hot lava against my cheek. My blood turns to tar at his words. Gabriel smirks. That's when I shove him, hard. He wasn't expecting it because his eyes widen and he growls.

"Don't be an asshole." The word feels foreign on my tongue. Gabriel is filled with an ugly rage now and he charges at me. His cold fingers wrap around my chin but I barely flinch.

"You little bitch," he snarls. "You think you're so great, don't you? Always trying to do the right thing." There is a storm behind his eyes and that is what scares me. We need to get a teacher out here fast. Someone grabs my arm and pulls me back. It's Cynthia. Gabriel's releases his death grip on me.

"What are you doing, New Girl?" Cynthia yells. Everything that happens next is a blur. Blake throws a punch at Gabriel, making him fall to the ground. He recovers quickly, jumps to his feet and gives Blake a hard push, who manages to smack Gabriel in the nose. At this, Cynthia and Josh both call out to him but he ignores them.

Blood drips from Gabriel's nose but that doesn't stop Blake from grabbing the boy's shirt in one hand and raising his right fist. Fear flashes like lightning across the boy's eyes and that's when I act. With all my strength, I grab a hold of Blake's shirt and pull. "Stop it, Blake! You're going to do something you'll regret!"

"That's the idea!" He's fuming and ready to tear Gabriel apart. Nonetheless he lets go of the shirt and turns to look at his best friend, who has fallen to his knees. I'm beside Josh now, awkwardly rubbing his back and trying to calm him down. Hands on his hips, Blake glares at me. "Told you that they couldn't be trusted."

"I bet you're gay for Blake too," Gabriel shouts, also on his knees. Tamara sits beside him, silent and trying to stop the blood flowing from his nose. Blake spins around and is ready to hit Gabriel again.

But before he can, Gabriel's eyes roll back and he falls against Tamara, who desperately tries to hold him steady. Josh shouts at his friend. Blake is going to get in trouble for beating up Gabriel. Even if he is the scum of the Earth, he is not worth it. As much as I hate Gabriel right now, I also don't want him to die.

Getting up from my spot beside my cousin I stand in front of Blake, blocking Gabriel and Tamara from him. Keeping my feet shoulder width apart and eyes on him I say, "Punch him one more time and I promise that you will forget your name," He snorts and looks to the side, shaking his hand.

The bell rings and the students scramble quickly, some of them deciding to ditch school all together. When the crowd disperses, their hastiness makes sense and make me want to melt into the ground. A short woman in a navy pantsuit is rushing towards us. Two teachers are racing after her with matching angry scowls. "Shit," Blake mutters and lifts his hands to his head before turning away. "It's the principal."

When the woman reaches us, her cold eyes skim over all of us quickly. When her eyes land on Blake, her jaw tightens and she shakes her head disappointingly. "Strike two, Rider. One more and you're done." Lifting her walkie-talkie to her mouth she turns away from us and instructs the person on the other end to call the police and an ambulance.

At the end of the fiasco, I am given a detention for my involvement in the fight. Both Gabriel and Blake are suspended. Apparently, this is Blake's second fight of the year, which doesn't surprise me. My aunt is upset and in tears when she comes to pick my cousin and me up from school.

Josh is mad at his best friend and won't even look at him or me for that matter. The whole situation is a mess but all I can think about is Josh shaking on the grass, his eyes down casted and his shoulders slouched. He seems so lost and empty after what Gabriel did to him

|| Author's Note ||

I know the updates are really slow but I will try harder to put a chapter out in another two weeks. What did you think about this chapter? Were you expecting that Blake was right about Tamara?

I know that Blake gets into many fights and I just wanted to see what you guys thought about that. He is meant to be hot-headed and a little impulsive but not a total douchebag.

Have a good one.