Sam P.O.V

A busted lip, and a black eye. Oh, how my step mom was going to be pissed when she finds out I got into a fight.

Luckily, I felt like my actual mom and dad were going to be a lot more forgiving though.

After what had happened on the school steps, a teacher had found us, just as I was bringing my clenched fist right into MacKenzie's bitch-ass nose. It was pretty satisfying, when I heard it crunch against my fingers. If only Taylor had been there to see it, but I wanted her to run. Otherwise she could have gotten a lot more hurt than she did.

But let's just say Mackenzie's nose will be in a cast for awhile. Heh.

Normally, I wasn't ever a violent person. In fact, resulting to violence was usually my very last resort when it came to dealing with conflict. But when I saw one of MacKenzie's friends slap Taylor across the face, something just flared up inside me. And I felt like I had to make them pay.

Even if it mean getting a black eye and a busted lip, it was worth it.

When the teacher had found us, we were all sent to the principals office, and I was the last to be seen, as I was sitting outside waiting for him to yell at one last student who had been part of the group.

The bell rang and students started to file out their classrooms, getting ready to go to their next class. To my delight, I saw Taylor walking this way. When she saw me, her mouth fell agape. I must have looked a state.

She quickly ran over to me.

"Sam! Oh my god! Oh my god, are you okay!?" She cried, sounding distraught. I nodded, trying to smile. However, I couldn't really pull a grin all that much, due to how painful it felt with the cut on my lips. She exhaled, shaking her head.

"That was fucking crazy! Why would you do that?! Look at what they've done to your face!"

"Hey, it's fine, Taylor. Really. I told you I'd be there for you, didn't I? I promised." I grinned.

"But... You're seriously hurt..."

"Heh, not as hurt as MacKenzie was." I boasted, crossing my arms, looking pretty confident. Her eyes widened.

"Why? What happened with her?"

"Let's just say, I may have broken that nose of hers." I replied. Taylor gasped, but looked more uplifted rather than horrified.

"You're kidding!" She cried. "Though, you do realize this probably means you're going to be kicked out of school for awhile..."

"Eh. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it." I shrugged.

"Well, still... Thank you so much, for standing up for me. Just be more careful next time."

"Don't worry. I'm not really the violent type. This is actually the first fight I've ever had." I admitted.

"It is?!"

Before I could answer her, the student that was being shouted at from inside, came through the door and glared at the both of us when he saw us before storming off down the corridor in a sulk.

"Sam Hannah!" The principal shouted from inside. "You're next!"

"Welp, that's me." I sighed.

"Your last name is Hannah?" Taylor wondered. I nodded in response.

"Oh right, I never told you that. What's yours?" I asked. She bit her lip in thought, before answering me.

"It's, uh... Park. Taylor Park." She croaked. I smiled.

"Nice name." I complimented, before hearing my name being shouted from inside once again. "Well, anyway I better go before the principal pops a blood vessel. See you later, Tay!"

"Yeah, later! And, uh... Again, thanks..."

I smiled, before having to turn around and go through the door to the principal's office. When he saw me, he definitely didn't look pleased. But I had sort of prepared myself to hear a rant from him. So I didn't exactly feel all that worried, when he told me to sit in the chair opposite his desk.

"You're a new student, Sam. I honestly wasn't expecting this from you during the first few weeks." He commented. "In fact, it seemed in your last school you were very well behaved. So, what happened?"

I sighed.

"I wasn't going to let some assholes hurt my friend. They made the first move - hitting her across the face. And I just... Snapped, I guess." I admitted. He leaned back in his chair, listening intently as he pressed his fingers together.

"I understand that you may have wanted to protect your friend, Sam. But you do realize you broke a student's nose, right? You should feel lucky that I'm not going to expel you."

"You're not?" I questioned, clearly surprised. He nodded.

"I'm aware, or I'm at least hoping, that you're not that kind of girl who just picks fights for no reason at all. I've heard many complaints about MacKenzie and her group of friends. People may think teachers are clueless, we do know what they're like. But sometimes it's not just that easy to deal with them." He said. "Sam, next time please don't go resulting to violence. As a new student, we're expecting great things from you... Now, you may go."

With a nod, I got out of my seat and left the room without another word.

Considering I was half expecting him to burst into flames, I think he took that pretty well.

****

Taylor's P.O.V

I hope Sam is going to get here soon... I want her to be my Science partner...

Oh, speak of the devil. In the doorway.

The teacher rolls her eyes when she sees Sam, but lets her go and sit down without lecturing her. She grins, walking over and sitting right next to me.

"Hey." I whisper. "How did it go?"

"Fine. He didn't really shout at me, and I'm not going to be expelled either, surprisingly." Sam answered.

"Really? That's awesome." I beamed, still hoping to keep my voice as quiet as possible. "What about your eye though? I'm sure it probably hurts, right?" I wondered with a frown, and without thinking as I said that, I brought one of my hands close up to her face, gently brushing one of my fingers along the top of her cheek, where the bruise started.

The teacher loudly cleared her throat, and we both jumped in our seats, as we had not been paying attention. A few students who were staring, snickered. However, Sam seemed to think nothing of it and just rolled her eyes, as the teacher continued babbling on about Physics.

I silently sat in my seat, clearly trying to pay attention to what was being said as I didn't want to get caught in such an awkward position again.

What the hell was I thinking?