Finally, you heard footsteps that weren't your own, and despite the otherwise tense atmosphere, you felt relief simply because you assumed that whoever this person was, it was who called you. Normally, you'd leave school together with Lillian and Jen as you all live in the same neighborhood, but in order to be able to come here by yourself you had to sort of sneak away from them, and even that almost failed when they realized, and you hastily told them you had something important to attend at home.

Both Valentina and Toxic Lily had mentioned on repeated occasions that Jen and Lillian pretty much had you as their lapdog, as a mere something to show off while keeping a figuratively tight leash on you. The first times, you didn't pay them any mind, because who in their right mind would listen to their enemy?

But as they kept abusing you, it began to take a toll on you and you began to see that there may be some truth to what they were saying... Jen and Lillian almost always were around, and when they spotted you they'd come and stick with you for as long as possible, which in your mind was a normal thing for friends to do, until you began to question their motives... plus, Valentina and Lily also attacked your own confidence, calling you lame for "needing" those two girls to defend you, all the times you did the same for them notwithstanding.

As a result, you began spending less time with them, often being by yourself though some other times you hung out with friends who normally you weren't able to spend time with, largely because of Lillian and Jen. However, while it was really nice to spend more time with Yamile, spending any more time with Bailey often proved to be dangerous because she would soon insist on her love declaration, which you weren't ready to answer. If you spent more time with Maggie, you were sure to have some fun, but she'd also soon start with her dirty flirty antics and sometimes you didn't have the energy or the mental fortitude to endure them.

Lastly, spending some more time with Brooke helped you reconnect further with an old childhood friend who drifted away from your core group, though she'd also get quite flirty at times, but in a different way from Bailey's, more akin to a predator playing with her prey.

Given that this was an unknown phone number, it was hard to tell. Bailey often had her phone stolen or damaged by Lily and her cronies, and Brooke might have multiple phone numbers for security reasons. You couldn't really picture Yamile trying to pull these kinds of shenanigans on you. Maggie could try messing with you in a similar way to Zuemy and Cindy, but then again this could be someone else who simply was recommended to talk to you for some tutoring.

You then saw a feminine silhouette ahead, hidden by the shadow created by the school's wall. It began to walk towards you and even at some distance you could tell it was a taller girl than average. You briefly wondered if it was Chelsea, but also wondered what business could a sports star have with a nobody. But just a few seconds later, you froze at the piercing gaze of a pair of hazel eyes, their color was unmistakable, along with the long, wavy light brown hair on their owner's head.

"J-Jen!" Your eyes widened in surprise and you took a step back by reflex.

"Hey" She said, her tone sounded a smidge cheerful, but her expression looked completely neutral. This was such an odd place to randomly run into her, it was hard to tell this was a mere coincidence. Your heart started pounding hard, had you been caught? Did they somehow figure out that you were trying to sneak away from them? Jen took a step forward, which made you tense up more, even though normally the mere sight of her was the highlight of your day.

"What are you doing here...?" You asked somewhat nervously, trying your best to hide it with an awkward laugh, taking another step back, somehow feeling that you wanted to keep your distance.

"I could ask you the same thing" Jen said somewhat flatly. You did NOT like her tone at all, this seemed more and more like you were royally screwed over.

"Oh, me? I'm not even doing anything, I was just passing by" You replied and turned around. As much as you liked Jen, you decided to cut your losses here and just head straight home since there didn't seem to be anything else for you to be doing outside.

"Passing by... a part of the school that's not on the way out at all, and waiting here by yourself?" Jen questioned with a calm tone that chilled you to the bone. Despite the stereotypes about Latina moms, your own mother never struck such an outrageous amount of fear into your heart ever in your life.

" *Sigh* Okay... touché" You said, turning back around to face Jen, who had her arms crossed "Why are you here though?" You then asked.

"You didn't answer my question" Jen said "But I'm here because I'm worried about you"

"Huh? About me? There's no reason to worry about me at all!" You laughed a little "There's no reason to worry about a nobody" You said with an awkward chuckle. Self deprecating humor was one of the ways you coped, and you hoped it also hid any clues about your current situation. You didn't really want to get the girls involved for many reasons. However Jen's eyes narrowed slightly, the joke failed, and she took another step towards you, which made you step back.

"Why are you getting away from me?" She asked, this time, she sounded hurt.

"I... I mean... why are you coming towards me?" You replied, your hands were shaking a little "Anyway! There's nothing to worry about!" You said, looking around to see if there was anyone else around.

"What were you doing here?" She asked, taking another step towards you but this time you stood still. You knew you had run out of options and attempting to lie wasn't going to work out.

"I came here to tutor someone and just earn a few bucks" You sighed and decided to come clean, hoping that this would be enough for Jen, but it didn't look like it "W-What?" You got more nervous when she took a few couple steps towards you, now she was standing right before you, and even if she was slightly shorter than you were, it made her presence far more intimidating.

"How are you so sure?" Jen asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Because that's the only thing people call me for? I mean people other than friends" You replied, feeling increasingly uncomfortable.

"And how did you know that this wasn't someone wanting to do something to you? Luring you to such a lonely place" Jen stood so close to you that you could actually feel her body heat, though ironically, that sent cold chills up your spine.

"Isn't that a little too extreme? Plus I'm freaking 6'3", I can defend myself" You replied.

"Really?!" Jen frowned, and before you knew it, she grabbed you by the waist, more specifically, grabbing your shirt and pulling it up, revealing several dark bruises on your ribs, a product of repeated harsh kicks from Toxic Lily and Valentina.

"Jen, what the hell?!" You freaked out, rapidly pulling your shirt down and tucking it, feeling incredibly embarrassed and frantically tucking it back into your jeans.

"What were those?" She asked in a dead serious tone.

"I fell down the stairs last week!" In your panic, that was the best you could come up with, and you tried to step away from her, but she caught you by one of your wrists with an iron grip.

"How come there's no bruises on your arms? Normally when we fall we protect ourselves with our arms" Another voice was heard, and this one came from behind you. Your eyes widened, this time it was Lillian.

"Lillian, you too?!"

"What do you mean 'you too?' You're speaking as if we're the ones doing something wrong here" She replied as Jen let go of your wrist and you turned to face her.

"Well, you're speaking as if I'm the one doing something wrong" You replied defensively.

"No one said that" Jen said "But you've been hiding things from us, and we wanna know why"

"I... I dunno what you're talking about" You said "I just..."

"Came here by yourself after avoiding us, to a message from an unknown number" Lillian then grabbed you with both hands by the collar of your shirt "Blaise, what the hell is wrong with your head?! Does our friendship mean nothing to you?!"

"You mean that I can'd be let out of your sight then, huh?" You replied somewhat defiantly "Also, how do you even know?"

Lillian sighed, letting go of your shirt and pulling out a small, cheap phone, which displayed the message that it had gotten you to come here. Your eyes widened more as you saw that.

"You just spoke like Toxic Lily right now" Lillian added with a hint of a growl, though that anger wasn't truly directed at yourself.

"Well, at least I'm trying to defend myself, I can't depend on you guys forever" You replied, still looking away.

"Blaise, those injuries look serious" Lillian sighed "Why the hell are you going off on your own to be beaten by Lily or her cronies when your friends are perfectly willing to protect you from that?"

"Maybe because it's lame? I need to fight my own battles too, even if that means I lose some" You argued half heartedly. You weren't a very proud person, but deep down, some sense of pride in yourself had indeed been stung badly by the implication that you were useless and dependent on your friends for safety.

"I can understand that, but you're getting injured for real. What if any of those bruises caused a blood clot that went to your heart or brain? You'd be dead!" Lillian sounded angry, but a few tears were already escaping her eyes.

"There's something else that you're not telling us" Jen spoke, and when you turned around to face her, you were completely caught off guard when she licked her thumb and then wiped your cheek with it, revealing part of what was definitely a black eye as well as the marks of recent cuts from sharp nails.
"Your makeup skills aren't half bad for a guy, but you know makeup can fade, right?"

'Crap' You thought as you realized that you were even more screwed than you thought.