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“With flying colors.” She rolled her eyes and added, “Pun not intended.”

As we grinned at each other, a ball of dread that had been winding and growing inside me settled for the first time since the Friday before. Feeling utterly impulsive, I threw my arms around Ms. Holderread and hugged her hard. “Thank you,” I said, expressing my gratitude for so much more than a stupid A.

After she initially tightened, she relaxed enough to pat my back. “No problem.”

Realizing I was hugging a teacher, I yanked back, turning myself into a redhead. “I’m sorry,” I gushed. “That was totally inappropriate. I should—”

Laughing, she waved me off. “Don’t worry about it, kid. God knows I’ve felt like hugging a teacher or two in my time.” With a wink, she added, “And honestly, you kind of just made my day, making me think maybe I actually reached a student and truly helped her.”

“You did,” I assured. “You really, really did.” Then I booked it out of there before I could make an even bigger fool out of myself and start crying, or worse, spilling all the secrets that had been brewing inside me over the past few days.

I was at my locker when I heard someone come up behind me. I thought it’d be Ryder, once again asking if I was okay, but when I glanced over my shoulder to find Todd behind me, I gasped and whirled to face him as if I were protecting my open locker from a burglar.

“Hey,” he said softly and smiled.

I swallowed. “Hi.”

He put his hands in his pockets and looked a bit uncomfortable. “I think we need to talk.”

Rolling my eyes, I snorted. Was the boy seriously going to break up with me? We hadn’t even been dating. Not in my book anyway. “Actually,” I said before he could start, “I tried to talk to you…Friday night.”

He reared back, crinkling his brow. “You did?”

With a nod, I folded my arms over my chest. “I even went to Ryder’s house so I could talk to you. But you know what? You weren’t there like you told me you’d be. So, Ryder drove me to your house, so that I could talk to you. And do you know what we saw?”

Todd’s face drained of color; he immediately lifted his hands. “Grace, I can explain.”

“I don’t think I’m the one you have to worry about explaining anything to.”

From the corner of my eye, I caught someone moving in on us fast. I glanced over Todd’s shoulder and sucked in a breath when I saw Ryder, his face hard as stone and his glare just as determined.

Catching my bulging-eyed expression, Todd whirled around. He jolted a step back, away from the advancing Ryder, almost running into me. Keeping his hands lifted in surrender, he said, “Ryder, man. Look—”

“You’re dead,” is all Ryder replied and grabbed a hold of Todd’s shirt to haul his best friend away from me and shove him into the middle of the hall. Todd was still trying to talk himself out his predicament.

“I didn’t know she was going to come over. I swear, she started it—”

Ryder didn’t bother to listen. Bunching five fingers into a fist, he wound his arm back and punched his friend in the face. Todd’s head snapped back and Ryder hit him again.

Pressing my hand to my chest, I let out a squeak of alarm and backed into the lockers behind me just as Todd let out a roar and lowered his head to ram his shoulder into Ryder’s gut, pushing him up against the wall of lockers opposite me.

The breath momentarily knocked out of him, Ryder doubled over, clutching his middle, giving Todd the chance to jack him squarely in the cheekbone. With his own fuming bellow, Ryder launched himself off the wall and I swear he flew—in the air—fists flailing at Todd.

I’d never been so close to a physical brawl before. It wasn’t pretty, and it wasn’t glamorous. Knowing both parties as I did, it was downright frightening. What if one of them got seriously hurt? Or killed?

Red faces, clenched teeth, Ryder and Todd looked intent on slaughtering each other. Fluids flew, curses rippled the air, and the sounds…ugh. I don’t think I’ll ever forget the sound of knuckles against flesh.

Just about the time a decent-sized crowd had gathered to watch, two male teachers and one female appeared, wading into the fray, grabbing arms and legs to tear the two boys apart. A lot of shouting followed, Todd and Ryder yelling back and forth, teachers commanding them to stop. It was more than I could digest. I stood plastered to my locker, a stack of books pressed firmly to my chest, holding my breath big time.

When the teachers hauled the bloody boys away, I finally exhaled, my shoulders slumping and my fingers flexing from the cramp I’d given them from clutching my textbooks. It was then I caught sight of Kiera on the other side of the crowd, mutely watching everything, her face pale as she stared after the retreating fighters. When she caught my glare, she turned away, looking guilty.

If I’d been nervy enough, I would’ve approached her. I would’ve made a huge spectacle in front of everyone, making sure all the gawkers knew exactly why Ryder Yates had attacked his best friend in the middle of the hall. I didn’t even feel sorry for her as she clutched her stomach and hurried toward the bathrooms.

Humph. Served the wicked witch right.

An hour later, I began to think maybe I should’ve grown some courage and confronted Kiera after all. She was probably the one who had started the rumors that followed.

Didn’t take me long to figure out what everyone was whispering as I stepped from first period and started down the hall toward my locker.