Chapter 1

THE MUSIC WAS BLASTING LOUDLY, a crowd was cheering, slamming their fist against the cage. An empty warehouse was turned into an arena. It was dark but only a few lights were shining onto the stage. Or what others called it; the battle field.

Only the best were invited to come, nobody outside of the arena knew about what was going on, police have been searching for this warehouse for ages but was never found. It was a crime in  town to own a illegal fight club.

Men or sometimes women would come here and fight. Fight for money, against gang members or just a single person in particular. It solved problems, but other times it caused more of a war. But on this cloudy Sunday night, Two men were in the arena, fighting for two thousand dollars. Winner takes all.

The first men was built to kill. His arms were big and built, can crush a mans head within minutes, his hands has shred more blood than any other murderer. He was the Shredder; famous for shredding his competitions. Many people in the crowds had their money on the Shredder, they knew what he was capable of.

Then there was Derek. A teenage boy, who makes his money by fighting his life away. He trained every day with his coach, getting prepared to fight tonight. He was strong and well built, but not at built as his competitor; The Shredder.  

Derek wanted the money and he was not going to leave the arena without it. He put his mouth guard in and tried to listen to his coach over the roaring crowd.

"Stay focus okay D?! Focus on what I taught you, okay?! Don't start doing your own thing like the last time got it? The shredder is different. Focus!" His coach; Lerandzo yelled in his ear.

The referee came in the middle of the stage and brought the mic towards his lips, "Is every ready to rumble!" The Referee exclaimed to the crowd. Derek rolled his eyes, he hears this saying all the time.

He glanced over at The Shredder. He wonders if he was also tired of hearing that saying? The Shredder has been fighting here more than he has. "Alright," the referee clapped his hands together, "You guys know the rules. Since this is for money, no choking, and no one gets killed. Good luck!"

The crowd started counting down, "Five! Four!"

"Good luck!" Derek muttered. The Shredder gave Derek a dirty look and walked over to his side of the arena. "Three!" Derek gotten into position and so has The Shredder.

"Two! One! Fight!"

The Shredder started coming towards Derek with his hands wide open, Derek dodge the Shredder and having the Shredder fly against the cage. Some people were laughing, his coach was screaming curse words in Swedish. The Shredder shook his head and growled towards Derek. "Come on pretty boy, come fight!" The Shredder barked in a thick Swedish accent.

Derek smirked, "Awh shreddy you think I am pretty, stop it!" Derek gushed.

Lerandzo slapped his hand over his face. He knew how Derek loves to torment his competitor; it only made situation worse when they really started to fight.

The Shredder eyes turned bloodshot red, "I don't think you're pretty!" He started running towards Derek. Derek scrunched down and  The Shredder fell over Derek and landed on the ground,. He was on the floor groaning when Derek threw his weight on the Shredder and brought his leg up in a position that brought pain to The Shredder. The referee gotten down on the floor and slammed the mat, "Three! Two! One!"

Some people in the crowd cheered, Derek gotten up and cheered as well. First round was completed, he went back to his side where Lerandzo and Theo was waiting with a towel and water. He sat down and took out his mouth guard, He glanced over at the Shredder's side and saw that he was being yelled at from his coach, but it seem he was not listening to his coach, only staring directly at Derek. Derek smirked and leaned back. "D you listening?"

Derek glance up towards an angry Lerandzo, "Hmm?"

Lerandzo threw his head back in frustration. "D, you need to stop playing around and focus. He doesn't joke!"

Derek had a lopsided smile, "But he makes it so easy! Plus it’s helping me win!" He protested.

Theo slapped Derek's back, "Yeah but you want to win properly,"

Theo had a point, Derek thought. He did want to win the prize fair and square. He trained hard for this day and he is going to use all the technique he learned. Derek placed his mouth guard inside his mouth, "I’m ready,"

Lerandzo and Theo came down from the cage, also The Shredders team came down from the cage also.

Both of the boys were in fighting position, "Round 2!" The referee yelled then the bell rung. The shredder did not wait, he started swinging at Derek with his fist. Derek used his left arm to dodge the punch and kicked The Shredder in the gut. He stepped back, "Why you little--" He tried to grab Derek, but Derek performed a backflip. The crowd was roaring, Derek started forming his plan in his head.

"You know Shreddy!" Derek continuously punched Shredder in the face, "I am not little!" He punched The Shredders gut, and his face. The Shredder did not know what to do. Blood was gushing down his nose, his coach was screaming for him to do something, while Lerandzo was cheering for Derek to continue.

"Or just a pretty boy!" One hit, The Shredder was slammed down to the ground. The Thredder was unconscious. "KO!" The referee screamed in the mic, the crowd cheered. "Derek won!" The referee raised his arm in victory. Lerandzo and Theo joined Derek on stage and cheered. "We did it!" Lerandzo screamed.

The three men came off the stage and walked towards their changing room. "I did it! I won two thousand dollars!" The boys cheered all the way to the changing room.

Lerandzo stop walking, "I'm going to go to the office and get your check then we can leave." Then he disappeared down the hall.

Derek and Theo continued to make their way to the changing room. "You did great! I like how you were planning out  there! At the end? Great job!" Theo cheered then slapped Derek on the back.

Derek smiled, he was proud of himself. He used the techniques he was taught in training and defeated the reigning champion. Plus he won the prize money,  Two thousand dollars can buy him anything! Well after he gives Theo and Lerandzo their 15% and he is good.

Theo and Derek stepped inside the changing room and froze in place. The person in front of them they did not expect to be here at the arena.

"Yo guys!" Lerandzo beamed, "I picked up the check, who is ready for--" he froze in mid sentence and notice the person in front of them. “What are you doing here?”

Lerandzo knew he was going to be in trouble for what is coming up next.

Chapter 2 

EVERYBODY WAS CHEERING IN EXCITMENT, the cheerleader team were performing their usual routine for the football team of their high school. It was the championship game. Each school was ready to take the trophy home but only one can win.

Sabrina, the head cheerleader was cheering with excitement. Mostly for her soon to be boyfriend; Skye. He has chestnut coloured hair, his body was well built for sports, his pearly white smile can swoon any girl but the only girl his eyes were on was Sabrina.

It’s the last few minutes of the game. Ferguson High was in the lead with four points, if they get this touchdown, they win the championship. The team walked over to the field and gotten into position, Skye looked over at the cheerleaders and caught Sabrina's attention. She looked over and blew a kiss. His cheeks flushed and he pretend to catch the kiss then went into position with the ball. 

The girls on the team squealed in excitement, "Sabrina you are so lucky to have Skye as your boyfriend!" 

"Yeah Sabrina! He is so hot! And smart too! You guys are going to make very attractive babies!" Some of the cheerleaders said.

Sabrina blushed and fluffed her poms poms. "Girls, we're not dating.. Yet," the girls squealed and cheered at the same time. Sabrina thought about Skye being her boyfriend.

They known each other since middle school and everyone believed they were the "golden couple". But the both of them couldn't see that.  

Until the summer before senior year, they attended the same sports camp. Where each sport was provided, each athlete had to choose one sport to train for over the summer then there would be a "friendly" competitions between other sports camps. Of course, Sabrina competed in cheer and gymnastics while Skye competed in football and other various of sports. They still had time to develop a relationship.

Both of their families are good friends in the business world. Their fathers trade deals with each other, also with other companies. Their mother would go on shopping sprees and attend important events. The families would die in pleasure to know their children are developing a relationship.

Skye threw the ball towards his teammate. His teammate caught the ball and started sprinting towards the end of the field. The opponents tried hard to catch the ball but it was to late. The football player reached the end of the field; it was a touchdown! The crowd cheered with excitement and also the cheerleaders did also. Sabrina did a backflip then started running towards Skye. 

Skye was cheering with his teammates over the winning touchdown, when he suddenly notice Sabrina running towards him. He pulled away and brought Sabrina into a hug, having her feet dangle from above the ground. "You did it!!" Sabrina cheered, Skye placed her feet down on the grass and kept her close. He leaned in to her ear and whispered, "Do I get a winner's kiss?" 

Sabrina hesitated for a moment, they never kissed before and for a kiss to happened showed Skye wanted more. 

Sabrina shrugged her shoulders but felt a blush creeping upon her cheeks. Skye chuckled, "You look cute when you blush," 

Sabrina blushed even harder. She was never used to compliments. especially from Skye. 

Just then the cheer squad came onto the field and grabbed Sabrina from Skye's embrace. Skye's gaze never left Sabrina's, one day he will get that kiss. One day. 

~~~~~

The next morning in class everyone was talking about the football game and how Ferguson High won the championship game against the rival school. The trophy was placed in front of the office in a display cabinet. When guest visit, they will see how Ferguson High was truly a great school. 

But not all were pleased with having the Trophy displayed, some thought it was foolish, such as the Delinquents. Derek and his group of friends were in front of the cabinet looking at the trophy with disgust. "Look at it!" His friend Lexi snapped, "Why do they need to place a medal trophy to represent our school?!" Lexi continued. Lexi never seen the joy of sports but more love for the arts. She has dark violet hair that was cut into a layered bob length. She was wearing all black, with her black studded combat boots. 

She loved the form of art and how it brought amazing abstract things. She wish the school focus more on art and other curriculums than having sports be their main one. 

Derek shook his head and started walking to his class knowing that he was already fifth-teen minutes. Which was a good record for him since he would show up thirty minutes or maybe an hour lateen a regular day. His first period class was English and he despise English. He did not see the point of having to learn English when we already know it, speak it, and write it. Why does the education system want to further educate students on that?

He opened the door to his class and lazily walked over to his assigned seat. "Derek you're late, again." Said his English teacher who was in the middle of a lesson. Derek shrugged his shoulders and sat down calmly.

His teacher sighed and continued on. "Today class I am assigning you a two week project about each Shakespeare play or poem he has wrote. You will research what the play is about, the history behind it, and how we use his play today in movies and/or books."

Everybody in the room began to get excited and started to look around the room for a partner. Derek rolled his eyes at his classmates, he thought it was a ridiculous project and also for it to be a group project too.

The teacher cleared his throat, the class quiet down. "I have already assign partners--" the students interrupted by groaning and complaining. Derek threw his head on the desk and loudly groaned. 

"Now, now settle down." The teacher said, "This project cost 30% of your course mark so I have taken extra careful on who I chose for you. Now let start assigning partners.." The teacher went on about who was partner with who. Some partners were happy, others were content and could get along, others were disappointed but no complaints. Until it landed on Derek. "Derek you will be partnered up with Sabrina, you guys will be doing Hamlet." The teacher looked up at the both of them then back down on to his paper. Derek slowly looked up and glanced over at Sabrina's seat. She was sitting with two girls from the cheer squad, all three of them were also looking over at Derek with disgust.  

Sabrina was in shocked. She did not know Derek nor talked to him before. He hangs out with the delinquents and he is also a delinquent himself. He rarely comes to class or even attends school! She was annoyed with the partner situation. She stood up from her seat and walked over to her English teacher. Her english teacher was currently  surfing through his laptop, "Excuse me sir?"

He looked up towards Sabrina and given her a small smile, "What can I do for you Sabrina?"

She cleared her throat, "I was wondering if you can switch my partner with someone else?" She asked politely. 

The teacher shook his head, "Sorry Sabrina but it would be unfair for your other classmates. You're not the only one who is partnered with someone they don't like. It teaches you cooperation skills and teamwork," he explained. 

"But he does not show up to class all the time! How am I going to complete the project without him?!" She protested.

The teacher did not look fazed by her words, "He is, do not worry, he will show up to class and also help you with the project! Now go start brainstorming ideas with him It is a big project and I do not want to see any that are sloppy," he said. Sabrina sighed, walking over to her desk. Her friends given her a sorry look, she looked away and sighed in defeat. "Let’s get this over with" she thought.

She walked over to where Derek was sitting, way back in the classroom and sat down in the empty seat beside him. She extended her hand towards Derek, "Sabrina, I am the cheer captain here." 

He gave her the cold shoulder. She took back her hand slowly and blushed in embarrassment. "Well," she took out her binder and opened it to a blank sheet of lined paper. She also took a pink sparkly pen out of her pencil case and wrote 'Shakespeare Project: Hamlet Outline' on the top of the paper. "What would you like to do for our project?"She asked Derek. 

Derek turned his body towards her and glared, "Listen here Blondie, I don't do Shakespeare. You can do the project, put my name on it and will call it a day. No need for me to be around you and no need for you to be around me. Got it? Got it."

Before Sabrina could protest the bell rung, Derek gotten up and quickly waltz out of the classroom leaving Sabrina speechless.

Chapter 3 

IT HAS BEEN TWO DAYS since Derek's outburst. Sabrina was sitting in her English class, waiting for Derek to show up. He hasn't attend class in the last two days which upset Sabrina. She dislikes having a partner who was always late, does not show up to class or does not participate in class activities. Sadly she was paired with someone just like that.

“It's okay Sabrina," Taylor, her best friend comfort her. Sabrina given Taylor a small smile then went back to researching. Taylor and Sabrina have been friends since diapers. They did everything together. From playing in mud when they were little to joining the cheer squad in their pre-teens.  Taylor has been by Sabrina side for everything, even the littlest thing. She vow their friendship was worth everything and nothing can come in between them; not even a boy. 

"Cheer up Sab, tonight is Friday! Were going out tonight," Taylor beamed. 

Sabrina sighed, "I don't feel like it, can't we just stay in?" She plead.

Taylor scrunched her nose, "Are you out of your mind? You been bummed out since you were assigned Delinquent as your partner and what he said to you?! Please! Party is needed to cure the blues!" 

The bell rung to signal the period ended. Since today the classes change. English was before lunch. Both girls linked arms strolling towards the cafeteria. They pushed the doors open and everyone was running around, or sitting with their cliques. Ferguson High has standards for belonging to a clique. You choose it the first day you step foot into the ninth grade. What ever you take interest in you have friends and a "clique" you hang out with. Some cliques have their own hang out spots throughout the town only specific for them. The rules were simple to follow although one rule must be followed at all times; cliques can not date other cliques. No matter what the situation is. 

Both Taylor and Sabrina sat down with the jocks and cheers. They were in a conversation about the party tonight.

"What are you guys talking about?" Taylor asked the clique.

Their heads shot up, "Oh were talking about the party tonight, are you guys going?" One cheerleader asked.

Taylor nodded her head eagerly, "Of course we are! Who would miss a great party on a Friday night?" Taylor beamed, she then converse with the others about what they were wearing and such. 

Sabrina sat down beside Skye and sighed. Skye notice Sabrina and pushed a few strands of hair behind her ear, "What got my girl in her thoughts?" He asked, loud enough for both him and Sabrina to hear.

She blushed by the way he called her "my girl," she never been called that before.. this was all new to her.

"Oh nothing," she played cool, “I’m not feeling the party mood,"

"It'll be fun," Skye insist, "We don't have to drink, we can dance or just mingle."

Sabrina was about to protest when Skye interrupted. "If you feel like you don't want to be there for more than thirty minutes then we can go home. Okay?"

Sabrina glance into Skye's eyes and smiled. She liked how he made her feel secure and comfortable around him. This is what she wanted in a boy. To make her feel safe and not force her into anything. 

The day went by quickly and soon enough she was in her room, getting ready for Skye to pick her up. Her parents were not home to embarrass her or to question Skye on where he is taking her. 

She slipped on her earrings and looked into the mirror. Her black dress stuck to her body well and showed off the right curves, her heels were tall but not to tall. She liked being tall but not that tall. She was attracted to boys who were taller than her.  made her feel like a girl somehow. 

Her phone buzzed, Sabrina picked up her phone and saw a text from Skye.

I am out side! :) 

She smiled to herself, grabbed her belongings and closed her door. "Linda!" she yelled out to her maid. "I am going out! I won't be long!!" Before Linda can reply Sabrina was already out the door. Skye was leaning on his BMW casually waiting. Her breath hitched in the back of her throat, her palms started to sweat, her heart began to quickening in speed. 'This is how it feels to like someone?' She thought.

Skye notice Sabrina's presence and straighten himself up. He opened the passenger's door and extended his arms out, "M'lady!" 

She covered her mouth giggled. "Why thank you," she sat down and Skye closed the door. He ran over to the side of the driver's seat and buckled himself in. He looked over at Sabrina and grinned. "Ready?" 

She nodded her head and then they were off to the party. 

Sabrina wondered who was going to be there. Was it going to be a big party or a pretty lame one? She looked out the window, trying to picture how the party will go. 

Skye notice that Sabrina was not talking and more into her thoughts again, he cleared his throat, "So umm.. What do you think the party will be like?"

She gotten out of her thoughts and brought her gaze to Skye, "Pardon?"

He couldn't help but smirk. He loved when Sabrina looked clueless at times, it made her look cute. Wide innocent eyes, her lips slightly pouting. He wanted to skip the party and embrace one kiss, just one and express his deep feelings for her. But he couldn't, he hasn't gotten the chance to talk to her about where they stand. "Control yourself, you don't want to risk it." Skye thought. 

When he turned down the street they could hear the music bass rumbling between their seats. Skye and Sabrina share a look then smiled. Deep down they know this party is going to be insane. 

As if they were right, the party was full swings getting out of hand. Teens were drinking on the lawn, smoking illegal substance or snorting white powder; cocaine. Of course the people everyone expect to be smoking is no other than Smokers.  What is a party without Smokers bringing the good stuff?

Sabrina followed Skye into the house,  the party was worse inside than it was outside. A lot of teens were half naked, grinding against each other, alcohol and bile was all over the floor. Sabrina started to feel light handed from the smell. "I am going to go get a drink," she yelled over the music to Skye. He nodded his head and started heading over to his teammates who were playing a drinking game.

She pushed past a few people on the made up dance floor. Some waved and said hello, others were distracted dancing to the rap music. After walking for a while finding her way, she found the kitchen. There was several punch bowls with various mixtures Sabrina could not detect what they were.  She went to the fridge and found a case of water bottle still sealed. She took one out knowing it was the only thing here that was not spiked or unknown to her. She opened the cap and took gulps from the bottle. 

Her eyes landed on Derek and his gang in a corner of the kitchen, smoking a joint. He brought the joint to his lips and inhaled, then exhaled the excess smoke. Her eyes widen; she was in shock that he smoked. 

There was rumours that went around that he did smoke but she thought since it was school gossip. Who knew her partner was a real druggie?

She took another sip and threw the bottle in the trash near her. Her anger started to rise. "What if he went to go smoke instead of working on the project?!" She thought angrily. 

She was not going to fail a project because he did not want to participate. She needed the mark, unlike him.

Her legs started to move towards where delinquents were. Lexi looked up and rolled her eyes, she whispered something inside Derek’s ear then his eyes met Sabrina's. Sabrina stopped walking and felt her heart beating fast. Why was she nervous? It was just Derek, she was only going to tell him to come to class more and start working on the project. That is all.

"Derek!" Sabrina yelled over the music, loud enough for him to hear. 

She knew he was purposely acting like she was not there. It started to boil even more in her stomach. She clenched her fist together, "Derek I am not going to call you again!" She screeched. 

This has caught the attention of the group. They all turned their heads to Sabrina. Derek slowly stand up and smirked at Sabrina, "What are you? My mother?" His group started to chuckle at his remark. 

She rolled her eyes and place her hands on her hips. Derek put his hands up to protect his face, "Oh no guys?! She's going to use school spirit to knock me out! Give me a K! Give me a O!” He pretended to cheer. Making small motions with his arms.

Sabrina could feel her throat clogging up. She knew this was a bad idea but stuck to her plan. "I just wanted to let you know that I would like you to start coming to class. I know you don't want to work with me and neither do I. But can we please make amends and just finish this project?" She asked, but sounded more of a plead.

Derek lifted his body off the wall and started walking towards Sabrina, "You know what Blondie.." He gotten up close to her face. She could smell the mixture of beer and marijuana slipping from his mouth,  "You're not my teacher, or my mother. So why don't you go, you tiny little person and get out of my face, got it?! I don't care about this project and you shouldn't either. You're going to become a teen mom anyways!" 

That had hit home to Sabrina. She tried to fight the urge of crying. She looked away from Derek and tried to catch herself. "Awwh is little Blondie crying?!" Lexi teased her.

Derek roughly brought Sabrina's chin up and smirked, "She is Lexi, poor Blondie is crying. What can we do? Rock her to sleep?!" 

"Or just leave her alone," 

Skye, Taylor and the rest of the football team stood behind Sabrina with their arms crossed. Having a angry expression shown on their faces. Taylor ran over to Sabrina and brought her into a hug. 

Lexi let out a dark chuckle, "Awh! Girl hug! Who's next?" She teasingly opening her arms out. 

"Why don't you go back to where you belong? The poles are dying to see you again," Taylor barked at Lexi. 

Lexi rolled her eyes, "I would but it has your name written all over it," 

Taylor stepped close to Lexi, "Go back to sucking some dick, I'm sure the guys here would love to see you do that again," 

Lexi let out a dark laugh, "Hey, at least I know how to stick to one dick at a time. Unlike you, you know how to stick about ten in at one time!" 

Taylor raise her hand, "Why you little--"

Sabrina took a hold of Taylor's arm, "Enough let's go," she said them brought Taylor out of the house. They did not notice the music stop and how everyone was watching. Sabrina let her head down and quickly left the house.

"Sab, I had her you know?! I could of just-just killed her! Right there!" Taylor rambled with venom in each word she let out. Sabrina shook her head and continued walking to Skye's car. 

"She needs to be taught how to keep her mouth shut! Derek needs this project done and she just has to put her mouth in everything! I saw the whole thing! She's like his puppet or maybe his bitch! I bet you any money they're sleeping with each other, I could count--"

"Enough!" Sabrina let out.

Taylor fell silent. She searched her bra and took out her keys. "I drove here myself. I wasn't really going to get drunk tonight. You can drive." She toss the keys to Sabrina.  She notice Taylor's car was two cars away from Skye's they walked over and sat down inside. Sabrina quickly texted Skye telling him that they were leaving and to text her tomorrow. He quickly replied then they were off.

Sabrina's mind wondered to Derek and how he was treating her. She did nothing wrong. Even if she did, she could not point out what she did! 

She wanted to work on the project together and for him to have at least some credit for it. She did not having to tell her teacher that she did all the work. She knew he had only a few more chances to stay in school, why is he blowing it for a English project? 

She reached Taylor's house, then turned off the engine. The girls gotten out and stepped inside the house. Sabrina texted Linda telling her she was staying the night and also to in form her parents. She did not feel like calling at all; she was too tired. 

Taylor yawned, "I'm going to bed, night!" Then walked into her room. Sabrina had her own bedroom here and also clothing that was always up to date. Taylor also had something similar at her house. It was easier than bringing a night bag with her all the time. She walked into her room and changed her party clothing into her night wear. She brushed her teeth and combed her hair. 

She went to bed hoping tomorrow would be a better day. 

  Monday was here, she sat down in English class waiting for Derek to come in. Class was starting in five minutes and Derek was nowhere to be seen. Maybe he's coming in late? She thought. 

She was wearing a casual outfit. A PINK blue hoodie, black track pants and white tennis shoes. Her hair was in a high ponytail. 

The bell goes off signalling that class has started. She was starting to loose hope. Her English teacher stood up, "Good morning class I hope you all had a good--" 

Just then Derek came bursting through the door. With a beanie on his head, brown leather jacket, underneath was a white shirt, dark wash jeans and sunglasses on his face. 

He sat down in his usual spot. The teacher cleared his throat. "Today students, you will be continuing on working on your projects. But this is the last day to work on it in class. You can use your own time out of class to work on it. "

Sabrina frown. She only gotten Derek today and then who knows how she will get him to work with her outside of class. She started biting her nails. How can she get Derek to work with her out of class? Without Lexi involved?

"Stop biting your nails it makes you look unattractive." Derek grumbled 

She quickly dropped her hand on the desk. She opened her binder to the paper that had her ideas about their project. "I have some idea we can do, I searched up a lot about Hamlet and it is pretty interesting. It has a lot of themes that we can use. Plus they are a lot of different movies related to it. Such as the lion king, also.." She rambled on. 

 Derek blocked out her voice for bit and stared into space. He hated the fact that Lexi force him to go to class. Only because she did not want to see Sabrina's friend in her face again, or else she'll be suspended for fighting the co-captain cheerleader. He wanted to be in his bed sleeping or maybe smoking a joint. He smiled to himself; yes. That's what he should be doing, not here with the cheer squad captain discussing Hamlet or even the Lion king.

 "Derek?"

 Derek snapped out of his thoughts and glanced over at Sabrina. She had her arms crossed and her lips pouted out a bit. His lips formed a smirk, "Stop pouting Blondie, it is not going to make me help you."

 She threw her heads in the air with defeat. "Derek, I just want this project done and I'll stop bothering you. So instead of me being patience I am going to tell you to meet me at the library after school, no backing out." She demanded. Derek was surprise with Sabrina's outburst. Before he could speak the bell rang and she ran out of the class as quickly as her little legs can go. Derek was still seated stunned. 

 He wonder what he should do, should he go to the library and help her with the project? Or go over to Lerandzo and prepare for his fight that is coming up in a few days?

 He left the classroom and pulled out his cell phone then dialled Lerandzo. "Why are you calling me during school dude?" Said a sleepy Lerandzo.

 Derek sighed, "I know we have practice but I have this project with this chick and--"

 "Oh so you're trying to back out of practice for  La chica eh?" Lerandzo sounded annoyed but more amuse that Derek wanted to skip practice for a girl, "Come on D, tell me the truth. What is the real reason?"

 Derek leaned on the closet locker and sighed, "I am telling you the truth, if I don't get this project done I'll be passing English with a 50%!"

 Lerandzo hissed over the phone, "Damn, and I already had to deal with your mother about you fighting. Think about what you're mother would do with my head! I'll be going to el matadero!" He cried out. Few seconds in silence Lerandzo sighed, "fine D, go ahead go finish this project but you will be putting in extra work tonight! Might as well get your homework done while you're at it." Before Derek hung up the phone, the line was silent. Derek ran his fingers through his hair.

 Dealing with Lerandzo. Check!

 All he had left was to make up an excuse for his friends.