Free Broken by Dean Murray

afterwards. Just looking at her, I
knew she'd remember any slight for as long as she lived, and she
had enough influence in the school to make just about anyone's life
miserable. She probably got away with things just because nobody
was willing to cross her. Rachel was going to get hurt.
    I was still thinking about
all the ways  I  could get hurt when I stepped through the no-man's land
and into the circle. The parts of me that weren't emotionally dead,
that were still behaving rationally despite the accident, were
screaming in terror. There probably wasn't anyone in the school
that knew less about fighting than me. I knew I should turn around
and run away before Cassie realized I was serious, but somehow I
didn't care.
    Cassie's arsenal of nasty tricks wouldn't be
so effective against someone who'd already been kicked out of their
house and moved to another state. All I really needed to do was
survive the next few minutes. I'd be out of the state before she
really got busy making my life miserable.
    A dozen different things I could say blew
through my mind, but they were all competing, and none of them
seemed to fit the situation. In typical fashion, I found myself
without anything clever to say. Instead I just stood there and
stared at Cassie.
    I'd thought things were tense already, but
where everyone had been quiet before, now they were motionless
too.
    Cassie spun around and glared at me. "Take
off."
    I shook my head and clenched my fists a
little tighter. "Leave her alone."
    For a second I thought Cassie would go
through with it. Her knuckles went white, and her breathing sped
up. I knew if she sprang at me, I was going to get really hurt.
    When Brandon's hand appeared on Cassie's
shoulder to restrain her, I thought for a second my knees would
buckle. A few seconds later, it was as if nothing had ever
happened. The ring of spectators dissolved as kids quickly returned
to their tables. Brandon and his friends left through one set of
cafeteria doors, while Alec and his departed through the other.
    Britney looked like she was trying to decide
whether to be mad or impressed, but I felt too sick to stick around
and try to nudge her in either direction. I mumbled something I
hoped sounded intelligible and headed towards the bathroom. I
passed Mr. Simms and another teacher on my way out, but apparently
I looked as awful as I felt. They just shot me stern looks rather
than stopping me to ask what had happened.
    It wasn't until I'd finished dry heaving and
was trying to clean myself back up, that I wondered where they'd
been. The school building wasn't that big. If they'd really been
trying to break up the fight, they should have arrived minutes
earlier.
    I thought about hiding in the bathroom for a
while, but that was exactly the kind of place a girl like Cassie
would want to catch me. Instead I took a deep breath and walked
outside.
    Britney was waiting for me. By her expression
she'd decided on being mad. "Do you realize what you just did?"
    I was still fresh out of witty comments. I
just shrugged instead.
    Britney had been mad before, now she looked
furious. "You just picked sides, and you picked the wrong one."
    Maybe I still wasn't recovered from my ordeal
on Friday; I felt like I was missing something obvious. Britney
apparently agreed, and she wasted no time in letting me know what
it was.
    "There are two in crowds here; Brandon's
group, which consists of all of the athletes and cheerleaders, and
Alec's group, which is about half the size, and outside of his
immediate friends, is made up of a few geeks and misfits. You were
on the border of getting in with Brandon, but just threw all of
that away to save Alec's little sister when he's too much of a
coward to do it himself."
    I wanted to protest, to explain why everyone
should be able to get along, or point out that despite Brandon's
obvious appeal, it was his friend that was wrong, but Britney had
already turned and stalked off. I probably would've spent the next
few