Free Burning Hearts by Melanie Matthews

his claims that his ex was really a crazy
loser.
    Barrie was holding onto Daniela; Aidan was
holding onto Emma. They acted as if Jenna was going to run toward
them like a charging bull and massacre the whole school.
    Kit looked sympathetic, standing next to a
grinning Sadie—who couldn’t get enough of Jenna’s dire
predicament.
    Jenna never settled too long on any one of
them; not even her fellow Misfits. But when her green eyes met
Malcolm’s fiery blues from a space in the crowd, she couldn’t help
but to focus, hoping that the concern on his face was real. It was.
He took a step forward, desiring to go to her, to comfort her.
    But he didn’t make it that far.
    “ All right, that’s enough!”
barked Principal Greene; she was petite in stature, but made up for
it by wearing three-inch stiletto heels and adopting a fierce
attitude. She snapped her fingers and the students started to trail
away. “That’s it! Off to class! They don’t pay me the big bucks to
let y’all just stand there and stare with open mouths. Open those
heads of yours! You might just learn something! Shoo! Shoo!” She
waved the only remaining students away: Malcolm and the
Misfits.
    She closed the door off to the halls,
effectively blocking Riddick and Malcolm’s worried faces from
viewing the student lobby. Officer Marlowe stood next to Jenna, no
longer keeping a gentle hand on her back. The spot where he’d been
comforting her felt ice cold.
    Principal Greene directed one of the school’s
janitors, who’d just arrived, to clean up the restroom that
could’ve been a set piece from a teen-slasher flick.
    She turned to Jenna. “C’mon,” she urged in a
soft tone. “Let’s go see the nurse.”
    Jenna held up her almost-healed hand. “It’s
not that bad.”
    Principal Greene smiled, shaking her head.
“Can’t let you go without getting it looked at. Might have to call
the ambulance.”
    Jenna didn’t want any more attention. “But
I’m fine.”
    The principal shook her head again. “They’d
rake me over the coals if I didn’t follow procedure. Now be a good
girl and do what I say, okay?”
    Jenna nodded, feeling defeated. She followed
the principal to the station of Nurse Nora, a tall lanky woman, who
still thought beehive hairdos were in style.
    The room was very white and very bright,
making Jenna’s eyes hurt. She hesitated at the doorframe, but
Officer Marlowe gave her a gentle push inside.
    “ It’s okay,” he
coaxed.
    He was trying to make her feel better, but
Nurse Nora with her beaky nose and her array of silver metallic
instruments made Jenna tremble a bit. If she was some great Mage, a
fighter against the forces of darkness, then she was poorly chosen
if Nurse Nora in all her pasty glory could impose such fear.
    Eating saltines, she looked
up from her Modern Nurse magazine and stared from left to right at Officer
Marlowe, Jenna, and Principal Greene. “Ah, I heard the commotion
outside.” She looked Jenna up and down. “By all the ruckus, I
expected you to be covered in blood, growing claws and horns.” She
gave a slight smile. “I was only half-right.”
    Jenna wasn’t warming to Nurse Nora’s humor,
but there were worse ways to be addressed in a high school.
    “ Nora,” began Principal
Greene, “please attend to Jenna. She says she’s fine, but you know
the rules.”
    Nurse Nora nodded. “Got it.” She patted the
examining table with freshly placed sanitary paper. “Hop on
up.”
    Gently, Jenna sat on the paper, but managed
to tear it anyway.
    “ All right, let’s take a
look.” With care, Nurse Nora took Jenna’s hand in her bony ones,
scanning the cut that was just a red line. “Let’s clean this off.”
She dabbed hydrogen peroxide on a cotton ball and wiped the dried
blood off the wound. There was only a pink scar left from the
attack against the mirror. “Not bad. You were lucky. Let me put
some gauze on it, just to be sure.” After she wrapped Jenna’s hand,
securing it with