Fifteen year old Maya Hart was in a really freaking terrible mood. She shoved her hands into the pockets of her black hoodie as she stormed down the school corridor, glaring daggers at anyone who so much as looked at her. Stupid kids ran around corners at the sight of her, even the braver ones going silent as she passed. Everyone in the entire school knew not to mess with her, especially if she was in a bad mood, and that was the way she liked it. She couldn't remember the last time someone had actually tried to talk to her. Her habit of breaking people's noses made sure of that. Speaking of broken noses... Farkle Minkus, a regular target of hers, was standing directly in front of her. His stupid hair was styled exactly the same way as always, and he had on one of his usual turtle necks. He was talking to his two friends, Lucas 'the noble cowboy' Friar, who the entire school was in love with and Riley 'bunnies and sunshine' Mathews. She didn't know why, but these three always got on her nerves even more than the other kids. Something about the way they never stopped smiling set her on edge.

"Hey," she barked. They all turned to look at her. Farkle whimpered slightly and hid behind Riley, who stepped to the left to hide behind Lucas. The cowboy looked nervous, but held his ground. He probably figured that since he was a good head taller and probably twice as heavy as Maya, he'd be safe. How wrong he was.

"What do you want?" Lucas asked warily. Maya snapped her fingers and held out her hand.

"Lunch money. Stat."

"I don't have any," Farkle piped up, sticking his head out from behind his two human shields. "My allergies mean I can't eat most of the school food, so my mom packs my lunch for me." Maya snorted and he quickly retracted his head.

"Take mine, but don't take my friend's," Lucas said steadily. He reached into his pocket and brought out a ten dollar note, placing it carefully in her hand. She inspected the money for a moment, before shoving it into her pocket.

"No deal." She took Lucas by the front of his shirt and wrenched him to the side, so Riley was left unprotected.

"Please don't hurt me," Riley whimpered, holding out her own money. Maya snatched it out of her hand and pocketed it.

"You can just get more from your daddy," she said venomously. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Lucas moving towards her cautiously. Her eyes gleamed. This was going to be fun.

In one fluid motion she turned and leapt at him, smashing her fist into his jaw. The release of energy was beautiful. He reeled back, clutching at his jaw, but made no move to throw a punch of his own. This annoyed her somewhat.

"Fight back," she hissed, nailing a kick to his gut that made him cry out. She'd enjoy it less if he didn't fight back. Everyone in the corridor had stopped to watch, forming a kind of circle around them.

"Don't hurt him!" Riley cried out, sounding nearly hysterical. Maya ignored her, focusing her full attention on the cowboy. He straightened up, a look of grim determination on his face.

"I'm not going to fight you, Maya," he said firmly. "Violence doesn't solve violence." His high-mindedness infuriated her and she advanced on him again. He didn't even move back or attempt to dodge as she decked him. He landed hard on his back and gasped as the breath rushed out of him. Once he was on the ground she delivered a vicious kick to his ribs. His hand flew to his side and he groaned.

"Stop!" Riley screamed. Maya turned away from Lucas and started towards the brunette, her eyes on fire.

"What's going on here?" A mild, male voice said suddenly. The circle of kids cleared out almost instantly, leaving Maya, Riley, Farkle and Lucas standing in an empty hallway. Mr Matthews was striding towards them. When he saw Lucas on the ground his usually pleasant face turned very, very angry. Riley sighed in relief and Maya contemplated decking her too, even though Mr Matthews was watching.

"She stole our lunch money and hurt Lucas," Riley whined in that annoying, high pitched voice of hers. Mr Matthews helped Lucas to his feet, gently patting him on the back.

"I'm alright Sir," Lucas said, in answer to his unspoken question. "Just a few bumps and bruises."

"You're lucky thats all you got," Maya said dryly. "Next time I won't be so gentle." Mr Matthews turned to her, frowning heavily. Maya glared right back, her hands curling into fists.

"Riley," he said, not taking his eyes from Maya's face. "Did Mr Friar provoke Miss Hart in anyway?"

"Of course not," Riley said indignantly. "He wouldn't even fight back!" Mr Matthews nodded gravely.

"I see. Miss Hart, give them back their money." She glowered at them for a second, before dropping the money on the floor at their feet. Riley scrambled to pick hers up, while Lucas had to ease down, wincing.

"You're going to need to come up to my office with me," Mr Matthews said gravely. Being sent to a teacher's office was an almost daily occurrence, so Maya wasn't phased in the least. She shrugged.

"Sure, if it gets me out of your crappy history class." If her comment angered Mr Matthews, he didn't show it.

"Farkle, please begin the class while I'm dealing with this." Farkle's whole face lit up at the prospect.

"Yes, Sir," he chirped. Mr Matthews took Maya firmly by the arm, which made her want to rip his head off, and started to march her down the corridor towards his office.

Mr Matthew's office smelt pleasantly of coffee and paper and was bathed in a warm glow from a single, dusty window. Mr Matthew shut the door behind them and directed Maya to sit in the chair before his desk. She slowly sat as he strolled casually around his desk, sat in his black leather chair, and then proceeded to stare at her. Maya shifted under his gaze, slightly uncomfortable.

"Just yell at me already, would you?" she said stiffly, after a few minutes of staring and silence. Mr Matthews sighed heavily.

"Alright, Maya, what's going on?" Maya's eyebrows contracted.

"What d'you mean?"

"What's wrong?" he elaborated. "Is it drugs? Alcohol? Family problems? Something else outside of school?" Maya blinked. Usually teachers just shouted meaningless words and threats of expulsion at her for ten minutes or so, then told her to get back to class. Mr Matthews shook his head in exasperation.

"Come on, Maya, I've been in this gig for awhile now. Kids don't just go around stealing other kid's lunch money and beating them up without a reason. Do you have money for lunch? Is that why you steal other people's?"

"Of course I do," Maya spat, shoving her hands into her pockets.

"Can I see it?" Mr Matthews asked, his eyebrows raised. Maya felt her cheeks heat up a little. She glared at the desk, refusing to answer. Mr Matthews watched her for awhile longer, before pushing a ten dollar bill towards her from across the table.

"For lunch today," he said when she frowned, confused. "You need to make sure you eat enough, it's important." She slowly took the money between her fingers, not really believing her eyes. No one had ever just handed her cash like that, not unless she'd threatened them in some way. The crisp bill felt odd in her hands. She figured she should probably say thank you or something, but that really wasn't her style.

"Uh," she said awkwardly, stuffing the money in her pocket. "I promise I'll use it for lunch." He smiled at her and stood up.

"Alright then, now that that's settled let's get back to class." She blinked.

"You're not even going to give me a detention?" He shook his head.

"Not unless you want one?"

"I'm good," she said quickly, which made him laugh.

"I will have to call your parents though. School policy in a fight as serious as that one, I'm afraid." A bolt of terror struck through her. Usually they didn't bother calling home.

"Why?" she asked, forcing her voice to stay neutral.

"We need to let them know," he shrugged.

"I'll tell them." Yeah, right.

"I have to call them, Maya."

"I'll take a detention," she said, breathing hard through her nose. "Hell, I'll take as many as you want. After school, before school, weekends, whatever. I promise I won't get into any more fights." Mr Matthews hesitated.

"No more fights?" he asked, incredously.

"For a whole month," she promised, knowing full well she'd regret her words later. "I won't take any more lunch money, either, or talk back to any teachers." He thought about her proposition for awhile, his expression pensive.

"It's a deal," he said finally. "But if you break your word, I'm going to call your parents." Maya felt a little lightheaded from relief. She gripped the edge of his desk tightly.

"Okay." He held out his hand for her to shake and she gingerly did so.

"Now we really do have to get back to class," he said cheerfully. She stood with him, and together they walked back down the hall to the history class room.

Hope you enjoyed :) if you have the time I'd love to hear some feedback.