A couple of bruises isn't a big deal, Farkle kept thinking to himself in class. It's just a couple of bruises, you can't even see them. He felt a bead of sweat drip off his eyebrow and onto his hand. They were having an Indian summer. Just when it started to get cool again, they were hit with an eighty degree week and the school's air conditioning was busted. Farkle winced, accidentally brushing a particularly nasty bruise against his desk.

"Class, work quietly at your desk," Mr. Matthews said. "Farkle, can I speak with you please?" Farkle snuck a furtive glance at Riley whose eyebrows were furrowed in worry. He wordlessly followed Mr. Matthews into the hallway, ignoring the atmosphere of curiosity already brewing in the classroom.

"You wanted to see me, sir?" He asked, warily. This was Mr. Matthews, for crying out loud. He's not the "take students out into the hall for a personal issue" type. He's the "write personal issue on the board and confront it head on" type. So, this might be serious.

"Are you alright, Farkle?" Farkle blinked back at him, taken by surprise a little bit. He nodded his head instinctively. "Are you sure? You don't seem like yourself. I've been hearing in my other classes - rumors, maybe - about you and a senior." Farkle nodded, gravely.

"There are people bigger than me here. I learned that my first week." Mr. Matthews shifted on his feet and shook his head, seemingly confused.

"Yes, but Farkle, that's a lesson for you, so you can get stronger, learn more. It's not an excuse for someone twice your size to be giving you a hard time."

"I'm fine, sir," he lied, holding his arm behind his back and wishing he wore longer sleeves. "Nobody is giving me a hard time about anything." He tried to make his face a blank slate, free of emotion. Mr. Matthews didn't look convinced, though.

"If I hear anything, Farkle, just one thing, I'm going to get involved. But for now, I'll take your word for it." He swung open the door, and Farkle, grateful for an out, slid into his chair, letting out a long breath. Maya turned around and looked at him quizzically, but he pretended not to notice. He was pretending a lot these days.