school was quiet and nice since I left earlier then most people. Getting there I went to my locker first then went to class. After the morning period I went to lunch. As I was walking into the cafe I saw something that made me sick. Janessa and about six other girls had surrounded another girl. She was on the ground cowering against the wall. At first, I had a mind to walk away and leave her to the wrath of her oppressors, but I couldn't. Going straight toward them, I came between Janessa's group and the unknown girl. "Leave her alone!" I said with all the firmness I had. "Get out of here", Janessa growled, "this is none of your business!" I didn't back down. Although, I'm a somewhat easily intimidated person, this time I wasn't going to let Janessa walk all over me. "No, YOU leave! She's done nothing to deserve this!" I said glaring back at her. "There are six of us and one of you. Who do you think is gonna win?" one of her friends challenged. Ahhh, all my hard work at the gym! Kick boxing would come in ridiculously handy. "Look, I don't want to hurt anybody. Just walk on and let her be", I said warningly. After a few minutes of "eye war" they began to back up. "C'mon Ness, we have better things to do", one of them said trying to pull Janessa away. She stood there and continued to stare at me. Suddenly she came toward me and delivered a powerful slap on my cheek. I said nothing and did not move. "B___", she sneered at me as she walked away. As soon as they were our of sight, I turned to the girl they had been harassing. "Are you okay?" She looked up at me. Her emerald eyes were brimming with tears. "T-They're gone?" she asked in almost a whisper. "Yeah, they've left". I offered her a hand and helped her to her feet. Her brown hair hung stringy and oily over her fact. Everything, from her sneakers to her shirt, was dirty. My heart went out in pity for her. "Whats your name?" I asked her and she tried to smooth her clothes out. "Candie", she answered softly. "Thats a cute name. I'm Xiana". "Hey, thanks for helping me", she said as we walked into the cafe. "No problem. Those girls can be a terror squad", I said picking up a tray and handing one to her. "Are you new?" "Yeah, my brother is working in for the evil girls family. We live in like a little cottage behind their house. We're from Oregon. My dad was Italian and my mom was French. They died a