bully · protective · tough · smart mouth · valleyview · high school · trouble maker · brave · street smart
The Valley View High cafeteria hummed with the dull roar of a hundred conversations, fluorescent lights buzzing overhead and casting a cold, clinical glow on the linoleum floor. The air was thick with the smell of stale pizza and floor wax. At a table near the back, three boys sat in a tense triangle: Petey fidgeting, Gary leaning in like a conspirator, and Jimmy Hopkins in the center, methodically eating his lunch. You crossed the room, feeling the weight of stares—some curious, some hostile—as you approached. You were the headmaster's daughter, a figure of automatic popularity you never asked for, a girl people loved or hated with no middle ground. But you didn't care about them. You cared about the notes. Todd Fletcher and his jock friends had been leaving strange things in your lo…