Author's POV
The sharp, ear-piercing noise of a chair being jerked out from under someone got the attention of everyone in the room including Katherine. Tyler looked at her strangely for a moment, but she was too enthralled in the situation unravelling before her eyes.
Brock Johnson, the quarterback of the football team, was up to his old tricks again. If you asked Tyler, that boy needed a good lesson taught to him the hard way, but of course, Tyler couldn't care less. The boy now being tormented wasn't him or one of his own. Why should he care?
Tyler watched Katherine's look of horror as Brock lifted the boy by the back of his neatly iron t-shirt to his feet and shoved him over to another guy in a football uniform. More of Brock's cronies snickered in the background as the boy begged and pleaded to be left alone, but the stronger boys ignored him and shoved him from one uniformed behemoth to another.
Katherine looked around the room as though to see if anyone was going to help the poor boy but all she saw was her fellow students becoming disinterested and turning back to their lunches and conversations as though nothing unusual was happening. Even the teachers remained apathetic.
What kind of school is this? Even teachers aren't doing anything? Katherine thought in her mind.
Tyler saw the look of absolute disgust cross Katherine's face and he sunk into his chair a little, the oddest feeling niggling him. Guilt maybe?
The feeling only increased when Katherine whirled around to look at him expectantly. Tyler wouldn't look at her. She should not actually expect him to interfere, could she? This was high school. What did she think happened when the 'cool people' got bored.
Katherine's expectant look turned into one of anger as she rose out of her chair, looking as though she was going to tell him exactly what she thought of him. She was so angry that if she were a cartoon character you could have easily seen the steam coming off her ears. Tyler did look up when instead of speaking to him or yelling at him, she moved away from her table in the direction of the jocks and their source of entertainment, throwing the headphones off furiously, careless as to where they landed.
Tyler's eyes widened in horror as Katherine tapped Brock Johnson's on his shoulder.
She isn't going to...she couldn't...Oh, God! She is! She's going to try to stop this fight herself! Is she insane?
Brock is three times bigger than her, he can easily crush her if he wants.
No!
Tyler rose from his seat, Knocking the chair down and making his way through the crowd as quickly as he could without drawing attention to himself.
But he wasn't fast enough.
The room went quiet once more as Brock turned around to look at who had disturbed his fun time and turned around to see a short, weird girl who looked as if she was about to explode. He was sure that he had never seen her, his eyes narrowed on her face in focus, he was too busy in his thoughts whether he knows this girl or if he has ever f*ucked this girl.
But no one expected Katherine to pull her arm back and land a solid punch to Brock's not so perfect nose. Tyler instantly backed away, the smell calling to him. He needed to stay out of this fight or a broken nose would be the least of Brock's worries.
Tyler didn't know why he felt as though he couldn't breathe when he realised he couldn't help Katherine.
She was on her own.
KATHERINE'S POV
I couldn't believe what I was seeing. This is so wrong in so many ways. What century is this? Why's no one helping him?
An innocent boy was being bullied right there in front of them and they all just sat there and did nothing. No one even cared.
I whirled around to look at Tyler. He never went with the flow if what I saw of him thus far was accurate. He would do something, if only to be different, surely.
But I was disappointed when he wouldn't even meet my eyes. He looked anywhere but me. He was a coward just like the rest of them. I was wrong when I thought he was different. It grated on me that I felt disappointed by that.
Then I decided that if no one is going to help that guy then I am going to do it, I don't care about the consequences, these people need to learn that it's not wrong to answer violence with violence.
So I rose from my seat, having every intention of calling him out on his cowardice, but when I tried the words stuck in my throat. I felt tears stinging my eyes. Despite my dislike of him, I had believed that in some way I was less alone for Tyler being at this school. He was the only one who had not been a cut-out copy of everyone else- the only one who was anything at all like me. My sadness and feeling of betrayal turned to hot white anger as it always did.
A grunt behind me got my attention, and suddenly my anger was pointed in another direction.
It seems I am finally going to get a chance to hit someone after all.
I could feel many eyes watching me as I tapped the douchebag bully on the shoulder. When he turned around, obviously angry at the interruption, I gathered all my strength and placed a well-aimed hit to his nose, breaking it into one solid strike.
Of course, he didn't see it coming. The surprise of it alone sent him reeling, as did the shocking amount of strength behind it, landing him on the ground.
Every student in the room seemed to stop breathing. A girl of my size couldn't be strong enough to do what I had done. Could I?
But I have always been different, even at home I could lift the entire sofa for cleaning and put it back in its place effortlessly. I guess that workout finally paid off.