Chapter 29

Chapter Twenty-Six
Like Foxes
"I hate to bring it up," Charlie spoke up, a sheepish look on his face. We were all sitting in the cafeteria as it was lunch. "But with the game being this Friday, there is no way the Herbrooke guys are going to come in here all civil. They're going to want bloodshed and tears - as intense as that sounds."
"What are you saying?" Luke asked, his eyebrows pulled together in confusion.
I guess it was safe to say that the Herbrooke guys would be mad - more mad than usual. Because we reported Taylor, they lost one of their players. Because of the rivalry, they were going to make this even more personal and come looking for a rough fight.
"They're going to want to start as much drama as they can." Charlie explained. "Being realistic, they're going to be looking for a fight. Even if Taylor dug his own grave, which he did, those guys aren't going to play easy."
"I'm confused," Jade mumbled.
"They would play rough either way," Noah stated. "But even if they step it up a notch, I still have faith that we'll win the game."
"That's not what I'm talking about..." Charlie mumbled quietly.
"Ah," Ezra piped up, reading between the lines and clearly understanding what Charlie was trying to say. "It's safe to say they're going to be on lookout for me and Noah since we beat up Taylor. Luckily, I'm not on the team so that gives me more defence. We all just need to make sure we got Noah's back."
"And yours," Leo added. "They'll still spot you. There were others at the party aside from Taylor. If they're smart, they'll stay away from you because fighting you is a death wish."
"That's true but what if they do pick a fight?" Kai spoke up.
"There's not just a few of them this time," Joy also added. "They have their whole team."
"And we have ours." Noah stated, a blank look on his face. "We shouldn't worry about fights. All we have to do is make sure we don't start them ourselves because that way we would risk getting kicked out of the championship. If they're stupid enough to start a fight, they'll get kicked out which only means it's better for us."
"Okay," Charlie said slowly, looking between everyone at the table. He had a grim but also concerned look on his face. "That is still not what I'm talking about."
"What are you saying, Charlie?" Jade asked softly, a little worried now.
Charlie exhaled a sharp breath, "I'm talking about Tiffany." All eyes turned to me. I sat there with a blank face, confused and unsure what Charlie was trying to say. "Look, they know she was the girl. If the other boys are anything like Taylor - which I'm sure they are - they're going have an eye out for her too."
"An eye for an eye," Ezra spoke his thoughts out-loud.
"So someone stays with Tiffany at all times." Luke said, looking at me with a frown. "Jade, Joy, and Ezra- just make sure one of you is with her at all times."
"We'll be at the bleachers with the rest of the crowd anyways," Jade concluded. "So I think we'll be okay."
"I really don't need a babysitter," I grumbled, looking down at the table in attempts to avoid everyones gaze.
"Tiff," Joy spoke softly, reaching over to place a hand on my arm. "You haven't seen the worst of the Herbrooke guys. What Taylor did was mearly-"
"He barley scratched my surface." I stated bluntly, looking up again. "I am fine and definitely not scared of dimbledicks like him. You guys have nothing to worry about."
"I don't mean to call you out, Tiff," Ezra started, his voice low and stern. "But you're being stubborn. All of us here know very well that you can handle it but that doesn't mean you're going to."
I sighed and held back the urge to roll my eyes, "Fine."
"Okay," Charlie nodded in affirmation. "So, someone sticks with you at all time - like if you need to leave or something. I'm not saying anything will happen but I wouldn't be surprised if the Herbrooke's tried anything."
"Charlie's right." Leo nodded in agreement. "So, we're set then. We all just have to stick together for the night."
"You know," I spoke up again. "I could just stay home. I don't want to be the reason another fight breaks out."
"You won't be," Jade smiled at me. "Look, this is the biggest game of the year and I know you want to watch because you love soccer."
"And you shouldn't have to sit out just because of those dimbledicks," Luke said, grinning as he mimicked my word.
I chuckled, "Okay, sounds like a plan then."
"Are they really all that bad?" I asked in a hushed voice, leaning back in my seat. The group and I were now at the coffee house because nobody had plans after school.
We were sitting in a round booth but Leo, Jade, Luke and I had somewhat formed our own little group isolated from the rest.
"They're a lot worse than you might expect." Jade said, nodding. She had a disgusted look on her face as she started to tell me about the Herbrooke guys. "At the last Grove versus Herbrooke game, they purposely kicked Kai in the face and broke his noes."
"What the fuck?" I exhaled. "They had to get eliminated, right?"
"Nope," Leo said with a grin as he leaned back comfortably. He sipped on his smoothie before continuing, "They got a red card, that's it. They didn't get eliminated from the championship because they made a whole scene about how it was an accident and they were sorry. We can't argue against the refs."
"That's not even the worse," Luke added, grimacing as he thought. "They smashed a bottle on Noah's head at the last party they crashed a few months ago."
"They snuck into our change rooms and vandalized the place." Leo added.
"How have they not gotten caught or in major trouble for any of this?" I asked, stunned. "Please tell me you guy have pulled some revenge stunt."
Luke grinned brightly, "Oh we have. We crashed some of their parties and got the cops there to have the whole party shut down. We also put itching powder in their clothes before a game which blew the whole thing for them."
I chuckled, "That's smart. Subtle and smart is the best way to go. Like foxes."
"Like foxes," Jade repeated, grinning. "I like that."
"They've never left enough evidence from their stunts for us to prove it was them." Leo explained to me. "They got eliminated from the championship two years ago thanks to the itch powder but not last year when they broke Kai's noes."
"What about Noah getting hit in the head with a bottle?" I asked with my eyes narrowed in thought.
Luke shrugged, "Went to the hospital to get checked out and Charlie beat the guys ass but that was it."
"People... take things way too far. Maybe you guys should just... be the bigger people and call a truce." I mumbled, offering my honest thoughts. I for one did not want to see what else the Herbrooke guys were capable of.
Jade scoffed, "You really think we should do that? I thought you'd want to hold more of a fight."
I shrugged lightly, looking down at my coffee, "I would've but... I've had my share of rivalries back in Saratoga and things don't always end with a scratch or fixable broken bone."
All three of them looked at me with confused looks on their faces and that's when I immediately regretted saying anything.
"What? How far did those rivals take it?" Jade asked, confusion all over her face.
"Not like they killed someone," Luke chuckled, shaking his head in disbelief.
"Right." I offered a small smile. "Still. Those guys clearly aren't afraid to take things a step further. I'm just saying, maybe we should ease it down a bit."
"Tiffany might be right..." Leo mumbled quietly in thought. "I mean, they've put three of us in the hospital now. We've never gone that extreme with them and of course won't fall as low as them but those guys are fine with bloodshed."
I felt like my heart just fell in the pit of my stomach as I thought about how bad things could get. My hands started to get sweaty.
I titled my head, "See. Wouldn't want things to get out of hand. It's not like you'd see it coming and the next thing you know, someone is seriosuly hurt."
By now, the rest of the group's attention was on us when they started to figure out what we were talking about.
"I think we should listen to Tiffany," Joy spoke up, becoming part of the conversation. "I mean, what Taylor did to Tiffany could have ended a lot worse and she already did end up in the hospital."
I clenched my jaw and looked down at the table when gazes had turned to me.
"Sorry," Joy mumbled sheepishly, her cheeks tinging pink as she realized she brought up an unwanted topic.
"So, we should call a truce?" Kai asked, diverted the conversation so we wouldn't have to dwell on that specific event.
"Might be a good idea," Ezra stated grimly. "You don't always realize how far people are willing to take things."
My eyes locked with Ezra and I quickly cleared my throat and glanced away from him, not wanting to see whatever was swirling around in his eyes.
"Okay," Charlie nodded affirmatively. "So we'll call a truce before the game on Friday."
"I'm all for it but what if they laugh in our faces?" Luke mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck.
"So be it," Noah spoke firmly, shrugging lightly. "We'll call a truce and be the bigger people. If they chose to ignore it, it all falls on them and we have no part in their stunts."
"Right. Eventually they 'otta stop when they receive no response back from us." Kai concluded.
Well, looks like Herbrooke wasn't going to get the bloodshed they were looking for.