“Kody! Give me that!”

“Nope,” Kody replied, dancing backwards a few steps and holding a notebook out of Kat’s reach. “Not until you say yes.”

“Say yes to what?!” Katarina exclaimed, trying and failing to snatch the notebook out of his hand.

Kody held it up a little higher, being just tall enough to keep it beyond her reach. “Yes to taking a break from this homework stuff tonight and hanging out with me, of course.”

“And just what makes you think I’d want to spend my Friday evening with you?” Kat scoffed.

“Nothing. Which is why I’m holding your notebook hostage.”

Katarina glared at him. “Give it back and I’ll think about it.”

Kody shook his head. “No way. Either you agree or I’m keeping this.” He paused to flip through the notebook. “Which wouldn’t be so bad; your notes are a lot neater than mine. I could use these.”

“Kody! Give it!” Kat made quite a show out of trying to grab the notebook, missing every time. Finally, she stopped, out of breath, and shot him another glare as he held it high above his head. “Why are you so insistent on this? Don’t you have any other friends to bother?”

“Not really,” he replied. “Besides, I have something to show you.”

Kat raised an eyebrow, staring skeptically up at him. Then, she punched him in the gut.

He crumpled to the ground with an “Oomph!”, dropping Kat’s notebook in the process. “That was a cheap shot,” he coughed.

“I’m calling it self-defense,” she said, picking up the notebook and turning to walk out of the room. “And I’ll think about it,” she called back. “I’ll see you at lunch.”

Kody slowly got to his feet, catching his breath. He smiled. “Well, that’s a start, anyway.” Then he cringed. “And Jesus Christ, she should take up boxing. Ow.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A few hours later, Kody took his usual seat at the lunch table across from Kat, who was already half-finished with her food. They didn't speak until Kody had finished downing his own meal. After disposing of his tray, he returned to his seat, and waited. And waited. And waited some more. Finally, he got tired of waiting. "Well? Are you coming?"

"Coming where?" came the reply.

Kody rolled his eyes. "With me, tonight. Something to show you, remember?"

Kat glanced at him, not moving her face away from the textbook she was pouring over. "I don’t know..." she said. "Homework and all."

The blonde boy dropped his head to the table, groaning. "Can't you give it a break for one night? It's Friday! You have all weekend to do it."

"I like to get it done early. Why is this so important, anyway?"

Kody thought about that for a moment. "...It's not, I guess. But I do think you'll like it." He leaned on his hand. "I suppose it is your choice, really, but I'll be severely disappointed if you don't come."

Katarina finally took her eyes off of the textbook, and looked at him. "Fine," she said eventually. "When and where?"

Kody's face broke into a satisfied smile. "You live pretty close; I'll just meet you at the end of your street around...five? I don't want to be running around Ariesville after dark."

"Good, because neither do I," Kat replied. "Fine, five o'clock it is."

"Perfect," Kody said, still smiling. "So do you think--"

There was a loud crash a few tables away, and Kat and Kody turned to see a lunch table shoved several feet out of place, as well as a few overturned chairs. "What the hell?" Kat asked rhetorically as they both sat up to get a better look. Among the scattered pieces cafeteria equipment sat Marten Silver, gazing coolly up at an infuriated Mitchell Kang.

"How's that?!" Mitch was yelling. His gang of delinquents was standing nearby, being oddly quiet. "Not so high and mighty now, are ya?" He bent down, getting in Marten's face. "You think you're so goddamn smart. Better than everybody else. Well I got news for you, bunny-boy, you're not! So don't you ever talk like--"

"Hey, that's enough," someone said from behind them.

Kat's eyes widened, and she whipped her head around to confirm what she had just seen. Kody's chair was empty. “Idiot,” she hissed.

Mitchell spun around, glaring into the calm face of Kody Foster. Kody just stared back at him, arms folded. “What was that?” Mitch spat. “Got a problem?”

“Me?” Kody said. “No. Not at all. Actually, you seem to be the one with the problem.”

Mitch’s lip curled in annoyance. “Stay out of this. It’s none of your business,” he growled, turning back to Marten, who was still sitting on the ground, now looking bewildered.

Kody grabbed the junior’s shoulder, forcing him back around. “I’m making it my business,” he said icily. “Leave the kid alone.”

Mitchell grabbed Kody’s arm, throwing it off of him. “Don’t touch me!” he shot. “And get the hell out of here! I said this is none of your business!"

One of Mitch’s gang looked at another, as if to ask if they should get involved. The second one quickly shook his head no, looking a bit scared.

"And I said to leave him be," Kody replied, more forcefully this time. "Look, I don't know what beef you have with this kid, but a high school cafeteria is no place to deal with it. There are people here who are actually trying to, you know, eat peacefully."

"Like I give a damn about them," Mitch sneered.

"That’s a funny thing to say, considering how hard you’re trying to get attention.”

"Shut up!" Mitch yelled. "Who the hell do you think you are, anyway? You don't know me, and you don't know what's going on here. So back off!"

Kody didn't move. "Why?" he asked evenly. "What are you gonna do, fight me?"

Mitch flinched a bit, then settled back into his scowl. "If you keep running your mouth.”

The older boy just nodded, took a step back, and spread his arms. "Alright," he said. "Go ahead. Hit me."

Mitchell moved back a bit, confused. "What?"

"I said hit me," Kody replied. "Go on. If you're that pissed off about...whatever, then here. I'll play punching bag. Just let the kid go."

"No way!" Mitch yelled. "The freshman is mine."

"What's the matter, are you scared?" Kody asked, a small smile creeping onto his face.

"What? No!" the punk rocker argued. "Scared of you? As if."

"Then why won't you hit me?" Kody asked.

Mitchell looked him in the eye, then smirked. "I don't start fights. I finish them."

Kody regarded him curiously for a moment. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

"It means he thinks that if he doesn’t throw the first punch, he won’t get in trouble with me," came a voice from behind them. Both boys turned to find Mr. Richards staring down at them, looking terribly annoyed. The principal sighed. "Let's go, Mitch. My office, now." Mitchell snarled, then stomped out of the cafeteria. Mr. Richards turned to Kody and Marten. "I don't think I need to include you two in this trip. I trust you'll just stay out of trouble for the rest of the lunch period?" They both nodded. "Good," he said, nodding, then proceeded to walk out of the cafeteria, muttering to himself. "God, he's definitely worse than Charlie..."

After he left, Kody slowly turned to Marten, who was still sitting on the ground. He offered a hand. "Here. I think you've been down there long enough."

Marten took it, and Kody pulled him to his feet. “Thanks,” he said. “For…whatever that was.”

Kody grinned. “I don’t normally play hero, but I was getting sick of all the commotion.”

Marten laughed. “Yeah, so was I.” Then, he looked around at the mess of misplaced tables and chairs. “I, uh, better clean this up…” he said, turning and picking up a chair.

“I’ll help,” Kody offered, grabbing another one.

“Oh, you don’t have to,” Marten told him. “You’ve done enough already.”

“It’s okay,” he replied. “It’s faster this way.”

The freshman eyed him curiously, then shrugged and went back to picking up chairs. “I’m Marten,” he said eventually. “Marten Silver.”

“Kody Foster,” Kody replied. “So what was that guy’s problem with you, anyway?” he inquired.

“I’m not exactly sure,” Marten sighed. “He might have said he doesn’t start fights, but he does start the teasing. I got sick of it after awhile, and started talking back. And you can see where that got me.”

“Huh,” Kody said. “Are you sure that was the only reason?”

“As far as I know. He’s just got some kind of inferiority complex, I think.”

Kody shrugged, and then assisted Marten in pushing the table back into place. “You know, I hate to sound nosy, but don’t you have friends or anything to help you out?”

Marten laughed sarcastically. “You don’t make a lot of friends by being the school genius, believe it or not.”

“So who do you sit with?” Kody inquired.

“Just some classmates. I wouldn’t call any of them ‘friends.’”

“I see…” Kody said slowly. “You know, my table’s pretty empty, save for me and my friend Kat. You’re welcome to take up some space there if you want.”

Marten's eyes narrowed a bit. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but why are you being so nice?”

Kody scratched at the back of his head. “Honestly, I’m new to Raresyde. I don’t know too many people yet. I’m just trying to make a good impression, I guess.”

“Hm. Interesting,” Marten said as he picked up the final chair. “Well, lunch is about over, but I may take you up on that offer tomorrow. At least if Mitch is back.”

Kody grinned. “Good to hear,” he said as the bell rang, and the cafeteria emptied.