Page 17 of The Kissing Booth
‘Fight! Fight! Fight!’
Suddenly there was a huge swarm in the middle of the parking lot, everyone either shouting, ‘Fight! Fight!’ or giving the appropriate ‘Ooh,’ or ‘Ouch, that’s gotta hurt!’ when required. And I was stuck in the eye of the storm, frozen in place, unable to move.
It took a couple of seconds for reality to bring me back to my senses. I ran forward, trying to drag Noah away from Adam, whose lip was split and bleeding. He couldn’t have looked more livid if he’d tried.
‘Noah!’ I yelled repeatedly, but he wasn’t listening. The boys were all yelling and arguing – and now there was a teacher trying to control and assess the situation – but my brain didn’t register any of that.
‘Lee!’ I tried helplessly, tugging on his arm instead. ‘Do something!’
‘What do you think I’m doing?’ he replied sharply. ‘Nobody treats my best friend like that and gets away with it.’
‘Lee...’ I sighed, defeated, when he went back to yelling and shoving the mass of guys.
‘Dude, if you like her, that’s fine,’ Thomas scoffed to Noah. ‘But I’m sure there’s plenty to go around.’
He neatly dodged another punch and looked at Noah, daring him to carry on.
But I stood there glaring. ‘Whatdid you say?’
‘You heard me,’ he said with a wink.
I grimaced.
‘That’s it,’ Noah growled.
‘Flynn!’ yelled the teacher, barging through the quickly dispersing crowd.
The other fights all faltered to a stop, and Noah only paused because I stood right in front of him, pushing his chest.
‘What is all this about?’ demanded the teacher – I recognized Vice Principal Pritchett’s voice.
‘It’s just a big misunderstanding,’ I told him. ‘Really.’
‘All of you,’ he said, ‘one week’s detention. Noah Flynn, Rogers, my office now. You too Rochelle.’
I gaped. ‘What did I do?’ I exclaimed.
‘Nothing, but I’d like a word with you.’
I sighed dejectedly, and suddenly there was an arm around me. Lee.
‘Thanks,’ I mumbled. ‘But you shouldn’t have got involved.’
‘Hell yes, I should have. Nobody treats you like that, Shelly.’
‘You do it twenty-four/seven.’
‘But I’m allowed. We’re best friends. Those jerks... no way can they talk to you like that and get away with it.’
‘Well, thanks,’ I said, giving him an awkward side-hug.
He squeezed me back. ‘You know,’ he murmured in my ear, ‘I’m starting to think my big bro has a crush on you, Shelly.’
I scoffed. ‘That, or he wanted a fight.’
‘Oh, probably the latter then.’
‘Definitely,’ I corrected, making him laugh. The bell rang as we reached the vice principal’s office, and Lee sighed.
