Cool With A "K" PART 12 - CHAPTER 2

I couldn't believe what I saw. Mouse was sitting by the football team at lunch. How is this possible? I thought to myself.
"I can not believe her!" Chris said, "She joined the official Chris Hunting Squad." He shook his head and turned back to his lunch. 
I sighed. I could hear Mouse saying, with her feet up on the table, "..... And then I said, 'So, Chris. When was the last time you had your period?'" All the football goons laughed stupidly. I glared at Mouse and ignorantly, I let it pass.


The next day, as I was walking to 4th period, I saw Chris at his locker, which wasn't unusual. But then, when he opened his locker, a couple dozen tampons and other feminine toiletry products fell out of his locker. Chris stared at them in horror, "What?" He squeaked. 
Instantly, everyone in the hall except for Chris and I were laughing their heads off. 
Chris whirled around frantically, his face reddening with embarrassment. 
I turned to see about half of the football team, standing nearby, laughing. This didn't surprise me, but I felt like someone had just stabbed my heart with a fork when I saw  who was standing in front, laughing triumphantly. Mouse. She was the new prank leader, the new captain, the new enemy.
I started walking over to her, "YOU!" I yelled, catching her slightly off guard. "You did this! You put tampons in Chris's locker!"
Mouse grinned smugly, "Yeah, I did." The football players laughed and one of them gave her a high-five. "So what?" She said cooly.
"I can't believe you!" I went on, "How could you do this to him?"
"I always torment your little sister." Mouse said dryly, the football players laughing more. She just stood there, soaking it all up. "You are full of it!" I said. An 'ooo' emitted from the crowd 
in a fake dramatic tone.
"Oh, look at you, Angela." Mouse smoothed my bangs out of my face and I pulled away. She continued, "You pathetic little thing. The only reason you're here is to act as a 
mother figure to Chris, to baby him. Oops! Did I say him?" The crowd laughed again as I glanced at Chris, his face was red with embarrassment and stress as he watched me 
try to stick up for him. Would I fail this time?
Mouse gave me a little push, "Get outta here." She said, "Scram!" I couldn't believe she was doing this! 
As Mouse laughed along with the crowd, I pushed her back. She looked surprised and 
the crowd oohed again. Mouse stood up straighter, trying dominate me, which was a 
little amusing to see because Mouse is about four inches shorter than me. She pushed me again, I pushed her back. She leaned in close to me, unable to let anyone put her 
down. "Now look, Blondie. Unless you want this to get ugly, I'd suggest you leave."
"Bring it." I said without thinking first. The crowd oohed a bit and I could've sworn I saw 
the slightest bit of hesitation cross Mouse's face. She would've never expected me to do anything but back down, put my hand on Chris's shoulder and say, "Come on Buddy 
Boy, let's go."
Mouse swallowed. "Okay, but you asked for it."
I sighed, "You know what, Mouse, screw it. I don't need to prove anything to you."
Mouse smirked and nodded, implying that I should leave. The crowd emitted a 
disappointed sound and I turned to Chris. I looked into his deep, big, sad eyes and 
thought. I was letting my brother down.
Without thinking, I spun on my heels, running at Mouse. I stuck my foot out and tripped her. Mouse fell to the ground and, furious, I got on top of her and started punching her 
over and over. She would've kicked my ass for sure if I hadn't had my secret and only 
weapon: The element of surprise.
People started cheering me on and the football team started yelling at Mouse for not 
already having me pinned to the ground. I don't know what had gotten into me. I guess I was just sick and tired of Mouse not only pushing Chris around, but pushing me around 
as well. I hit her hard and before I could hit her again, she grabbed my fist, knocking me off and twisting my arm behind my back. I howled in pain and the crowd got excited. 
"Angela!" Chris's voice cracked excitedly (not in a good way). How would I get out of 
this?
Without warning, Chris came up behind Mouse, performing the most juvenile rescue I 
had ever seen. He grabbed Mouse's hair and pulled hard. Mouse shrieked and let go of my arm. I stood up. Somehow Chris had gotten Mouse's arms behind her back and we \were in complete control.
Chris gestured for me to get on with it and slug her, but I couldn't. As I looked at Mouse, I thought, How could I have done this to a friend? While part of me said, Friend? She 
torments me 24/7. Back to the first part of me, the right part of me. What am I saying? 
Of course Mouse is my friend! How could I have done this to her? I suddenly felt 
ashamed. Chris didn't seem to feel quite as bad.
I took a step back, showing Chris that I was not going to hit her again and he let Mouse go. She instantly whirled around and yelled at him, "What was that for, Dumbass?"
"If you break her arm I will break your face! You may not believe me now, but you will 
when it happens. That's a promise!" Chris yelled at her. Mouse laughed a hollow laugh 
as the crowd watched silently, waiting to see what would happen next. 
"I ain't afraid of you, Sugar." Oh great, now Mouse was starting to talk like a football 
player. "C'mon. Hit me, it'll hurt you a lot more than it'll hurt me."
Everyone laughed. Don't, Chris. Enough...
As if reading my mind, Chris held his head high (this summer he finally caught up to 
Mouse and is now a few inches taller than her) and hooked his arm through mine. 
"Enough of this nonsense." He said, "Fighting isn't a civil way to settle things, not at all. I don't roll that way. Good day, Tiffany White. Come along, Angela."
I didn't even laugh at my brother's ridiculous old-fashion grammar, he was right. Mouse's jaw dropped. He knew her real name and he had just used it in front of everyone! 
Seeing her expression, Chris and I laughed poshly like we owned the world. Leaving the crowd laughing behind us, we departed from the scene. Hopefully, Mouse would find her way out of this and back to us on her own.