Finally, Randy Martin was having a good day for once.

First period, mathematics. He got the big midterm test back. 101%, A++, with a good job sticker to boot.

Third period, film class. Mr. Raymond said the script he wrote was one of the best he'd seen. On Monday they'd talk about shooting it to be on the school news.

Fifth period, science. He told a joke and Preethi did that cute snort laugh she sometimes did. Just the thought of it now made his heart skip a beat.

"Today I'm gonna do it." he said, trying to summon up as much confidence as he could. "I'm gonna."

He was now in his second to last period, gym. Today the gym teacher was out - Randy hated Coach, so there was another win - and the sub had just told them to do whatever they felt like while he chatted on the phone. So he had spent the whole period on the bleachers with his friends while the more athletic kids were shooting hoops.

"You can't pussy out, Randy!" Sarah Chang, one of the school's band geeks, elbowed him in the side. Randy knew her pretty well, but she was best friends with Preethi. "Seriously, if you do, I will punch you in the face."

Randy rubbed the back of his neck. He was getting nervous even just thinking about it. "Yeah, I know, I know."

"Don't worry about it, alright? She totally likes you."

"She does?" he asked, his eyes widening as he turned to face Sarah. "Wait, really? Do you mean, like-"

"I mean she likes you! But you didn't hear it from me, okay?" Sarah grinned at him, and he couldn't help but smile back.

The conversation dipped there as one of the others on the bleachers called over Sarah to look at something on her phone. Randy turned his attention to the clock, bubbles of excitement rising up in his chest as he watched the minutes tick by.

Suddenly, something bumped against his sneakers. A stray basketball had rolled up, so he grabbed it and looked for who had lost it. Standing near one of the hoops, looking at him expectantly, was Nikki Slater. The two made eye contact for a second, Randy bouncing the ball back and Nikki catching it. It was a brief, wordless interaction, but it spoiled Randy's mood.

Nikki Slater was known all around school as a troublemaker. If it weren't for the fact she was one of the best athletes in Lower Griffith High history - or that the school was run by hippies who sucked at discipline - she'd have been expelled a long time ago. She insulted teachers to their face, smoked in the bathroom, and constantly picked on pretty much everyone - especially her favorite punching bag, Randy. Just looking at her made him run through a mental list of all the mean things she had done to him.

Fourth grade, punched him in the gut. Seventh grade, pulled his pants down at the assembly. Last week, threw his backpack in the trash and nearly pushed him in when he tried to get it out.

Silently brooding, he kept his eyes on her. There was no denying she was good at basketball, and Randy knew that better than most - he was more often than not the one who filmed the school's games, so he had watched her play quite a bit. Something was different this time, though, and when Randy spotted it, he couldn't look away.

The school's gym uniform consisted of a t-shirt and loose black shorts, and lots of girls liked to tie their shirts up in the back so a bit of their stomach showed. Usually the gym teachers were there to enforce the dress code, but with the substitute here, nobody was stopping them. Nikki had her shirt like that, but it wasn't what Randy was fixated on.

Her shorts had sagged down a bit on the corner of her hip, and without the shirt there to cover it up, he could make an arching, lacy pink line - Nikki was wearing a thong.

Now, Randy hated Nikki, and if you asked him, he'd call her ugly. But, deep, deep down, he couldn't deny it. She was fucking hot.

If he had to describe her physically in one word, it'd be "thick." She was only a bit shorter than him, her boobs weren't all that big, and she was kinda chubby, but soccer and basketball had given her nice, healthy thighs and a curvy bubble butt. Her dirty blonde hair was long and curly. If he had to point out a flaw, it'd be her face - which was as bitchy as her personality - but he'd be lying if he said he wouldn't want his dick between those pouty lips.

"Whatcha staring at, Randy?"

Sarah's voice knocked him out of his thoughts. He turned to her, stammering as she tried to pinpoint what he had been looking at.

"Whoa, is Nikki wearing a thong?" she whispered to him, but her whisper was closer to a shout. "And it's pink! Definitely doesn't seem like her... I guess that's why she changed in the stall today."

"H-her underwear is showing? I-I didn't notice that." Laughing awkwardly, Randy sat up and adjusted his shirt, pulling it down over the top of his shorts. Thinking about Nikki, staring at her ass, it had... well, it had sent blood down there. "Weird."

Sarah eyed him suspiciously. "Yeah... okaay!"

Out of the corner of his eye, Randy saw Nikki look back at the two of them. Her pupils flicked from one to the other... and then she pulled up her shorts. Uh oh.

Had she noticed him, he wondered? Sarah was whispering pretty loud, maybe she just heard her. Oh God, he hoped she just heard her!

The bell rang, and Randy had a feeling in his gut that his good day was about to come to a bad end.

---

Randy walked down the hallway that lead to his locker. When he had left gym, he had changed from his gym clothes to his regular ones, a black hoodie, plain tee, and blue jeans. Seventh period had gone well, and he had pretty much gotten over what happened earlier with Nikki. His nerves were still on edge though, but for a good reason. He thought about what Sarah had said... Preethi liked him. And now, with the movie tickets in his pocket, he was gonna go ask her out.

Slipping his hand into his jeans, he took out the two tickets. Preethi's favorite movie was called Starfighters, and the sequel was gonna be out on Sunday - it was all Preethi had been talking about for the last month. So, Randy talked to his cousin who worked at the local theater, and he had scored him two seats at a special early showing tomorrow. There was no way she was gonna say no.

"Hi Randy!"

His heart, which had been beating fast with excitement, suddenly dropped into his stomach. The voice behind him belonged to Nikki Slater, and he turned around to see her walking up to his side. Clamming up, he tried to walk away quickly, but she put a strong hand on his shoulder and yanked him back, turning him around.

"Whatcha up to?" she asked him, scanning his face with a mean grin. She spotted the tickets in his hand and grinned. "Aww, movie tickets? Who they for? Me?"

"They're..." Randy shut himself up, pulling away from the girl and attempting to book it. But as he spun around, she plucked the tickets right from his hand.

"Hmm." she read them, then turned them over. As he watched, Randy grit his teeth, his hands balling into fists. "Starfighters 2? I thought the first one kinda sucked, but okay!"

"They're not for you!" he rushed at Nikki, but with one hand she held him back, even as he struggled against her. He tried to grab the tickets from her other hand, but she moved them behind her back. By now, people were gathering to watch, including Sarah.

"Oh, who are they for? Preethi, right?" Nikki faked a frown. "Go with me instead! Maybe I'll let you take a look at my underwear... I know you like doing that, you fucking perv."

With the hand she had on his chest, Nikki pushed him back into a set of lockers. Randy crashed into them with a loud clang, and shouts rang out from the crowd that had gathered. Taking the tickets in both hands, Nikki ripped them up into confetti, then blew the torn up bits at Randy. As she laughed, Randy straightened himself out, and it was at that moment that something snapped.

Rage flooded into his body, filling him to the core. With strength and fury that surprised him, he lunged forward and tackled Nikki to the ground. The crowd cheered as he wrestled with her, pinning her down beneath him.

Crying out in shock, Nikki tried to push him off, but he socked her right in the jaw. He went for another punch, but Sarah rushed in and held him back before it could land. "Jesus, Randy!"

"Everybody, move!" the crowd scattered at the deep voice of one of the school's security officers. Two had come in on the scene, and one pulled Randy off of Nikki as she sat up, dazed.

---

Randy had never been to the principal's office before. He didn't really know what to expect. But judging from Nikki's bored face - which was now home to a splotchy crimson bruise - she had been here a few times. They both sat in wooden chairs in front of the principal's desk, who was yet to arrive.

"You hit harder than I thought you would." Nikki said. She didn't seem to be angry about it, which Randy found strange. "Maybe you should do boxing or something."

Randy couldn't think of a response, so he just glared at her. Nikki looked away. Was that shame?

The door to the office swung open, and in stepped the principal, an older woman with round-rimmed glasses, fluffy gray hair, and two files in her hands. Principal Winthrop was relatively new here, but well known for being as soft as a marshmallow when it came to doling out punishments. Back in the day, she had been a real "free love, world peace" hippie type. That was probably why Nikki seemed so relaxed, Randy thought. His nerves still didn't go away.

"Hey guys!" Princial Winthrop took her seat in front of the two. She dropped the files down on the desk - it was Nikki and Randy's permanent records. One was far more full than the other. "Nicole, how's that bruise?"

"Fine." she said.

"Wonderful. Well, Nicole - sorry, Nikki - is a face I'm familiar with, but Randy, I haven't met you before." the older woman turned to him. "So, from what I heard, you two got in a fight?"

Both students said yes, pretty much in unison. Reaching under the table, Winthrop pulled out a pen and legal pad.

"Well, I'd like to hear the story from both sides. Nikki, you first. And Randy, I'd like you to let her speak, no interruptions, okay?"

Randy nodded.

"Well..." Nikki scratched her nose. "In gym class, Randy wouldn't stop looking at my ass, right? Like he had his eyes on it all class, everyone noticed, it was fuckin' gross... I think he had a boner, too, like, seriously!"

Randy gawked at her, then glanced at the principal to see her reaction. To his surprise, she was nodding along happily, jotting things down on her legal pad as if she believed every word out of Nikki's mouth.

"Th-that's not true!" he cried.

Winthrop rose up a hand as if to say stop. "Let Nikki speak, please."

"Thank you." Nikki smirked at him and continued on. "So, after class, I came up to him in the hallway, and I said, 'hey, I didn't think that was cool what you did.'"

"Oh, yeah, that's what you said." Randy rolled his eyes.

"I'm paraphrasing." Nikki shot back. Randy was surprised she knew that word.

"Anyways, he denied it, and not gonna lie, I pushed him, since, he kinda deserved it for being so gross. Then he tried to give me a paper cut with these tickets he had in his hand, like, he was slashing at me with them." Even Winthrop raised an eyebrow at that. "So I took them and ripped them up. That's when he tackled me and punched me in the face."

"Is that all?" Winthrop asked, to which Nikki replied with a nod. "Alright Randy, now, if you could tell me the story?"

Oh, I'll tell you the story, Randy thought. He laid out every detail truthfully, just as it happened. Nikki tried to break in every now and then, but Winthrop shushed her up. At the end of it all, Winthrop's legal pad was full of notes, which she scanned over before opening her mouth again.

"Well." she pursed her lips. "Randy, your story is a little more... believable. But is there any truth to what Nikki said about, well, you observing her posterior in gym class?"

Observing her posterior... right. Well, maybe he had skipped some details. He tapped his finger against his leg, wondering if he should be honest here.

"If you like, we can bring in other people from class and they could tell us what they saw?" she asked. When he saw Nikki grin at that, he immediately knew he'd look better if he just fessed up.

"Well, I might've... looked at her, a little." he admitted, nearly choking on his words. He expected Winthrop to be angered by that, but just like with everything else, she kept her face straight. "In my defense, her shirt was tied up and her underwear was out. I'm pretty sure that's against dress code."

"Not true." Nikki said. Randy noticed a little red on her face, and not just from the bruise.

"Well now." Winthrop looked at Nikki, who avoided her eyes. "Is that the case?"

Randy smirked as he saw realization in Nikki's eyes: Sarah had seen too, and she'd back Randy up. So, just like it had been for him, she'd look better if she told the truth.

"Yeah... but it's not like... I didn't want it to be out!" Her relaxed disposition crumbling, she turned towards Randy and sneered. "Hey, did you or didn't you have a boner?!"

He shot up in his chair. "Th-That's an inappropriate question!"

"What's inappropriate is having a fucking stiffy in gym class!" Nikki straightened herself and jabbed a finger at him.

"No, what's inappropriate is wearing a lacy pink thong to school!"

"Both of you, quiet!" Winthrop raised her voice for the first time. Randy and Nikki both shut up and fell back in their seats, and the principal switched to another topic quickly. "Randy, you said she tore up your movie tickets? I have no problem believing that, but my issue is, why would she do that exactly?"

Randy threw his hands up. "I don't know, to be a bitch?"

"Language." the principal said. Randy could've sworn Nikki cursed earlier, but since it seemed like he was winning here, he kept his mouth shut. Winthrop turned to Nikki, whose face was even more red than before. "Nikki, why did you tear up his movie tickets? Was it just because you were mad at him for staring?"

"Yeah..." she said.

"Alright, well, I think I understand what happened here." Winthrop shut her legal pad. "Okay, well, if either of you were worried about suspension or expulsion, don't be. You'll both have two weeks of hour long morning detentions, starting next week on Monday. Alright?"

"All good with me." said Nikki happily. Randy figured she was probably just overjoyed they weren't gonna kick her out. He frowned at the punishment, but... well, it was better than the other two options.

But Winthrop wasn't done.

"In addition to that, I'd like you both to write a five page essay on the other person. I'll email you both the rubric soon, and I'd prefer if you met up outside of school and worked on your papers together."

That spoiled Nikki's mood. "What?" she asked incredulously. "You can't do that."

"I'm the principal, so, I'm pretty sure I can." Winthrop said. "Both of you, I think, could benefit from knowing the other better, given your history." she patted their permanent records. "Perhaps you'll come to some kind of understanding. I'll grade them personally, and if you don't do it, I'll delay your graduation until you do. Understood?"

"Wait, can't we just work on them in detention?" Randy asked. "Why do we have to meet up?"

"Not how detention works, genius. You can't do your homework there." replied Nikki. Winthrop nodded along with her.

"Alright, well, if everything's settled..." Winthrop stood up, taking two papers on her desk that she passed out to the two students. It was a form they had to have their parents sign, which had been filled out with information about what had happened. "Then you two are dismissed. Get these in Monday, please."

As they headed out the door, Nikki leaned in towards Randy. "Looks like we'll have to hang out sometime."

"Great..." Randy shoved his hands in his pockets. "Just great..."

---

The rest of the walk to the front of the school was in total silence. The buses had left a while ago, and Randy realized he'd have to walk home.

"Crap." He said, under his breath. Nikki looked over to him.

"What's wrong?" She asked, her voice softer than he had ever heard it before. "No car?"

Randy nodded at her, but kept his mouth shut.

"Where do you live?"

"Lahoya Street."

"That's not too far from my house." she pulled out her keys and jingled them. "Do you want a ride?"

"Okay." said Randy.

It wasn't a very long ride, but it felt like hours for both Randy and Nikki. They both stole looks at one another in silence: things were just too awkward for eye contact or small talk. When Nikki rolled up to Randy's house, he thanked her and hopped out quickly before she even said "You're welcome."

Idling, she took a look at Randy's house. Lahoya Street was full of big, beautiful houses - it was probably the richest place in all of Lower Griffith - and Randy's was no different. She could see a nice car in the driveway, along with what looked like a pool in the back. Tapping on her wheel, she drove off to her own house a few streets away on Jackson Drive. It looked like a trailer home in comparison.

Parking her car in the driveway, she saw that her dad's car wasn't around. That meant the house was empty.

She trudged in the front door and slammed it shut behind her, taking off her shoes and socks as she made her way upstairs. She flung her backpack into her bedroom, dropped her footwear on the floor, then stepped into the bathroom and turned on the shower. With a hiss, cold water began to spray down, some of the stray droplets splashing off onto her as she stripped down outside the tub.

Stress knotted up her back. Her shirt and bra were first to go, and she scratched the spot where the band had been as she unbuttoned her pants. They fell to the floor, and she was left in only her lacy pink thong. She stared at herself in the mirror, turning around.

Most of her underwear was normal, just plain panties. But she had a few pieces that she had bought on her own, which she kept secret from her dad. Sometimes she looked in the mirror and saw a tomboy, and she hated that... and that's when she'd put on something pink and frilly and girly...

She didn't know why she thought wearing one to school was a good idea, though. She was so stupid.

Peeling them off, she tossed them away in frustration. By now the water had heated up, and the steam was flooding out from behind the shower curtain. She reached in and turned it down a bit, then slipped inside. As she lathered herself up with soap, she began to think about what had gone down earlier with Randy... Randy...

Randy was tall, slim, and broad-shouldered, with nice, smooth pale skin, black hair kept a little long, and bright blue eyes. His features were sharp, but almost feminine - maybe a problem for some girls, but just Nikki's type - and to top it all off he had the cutest butt she'd ever seen. Physically at least, he was a walking checklist of everything she loved in a guy.

So why did she like picking on him so much?

Pulling down the showerhead, which was attached to the shower by a cord, she began to wash away the soap.

She didn't know why, really. It was just an urge, an instinct. She didn't know how else she'd approach him.

Nikki moved the showerhead from her chest to her legs, the suds drifting away in the stream of warm water. She tried to focus on something else - the paper she had to do, how she'd explain the bruise to Dad - but Randy, that nagging, incessant itch in her head, always pushed his way to the front of her mind.

She mentally slapped herself. God, why couldn't she just talk to him normally? Why did she have to be so mean all the time? What was her fucking problem? Nikki's grip on the showerhead tightened until her knuckles were white. She wanted to punch someone, no, she needed to punch someone. Maybe Sarah, or that ugly bitch Preethi... God, she couldn't stand Preethi...

The girl let out a long, frustrated sigh. She needed to get Randy out of her mind. He got stuck in there often, and there was only one way to make him leave.

Almost subconsciously, she brought the showerhead between her legs, moaning softly as the warm water sprayed onto her. She spread her thighs wider, letting the warm stream run down and caress her. Her eyes shut tight, she imagined that Randy was in there with her, wished that the water that ran across her pussy was his tongue, felt his hands massaging her back...