I was nervous. Thorin was driving me to school, a place that I hadn't been to in a while. It was a Friday when I kind of snapped and destroyed any low-key reputation I had and decided to play sick for a couple of days, nothing too long but a couple of days. I'll admit that I was a little scared to go back to school not because Thorin and I's relationship was out in the open. It was because how I was going to be perceived now especially with that photo of Jace and I floating around.

You're tough.

Mr. Louis's words rung through my head. I was tough, even my mom told me that I was after she caught me fighting some invisible man in my room. It was time that I was done whimpering away, even if it is just school. That didn't mean that kids couldn't say mean things but I was done ignoring those things. I was going to face the music and the shit storm it may bring.

Don't worry, I took a shower before Thorin came into my house. Him and my mother saw each other, mom of course had to raise her eyebrow at him. I didn't know if he knew that mom knew about us, but he could have probably tell by the look she was giving him. It wasn't the kind that was full of rage, it was just the protective kind. I was thankful for it but I'm pretty sure Thorin would protect me the most in this world.

That actually made me feel good inside.

"It's going to be okay." Thorin could tell that I was nervous, giving my knee a squeeze. "We only have a couple more days then we're done with this place."

It was true, school was practically over as it was the last day, but for some reason my ass had to make some waves. "I know, because we have each other." I smiled at him and proceeded to leave the car. The car that would be the last source of blockage from the people. But all I needed really was Thorin and the way that he smiled at me.

"Look! They're going to make out again!" A girl called out, laughing. I tried to ignore her but for some reason, I couldn't ignore her like I had done with Thorin or Melody. For some reason, some girl was getting underneath my skin and it wasn't even ten o'clock yet.

"Hey, Thorin, how much is paying you to hang around her?" Shout out to them for thinking I was wealthy enough to be able to buy a boyfriend.

That's how I was going to be tough. I was going to take everything they said and somehow make something positive out of it. It's civil and would be good for the soul. Plus, it would be kind of fun to see how to make something negative into something that could somehow boost my ego.

"Ignore them." Thorin whispered into my ear. It would have been easier if I had earbuds but still, I was going to try to stop being a coward.

I looked back and smiled at the girl who had a snarky smirk on her lips. She and a couple of other people all had their arms crossed over their chests. An eyebrow of her's wiggled, waiting for me to say something or cry away. I didn't, I just smiled. It became obvious that she didn't like my response by dropping her grin.

Thorin's hand was on my back and mine had taken a place on his. Fuck this whole 'low profile' thing that I had going on for the longest time. It was time to come out and actually have a say in this world. School was going to be longer than usual but maybe a long day was going to be needed to stop my fear of people.

I was walking in the hallway, taking a detour to the bathroom that I was supposed to be in. Walking was something that helped and I needed it. Stress had began to grow inside of me as the weight of stares had began to push down on my shoulders. Trust me, I worked out my shoulders quiet a bit but that didn't mean the weight wasn't hard to bare. I was new to this not caring if someone was looking at me thing.

The white walls were empty except for me that kept walking through them. Somehow my feet were able to keep moving on the tiles though I wasn't really used to waking up so early. Skipping school can lead one to disrupt their sleeping schedule, it did with mine. But I kept moving, not thinking that anyone would be walking in the same halls as me. They shouldn't be, they should be in class.

Somehow, Delia was able to round up the group that she normally traveled with. She just had to look perfect. Her black silky hair rested right above her shoulders, not daring to touch them because they weren't worthy of such softness. Dark purple matte lipstick were on her plump lips and eyeliner on her eyes that looked like they could make her fly with such wings. A resting bitch face that not even I could sport highlighted her perfect makeup.

They began to snicker when we slowly began to cross paths. The weight of their eyes just added onto the hundred others that I had encountered through out the day. But the snickering was just icing on the shit cake that today had been. But thinking that today was shit was not someone who is strong would think.

Maybe if I did something that they found amusing. At least they were happy and put on a smile on their usually bitchy faces.

"Hey, Flora." Delia spoke out while smiling. It was a fake smile but at least it was a smile and not something like a middle finger.

"Hey." If she wanted to say hello, I was going to say hello back.

"I've missed you." I knew she didn't really miss me but then again, it was nicer than her saying something mean.

"Thanks." I said that, trying to cut the conversation short so I could move on and pretend that I didn't hear her little posse laugh at me. I knew why they were laughing at me because there was indeed a rumor about me paying Thorin to date me. There was also one about me using some type of demon blood magic to hypnotize him but I'm not a demon.

"Going to get more money to pay Thorin for the day?"

"Or are you going to do some voodoo in the bathroom because he's starting to regain his control back?"

Two of her minions spoke out and started an uproar within the group. Delia didn't say anything, only looking and me with harsh eyes. I had to think of something funny quickly so they wouldn't get the last word. Stupid, I know but I didn't want them to think that what they said really got to me because it actually didn't.

"Nah, he's good for the day. Thanks for asking." I nodded to the minions and began to keep on walking. They didn't say anything else when they noticed that their leader also began to move in the opposite direction of me.

I tried to stop the smile on my face but I couldn't. It wasn't like I had won some war or something but it felt like I did. My ass spoke up and back at girls that used to scare the living shit out of me. I said something, I was bare. I'll admit it was a little pathetic of me for being so scared of people but I couldn't help it. People were to me as sharks to a baby seal, I thought they would hurt me. But I wasn't.

*******

Thorin wasn't by my side when walking to lunch. I was going solo when he and Mr. Louis talked after class. Though I should't have been condoning Thorin's fighting, at least he was out of trouble revolving around the school. The fighting allowed him to take his anger out that he obviously had for Jace. At least he wasn't getting sued.

My ears were open thanks to the lack of earbuds in them. People were behind me, following the trail of others who were also going to lunch. They were boys to be exact. To even go further into detail, one of them was Terry, good ole Terry who was going to have to take summer school just so he could get his diploma because math wasn't his strong suit. I had recognized his husky voice and the other was a deep voice that I hated hearing.

"So that's the chick you fucked at that party?" One of the boys said, not even trying to whisper. They knew that I could hear them but I still tried to act like I didn't. My legs kept moving though I wanted to stop and turn into stone.

"Yeah. I wanted to add a chubby girl to my list." Jace responded and by the sound of it, he was proud.

There was absolutely nothing I could find positive about the lie. It was utter complete bullshit that I could not believe he would pass on. There was absolutely no way I would ever try to get with Jace. He was an asshole, a crazy asshole in fact. I disliked him so much, I didn't even want to be his friend.

I wanted to say something, protest, punch him in the face. Just something to tell those guys and the people around him that could hear him that he was indeed lying. I already had voodoo demon as a title, I didn't want to be "Chubby Girl Screwed by Jace" too. But I didn't. I kept walking until I saw the table that Thorin, Sai and I sat at.

Still, people were looking at me like I was a wild animal. They had their head turned, almost breaking the bone because their asses were so nosey. I sat down, looking at my phone to try to not feel the pressure of their stares.

"Hey." Thorin said, leaning on the table with his hands. "How are ya doin'?" His accent rolled off his tongue.

"I'm okay, are you okay?" I asked, playfully. He smiled, giving a small peck on the lips. This caused people to 'ooh' and 'ahh' at us. Except for the nerds on the opposite end of the table. They just kept to their business and that's why I picked that table in the first place.

"Be careful Thorin! You don't know where that mouth has been!" One of Jace's friends called out. People lost it, laughing loudly and almost busting my eardrums. Everyone laughed, except for me, Sai who was eating his lunch quietly, the nerds near us, Mel who was sneaking her way into the cafeteria when she should have been in class and Thorin. Thorin just looked at me and I knew exactly what he was thinking.

He was thinking about killing that guy.

"No. Down." I ordered Thorin who didn't look like he was going to take orders that day.

His head turned and his hands were no longer leaning on the table. They were up, scrunched up into fists and ready to have blood on them. "Oh yeah?" Thorin asked the boy.

"Sit down." Sai's large hand grasped Thorin's shirt, slamming him down onto the plastic seat. Thorin was shocked that someone could actually take him down. Maybe it was smart to keep Sai around as he was able to keep Thorin from starting a fight just because someone had said something about me.

"Hey Flora, let me know when you're ready for round two." Jace kissed the air.

"Keep him down, Sai." I sighed.

"I like them thick!" Jace winked as Thorin was bouncing his leg. He wanted to run up to Jace and punch him in the face. I wanted him too but I wasn't going to let that happen.

The table wouldn't stop. "Hey, when he's done with you, can I get a shot?" Another one yelled across the cafeteria.

"Maybe she's just too busy with paying Thorin to be her boyfriend to fuck you!" A girl retorted.

Mel came up to the table. Her face was redder than the hair that lied on her head. She grasped an angry Thorin's shoulder, trying to fight. "You hear 'em?" Her forehead wrinkled when her eyebrows shot up. Thorin nodded, trying to get away from Sai's hand.

"Yeah and I want to kick their arses."

I sighed again.

Like Mr. Louis had said, I had to be tough but that didn't mean I was going to take anymore shit.

Sighing once again, I stood up. It wasn't because I was pissed off even though I was, I sighed to relax my shaking hands. I hated the idea of falling and it would be easy to fall on the plastic seats that the school provided for the lunch tables, but I didn't think about that when stepping onto mine. Quickly, I was on the lunch table, making sure to not step onto Sai's tray. The room fell silent.

I looked around, definitely taking in the attention that was gravitating towards me. Even the teachers who helped watch over lunch were looking at me. One of them was Mr. Louis who watched with his arms across his chest.

"Flora, what are you doing?" Mel whispered.

"Fixing this." I whispered back.

"Hey there, students." I didn't know what else to call them. "You probably didn't know I existed until a few days ago when I kissed Thorin in front of you." My hand pointed to the boy who was looking directly in front of me.

"Sit down." A teacher ordered.

"Trust me, I will." I retorted. "But first, I need to say something." Air filled my lungs, allowing me to give the students who were following me with their eyes, a long ass speech. "But let me just tell you, yes." My head nodded. "I am dating Thorin and no, he's not brainwashed, no magic was performed and I did not pay him. I understand why some of you may wonder why someone like him would want someone like me. Trust me, I don't know either. But that doesn't mean that you can just go ape shit because some guy you find hot wants someone whom you may deem beautiful. We are not in the stone age, we are not cavemen. We are people of the modern age who can comprehend that there is no need to act like fire is something that comes from the gods and that people like certain people."

My shaking had stopped but not my smile.

"But you fucked Jace, the picture is everywhere." I couldn't pinpoint where the voice came from but I still heard it.

"Just because there's a picture of me and Jace being creepy around me does not mean that we had sex. If anything, it should how much of a creep that he really is! I mean, who does that with someone while they're intoxicated? So Jace, please erase me from your 'list'." I frowned at him. He didn't look happy at all.

They began to murmur between themselves but I wasn't done yet. "Does anyone else want to come down and clear the air about anything while we're here?"

Silence again. No one was going to come up and confess something.

Melody stood up. "Sai, I really like you and I've been trying to tell you that but I don't know how."

Sai blushed and blinked a few times. "Really?" Mel nodded and I nearly fell off the table from shock. I couldn't have been prouder of her.

"Yes."

"See? Mel confessed, come on people! Come out and let us know."

Terry stood up. "Flora, I've liked you since Freshmen year."

Again, the shock almost knocked me off from the table. "Alright, another love confession. Thank you, Terry." He nodded and sat back down, proud that he had finally said something.

Delia huffed while standing up. "I'm the one who took the picture and posted it everywhere."

"Why?" My brows furrowed.

She shrugged. "Because I was bored."

"Jace?" I turned to him. "What about you."

He looked at his friends who were looking at him. Slowly, he stood up. "I'm the one who had that kid push you."

Sai still had to keep Thorin down so he wouldn't kill Jace.

"Why?" I asked him the same question.

"Because Flora, I'm jealous." His eyes rolled.

"Of Thorin?" I didn't quite understand.

"Of you. I'm jealous that you get to be held by Thorin and I will never now that feeling." He spat.

"I can hold ya by ya throat." Thorin added, still angry. He wasn't even flattered that Jace was saying that he was jealous of me because he liked Thorin himself.

"You hired some kid to push me, acted like some possessive creep and told people I slept with you because you were jealous of me? You're fucking nuts." I couldn't believe it.

"And in trouble." The principal of the school speed walked behind Jace and hooked his arm around Jace's. He ushered Jace who didn't fight, out of the cafeteria.

The shakiness came back when my feet began to wobble on the chair to get off of the table. Thorin swooped in, putting his hands underneath my arms and supported me when stepping down. "Flora.." He said softly.

"Yeah?" I said. My voice was just as shaky as my feet.

"I'm so proud of you." He pressed his chest against my face, embracing me.

Ayyeeeeeeee. Well folks, we have dissolved one (two counting Delia) villain. Now we need to destroy another one and we're all good. As you could probably tell, this story is going to come to an end here pretty soon. Still a couple more things I want to throw in so don't fret yet. Anyway, remember:

Comment; were you shocked? Tell me how shocked you were.

Vote; aint no more scaredy cat Flora.

Share; know someone who watches Game Of Thrones? Show them this story! I've been watching it like craaaazy.