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at him from across the quad. I just had to forget about him.
    And eventually Mike Jensen would just have to move on and leave me alone. He reminded me of those boys in elementary school who would catch some poor bug or animal and torture it just because they could. Well, I was sick of it. He could find someone else who wanted to play his sick games, because it wasn’t going to be me. I was done squirming.
    Just because I was shy little Molly Adams didn’t mean that I had to fall all over Mike Jensen. Actually, the opposite. In fact, if he didn’t scare me so bad, I’d go right up to him and tell him off.
    When I got a text from Mom saying she was coming home the next day, I decided I was going to make another batch of brownies to celebrate. This was the best news ever! I missed her like crazy, and I also wanted to go home and sleep in my own bed — and feel safe again.

Chapter 8: Worst Week Ever!
     
     
    At the beginning of lunch, I finally built up enough nerve to go to my locker. But when I got there, I stopped and stared. Jayden was standing in front of my locker holding a note in his hand. I ducked out of view, my pulse fluttering and my mind racing. Why was Jayden holding a note in front of my locker?
    When I peeked around the corner, he was crushing the note in his fist. Then he punched the locker, jammed the piece of paper into his pocket, and stalked off in the other direction without noticing me. Unnerved, I turned around and went straight to Mr. Kaplan’s room and pulled out my Trig book. At least I could get my math homework done before the end of the day.
    As soon as I finished most of the problems, I went into my backpack and brought out my lunch. I also took out the picture of Jayden and the poem. I couldn’t help myself. But staring down at the poem, I had to wonder again: how obvious had it been? Had people — specifically Mike Jensen — totally known that I had written it about Jayden? I swallowed hard. That would be super embarrassing, everyone knowing that I was totally crushing on Jayden Stone. Hearing the door to the classroom thump closed, I jumped and shoved the picture into my history book.
    “Hi, Mr. Kaplan!” I called brightly before taking a bite of my apple.
    I liked Mr. Kaplan. He always said that if he had thirty students who were like me — he meant quiet bookworms who actually did the reading — in every class, then his job would be easy. When he didn’t say anything back, I turned around and my heart nearly jumped out of my chest when I saw Mike Jensen standing right behind my seat.
    I dropped my apple onto the desk as he stared down at me with this crazy look while holding a bat in one of his big, meaty hands. Without thinking, I jumped out of the chair and lunged away from him, ready to scream or run for the door. The problem was he was blocking my path. I started looking around desperately for the best way to escape when he picked up my history book and took out the picture — of Jayden — that was peeking out! I gasped before I could stop myself.
    “Is this what all you good little girls want?” he sneered. “The Golden Boy?”
    Yeah, it is! I thought in my head. Because Jayden’s not a psycho like you!
    I stepped closer to the door, but I didn’t turn my back on him, thinking of what my mom always used to tell me about mean dogs: don’t turn your back on them and never run, because they’ll chase you.
    “Look at the bookworm squirm,” Mike chanted quietly.
    “Mr. Kaplan is going to get back any second!” I warned anxiously.
    Mike just laughed in this horrible way, like he knew something I didn’t.
    “Mr. Kaplan doesn’t have class next period, and I saw him leave at the beginning of lunch,” he sneered as my eyes darted between him and the door.
    My breath kind of whooshed out of me. Then I heard my cell buzz, but it was sitting on the desk with the rest of my stuff. There was no way I could grab it without getting closer to Mike. Then I watched in horror