Chapter One

Eighteen-year-old Shane Delante rode her brother's Harley-Davidson up the school sidewalk, scattering students and curses along the way. Long hair crested out behind her, sliding over bare shoulders like a dark cloak. Shane's black leather vest, with the metal rings and Indian ties, shimmered and radiated heat in the late days of summer.

She wore torn Jeans, and black biker boots. No smile of anticipation or dreaminess crossed her stoic face. She was a bad ass girl on a bad ass bike and she was damn sure she was going to let the world know it.

B.A. all the way baby, she thought wryly.

With a shuttering growl the bike came to a stop in the back, in one of the teacher's lots. In one fluid motion she kicked the stand down and dismounted. Casually she ran a hand through her hair, untangling and pushing back the rebellious locks. She drew a cigarette and lit it, leaning against the bike.

Shane inhaled deeply, letting the first sweet lungful of smoke calm her nerves.

Mere seconds later she was flocked by a small group of girls. Shane looked over them dispassionately, absently noting how they'd changed over the summer months.

Casey had cut her auburn hair short and gelled it into mean bleached blond spikes. She'd also acquired a piercing through her right eyebrow. Casey hadn't gotten any taller, still 5'6", but had toned up her body when her stepmom had gotten on the new Tae Bo kick with a vengeance. She looked... mean, with studs in her ears and nose, black Jeans, tight black tank top with the thin spaghetti shoulder straps, and the tattoo of a fang bearing panther peeking out of her shoulder.

Casey silently bummed a cigarette off Shane while Molly and Cadence sat on the concrete curb, shielding their eyes from the sun. The others would be along soon enough.

"Heard there's a transfer comin' today," Casey inhaled deeply with a small smile of satisfaction, then exhaled through her nose.

Shane shrugged. Long as the transfer stayed out of her way there'd be no hassle. "What's up with Mag?"

"Hear she's back in school." Molly crossed and uncrossed her legs impatiently. She was shorter then Casey, with light brown unruly curls and deep chocolate brown eyes. She wore her standard khaki's, cut up a few inches on the sides to fit over her black boots and a ratty flannel shirt with it's sleeves cut off at the shoulder. She seemed to be waiting for a certain something to be mentioned and she wasn't about to bring it up herself.

"Yeah, her step-dad made her come back." Casey had the word on just about everything. "Beat the shit out of her really. She was caught between a rock and a hard place." Casey chuckled at her own joke.

Shane leaned away from the bike, cracking her shoulders as she stood. "Later," she called over her shoulder on the way to the back double doors of the school.

"Hey Shane! What about the new transfer?" Cadence jumped up from the curb, yelling after her. Cadence had fine model features, light creamy brown skin, thin and sharp. She was only two inches shorter then Shane's 6 foot 1 and wore tight, stone washed jeans and a T-shirt that had two cartoon characters arguing whether it 'Tastes Great' or was 'Less Filling.' It was cut to mid abdomen and showed off her gold belly button ring. From her back, looking out at the world with unnaturally purple eyes, was a fang bearing panther.

Shane turned on her heel, hair whipping around her shoulders violently. "What about her?" she growled, blue eyes flashing.

"Um, ain't ya gonna teach her the rules?" Cadence lowered her voice and her eyes against Shane's sudden, unprovoked anger.

"Not today," Shane answered cryptically, saving her anger for other, more immediate matters, then she turned and headed to the school.

When Shane was safely out of earshot Cadence turned to her friends. "Goddamn, what the hell's wrong with her today?" she demanded.

"It's an anniversary of sorts," Casey murmured, fingering her eyebrow piercing nervously. A new habit she'd come by only two days after getting it.

"O-oh, shit. Your right." Cadence's light brown eyes widened in sudden understanding.

"Yeah," Molly agreed, nodding her unruly brown curls and finally sitting still, "feel sorry for anyone who gets in her way today."

Three heads nodded in grim agreement.

"Who the hell are you? And what the fuck are you doing in my seat?"

Antonia looked up from her silent contemplation of the ragged and dog-eared English textbook with a wide-eyed expression. "I-I'm sorry?" she stalled, unable to tear her eyes from the girls' nose ring.

"Oh great, you're that new fucking transfer, aren't you?" Casey swiped the girl's textbook from the top of the desk. It slammed to the floor with a deafening thud, echoing in the sudden silence. "Get up."

Everyone turned to the transfer in her brand new, dark blue jeans and pale green blouse. Some felt sorry, some afraid and one or two expectant, but all eyes looked away as Casey sent a smug glance around the room.

Antonia staggered from her seat and grabbed her textbooks from the floor. The final bell rang and she clamored into the last available seat near the front, glancing sideways one last time at the hostile girl.

No fight, no fun, Casey groused silently.

A few minutes later Antonia began to wonder where the teacher was.

"Excuse me?" Antonia tapped the shoulder ahead of her. The young boy turned to her with a weary expression that turned slowly into a smile.

"What's up?" He sing-songed.

"I was just wondering if this class has a teacher?" Antonia smiled politely, not at all liking the way the boy was leering at her chest. It had slowly developed over the summer and she was still self-conscious.

"Who cares," he smiled, what was supposed to be a disarming smile, but somehow turned out lopsided. "My name's Trey. What's yours?"

She thought for a moment. Antonia was just not gonna fly in this neighborhood. "Tony," she shortened it, instantly liking how it made her sound more grown up.

"Cool," Trey drawled, "where ya from, new girl, Tony?"

"Everywhere," Tony's eyes crinkled in laughter as he turned a confused smile at her. "I'm an army brat," she explained.

"Oh, cool."

That seemed to be about the extent of his vocabulary and she was eternally grateful when the door clicked open and the teacher finally stepped into the classroom. Tony felt eyes staring into the back of her head and she risked a glance backwards. Spike girl was flinging daggers at her. Tony swallowed hard and turned back to the teacher.

This was going to be a long, long day.

The rest of the morning was the same. Out of the corner of Tony's eye Spike girl was constantly there. If she had something to say why couldn't she just say it?

The classes were crowded and the teacher's harried and worn out already. One of her classes didn't even have textbooks and another, science, had nothing for labs.

Tony felt cheated. In Missouri she'd been challenged at school, had learned quickly and shown promise for any career she could dream of. But here... here there were no supplies, the teachers didn't care, and the rowdy students seemed to rule the school.

She still couldn't get over the littered hallways, with their smell of gym socks and body odor, and the graffiti covered lockers. Her own locker had a dent about the size of a human head. She avoided it.

Tony was beginning to understand how kids could 'fall through the cracks' even if she'd only heard of it before, as if it was urban legend.

She heaved a dramatic sigh as she trudged to the cafeteria. As she pushed open the battered doors her mouth sagged in disbelief.

People are suppose to eat here? She was suddenly, desperately thankful that Gram had made her lunch that morning, as some unknown smell wafted pass and left her stomach churning.

Her chest reverberated in the din of hollering students.

Ok, ok I can do this. How much worse can it get? Tony searched through the throng of moving bodies for an empty seat.

She passed a group of young black boys rapping, one dancing on the tabletop. She skirted around two boys scuffling, and detoured around a large group of dangerous looking young women, till she found a table in the back corner and wearily flopped into the last available chair.

The students didn't look up and she didn't bother with a 'hello.' She dug into her peanut butter and jelly sandwich with gusto as she studied her dog-eared math book. It was stuff two years behind what she'd been studying, and was missing close to a 1/4 of its pages.

Tony had decided that a meeting with the principal was in order. This crap was no longer acceptable. As she began to rehearse the speech she'd give to the principal, that had yet to be seen, she didn't notice the cafeteria growing silent and the mass of students at her table abruptly getting up and moving off to safer territory.

Mr. ... wait, what the heck is the principal's name? Nevermind, I'll ask Gram later. In Missouri I was two years ahead of the classes you've placed me in. All you have to do is look at my records-

"Mag, there ya are, chick."

The low contralto voice startled Tony out of her internal speech and she looked to her left, suddenly noticing that besides herself there was only one other girl at the table and the cafeteria had gone strangely quiet. She looked for the source of the voice and landed on a tall, dark haired beauty.

"Been lookin' for ya all day," Shane's voice became threatening, "you weren't... hiding... from me, were you?" Shane arched dark eyebrows, her clear blue eyes glimmering with menace.

Tony watched the dark girl transform from almost friendly to predatory. Tony had the sudden terrified urge to get up and run for her life, but then she was drawn to the girl's face, her high cheekbones, tanned complexion and finally her eyes. Those blue, blue eyes, like the summer sky.

The girl, Mag, swallowed nervously. "I wasn't hiding Shane, honest. Just been busy, ya know, catchin' up on school work." She crammed her utensils back onto her tray, pushing it aside, ready to fight or flee.

Shane gave a sardonic snort. The day Mag did schoolwork pigs would fly. "Of course. But there's a little... matter... we need to discuss."

Tony watched the interaction playing between the two girls, her stomach twisting in knots. Mag was smaller then the dark girl, thin and had fading bruises around her blue-gray eyes and pale lashes. A scar crossed the bridge of her sharp nose.

This is definitely where Tony didn't want to be. Wrong place, wrong time. If she could have gotten up without drawing the attention of those angry, ice blue eyes she would have.

"What matter?" Mag feigned innocence knowing perfectly well what Shane wanted. It wasn't the best or brightest thing to do.

Shane's lip curled up in a snarl and a low, guttural growl trembled behind her clenched teeth. "Don't play stupid with me, Mag," she spit out.

"I don't have it." Mag stood, suddenly pale and trembling, knocking the metal chair to the floor with a loud clang.

The audience that had gathered around the table and the commotion jumped as a collective. Only Shane was deathly still, eyes glinting a darker blue with each passing second.

"Then get it," Shane hissed.

"I-I can't!" Mag stepped backward, right into the wall.

A cornered rat, Tony thought, and here comes the cat. Tony watched Shane advance and corrected that last part. A tiger. Maybe even a panther.

"You can and you will," Shane lowered her voice, sounding all the more dangerous. She towered over Mag, who seemed to shrink.

"I can't," Mag whispered, lips trembling, eyes wide.

Shane hissed and drew her hand back. She wouldn't take no or can't for an answer.

Anger welled up from deep in her belly, a bright red fist that ached to release itself. The anger called to her, flowed red hot through her veins. Shane snarled.

'No!'

As her fist flew into Mag's jawbone with a satisfying thunk her carefully controlled shield slipped, and with it, her anger.

I told you you couldn't control me. I'm a part of you Shane. Just go with it...

Shane smiled a feral smile and jumped on the girl trying to shrink into the wall.

She hit Mag repeatedly as the crowd around them began to chant, "Hammer, Hammer, Hammer!" Shane straightened up only once to haul Mag back to her unsteady feet.

Tony watched horrified, as if in slow motion, as Shane's arm drew back and prepared to hit the bloody girl again. Where the heck are the teachers? Why doesn't anyone stop her?

Before she knew what she was doing Tony had jumped up onto the chair and slid across the table on her butt. She landed on her feet on the floor, inches from Shane.

"Stop!" Tony cried, holding up a hand, not to defend herself but to stop the madness.

Shane's arm stopped in mid swing and she blinked rapidly. What the- Who the hell is this and what the fuck are they doing? "Get out of my way," she growled, trying to stare down intense green eyes.

"No," Tony stood straighter and stared back, unflinching, into angry blue, "leave her alone."

"Get out of my way," Shane growled for the last time. In the back of her mind she realized this was probably the new transfer and the girl had no idea in hell who she was standing up to. Cadence was right, she admitted grudgingly, I should have dealt with the transfer this morning. "This is none of your business."

"You made it my business when you interrupted my lunch," Tony's reply was haunty, full of courage, though her heart raced furiously in her chest. She prayed her body wouldn't tremble and give her way.

"Oh, well then," Shane drawled sarcastically, "go and finish your lunch. I'm so sorry I interrupted."

The crowd giggled nervously and Shane shot them a warning glare. There was instant silence.

"I've lost my appetite," Tony replied, quieting her tone, finding something in Shane's pale face and flashing eyes. She had no idea what it was but she could work with it.

Shane's eyes narrowed at the comment then she looked over the girl's shoulder to Mag who had slouched down to the floor. Mag's nose and lip were bloody and her eye was already swelling. The same eye Mag's father had gotten a sucker punch on. Ok, chill Shane, she told herself. Mag got the message. Just chill.

Bright green eyes followed Shane's movements and Tony clenched her fists, ready, if Shane wasn't going to back down. But Shane just looked back at the new girl.

Tony watched as Shane straightened and her arms came to rest at her sides.

Collectively more then a dozen sets of eyes widened and a few mouths hung open. This, this little girl was going to get away with standing up to Shane?

"Get up Mag and get the hell out of my school." Shane kept her voice carefully controlled.

Mag stood quickly on shaky legs and pushed her way through the crowd all the way out the school doors and to freedom. She didn't plan on coming back anytime soon.

"As for you," Shane studied the young girl standing defiantly before her, "what shall I do with you?"

Cat and mouse... Now Tony trembled at the subtle threat.

Shane smiled, but somehow it never quite reached her eyes. She bared her teeth and leaned in close. "Get the fuck out of here before I have to make an example of you," she whispered for the girl alone.

Tony's nostrils flared in defiance but as Shane straightened Tony decided she'd better get out while the getting was good. With an almost casual defiance she walked to the other side of the table, picked up her books and lunch bag. Then she pushed through the crowd to the lunch room doors.

Shane watched her go, a predatory smile on her face, playing to the crowd. She waved her hand at them dismissively and they scattered like birds.

The decibel level approached near deafening as Tony flung open the cafeteria doors. Once on the other side she sagged against the wall. Oh my God... what did I just do? Her mind stumbled, her stomach plummeted and she raced to the bathroom to lurch up the contents of her lunch.

Shane swaggered back to her usual table in the back left corner where she had a good view of all the comings and goings.

Casey sat beside her. "What the fuck was that about?"

Shane raised a dark eyebrow. "Are you questioning me?"

Casey paled. "Of course not. I just- I just thought you'd knock some sense into the little blond bitch," like you usually do, Casey stammered.

Silence descended as Shane contemplated an answer. Why indeed? Why had she let the blond spitfire stand up to her? No one had stood up to her in years. Maybe she was just bored. "She's a challenge, Case."

Casey's faced screwed up in a question, but before she could ask Shane continued.

"I'm going to break her, don't worry about that," Shane paused a moment, "but I think it'll be much more... funÖ to play with her first."

Casey's smile brightened her constantly dark face. Of course. Shane was a master at games and it had been a while since they'd had fresh meat to toy with.

Oh this year was going to be fun!