Branch couldn't believe what he had just done. He hadn't even been thinking when he shouted out those words, but now that he was thinking clearly... he regretted it... Creek was so gonna kill him...

     After a long moment of silence, Creek began stomping towards the little grey troll, a look of pure rage on his face.

     Branch's arms weakened, causing him to drop his books to the floor, as his body shook in terror.

     Slowly, he began to walk backwards, taking a few steps away from the jerk troll who was quickly approaching him.

     His legs were so wobbly, he felt as if he were going to collapse, as he backed into a wall, being forced to stop his retreat.

     Nowhere left to run... the little grey troll stared with wide eyes, as Creek reached out, grabbing his leaf vest tightly in his fist.

     "What did you just say to me, freak!?" Creek demanded, showing his rotted teeth, his breath reeking of the blood from his victims...

     Branch gulped again, his heart halfway up his throat.

     "I... I... I..." he stammered nervously.

     Suddenly, Creek lifted him off of the ground, raising his fist, as he got ready to punch the defenseless grey troll.

     Too afraid to do anything else, Branch watched in terror as the purple troll's fist flew closer and closer to hitting him, rapidly gaining speed with each passing second.

     A giant thud... and his hand had stopped, just inches away from the grey troll's face.

     Branch blinked, still breathing heavily in fear, as he stared straight at Creek's fist, gulping once more.

     Slowly, Creek turned his head, seeing one of Branch's books laying on the floor right behind him.

     Raising an eyebrow in confusion, the purple troll looked up at the new girl, who was standing perfectly still, her arm still up in the air after throwing the book right at Creek's fat head.

     Branch couldn't help but smile, chuckling softly as he realized what this troll had just done for him.

     Creek stood there in shock for a few moments, everyone in complete silence.

     Suddenly, the silence was broken, when everyone began to laugh again. This time, though, it was a genuine laugh, louder than anyone had ever laughed before.

     His heart pounding in anger, Creek glared up at the crowd, everyone immediately falling silent, too scared to make even a single sound. Then... Creek's gaze slowly turned back to the pink troll.

     A scowl made it's way onto his face, as he staired over at the new kid, the new kid glaring right back at him, no fear in her eyes at all. That was one brave troll. Brave... but stupid...

     Finally, Creek let go of Branch's shirt, charging like a steam engine towards the pink troll.

     He put out his arms, about to collide with her, when the new kid jumped, doing a slick sideways flip over the purple troll's head.

     Creek looked back at her in surprise, but hadn't stopped running.

     Immediately after, he crashed into the wall of lockers head first.

     The lockers shook, as he stumbling backwards dizzily.

     Slowly, he turned towards the pink troll, trying to give her the stink eye, but he was just too dizzy.

     He stumbled forwards, his fist ready to punch the new kid's head right off, but when he threw his fist forwards, he missed the pink troll by a mile, did a slight spin, and then fell flat onto his back, groaning in pain.

     Two random trolls ran around the corner, followed closely by a teacher as they pointed at Creek accusingly. They had obviously went to him, to report what had been happening.

     The teacher shot in front of the two trolls, speed walking over to Creek.

     He grabbed the purple troll by the ear, dragging him off towards the principal's office, as he lectured him about how bullying was wrong, and how he would be in detention for the rest of the fifth grade.

     Once Creek was gone, the crowd looked around in confusion, not knowing what to do next.

     Suddenly, the bell rang, everyone immediately turning away to head off in all different directions, their usual conversations starting back up as if nothing had even happened.

—————

     Still panting in fear, Branch looked over at the new kid in disbelief. Had she really just taken out the biggest bully in the school?

     She bent down, picking up his fallen books, before walking over to the grey troll with a smile.

     Branch cleared his throat, and then slowly took a step towards her, as she handed him back his books.

     "Umm... thanks," he said nervously, his heart still pounding in fear. "For... uh... saving me..."

     "No problem," the pink troll replied with a small smirk. "I was just returning the favor. You're the one who did the saving."

     Branch looked away shyly, rubbing the back of his head, not knowing what to say. He hadn't done anything helpful. All he did was manage to make the situation worse...

     "I'm Poppy, by the way," the pink troll finally said after a long moment of silence. "Poppy Kenton."

     She held out her hand, smiling at Branch.

     The grey troll looked at it for a moment, confused by what was happening, realization suddenly kicking in.

     "Oh..." he said, shaking his head slightly, feeling like an idiot. "I'm Branch."

     He reached out, grabbing her hand in his, as he shook it politely.

     Poppy smiled again, and Branch smiled back at her, both of them gazing into each other's eyes, completely loosing all awareness of everyone else around them.

     Suddenly, the late bell rang, causing Branch to jump slightly, as he pulled his hand away.

     "Well... I... uh... I better... you know... get to class," he said, looking away nervously as he hugged his books to his chest.

     "Oh, yeah. Me too," Poppy replied, still smiling.

     Without another word, Branch turned, beginning to walk away.

     "See you later?" Poppy suddenly called out to him.

     He looked back at her, and nodded, another slight smile sneaking onto his face.

     "Yeah," he said softly. "Yeah. See you later."