April arrived at school only a few minutes late and headed to her locker right away.  She threw in a couple of personal things,  grabbed her social science book and slammed the locker shut just in time to see Courtney heading her way.  ‘Courtney Morgana Taberton’, as her uppity mother always called her. 
 

     “Courtney’s mother;   now there was a real piece of work,”  thought April.  She was part of the Nouveau Rich (new money) and had bought or schmoozed her way into a couple of the Newport society organizations.  April could never figure out why a rich kid, like Courtney, would be going to a public school,  unless she’d been kicked out of every private high school in New England.  Knowing Courtney’s personality, this seemed likely to April.
 

     Courtney was gliding down the hallway with her entourage of thugs;  she called them friends.  As she passed Amanda, a classmate of April’s,  Courtney intentionally hip-checked Amanda into the lockers.  Amanda hit the lockers in shock.  It was tough for trusting Amanda to believe that anyone could be cruel for no reason.  It wouldn’t have mattered had she stood up for herself anyway;  this gang had her badly outnumbered.  Her gooney boyfriend,  Brock,  laughed appreciatively.
 

     April’s blood boiled.  Mandy had never done anything to Courtney.  Courtney was still looking back at Amanda and never saw April’s foot.  Courtney went down hard.  April was fast.  Brock was faster.  Brock dropped Courtney’s books (He wasn’t smart enough to carry and use his own) and pinned April to the lockers high enough so that April’s feet didn’t touch the ground.