"Shoot," he muttered disgustedly.

"What’s wrong?" Chet asked, turning to him.

"Forgot my algebra book. And we got three pages of homework," he rolled his eyes, indicating exactly what he thought of that. Noting that Chet wasn’t finished changing, Joe decided to make a quick run to his locker for the book. "I’ll be right back. Don’t leave without me!"

"Wouldn’t think of it," Chet called out as Joe disappeared out the door.

Jogging down the hall towards the wing where the freshman lockers were located, Joe grimaced at the sound of his feet hitting the linoleum floors as it echoed off the walls. The school was almost empty at this time of day. Joe turned a corner and slowed to a walk, trying to catch his breath. As he got closer to his locker, Joe heard muffled voices floating up from the stairwell at the end of the hall. Straining to hear, Joe couldn’t make out the words but heard several male voices laughing and taunting someone. Stopping in front of the door to the stairwell, Joe pushed it open a crack. He couldn’t see anyone but the voices were much clearer now.

"Stop fighting it, Babe. It’s gonna happen whether you want it to or not," a male voice said arrogantly.

Joe recognized the voice immediately. ‘Steven!’

"Who knows," another voice chimed in, as two others laughed along with him. "You might even like it."

‘And Jonathan Black!’ Joe was betting the other two were Mike and Clayton, but it was the defiant female voice that made his blood run cold.

"My name is not Babe and you better let me go or you are going to regret it!"

‘Iola!’ The note in Chet’s car came rushing back to him.

‘Beware of the Wildcat Boys until we get our answers to the tests.’

Joe didn’t stop to think that he was all alone with no back up. Iola was about to pay for his and Chet’s refusal to steal the test answers and that drove all logical thought from his mind. Throwing the door open, Joe flew down the steps to the landing between the two floors. His eyes widened in shock at what he saw.

Mike Walton and Clayton Martin had Iola pinned securely against the brick wall. Despite their orders for her to remain still, she defiantly kept trying to squirm free, to no avail. Steven Miller had one hand braced against the wall near Iola’s face and was running his other hand up and down her bare arm.

"Haven’t you heard? We break in all the hot freshman girls and you, Babe, are first on the list," Steven grinned leaning closer to her. He whispered something in her ear, causing her to turn a ghostly shade of white.

"Let me go!!" Iola screamed, struggling harder to break free.

"Scream all you want honey. There’s no one in the building left to hear you," Steven taunted as he brought his lips down on hers with bruising force.

Blinded with anger, Joe lunged forward, tackling Steven around the waist, both of them landing hard on the cement floor. Steven lay still, the wind knocked out of him, as his buddies simply stared, momentarily stunned by the sneak attack.

Knowing she and Joe needed help, Iola took advantage of the distraction and made a break for the stairs. Her sudden movement, however, attracted Jonathan’s attention. Grabbing her around the waist, he pulled her tight against him, pinning her arms to her sides.

"Get him!" Jonathan ordered his friends, thrusting his chin towards Joe.

Mike and Clayton were on Joe in a heartbeat. Grabbing him by the arms, they pulled him up. Throwing him against the wall, they easily held him in place.

"Steve, you okay, buddy?" Jonathan asked. He looked down at his friend with mild concern, being careful not to loosen his grip on Iola.

Steven pushed himself up to a sitting position and glanced around. Seeing Joe pinned to the wall, it dawned on him what had happened.

"You little…" Slowly he got to his feet, wincing slightly. Walking unsteadily at first, he’d managed to regain his usual swagger by the time he reached Joe. "You’re gonna pay for that, Hardy."

Before the last word was out of his mouth, Steven let loose with a punch straight to Joe’s stomach. Mike and Clayton loosened their grip on Joe a little as he doubled over in pain. Giving him no time to recover, Steven followed up with a quick uppercut, snapping Joe’s head back.

"No! Stop!" Iola cried out, as Joe’s head made contact with the wall.

Dazed, Joe heard Iola screaming but couldn’t make out what she was saying. As Steven landed several more punches, Joe now understood what a mistake he’d made in not going for help when he first realized what was happening. Two more punches to the face left his head spinning. As Steven hit him with another powerhouse blow to the stomach Joe’s legs began to wobble. He vaguely wondered what would happen to Iola once Steven had beaten him unconscious. With another vicious blow, his head lolled forward and Joe suddenly felt himself falling to the ground. Landing hard, Joe told himself to get up but his body disobeyed, curling up into a ball instead.

The sounds of running feet, yelling, and flesh hitting flesh swirled around him. He felt someone hovering over him protectively and got a whiff of something flowery. ‘Iola?’

Seconds later, he heard several people running away amidst the sounds of vague threats and muttered curses. Joe felt himself being gently rolled onto his back.

"Joe? Can you hear me?" Iola’s voice was soft, but filled with concern. "Joe?"

"Come on, buddy. Talk to us," a familiar male voice echoed her.

Joe felt a soft hand on his cheek and groaned. ‘Oh, man, you just made a total fool of yourself in front of her! Steven wiped the floor with you and you didn’t even put up a fight! She’ll never go to the dance with you now!’

Feeling like the world’s biggest loser, Joe opened his eyes and found himself staring up into Iola’s concerned face.

"Oh, thank God!" she breathed a sigh of relief. "Here, let me help you."

Gently sliding an arm under his shoulders, Iola helped Joe to a sitting position. "Are you all right?" she asked anxiously, gently touching the bruises already forming on his cheek.

"I think his pride took a bigger hit than he did," a voice said teasingly.

Feeling his face growing hot, Joe looked up and glared at Biker. "Aren’t you supposed to be getting tutored?" he snapped.

"I’m done for the night. Frankie couldn’t take much more of me, so I gave him a break," Biker grinned.

Joe couldn’t help but smile in return. Frank hated being called Frankie!

"So what are you doing here?" Joe asked as Biker and Iola helped him to his feet.

"The rain let up so me and the boys were going for a ride," he replied, jerking his head towards three other young men standing behind him, all dressed in jeans and leather jackets. "Frank kept worrying that his buddy Phil was gonna forget to give you a ride home so I figured I’d stop in and make sure you weren’t stranded. Lucky for you I did."

"Yeah, thanks for the save," Joe mumbled, his utter embarrassment returning with a vengeance.

"No problem," Biker winked as he turned to leave. "Give him a little TLC and he’ll be good as new," he whispered loudly to Iola, who winked and smiled in return.

‘That’s just what I intend to do,’ she thought with a grin.

"Are you sure you’re okay?" she asked Joe again.

"Fine," Joe mumbled, looking down at his sneakers, unable to meet her eyes. "Listen, if you don’t want to go to the dance with me tomorrow…I… I totally understand."

"Why wouldn’t I want to go to the dance with you?" she asked, confused.

"Are you kidding? After this," Joe waved his hand around the now empty stairwell, "I’d understand if you never wanted to speak to me again. No one wants to be seen with a loser."

Waiting for Iola to agree with him, Joe was shocked beyond belief when she threw her arms around his neck, knocking him back into the wall. As she held onto him tightly, Joe slipped his arms around her waist without even realizing it.

"Joe, you saved me from those… those…animals! You didn’t give any thought to your own safety! You jumped in just to help me!" She hugged him tightly, her head nestled against his shoulder.

‘This feels nice,’ Joe thought, pulling her a little closer.

"God only knows what would have happened if you hadn’t come down here," she shuddered slightly. Pulling back, she looked into Joe’s eyes. "Joe Hardy, you are my hero. And no one gets away with calling my hero a loser!" she said fiercely and then her voice became soft. "Thank you," she whispered. Standing on tip-toe, she softly kissed Joe on the lips.

Joe felt a shiver rush down his spine, as his heart pounded in his chest. Instinctively tightening his grip on Iola, he tentatively returned the kiss trying to judge how much might be too much. Feeling Iola relax in his arms, Joe let his instincts take over, unaware of the eyes watching from the landing above.