Author Note: Chapters 1 & 2 have been fixed for grammar and some awkward bits of writing.
"Alright everyone," the bus driver said as the vehicle slowed down. "Here we are at Bullworth Academy."
Clay twiddled his thumbs together as he anxiously waited for the bus to stop. The last few days had felt incredibly long, what with a couple layover flights on top of a delayed Bulldog bus trip. He was already nervous about being shipped halfway across the country to a new school. All these delays just built up the anxiety. He tried to think positive. It would be a new opportunity to—
"Hey kid!" The bus driver called from the front, startling Clay. "This your stop? I ain't giving out free rides."
Clay looked around and realized he was the only person left on the bus. He must have been so stuck in his own head that he hasn't noticed everyone else gradually leave. So now he had the driver's undivided attention...for better or for worse.
"Sorry…' Clay said quickly standing up and walking to the front.
"Any day, kid," the driver said impatiently. "My DVR's broken and Republican Space Rangers starts in half an hour."
Clay remained silent as he walked off the bus and turned to the luggage side compartment…until he heard the bus start to shift gears.
"Hey!" Clay shouted banging a hand on the side of the bus.
"Don't mess the paint, you brat!" The driver yelled.
"I…I just need to get my luggage."
"Huh? Oh right…yeah, then be quick."
Clay sighed as he proceeded to open the side door and pull out his three suitcases. He figured the airport people were cranky due to how much traffic they dealt with regularly. He figured some of the passengers were cranky because they were late like he was. But the bus driver being cranky too? People never acted this way back in Pleasant Grove, so maybe it was an East Coast Thing. He shouldn't make a big deal about it though, just in case the driver decided to ride off again.
After the last suitcase was off, Clay quickly slammed the side door and the driver put the pedal to the metal. A small puff of smoke blew out from the bus's exhaust pipe right into Clay's face, causing him to cough and wave the smoke out of his face. Real nice guy, that driver…
Once the smoke cleared the bus was out of sight, Clay pivoted around to see this 'bastion of education' his mother and uncle sent him to. He hoped it was as good as they hyped it up to be, since he was going to be living here for a year at least.
He looked up to see a sign over a gate with the school's name in bold letters: Bullworth Academy. Looking around, he felt a certain rugged vibe to the campus. The brick work for the main buildings, the stone walls encircling the area, the concrete ground and everything else communicated a real sense of age. He figured this campus was here long before there was even a town. It certainly made the school feel kind of majestic...
...if he was looking at it from a distance. Aside from the garbage tucked away in various corners, the walls had numerous cracks, there was a layer of grime in strategic spots and the grass was in need of cutting. Even the sign seemed to have seen better days, though they tried hard to cover that up with a fresh coast of paint. Talk about cleaning the outside of a dirty cup...
Right as he noticed that sign though, the front gates opened and a woman dressed in a neatly cleaned business suit walked towards him.
"You must be Mr. McKinley, right?" The woman said, her heels clacking loudly with each step before stopping in front of him.
Clay nodded.
"We've been expecting you. My name is Ms. Danvers and I would personally like to welcome you to Bullworth Academy," she said opening up her arms majestically and looking up to the sky. Clay wasn't sure how she expected him to respond, but she didn't give him any time to react as she sighed and continued. "I'm sure you'll be happy here. VERY happy indeed."
Almost on cue with that line, one of Clay's suitcases tipped over and a zipper opened up, spilling some neatly rolled up socks onto the ground.
"Darn it…" Clay muttered walking over to pick them up.
"I see you packed heartily for your stay," Ms. Danvers said observing his bags.
"Just the essentials," Clay replied stuffing his socks back in. "My uncle said that—"
"Yes, your uncle sounded like a nice man, but I don't have time to chit chat," she interrupted. "The Headmaster is waiting for you in his study at the main building."
"Ok..." Clay asked closing up the zipper. "Where's the main building?"
"The big building directly in front of us," Ms. Danvers said pointing to the building in the middle of the campus. "Hopefully your academic skills are better than your sense of direction. Once your transfer is finalized, you will have free access to everything Bullworth has at its disposal to benefit your education."
"That's gre—"
"Let's not keep Dr. Crabblesnitch waiting, Mr. McKinley. He's a brilliant man with brilliant things he needs to focus on. The less time you waste of his, the better. Be on your way."
Ms. Danvers quickly turned about and walked back into the campus.
"Wait, can you—" Clay tried to ask, but she was very clearly ignoring him. "…help me with my luggage?"
Well…looks like he was on his own. He stacked one of the suitcases on top of another that had wheels on it and pulled them behind him as he carried the other. They weren't exactly light, but thankfully Clay wasn't completely weak either. Working on construction sites had given him plenty of opportunity to work out some muscles even he didn't know he had before. Still, he wished the walk to the main building wasn't so long…and had fewer steps along the way.
As Clay crossed the campus, he took a moment to let the surroundings sink in. Summer was slowly but surely giving way to fall and the light breeze that picked up reminded him that the east coast was be a lot colder than the west. The sun was setting in the distance, cascading the sky with a nice vibrant orange hue as he could see a faint moon rising. It seemed like it would be a—
He wasn't able to finish that thought as someone ran straight into him, knocking them both onto the ground.
"OW!" The other person groaned. Clay rubbed his nose as he looked up and saw a blonde student in an unkempt school uniform quickly get to his feet. "Watch where you're going, fag!" The student shouted as he ran off towards another building.
"Get back here, you little ingrate!" Another voice shouted as Clay heard footsteps running towards him. He stood up to see two young men dressed in prefect outfits chasing the student, until one of the prefects stopped and saw Clay.
"Why aren't you in uniform?" The prefect said accusingly as the other continued the chase.
"…I just got here," Clay replied motioning to his dropped luggage.
"Huh? Oh, right. Well, don't waste time! Go see the Headmaster now."
With that, the prefect bolted to catch up with his companion, leaving Clay to once again carry his luggage by himself. He sighed again as he rearranged himself, all the while feeling the stares of other students casually walking by and noticing the scene.
If this was Pleasant Grove, one person would had at least offered to carry a bag. Not these students though, who went about their business without a care in the world. So it wasn't just the adults who weren't helpful.
Once he collected his things, he felt something drip onto his bottom lip. He touched a finger to it, only to see it was blood. Great...he already had a nosebleed and he had barely been here for two minutes. That must be some kind of record. He pulled out a napkin he kept in his pocket from the flight and cleaned himself up before tossing it in a trashcan nearby. Hopefully that was the worst he would deal with today.
As he continued his walk to the building, Clay seriously started doubting his uncle Hyrum's judgment about this school. They had heard so many stories from their cousins' families about how this place was one of the top ranked boarding schools in the country. But a place that produced top tier businessmen, lawyers and productive members of society? He couldn't see it yet. He was seeing the signs that this place also produced a high number of drug abusers, but not enough to merit public concern it seemed.
A few more minutes of walking and Clay found himself at the front door. He reached to open it…
…only to have it fling into him, revealing another student dressed like someone from a 1950's motorcycle movie.
"Out of the way, dork," the guy said bumping a shoulder into Clay and walking away. Clay grit his teeth and almost shouted at the guy, but he knew that would do him no good. Getting angry was what got him here in the first place…
Clay entered the building and looked around to find the Headmaster's office. Not seeing anything notably discernable, he decided to ask another prefect nearby for help. Maybe this guy was nicer.
"Excuse me," Clay said.
"Hey!" The man replied pointing to Clay. "Where's your uniform?"
So much for that theory...
"…I just got here."
"Oh…right," the prefect said sounding slightly disappointed. "Well then, what do you want ?"
"Um…I'm looking for Dr. Crabbersnitch's office."
"It's CRABBLE-SNITCH," the prefect clarified pointing to the second floor of the building, "Get it right, you snot nosed brat. And he's up the stairs straight ahead. Move along."
Clay gripped the handle of the suitcase he was carrying tightly as the man walked away. Now these guys were being plain mean. He exhaled deeply as he closed his eyes and said a quick personal prayer to calm down. It never used to be this hard to relax and be good-natured before. If it wasn't for those guys back at the construction site…
Once he calmed down, Clay plotted his hike up the stairs. He took a minute to figure out how to distribute the weight of his bags so he only needed to take one trip up. Now this really felt like being back at the construction site. He positioned the bags awkwardly around him, lacing his fingers between multiple handles. Once he felt he had a firm grip, he began his ascent.
Other students passed him by, not making eye contact with him and most just pretending to ignore him. He could feel his fingers ache as the bags clacked against each step. Maybe he just needed to ask people more directly to get help around here. It worked with the last guy. He saw someone walking down and turned to face him.
"Oh hey," Clay said to a chubby but friendly looking student with glasses, messy hair and…a broken pant zipper? Regardless, Clay motioned to one of his bags. "Um…could you help? They're really heavy."
"You're already almost there," the student said pointing to the top as he continued walking. "I got a study group scheduled and I can't be late."
"But I…" Clay weakly tried to protest as the guy walked away. He sighed. So apparently this place was full of jerks. That was going to make making friends here so much fun...
With a little extra effort, he finally made it to the top. He took a moment to catch his breath, looking around the area to notice the decor. The interior of the school kind of echoed the exterior. It was old looking, drab, grandiose and had garbage stuffed in the corners. At least they earned points for consistency. The only difference was that there was much more school swag and decorations inside the building…and a pretty cool trophy case near the main office.
Satisfied he had seen everything he needed to, Clay wheeled his suitcases to the main office, where a familiar face greeted him.
"Mr. McKinley!" Ms. Danvers shouted from behind the office counter, causing Clay to jump and drop his bags. "Were you fighting?"
He didn't understand the question until he realized he must still have had some dried blood on his lip.
"Oh…no, you see, this—"
"I'm not interested in your excuses, young man," she interrupted pointing down the hall. "Go clean yourself up before you see the Headmaster."
"But I—"
"Do it!"
Clay figured she wasn't going to start listening any time soon, so he simply nodded and set his bags by the entrance.
"Yes ma'am," he said dejected as he went down the hall. A sea of green lockers covered the wall to his right as he dragged his feet behind him. It was nice not having to carry his bags, but knowing his luck today it was likely a momentary reprieve.
He eventually made his way to the boys restroom, which wasn't exactly the cleanest place he had ever seen. Bits of toilet paper and dried pee were scattered along the floor, with some pen drawn graffiti visible on the wall tiles. He figured he better not keep looking around unless he wanted to find more unsavory details.
As he turned on the nearest faucet and started cleaning himself up, he looked up at the mirror to see another bit of graffiti on the corner. Looking closely it read, 'Nerds suck cock for cash in the library.' He cringed at that insult, even more so than the fact it was scratched into the glass itself so it couldn't be erased. At least he wasn't really that much of a nerd so he didn't take much offense.
He finished his business and made his way back to the main office. Along the way, he passed by a very pretty girl with glasses and pigtails. He must have been admiring her more than she preferred those gg, because she gave him an odd look as she continued on her way. He suddenly felt bad for looking, but he couldn't help it. He had just barely turned sixteen and now he was old enough to start going on dates, or at least by his mother's standards. That made everyone seemed extra pretty to him. The curse of being a teenage boy...
Then again, there were a couple other overt reasons why she would have looked at him funny, but he chose not to dwell on that. The less he had to explain those things to people, the better.
He rounded the corner of the office entrance and was greeted once again by Ms. Danvers. He was starting to get really tired of seeing her.
"There," she said noticing his face. "Doesn't that feel better and more responsible?"
He nodded out of compliance.
"I can't hear you," she insisted.
"…yes ma'am," Clay replied.
"Good. Fighting is not a way to make a good first impression, Mr. McKinley. We've had enough of that to last a lifetime here at Bullworth."
"...is the Headmaster in?"
"Right through those doors," she said pointing behind her. "Just leave you bags here."
Clay nodded again as he walked past the counter to the big wooden doors she pointed to. Time to meet the guy running this place.
He pushed open one of the doors slightly and looked inside to make sure he wasn't interrupting anything.
"Come in," a deep, booming voice said inside the room.
Clay didn't wait as he opened the door fully and walked inside. Compared to everything else in the school, this office was pristine! Neatly arranged furniture, clean decorative items scattered about, neatly varnished wood floors and all kinds of little details flooded Clay's view. He had walked into a couple buildings like this working with Uncle Hyrum's crew, but not one with this level of architecture and care.
"Ah yes," an older well dressed man said from behind a large oak desk. "You must be Mr. McKinley, correct?"
"Yes sir," Clay replied.
"Good. Have a seat."
Clay promptly sat in the chair in front of the desk. If there was anyone he wanted to be on their good side, it was the Headmaster's.
"So," Dr. Crabblesnitch said putting away a paper he was looking at. "We've heard a lot about you, Mr. McKinley."
"Really?"
"Indeed. Your mother and uncle sent letters a few days ago talking about how you were 'a model student,' 'upstanding,' and 'the nicest boy I could meet.'"
Clay smiled at that. With how everyone else had treated him up to this point, it was nice to hear a few encouraging words.
"Glowing praise to be sure," the Headmaster continued. "And I would be more inclined to believe it had your family not sent those monsters Jacob, David and Olivia to our school."
And that was where the encouraging words ended.
"…sorry?"
"Your cousins, correct?"
Oh, Clay thought to himself. Uncle Hyrum never said that they were the people who went to this school.
"Miscreants, the lot of them. Constantly truant, disrespectful to the staff, low grades, vandals. I even caught them smoking marijuana on multiple occasions. Why the list just goes on. The day they left couldn't have come soon enough."
Clay sighed as Dr. Crabblesnitch stood up from his desk.
"Which is why I decided not to just take their word on your recommendation," he continued. "And did some digging."
Clay felt his fingers tap nervously against his leg as Crabblesnitch walked over towards him.
"Your former teachers seem to corroborate your mother's praise, which was encouraging. But then I heard some…disquieting rumors that I also verified."
Yup…that was what Clay expected.
"That's why I wanted to ask you directly about this…incident. Care to explain yourself."
Clay was surprised that he would let him talk at all, but he figured it was a good chance to clear the air. If he could suppress his nerves, of course.
"Well…" Clay mumbled trying to collect his thoughts.
"Speak up," Dr. Crabblesnitch said. "There will be no mumbling in this school."
Clay sighed as he cleared his throat to continue. "I…I got in a fight."
"I'm aware. But why?" Crabblesnitch grilled.
"…some guys…they, um, cornered me at work."
"So you decided to act the way you did?"
Clay rubbed his hands together and turned his head away.
"I see they left a few scars, didn't they?" The Headmaster said pointing to Clay's face.
And that's what Clay figured people would notice. He sighed as he parted the hair over his right ear, revealing the top section that had been cut off. People could easily see the split right eyebrow that had healed over, but apparently he hadn't done a good enough job hiding the other injury.
"…yes, sir." Clay replied.
"Well, let that be a reminder for you, young man," Dr. Crabblesnitch said walking towards a painting on the wall. "Here at Bullworth, we strive to have our students aim for a higher standard of moral character. We don't encourage violent behavior or misconduct. Sure some students will act out every so often, but that's just young men and women venting out childhood aggressions as part of their journey to adulthood."
Great…another lecture. Clay twiddled his thumbs again as he saw the Headmaster walk towards him.
"However, acts of violence like yours will not be ignored when dealing with the safety of our students. Do you understand?"
Clay nodded with his eyes still fixed to the floor.
"My eyes are up here, Mr. McKinley."
He sighed as he looked up to Dr. Crabblesnitch, with the Headmaster's deep wrinkles and furrowed eyebrows fully in view.
"Was your behavior there conductive to the code of ethics at our school?"
"…no."
"'No,' what?"
"…no, sir."
"'No sir,' indeed. I'm glad we see eye-to-eye on that. We are instructing future generations here and we will not tolerate a family of ruffians. Now because this incident is your only serious discretion, I'm willing to forgive any presumptions on my part. However, I want to make myself clear. While you are on my campus, you will stay a model student. You will attend class, you will respect the faculty, you will not provoke the prefects, you will adhere to curfew and you will certainly NOT get into fights on my campus. Is that clear?"
For a moment, Clay let himself mentally vent all the things he wished he could say. It wasn't my fault! Those guys hit me with pipes and knives! Why am I being blamed for my cousins? All of that and much more were waiting on the tip of his tongue to be spat out. He decided against that though, especially since he promised his mom and uncle he would do what Dr. Crabblesnitch asked.
"…yes, sir," Clay replied.
"That's good to hear," the Headmaster said with a wrinkled smile as he walked back to his desk. "I've always said that the way to create emotionally healthy adults is to impose a dense regiment of schedules and rules. It's what makes for a happy society and a productive individual."
Clay wasn't entirely sure about that, but he just watched as Dr. Crabblesnitch picked up a key ring from his desk.
"Your room number is on the label," he said holding the key out to Clay. "There are a couple uniforms waiting on your bed, but remember that anything else you decide to wear must adhere to the dress code. There's also a printed copy of your class schedule next to them."
Clay reached to take the key, until the Headmaster retracted his hand.
"And remember this," he continued. "This is a school or order. I don't want to see you in this office again for any rough housing or rule breaking. Because if that happens, I won't be as nice as I have been today. Understood?"
Clay nodded as the Headmaster put the key in his hand.
"Good. You'll keep your nose clean, boy…or we'll clean it for you. You can go now."
With that, Dr. Crabblesnitch returned to his desk as Clay gripped the key in his hand and walked out. One time, he continued to lash out internally. It was one time and now everyone's judging me! I'm trying to be a nice guy! Is that such a crime?
He didn't voice any of this though, so he simply preached to the choir as he walked back to the front of the office.
"Did you two have a good chat?" Ms. Danvers asked, not looking up from her computer.
"…well—"
"Very good. Run along now."
Clay wasn't surprised anymore by her cutting him off and he wasn't in the mood to care. He pocketed his key and gathered his bags again to make the long trek to the dormitory near the front of the campus. It was going to be a long year...
—
The sun was setting by the time he made it outside. There were still quite a few students wandering about doing their business, everyone seemed to be winding down. Everyone except the prefects that was, who continued scouring the campus like vultures looking for troublemakers. Clay averted their gaze as he carried his luggage and eventually reached the front of the boys dorm.
Unfortunately, he also had a welcome party waiting for him.
"Fresh meat, boys!" A student dressed in a white school shirt and the traditional slacks said with a smile. Behind him were three similarly dressed students, including that guy who ran into Clay on the way in.
The group began to slowly circle around Clay wagon train style as he felt his knees shake. He seriously did not need this right now.
"Look at him," one of the other guys taunted. "He's got a little baby face."
"Mommy's not here for you, kiddo," another student teased. "You're on your own here."
For a moment, Clay felt a tinge of stress as memories from that last fight flashed. He can't get caught up in this though. Crabblesnitch would have him kicked out in an instant. Thinking quickly, he turned to call for a prefect.
"Say anything and you'll get a knuckle sandwich free of charge," a student behind him said cocking a fist to follow through on the threat. Clay already had one bloody nose today and he didn't need another, so he kept his mouth shut.
"So new kid," the blonde student from before said walking towards him. "What's in the bags?"
Clay faced the blonde student, only to have the student who threatened him wrap an arm around his neck. Clay struggled trying to free himself, his grip on his bags slipping. The other students just laughed, while Clay noticed a small crowd forming behind them.
"Come on, new kid," one of the other students mocked. "You got some muscle. Try and stop him."
"Nah man," the other student joked. "Look at him. He's a teddy bear . He couldn't hurt a fly."
Clay grit his teeth as he continued trying to free himself without hurting the other guy, but to no avail.
"Let's see what's behind bag number one," the blonde student said unzipping the bag and dumping the contents onto the ground.
"He got any money, Trent?" one of the students asked the blonde one.
"I'm checking, numb nuts," Trent replied sifting through the spilled items. "Clothes…clothes…shoes…clothes. Come on, where's the good stuff?"
Clay finally gave in and stomped on the foot of the guy holding him back.
"Shit!" The student yelled
"Get out of my stuff!" Clay shouted walking sternly to Trent.
"Oooo! Look out, boys! Baby face's sad we ruined his undies," Trent mocked as everyone else started laughing.
Clay got right up into Trent's face, which didn't intimidate Trent much because they were about equal height.
"You gonna cry now, baby face?" Trent taunted with a stern whisper. "Gonna wail your fists on me? Go on," he said opening his arms up. "First one's free."
Clay wanted to hit this guy so bad. He wanted to beat him senseless. But that's exactly what this guy wanted. He knew they probably sensed his unwillingness to fight and that's why they had him beat before they even started.
With a deep exhale, Clay walked over to collect his clothes and put them back in the suitcase.
"Yeah that's what I thought," Trent taunted again. "You're a Crabblesnitch bitch. You better watch out or I'm going to tear off your other ear too!"
And Clay hit his breaking point there. He immediately stood up and turned to slug Trent, but at the last minute was tripped by one of the other students.
"Oh there's the angry guy!" Trent mocked with a chuckle. "Struck a nerve, huh? You want to fight now? Alright then!"
With that, Trent gave a good kick into Clay's side, causing Clay to wheeze deeply.
"Stay on the ground, baby face. Crabblesnitch's gonna 'clean your nose' if you don't."
"Yeah, baby face!" Another student mocked. "Don't want mommy and daddy to take you away."
"I bet he's still a virgin," another student mocked.
Trent and another student kicked at Clay a couple more times for good measure. Clay didn't know what to do. He was stuck in a rock and a hard place unless something happened.
"Prefect!" One of the students then shouted.
The bullies stopped immediately. The rest of the group ran, but Trent took time to kick over one of Clay's other suitcases. The contents in that also spilled out on the floor, just to add further insult to injury.
"You're got lucky this time, baby face," Trent said before running towards a broken part of a nearby fence to escape.
Clay coughed as he struggled back to his feet and one of the prefects arrived. Of course, it was the prefect who yelled at him when he first arrived. It would be weird if something worked out in Clay's favor today.
"What the devil happened here?" The prefect shouted. "Were you fighting?"
Clay wanted to deny it, but he knew this guy wouldn't believe him. All the adults here were morons as far as he could tell and they seemed eager to pin any blame on him. And if he did deny it, he was sure Trent and those guys would probably make up a story about him attacking them. So he just stood there wiping some spit from the side of his mouth as the prefect looked at him judgingly.
"Answer the question, you little ingrate, or I'm sending you to the Headmaster's office!" The prefect threatened.
Before Clay could say anything else, someone beat him to it.
"He didn't do anything, Jack," a guy said approaching them. "Trent and his goons harassed him."
"Trent?" The prefect asked.
"Yup. Saw the whole thing myself. This guy was walking to the dorm and they jumped him."
"That dirty…" The prefect muttered to himself before looking to Clay. "Is that true?"
Clay nodded, his anger soothed a little now that someone had his back for once.
"Well…fine, you're off the hook then. Why aren't you in uniform though?"
Clay rolled his eyes and pointed to the suitcases, not wanting to repeat himself again.
"Right…well, don't dawdle then. Get to your room," the prefect said as he walked off to resume his regular patrol.
"I swear," the other student said shaking his head. "These prefects are getting worse. Here, you need a hand with that luggage?"
Clay almost didn't register what the guy said after the day he was having. Someone offering to help? Just...he didn't have any words. He nodded excitedly and the two of them began loading the tossed clothing back into the cases. Clay turned to see the crowd dissipating too. So...at least one guy was nice here.
"Looks like you got a proper Bullworth welcome," the student said.
"…does that happen to everyone?"
"No. Just to the people who matter."
Clay wasn't sure how to take that remark as they finished and he stood up to collect his cases.
"Here, let me take that," the other student said grabbing one.
"Oh…thanks."
"No worries. Gotta be honest though, I'm surprised you didn't hit Trent."
"Really?"
"Yeah. My first day here, I had to beat up three or four guys just to get into the dorm."
"Geez…" Clay groaned as they walked up the steps to the dorm. "This place sucks."
"Yup. Welcome to Bullworth," the student said opening the door. "The most prestigious piss hole on the east coast."
Clay sighed.
"Hey, don't stress about it," the student said giving Clay a pat on the shoulder. "You want to survive here? You got to stick it to the right people."
"I'm not supposed to fight though," Clay said. "Crabblesnitch said—"
"Crabblesnitch says a lot of crap that people don't follow. And you don't have to fight to show people who's the boss."
"…really?"
"…well, it helps, but there are other ways too. Anyway, let's get this stuff to your room. What's your name?"
"Um, Clay," Clay replied as the entered. "Clay McKinley. You?"
"Jimmy Hopkins," the student replied. "Come on, I'll show you around…"