"Where's Baljeet?" Buford VanStomm asks as he plops into the uncomfortable cafeteria seat right next to where his nerd would usually sit.
"Hmm?" Phineas looked up from the small gadget he was tinkering with. Isabella rolled her eyes. "Uh, I think he's still in line. He got to lunch late. Had to finish his test." And with that, he went right back to building.
"Baljeet had to stay late to finish a test?" Isabella asked in a worried voice. Her well-kept eyebrows scrunched past her dark eyes. "That doesn't sound like him."
"It was Chemistry, too." Phineas mentioned. He was the only one who had willingly chosen to take chemistry with Baljeet- after a little bit of convincing. Phineas had a knack for science- building such strange contraptions in your backyard as a child will do that to you. But he was still nowhere near Baljeet's level. At least, not until lately.
"And you finished before him?" Isabella asked, tucking her hair behind her ear. Phineas barely heard her, giving her only a soft "Hmm?"
She glared and snapped her fingers in front of his face until he looked up. He grimaced apologetically.
"And you finished the test before him?" She repeats once she has his full attention.
"Yeah, I did. I was as surprised as you. He was barely writing- just glaring down at his paper like he could will the answers onto the sheet."
"I saw that when I was walking past the chemistry room. Baljeet was right next to the door and he looked like he was about to cry." Gretchen, Isabella's good friend and former second-in-command of the fireside girls, murmured. She was a soft-spoken girl, a year younger than the others, with a shy disposition that fit like a glove with Isabella's loud, bold, unabashed personality. She wore dark glasses and had let her ginger hair grow out until she could be called the red haired Rapunzel. She and another former fireside girl, Addison, hung around the group. Irving, also, had lost much of his 'crazed fan' weirdness and spent time with the group as friends. The group was tight knit. They've had their share of drama in their time, and would more than likely have more in the future, but they were tighter than most fragile cliques at their school.
"I told him that taking 6 AP classes would kill him." Irving said, looking up from his sketchbook. He had left his camera in the past and had settled into a more creative form of portraiture. "I tried it sophomore year, and before the first week was over, I dropped three of the five. And he's taking six? He's insane."
"It would have been seven if this school offered AP chemistry." Phineas added, shaking his head. "It's only October, and he's a nervous wreck.
Buford, listening to all of this silently, began thinking of what he would do to the nerd when he got here. He and Baljeet were friends, yes- close friends, in fact. But some of the other guys on the wrestling team have been giving him crap about his friendship with Baljeet. Some have even gone so far as to call him his 'boyfriend'. And Buford just couldn't handle that kind of black mark on his reputation. So for the past month, he's been trying to make Baljeet's life as miserable as possible. Spitballs, wet willies, wedges, trips in the halls, and dumping his homework on the poor, overworked kid had all become very commonplace. It felt good, it felt relieving- it almost felt like eradicating something that was threatening to bubble up and destroy him. What that was, he had no idea. But beating up and messing with Baljeet definitely kept 'that' at bay.
"Have you noticed he's been a little less energized, Buford?" Buford's head snapped up to find Isabella, Phineas, and Ferb all looking at him expectantly.
"I don't know. Why? Do I look like a nerdsitter to you?" He all but snarls, glancing back and looking for Baljeet.
"You know, Buford, you've been pretty hard on him lately, almost as hard as the extra work." Isabelle says, leaning forward to catch his eye again.
"I agree." Ferb, normally pretty stoic, chimes in.
"He's having a hard enough time already, you know." Isabella's eyes bore into him. The girl had grown up quite a bit. She had shot up freshman year and was now a wee bit taller than Phineas, had filled out while still keeping her skinny structure, and had chopped most of her long black hair off, leaving side bangs that fell over the left side of her face and a black curtain that frames her face, but only to her chin. But she had not changed much from her childhood stubbornness and toughness. And right now, she was all business.
And Buford was not having any of it.
"Give me a break!" He exclaims, waving her off. "I've got a reputation to keep up! How am I supposed to keep my rep as the toughest guy in school if I go easy on that nerd?"
"With great power comes great responsibility." Phineas says, trying to sound wise.
"Fuck off!" He yells. "You don't know what I have to deal with when I go easy on him! It's so embarrassing!"
"But you're hurting Baljeet!" Isabella's high voice shoots up an octave. "He's your friend! And this is going past simply picking on him!"
"He's fine!" He yells. "Now how about you worry about yourself, or you'll be gettin' some of it too!" His temper was now officially out of check, and he shoves himself away from the table, turning around to stomp dramatically out of the cafeteria.
In doing so, he ran almost right into Baljeet, who was holding a tray of food in his slightly shaking hands.
The first thing Buford saw was his eyes. They were dull, dim, and exhausted. The second thing he saw was the guys on the team, making kissy faces every time Baljeet came into the gym to walk him home. He shook himself out of the mental image.
"Outta my way, nerd!" He exclaims, placing his hand on the back of Baljeet's tray and shoving it up and all over Baljeet's shirt. Baljeet drops the tray and it clatters noisily on the linoleum floor. Spaghetti splatters everywhere.
"I said, get outta my way!" He shoves Baljeet to the ground, and he barely puts up a fight, tumbling to the ground on his knees and letting his head fall forward.
Buford stomps out of the room, every eye in the cafeteria trailing his every move. This was different. Buford normally didn't put anger into his bullying. Most of the time, what lied under the teasing was amusement.
The group in it's entirety stumble their way to their feet and hurry to Baljeet's side. He's holding himself up on the palms of his hands, staring down at the mess that now covered his sweatshirt. He sighed, but the sound was not annoyed or even angry. Simply empty.
"Oh my god, are you okay, Baljeet?" Isabella makes it to his side first, leaning down and wiping a little bit of the sauce off of him.
"What the hell got into him?!" Phineas exclaims, picking up Baljeet's tray and setting it gently on the table. Ferb, picking up the milk and the rest of the ruined food, nods angrily.
Phineas quickly comes to Baljeet's side. "C'mon, buddy, upsy-daisy." He takes Baljeet's arm and pulls him up. Isabella does the same for his other side. Baljeet seemed zapped of energy, barely able to hold himself up. He didn't even say anything.
"Hey, Baljeet?" Irving waves his hand in front of his face. "Come on back to us."
"I…" His indian accent was viciously overtaken by a tone of hopelessness so vivid that the others collectively winced. "I… I do not think I can do this anymore, friends."
"You mean Buford?" Phineas asked.
"Partly." Came the overworked boy's answer. He dropped his head as Phineas and Isabella let him go. His arms, once held up by his friends, fell limply to his sides.
"Baljeet, come on, chipper up!" Said Irving, inappropriately happy, as always.
"I do not think I can do this anymore, friends." He repeated, more strongly and surely this time. "I am sorry."
And with those foreboding words, he turned his back on the group and walked towards the emergency exit in the cafeteria. He grabbed the handle and yanked it open, stepping out into the sunshine and walking towards the sidewalk. Ferb glanced, concerned, at Phineas. Phineas only shrugged. They didn't assumed that he wouldn't be back for classes.
They also didn't assume the worst in Baljeet's words. I do not think I can do this anymore.