I walked with the gift behind my back. Today was Garin's nineteenth birthday, and I highly doubted he expected what I was about to give him. I had finally scraped up enough money to quickly buy him one on Mystery Island two weeks ago. Now we celebrating in the newly rebuild city underwater. Caylis and Isca would be there along with the entire crew. I grinned at the thought of Caylis. I was thinking yesterday about her. Garin had seen her more recently than I had. But his interest wasn't in her; it was in Isca that he saw love. I found him spinning that day he visited her (the very same he had also seen Caylis) that he explained to me that she kisses like an angel. I laughed at the remark, and remember that time we used to think like guys, back when girls were gross and cooties were real. I peaked inside the gift for one last inspection. To anyone else, it would seem like an odd present, but to me, it was one that was suppose to be an inside joke only. To get my friend back so he to could rejoice about the days were it was just him, me and even sometimes, our little wocky buddy.
It was a hot day in September. I was merely in the second grade and was still understanding the basics of an education such as numbers and reading, both which tended to confuse me. My friends seemed to have the same difficulties with gaining knowledge of what they tried to teach us. Maybe that's why we all became friend, who knows? Our second grade teacher was much better though. We usally spend half the day playing games and blowing off the hours that went by, then after recess, we would began the class with study work and memorization of what I never caught onto until I developed my own ways of doing so. Today was resisting your favorite hero, and naturally starting it out was the simple question of:
"Who's your hero?"
"Judge Hog," someone would reply.
"I like Lightning Lenny!" another boy added.
"Jacques? Who is your hero?" the teacher asked. Being as a shy lad, I didn't talk much. My friends told me I needed to if I ever wanted to be something in life, but I always did the same thing. I would tell myself, what do they know; we are all in elementary school anyways. None of us, or at least most, will not be what they say they will be years from now graduating. Our school was a preppy school, or I called it that. For the higher society that made their homes in our small fishing village as vacation houses, or to settle because of what they called, location. Basically it was pretty. The problem with my family was we still weren't rich. We were fishermen. I was being raised by my mother and grandparents and had been for the past three months. They wouldn't tell me where my dad was, all I knew was he was lost somewhere. I was nine when I found out the real story, two years from this point.
I sort of stumbled up and put my hands in my pockets of my uniform. The dress code for boys consisted of kaki slacks, a white button up shirt, a dark blue jacket, and black suede shoes. During the fall and winter though, they were more lenient and let us wear any big jacket we preferred. Recess would be soon and then maybe I wouldn't have to put up with the class staring at me. That was a pet peeve of mine. Staring. It's like all who see you, judge you. And it's whether than can help it or not, everyone formed their own opinion of everyone else, usually at first glance. It's life. Maybe that's what I hated most about intently looking through someone's soul, because that's what the load of them did. Stare and Judge. Just stare, and judge.
"My hero…is…my dad," I softly mumbled.
"Speak up dear," she repeated.
"My…dad," I stumbled. I put my hands behind my back and swayed on my heels back and forth. The teacher got a solemn look on her face and she lowered her head with mine.
"But your dad is dead! Your hero can't be a dead one!" a Jetsam shouted.
"Haden, there will be none of that!" the teacher scolded. The bell rung and I was the first to leave, grabbing a toy I snuck from my backpack. I was sitting on the grass with my best friend, Garin, and a wocky, Talak.
"It's so cool!" Talak exclaimed cheerfully. His kaki pants were getting soiled from the dirt, but no one cared. I barely cared about my own. I turned the dial to the snow globe again and watched two krawks spin in tune to the music, sword fighting. Then the good guys defeated the pirate krawk. We watched and watched until the music died.
"One day…I wish that pirate would win. Would…wouldn't it be exciting to be pirates?" I mused.
"Let's play with something else!" Garin interrupted, obviously bored with the snow globe.
"Like what?" Talak beseeched. Garin grinned and took out a shiny slingshot and some rocks. Our young eyes shimmered with the sight of something so illegal at the school and yet, we were about to fight who could hit something first. Naturally, Garin had the first turn and being nice, I let Talak shoot it to the wall behind us. I grabbed a gleaming rock out of Garin's hand and aimed it at a tree. I shot it, but before it hit the tree, it hit the blue figure running in front of it. I gasped and dropped the wooden toy along with the rest of the ammo. We stood frozen, unknowing of who we just shot in the eye. It was a lupe, and a not so nice one at that. I swallowed, hard and took a step back with both my friends. He lifted himself up and he pointed one finger at me, while had one hand covering his left eye.
"I'll kill you for that!" he threatened and began running in my direction. Talak and Garin pushed me, screaming at me to run. So I did, as fast as my legs would carry me. I had made it to a tree across the field and climbed one of the trees.
"Get down here so I can rip those pretty locks out of your skull, maybe your brain will be able to grow then!" he terrorized.
"I'll pass!" I cupped my mouth so he could hear.
"Dover, Dobson! Get over here!" he commanded. Soon, two twin lupes were on his right and the three began shaking the tree to get me out. I had to grab on, but it didn't help at all. I slipped and my hands grabbed the tree branch.
"Help, someone! They're gonna eat me!" I called out. Garin and Talak kicked the lupe named Dover and he turned around and pushed them both to the ground, scraping Talak's knee and ripping a hole in his pants.
"Hey, don't mess with them!" I demanded from above their heads.
"Come down and make us!" the lupe teased. Garin was vainly trying to punch him, but he was barely touching the usul's head the stop him. His grr face was actually quite laughable. I jumped, which was a bad move in itself, but he had hurt Talak. The lupe pushed Garin back to the ground and both watched as they approached me. The one I accidently shot grabbed me up the shirt and pulled me up towards him. I was scared out of my mind, and I didn't know what to do.
"Your think you're so brave don't you? Sticking up for your friends? I'll tell you something-" he grabbed a chunk of my hair on the side, "You are weak," he pulled and I yelped in agony, "Stupid," he pulled again, "and a scrawny little wrench that can't-" Then I kicked him in the knee and he dropped me and my head.
"That can run!" I hollered from behind me. I ran towards another tree a few hundred yards away, and right behind me were my friends.
"Now that was brave!" Talak smiled and panted. His hands were on his knees and he drew back when the one started to hurt again. I rubbed my head as a headache reared its horrible head from just around the corner.
"Come on…we have to get you…to the school nurse asap," Garin conformed. We heard a snapping in the background, like wood breaking. The lupes smashed his slingshot, but I had the snow globe in my backpack, which Talak smartfully picked up off the ground when we were running.
"Aw man! I got that my birthday last week!" Garin cried.
"I'll pay for a new one," I told him.
"When, it's not like you have any money?" he sort of spat.
"When I get the money," I laughed and we carried Talak to the nurse in the building.
"Who's this one from, mates?"
"Me," I told Garin. He shook the box and took the lid off. His face flashed to astonishment as he pulled out the twinkling object. He pulled back the rubber and pretended to shoot Isca, who looked curiously at me for the odd gift.
"I had brought my old one to school in the second grade and when Jacques attempted to fire it, he shot this God awful lupe and the three of them chased the three of us, Jacques kicked him in the end while he was yanking his hair out of his skull," I ran my fingers through my hair as the girls aww and said that sounded painful," And my slingshot was crushed under the feet of the bullies," he explained. Talak smiled and was handed the box, he took it out to inspect it one last time, tossed it back in, and drank some grog that was given to us by the king himself. Garin told me later that that had been one of the best gifts he had ever received. The three of us began to see each other more and talk more, and my plan, succeeded.