Smashgaf- The journey of 15 months
"Uh oh" thought IntelliHeath as he ran into the school. It was his first day of Junior Year and he was already late! He rushed through the hallways with most of his various papers and documents flying rampantly out of his binder. A grimace crossed his face as all of the old threads of his life were now scattered across the smooth, clean tile.
"Why me?" He said out loud with an exasperated frown, and did a quick u-turn to go and retrieve his missing documents. While gathering all of the files into a small and cluttered pile, he was surprised to feel the sensation of another hand touch his. He glanced up quickly, and was surprised to see a girl with pale blue eyes smiling at him. He started to blush, and nervously tried to stammer out something to say. "I.. uh.. you.. why...".
He then noticed an ominous, if not imposing shadow right above the girl. "P… P… Principal Sakurai! What are you doing here?" The boys awkward stammering was met with Sakurai's unwavering and focused eyes, followed by a sly smile. "Just passing through, and showing our new student where her classes will be." He glanced at the girl who was still kneeling on the floor, and slightly nodded to her. She seemed confused at first, but then seemed to understand, and quickly jumped up to her feet.
"Hi, I'm Neiteio! It's nice to meet you!" she said with a harmonious ring to her voice. "Um, hey, how are you? I'm IntelliHeath". While introducing himself though, IntelliHeath found something kind of off about her, but he couldn't quite place what it was. He promptly dismissed it, and decided that he was probably just flustered after losing most of his precious documents.
"Thanks for helping me pick up all my stuff. I don't know what I would have done if I lost it" IntelliHeath said. "It's all pretty important to me. It might sound strange, but at this point in my life, these pages are all I have." "Oh, that doesn't sound crazy at all! Sometimes I like to write in my journal, and I would go crazy if I ever lost it!" Neiteio responded. While the two of them got to know each other a little better, they didn't notice that Sakurai had mysteriously vanished into thin air.
"So, what class do you have next?" IntelliHeath Inquired. He was starting to take a liking to this girl. She was very nice, and was actually pretty funny! "umm, it's something called "Science of Mastery Academic Social Historialites", or SMASH for short." Neiteio responded. She seemed very puzzled at what exactly that class would contain, and IntelliHeath had to admit that he had no idea what that was either. "I have it too, so I can walk you there!" Heath chimed in. "That would be awesome!" Neiteio exclaimed. She was so excited that she had actually made a friend on her first day! This wasn't anything like the last school she had gone to.
Now that all the papers were finally picked up, they decided to finally leave for their class. As soon as they started walking there, IntelliHeath heard the strangest sound. It was like a dull sort of thumping, but there was also a hidden tone of a clicking to it as well. He looked around, and finally found out what was making the sound. He also found out what had seemed so off-putting to him before. Neiteio was wearing some really fashionable looking boots. The rest of her clothes were fairly boring and modest, but the boots looked like they were really top quality, and seemed almost too high of quality for a high-schooler to afford.
"Woah, nice boots!" IntelliHeath was shocked that someone would actually bring such high fashion into school, but at the same time he was feeling some strange feelings he hadn't felt before. He started blushing and sweating, and it felt like an eternity before Neiteio finally responded. "Thanks! I really like wearing boots for some reason, I'm not sure why though to be honest. There's just something in how I feel when wearing them that just makes me super exciting and ready to take on the world!".IntelliHeath couldn't help but agree. She definitely seemed very confident, and he could totally see her overcoming any obstacle in her way.
*RRRRRIIIIINNNNNGGGGGGGG* The sound of the bell shot through the hallway like a thunderbolt, and then it was slowly followed by a mob of kids going in every direction. IntelliHeath tried to stay by Neiteio, but found that he was slowly drifting farther and farther away from her, as most of the kids were gathering around her to talk to the new kid. "I'll meet you in class!" IntelliHeath yelled across the hallway. He thought he heard a reply from her, but was unable to see her anymore.
IntelliHeath reached into his backpack and pulled out the school map. He slowly followed it through the hallways until he reached his destination. The trip took longer than he thought though, as when he opened the door the teacher had already started his lecture. IntelliHeath quickly walked in and took the first open seat. Unfortunately it was in the far back corner, and was many desks away from Neiteio, who was in the front row surrounded by guys.
"As I was saying class, I am Professor Beef, and I will be your instructor in the Science of Mastery Academic Social Historialites course. It will be a long and tough class, but as long as you put forth determination, I can guarantee that you will at gain some worthwhile knowledge. I will not hold your hand like a robot, and I will not be your operating buddy today. You will pass solely based on your own performance, and not somebody elses."
*Pssssttttt* "hey, kid". IntelliHeath turned to look at the kid to his left. He appeared to be a pretty short kid, with super big ears that stood straight up, and bared a resemblance to a rabbit. "yeah, you. Do you want to know a secret about this class? I have all the answers hidden in this book" he said, and pulled out a faded, black book. IntelliHeath shook his head and tried to just ignore the guy. He kept bothering him though, and soon started telling everyone else around him that he knew some top secret information that nobody else did.
"Afoni, do you need to go see the principal?" Professor Beef said calmly. "I could, but then he would just try to steal all of my secrets!" Afoni stated boldly. This kid seemed to think that he knew everything. "I assure you, I won't do that". Sakurai was standing at the door, smiling coyly as he leaned against the frame, arms crossed.
A chill went through the room as everyone froze with respect for the Principal. " Why don't you come to my office and we can have a little talk? You definitely need to be shown the right way to behave at this school, don't you?" Afoni stuttered out some jumbled words, but eventually gave up and slunk over to the doorway, head hung low. " Don't worry, I'll have him back by the end of the period!" Sakurai winked and closed the door to the classroom.
There were muffled sounds outside the classroom. The sound of running footsteps, with the muffled words of "get away from me!" and "Don't call my parents!" Then, there was a loud thud along with muffled grunts of pain. IntelliHeath was in the corner, so he had a small glimpse of the hallway through the door window. Afoni was on the floor, trying to crawl away. It looked like he had tripped, or his legs had stopped working. He was grabbing at the tile, trying to crawl away, when he was suddenly palled backwards. His eyes full of tears, he looked like he was trying to scream, but no sounds were coming out. He was pulled out of the window frame, and then IntelliHeath heard some startling words. "IntelliHeath? Are you ok?"
"Wha… What?" IntelliHeath rubbed his eyes, and looked hazily around the room. Everyone in the class was looking at him, and he was starting to feel uncomfortable. "It looks like you fell asleep! Am I really that boring? I have a doctorate in Beef for goodness sake!" Professor Beef joked. "No, it's not that, I just… where's Afoni?" IntelliHeath asked. Hopefully he was just having a daydream about Sakurai taking him away. "Who?" Professor Beef asked. "We don't have anyone by that name in this class". IntelliHeath looked to his left, and was shocked to see a totally different kid sitting there. "Is there a problem? I'm no Afoni. My name's Beelzebufo, and If you don't stop staring at me you're gonna get it.
IntelliHeath was dazed and confused, and wasn't quite sure what was happening. *BRRRRIIIINNNNNGGGGGGG* "Alright class, remember to get your disclosure signed by your parents and bring it back next time!" IntelliHeath saw Neiteio and tried to catch up to her and explain what just happened, but she was whisked away by a crowd of interested people. Heath tried to make eye contact with her, but she was too involved with all the other people to even notice him. "Well, maybe she's too good for me now" Heath thought, getting sadder the more he pictured his newfound friend going down the rocky path of popularity.
*Unghhh* Heath keeled over and clutched his stomach. It was throbbing with pain. "Don't you ever look at me, or even talk to me again, got it?" Heath struggled to look up, and when he did he was met with the sight of Beelzebufo glaring at him, with his fist armed for another strike. "The only thing I hate more than school, are people who cross me." And with that, he let his finishing blow strike IntelliHeath right in the jaw.
*Ooooffff* IntelliHeath dropped to the floor, clutching his face. Beelzebufo shook his head and walked out the door. He had no time to waste with such a jerk of a person.
IntelliHeath hurt so bad. Not just because of the punch, but because he lost a friend in Neiteio, saw some weird stuff happen with Afoni, and now he was just punched. All of these feelings were too much for him, so he just decided to lay on the floor and cry. *RINGADINGADINGA* the bell chimed out for the next class, but IntelliHeath didn't care. He knew that his school year was already over, even though it had just started.
"Hey man, are you ok?" IntelliHeath rubbed the snot bubble off of his face, and looked up to see a guy with a puzzled expression on his face. "I mean, I saw you from the hallway, and you weren't really moving, so I'm just wondering if you're alright." IntelliHeath wiped the tears out of his eyes and stood up. "Yeah, I'm ok. It's nothing" he said with a lie. "Dude, I've been where you are, and I can say without a doubt that it's definitely not nothing. C'mon, let me buy you a snack." IntelliHeath didn't feel like arguing, se he promptly followed the kid to the cafeteria. "My names OricWindstar by the way." "My names IntelliHeath". "If you don't mind me asking, what were you doing on the floor? I mean, I know someone must have hit you, but why didn't you fight back?" Intelliheath looked at Oric, and just sighed and looked away.
"I'm more of a peaceful guy, not everything should be solved with fights, or being mean to people. If I see someone with different opinions or beliefs, I usually try to respect them, even if they are super wrong." Oric looked a little surprised at that response. "Yeah, I guess that could work. But sometimes theres no reasoning with people and you gotta stand up for yourself!"
Heath pondered that response for a moment, and was about to give his response when he saw Beelzebufo from across the cafeteria. Heath's face went pale as he slowly tried to hide behind the vending machine. "What… What's wrong Heath?" Oric inquired. He looked at where Heath had been looking previously and saw Beelzebufo sitting down to a table with a bunch of other notorious looking people.
"Was it Beelzebufo who hit you? What a big frog, he's such a jerk, man." Oric said. Heath was completely hidden by the vending machine now, but he stammered back a quick "yeah". "I think it might help if you know who all of the people in his clique are, just so you can avoid them. So the girl sitting to his right is Batty." "Oh, is she pretty crazy?" Heath asked. "No, that's literally her name." Oric chuckled. "I haven't met her personally, but I hear that she's big trouble if you meet her. People like to call her the Troubled Bat." "Well, I think I will pass on meeting her." Heath's grimace was hidden behind the vending machine as his head poked out to look at the people sitting at the table.
"The guy sitting to Beelzebufo's right is called TheProdigy. Nobody knows what his real name is, just that he is so overconfident that he believes he is the best at everything." Heath vaguely remembered Afoni who seemed to have the same sort of attitude of believing that they were right and the best. Of course, nobody seemed to remember Afoni, so maybe Heath had just imagined him the whole time. Heath tried not to dwell on what he had seen.
"The person to the left of TheProdigy is Anth0ny. Unlike TheProdigy, Anth0ny is actually the best at most, if not all things at this school. Sports, schoolwork, videogames, he does it all, and he constantly wins." "Wow, so they have 2 super cocky people in their group? This will be rough." Said Heath. "Actually, Anth0ny isn't really cocky, for the most part he is actually super quiet. He does what he wants to quickly and without error. He doesn't really talk to people unless he has to." Said Oric.
At that time, an older looking man wearing a very plain suit came and stood behind Beelzebufo. He whispered something into his ear then promptly walked off. "What was that?" asked Heath. "That's their coverage." Said Oric. "They have one of the staff involved with their little clique, so they never get in trouble or have any problems being jerks to everyone. EmCeeGramr is their way out of all trouble. Rumor has it that he is the father of one of the students at the table, but no one has verified that yet."
2 more students walked up to the table and sat down. "Ahh, there we go! The final person that makes up this group of people, and it looks like he brought a new recruit!" Heath tried to make out the figures, but there were too many people in the cafeteria now. So the guy who just sat down is Gonzales, but everyone calls him The Great Gonzales. Rumor has it that on his first day of Freshman year he made a teacher quit, and ever since then people have called him The Great Gonzales. Personally, I doubt anyone could be that cruel to make a teacher quit, but who knows how crazy that guy is." Heath had to admit that Gonzales did have a strange look in his eye as he talked to all the other kids at the table.
"And last but not least, the new member to their group is" "Neiteio" Heath interrupted. He couldn't believe his eyes, but it was true. The nice girl that he had met earlier was sitting down with all of the schools worst people. She was smiling and laughing with all of them, but Heath couldn't believe that she would fall this far down.
"What do you know about her, Oric?" Heath said. He had to get to the bottom of this. There was no way that she would go willingly with those scummy people. "Well, not much. There haven't really been any rumors about her, because she's so new to the school. Supposedly she was kicked out of her last school, but nobody knows why." "Hrrmmm" Heath said. "I'll have to talk to her and find out the whole story. There's no way that someone would go willingly with such awful people." "True that my friend, true that" said Oric.
Suddenly Neiteio turned and made direct eye contact with Heath. He felt a shiver run down his spine as their gazes locked. She smiled coyly, then turned back to her group and rejoined the conversation. Heath was legitimately spooked, and decided to disregard what just happened.
"So, is there a good clique of people? Like one that is the antithesis to all of those people?" Heath asked. There was, but it's slowly been broken up over the years. A guy named Q.Q More led it, but he eventually moved away. So naturally the whole group just sort of collapsed in on themselves after that. They're all now in different cliques, but I'm sure that they would come together if the need was strong enough."
"Well, let's get started then!" Heath exclaimed. "We need to make a group dedicated to all of the fun, and good times! A place where anyone can be welcomed, and everyone's opinions are valid!" "Are you serious, dude? If you're really serious about this, then I will back you 100%!" Oric said, his smile slowly growing wider. Heath extended his hand, and Oric grasped it quickly. A firm handshake sealed the deal, and they both knew that they were in this for good.
"We need a name.," said Oric. Heath turned to him and smiled. "While in my last class, I learned all about some crazy studies about friendship, bonds, and historical events. This class was called SMASH, so I think that our group needs to reflect that we are all about that. Let's call ourselves SmashGaf In honor of all the good that it does, and all the people that we will help. Everyone will know our name soon enough, and when they do, they will know it as a place of refuge, and of peace." "Shall we get this thing started" asked Oric. "You know it, lets go get our first member." Said Heath. They quickly grabbed some more food from the vending machine, and then ran into the mob of children to find their first member.