Pete frowns slightly as he stares down at the yearbook's generic cover. He'd had the thing for over a couple days and no one's come around to sign it. He didn't really go out and ask people to sign, either. He figured he was too much of a loser to ask the other students, or even teachers to sign his yearbook. And the thought of this made his frown worsen. However, when the bell finally rang and the few students who had stayed for the remainder of their English finals got up to leave, he met a smiling Mr. Galloway, beckoning him over. He figured the man was just drunk and wanted to give him a lecture about being more social and whatnot his sophomore year.
"Ah, Peter! How are you?" Mr. Galloway greets, his nose redder than Rudolf the Reindeer.
"I-I'm fine. What did you need?" he questions. With a warm smile, the man waves his hand, gesturing to the yearbook still clenched firmly in his hands. Hesitantly, he gives it to him, chewing on his bottom lip anxious to see what he'll right. He watches him intently scribble away on the first page. He can see the familiar sloppy handwriting that had come back on so many assignments and tests. And when he's finally done, Galloway caps his pen and closes the book, handing it back to the student with a smile.
"Have a good summer, Peter," he tells him warmly. With a small thank you and goodbye, Pete leaves the classroom. He quickly opens the book once he's out, excited to see what the man had written.
"Such a pleasure in class. Have a good summer! Can't wait to see you come back as the official head boy with so many friends! ~Mr. Galloway"
It's short but really sweet. Galloway had always been one the coolest teachers at Bullworth, even if he was a drunk. He appreciated the message.
Walking out of the main building, Pete decided to take one last lap around campus before he sheltered himself inside his dorm room all summer, seeing as his parents didn't really send any letters saying how they missed him and couldn't wait for him to come home. And not even after a few steps away from the last stair was he met with Russell, the town's biggest – and scariest – junior. He could feel himself tremble at the sight of the bully.
"O-oh. H-hey, Russell," he greets timidly, giving him a nervous smile. The teen just grunts, though a grin spreads across his lips and for a moment, he's terrified he's gonna beat him with his yearbook.
"What that?" he questions with his poor English skills as he points to the book.
"This? Just my yearbook," he replies, acting nonchalant about it with a soft chuckle. Russell extends his hand, motioning his fingers for him to give it over. He's reluctant to do so, but he knows what will happen if he doesn't obey. So with a sick feeling in his gut, he hands the bully his yearbook. He just looks it over before staring at Pete.
"Got pen?" The question stuns him and the expression on his face says it all. Russell starts laughing as the younger teen fumbles to find a spare pen for him to use. He takes it softly from his hand, too, instead of snatching it away like Pete had anticipated. He stands there completely dumbfounded as Russell scribbles away and he wonders what he'll say. He's sure it'll be nothing but broken English and poorly spelled words, but the thought meant so much to him. Russell, the leader of the bully clique, was signing his yearbook, and not stealing it! After a bit of waiting, the junior hands it back with the same grin, but something else in his eyes that he couldn't catch onto.
"Thank you so much, Russell!" he speaks as the book is handed back to him. There's just a soft grunt and he waves, giving him a small wink before walking off. Pete's confused by the action until he looks down at what's been written.
"I'll see you over the summer, Pete. Don't be such a stranger to everyone when the school year starts up again, okay? ~R."
No way. No way did Russell Northrop, the walking caveman himself, sign his yearbook with such beautiful handwriting and perfect spelling. Not to mention how nice he was about all of it. Pete can't keep the smile off his face and he holds the yearbook close to himself. He feels all giddy and if he didn't want to look like anymore of a loser, he would've let out a squeal. But this still perplexed him. Russell wasn't smart – not that anyone knew anyways. Where did this come from? Did he have a sudden epiphany that he wanted to be smart? Or was it all an act?
Either way, he still felt great about it and he made his way around to the side of the school. His trip was cut short when he noticed the whole greaser gang walk his way, though, their newest member grinning at him.
"Pete! I've been looking for you!" He's surprised to hear that someone wanted to see him and without, what he assumed and hoped, malicious intent.
"Hey, Vyv. Hey… everyone else..." He feels nervous when he sees Johnny look him up and down, Lola right by his side with his arm hooked firmly around her waist. "What's uh… what's up?"
"Heard you got a yearbook," Johnny speaks, though his expression doesn't change to a friendly one like Vyvyan's had. "How's 'bout we all sign it for you?"
"Y-you guys really wanna sign my yearbook?" he asks. Peanut nods, a green sharpie in hand. And that's when he notices each of them have a different colored sharpie. He can feel himself smile, especially when he notices a pale pink in Norton's grasp. "Alright! Cool!"
He hands the book over to the closet greaser, Peanut, who's quickly going to work. While this goes on, the others are either look over their friend's shoulder or chatting with him.
"Any big plans for the summer, Petey?" Vance asks, giving him a smile. He just gives him a small shake of his head. This earns him a chuckle. "No plans? Maybe you'll stop by the tenement sometime, then?"
"You'd want me over there with you guys?" he questions. Lefty steps forward, hooking an arm around him with a smile, his free hand going up to mess with his hair.
"Of course! Or else we wouldn't have asked!" he tells him with a laugh, "Any friend of Jimmy's is a friend of ours, anyways."
"Thanks," He feels lucky to know the most popular kid in school now. At least they weren't bullying him like he had expected. And he can't help but smile widely.
It takes a bit for everyone to sign the yearbook and in that time, he's talked with every greaser, even King Johnny and his Queen, Lola. They were actually really pleasant and Lord knows he wishes he could just have an ounce of cool in him like they had. Even if they dressed from another time period. And just like Lefty, Johnny invites him over to the tenement whenever he's bored and wants someone to hang out with. It's nice to feel like he has people to call friends, even if he's never really spent much time with them. And when he's gotten his book back, different colors of goodbye and good luck messages hit him. From Peanut's simple "see you next year" to Norton's "go hang with the gang whenever you're alone." He feels lucky. Ricky and Vyvyan shared the same message, just both signing their names at the end. He even notices Vance's phone number and he can feel the heat rise to his cheeks. The greaser just gives him a wave and a wink as they all walk away from him. He spends a couple minutes rereading the messages the clique had written him and, once again, he holds the book close to him. Maybe he would get rid of his shell and actually text Vance over the summer.
Walking towards the fountain he's stopped by a couple preps. Pinky and Gord stride over, their aquaberry uniforms pristine and spotless. He's worried that they're going to belittle him for being poor, especially with the smirks on their faces.
"And what's this?" Gord speaks, going to snatch the yearbook away from Pete. He just frowns, slowly cowering in on himself. "Ew. You let those poor losers sign this before us?"
Gord scoffs as he looks over the other signatures. The comment replays over and over in his head. Pinky pulls out a pen from her purse, squealing slightly when Gord finishes signing it himself. He's still just as stunned when they're both finished and he takes it back with shaky hands. The two just give him a goodbye as they continue their way to the Harrington House, talking to each other. He's almost too nervous to look, but the cursive writing catches his attention. The messages aren't the friendliest, of course, but it still makes him feel good.
"You're not the most pathetic commoner at this school. ~Gord"
"You're okay. Too bad our social circles aren't the same, or we'd totally hang out over the summer! ~Pinky"
He just smiles nonetheless, going to close his book as he makes his way for the gym. He had a couple things in his locker that weren't meant to stay in there over the summer, but he had procrastinated for so long, just trying to avoid the area. But, seeing as he didn't want to be yelled at by either Dr. Crabblesnitch or Ms. Danvers, he had to visit today.
"Hey! Look who it is!" Ted's voice makes Pete shudder and he looks the jock who's walking towards him, Damon and Juri in tow.
"Yeah, look who it is," Damon repeats, Pete biting his tongue to keep back a mean comment. "What's that you got?"
"U-uh it's nothing," he chuckles softly, going to hide his yearbook. But Juri simply goes to snatch it from his hand, reading over the previous signatures.
"Oh, dude! That the new yearbook?" Ted questions, now taking it from Juri and looking in it. "Sick! I haven't even picked up mine yet!"
"I-it's not that great," Ted rolls his eyes, thumbing through the book, commenting about how great his senior picture came out. Pete stands there awkwardly, watching them look through every page before Damon pulls out a pen. Just like everyone else, they take turns signing it. And when they're done, Juri hands him his book back, ruffling his hair just like Lefty had done.
"See you next year!" he speaks, turning to leave. Damon gives him a noogie, following his friend and Ted gives him a pat on the back.
"Do this school good, 'kay, bro?" he tells him, "Jimmy'll take care of you."
"Yeah, thanks, Ted," He watches the graduate walk away with a small smile. "Good luck in the football career!"
Ted gives him one last thumbs up before he's gone. He feels good inside, like he's finally no longer a ghost at Bullworth. He can't contain his wide grin as he goes into the gym with a pep in his step.
Finally the sun was setting, Pete sitting in his dorm room with his yearbook in his lap. He looked over the signatures he had gotten. Beatrice, Cornelius and Earnest had signed the last page on the front, a couple of the kids had signed as well, along with Eunice, Christy and Angie. Ivan had doodled in the small spaces, and Ethan used a page to draw a few ninjas. Even Michael had decorated a page full of dinosaur stickers. However, even though so many other people had signed his yearbook, he noticed how Jimmy didn't. He didn't even see the ginger! Where had he gone to?
With a soft sigh, Pete lays down in his bed, the yearbook on his dresser. Maybe he could find him tomorrow? He was tired right now and sleep sounded amazing. But as he got close to sleeping, he heard a loud knocking on his door.
"There you are, Pete!" Jimmy bursts through his door, looking around his room. "I heard you had a yearbook. Where is it?"
"On my dresser," he replies tiredly, "Why? Where have you been, anyways?"
"Out," Jimmy goes over to the yearbook and snatches it up with a pleased look on his face as he thumbs through the pages. "Man, look at you! Signatures from so many people! Finally popular, huh, Petey?"
"I guess," He goes to lay back down, watching as Jimmy heads for the door.
"I'm gonna borrow this for a few, okay?" Without waiting for an answer, the ginger's out the door and going to his own room. Pete just groans softly. As much as he liked Jimmy, he wasn't always up for how quick he did everything. But he didn't let it fully get to him as he closes his eyes once more, finally drifting off to sleep. He doesn't even hear Jimmy return a couple hours later, set his yearbook back on the dresser and wish him a goodnight.
The next morning, Pete wakes up fairly early, everyone else still asleep. The first thing he notices is the book sitting where Jimmy had left it and he smiles. Finally a signature from his best friend. But as he searches for a message, he doesn't find one. Instead, on the last couple pages, there are drawings. Portraits of him and Jimmy, along with a small one of Gary. He was still a sore spot for both, but the ginger knew Pete had liked the senior before he went crazy. And he smiles, small tears in his eyes. He had admired Jimmy's art skills, and he felt lucky to forever have his work. It's better than any message.
A/N: So I had thought this up earlier today when I was out and decided to put it into work. Now, in the game Russell is our lovable caveman who can't speak properly, but I wanted to play off the short Bully comic where Russell was still the leader for a beta clique. In the comic he's actually more intelligent and is able to speak like a normal student.
On a side note, the only characters I own are Vyvyan (the greaser) and Michael (the delinquent). They will appear in another story whenever I get around to writing it.