The next morning, Barry's aunt and uncle had dropped him off at school. He stood in the corridor, then began pacing, until he saw Iris and her father, Joe. He didn't know Joe well. All his parents ever said was that he was a policeman who used to be friends with his father and now he's a teacher at some fancy private boarding school in Scotland who comes home every summer for his kids, who spend the rest of the time with their grandparents.
Barry always found him intimidating, however. It might have been the scars on his face or what looked to be bite mark scars on his arm that made him look as though he'd gone face to face with a tiger and lived to tell the tale. He looked tough. And he probably was tough. And that was enough for Barry. How Iris turned out to be so gentle when she had someone so scary for a father, Barry would never know.
As soon as she saw him, Iris went bouncing up to Barry.
"Hey, Barry!" Iris greeted pleasantly. She frowned. "You look like you haven't slept at all last night."
Barry hadn't. He'd simply laid awake, with dread in his stomach, just in case another thing he couldn't explain happened today and he'd get the blame for it.
"I slept." He lied.
"Well, you look terrible. Are you sick or something?" Iris asked in concern.
"Maybe. I feel like I might be getting a cold." He lied again.
"I'm sure you'll be okay when we get to the zoo." Iris shrugged.
"Alright!" The teacher shouted, which got everyone's attention. "Everyone get into pairs and get on the bus! We're running behind schedule as it is!"
Everyone partnered up and made their way to the school years, where the bus to take the class to the zoo was waiting. As they were walking, one of the bullies gave Barry a hard shove and he fell to the ground. Just as quickly, Barry pulled himself up again with a sigh.
"Are you okay, Barry?" Iris asked.
"Yeah, Iris, I'm fine." Barry said.
"Are you sure, I-"
"I'm fine." Barry said, this time more aggressively.
He sat next to Iris on the bus, as usual. Nobody else really liked him much and thought his scar looked stupid. Not only that, but the weird things that happened around him caused people to almost sort of... Fear him.
At the zoo, Barry kept quiet. Iris bought him an ice cream and he said thanks. The zoo was crowded, full of other pupils taking their end of year trips as well. He knew they were pupils because just like him, they had their school uniforms on with their school symbol emblazoned on it.
The class had a guided tour by one of the zookeepers and so they stopped to look at the exhibits, lions, ostriches, penguins, tigers and the gorillas. One of the gorillas took an interest in Barry and looked at him through the plexiglas.
"I see Grodd likes you." The zookeeper said.
"I'm sorry?" Barry questioned.
"The gorilla who's looking at you, his name is Grodd."
"Grodd?" Barry looked back at the gorilla. "Gorilla Grodd." He mumbled.
"Barry." Iris tugged at his sleeve.
Barry moved out of the way quickly, which was a good thing. Barry's bullies began thumping on the glass.
"We don't advise you do that-" The zookeeper began.
"Shut up." The bully said.
"Woodward!" The teacher snapped. "We agreed for you to go on this trip if you were-"
"Move!" He yelled at the gorilla, clearly not listening.
"This is probably what happened to Harambe." Iris whispered.
Barry nodded. He was furious at the bullies. He didn't mind them bullying him, but not an innocent gorilla.
Almost instantly, Woodward and the other bully had leapt back in horror. The glass keeping Grodd in his enclosure had vanished. The zookeeper and the teacher had gathered all the children safely behind them before Grodd escaped.
Grodd looked at Barry and seemed to give him a nod, almost a thank you, before he ran off to frighten other zoo goers and probably get himself shot with a tranquilliser dart.
"The glass-where did it go?" The zookeeper babbled.
After that gorilla scare, the teacher decided to bring the pupils back to school early.
This time, it was Iris' turn not to talk to Barry.
When Barry's aunt and uncle came to pick him up, Iris was talking to her father Joe. Joe then looked at Barry which made Barry feel intimidated. Very intimidated.
During the car ride home to his aunt and uncle's, Barry said nothing and went to his room almost straight away.
His aunt offered him tea later on, but Barry refused. He wasn't hungry.
Maybe an hour after that, at about six o'clock that evening, there was a knock at the door. Barry heard indistinct talking and then the door shut. The visitor had never entered the house.
Barry opened his bedroom door and quietly made his way downstairs.
"Bartholomew Henry Allen. I've heard a lot about you."
Barry's eyes widened in horror. It was Joe West.
