The lunch bell rang, and all the students headed to the cafeteria, where God only knows what sort of stuff they were serving.
Connor, Altaïr, Malik, Ezio, and Desmond all met up at their usual table, along with Rebecca, Shaun, Lucy and Leonardo. They all sat down, pulling out their lunches. They had made the mistake last year of buying their food, and all ended up sick for a week straight. It had been a horrible week for everyone.
Connor opened his lunch, and pulled out his sandwich, "Hey you guys wanna go to a movie the weekend?" Rebecca asked, "The new Underworld movie is playing."
"Sweet! I've been wanting to see that one for a while," Desmond said, taking a bite of his sandwich, "What time does the movie start? We should grab a bite before the movie."
"It plays at 6 and 8:30 on Friday, so if we wanted to go to the later one that would work," Rebecca said, checking the listings on her phone.
"I wish I could," Ezio said, sighing, "My dad is having one of his work parties Friday, and we all have to be there," he said, stabbing his fork in his rice, "And we have to dress nice. I hate it," He looked up, "But...not as much as I hate who's walking over here now," he said, and everyone looked up. Sure enough, Cesare and his gang was making their way over to their table.
"What do they want now?" Shaun asked, obviously annoyed, "We just want to eat our lunch in peace," His newest book was sitting on the table, opened at his page.
"Hey what's this?" Cesare asked, picking up the book.
"Give it back Cesare," Connor said.
"I'd rather not. It looks too good," he said, and tossed it to his best friend, Robert. Robert looked at it, then handed it to Charles Lee. If there was one person who Connor could say he absolutely hated, it was Charles. He was an arrogant prick who always tried to get his way and make Connor's life miserable. Charles looked at the book.
"It looks boring," he said, and threw it in the garbage.
"I just bought that!" Shaun exclaimed. Connor got up and grabbed Charles by his shirt, pinning him against the wall.
"Give him his book back," he said.
"Make me," Charles snapped, and Connor grabbed Lucy's water and dumped it over his head, then let him go. Charles glared at him.
"Go home and cry to your mom Lee," Malik said, as Connor made his way back to their table.
"At least I have a mom to go home and cry to," he sneered, and Connor froze. He turned around slowly, "Isn't that right Connor?" Connor walked over to him, but Altaïr grabbed his shoulder.
"He's not worth it," he said low, but Connor pulled away, "Connor don't do this!"
Connor ignored him and grabbed Lee by the front of his shirt, "Ooo you gonna slam me into the wall again? I'm so afraid," Charles sneered again, and Connor threw him into the garbage can, knocking it over. The people sitting by it got up, shocked. Connor got down on the ground, and began punching Charles in the face.
"Connor stop!" Lucy yelled, "Stop it!" Malik and Altaïr rushed over, and pulled Connor off Charles, leaving him cowering on the floor, his nose bleeding.
"What is going on in here?!"
They turned around and saw Mr. Volpe, or as he liked to be called, La Volpe, standing in the doorway. He saw Connor and Charles, "You two. Principal's office now," he said, and Charles got up, wiping his nose. Connor glared at him as they made their way over to La Volpe, and followed him to the principal's office. Cesare glared at the rest.
"Come on. We're leaving," he said, and they walked away. Shaun walked over to the garbage can, and groaned.
"My mother is going to kill me," he grumbled.
"Fighting is unacceptable," The principal, Mr. Revere, said, looking at the two young men sitting on the other side of his desk, "Connor, you are not one to fight. What is going on?"
"He said stuff about my mom," Connor mumbled, crossing his arms. Charles glared at him over the tissue he was holding against his bloodied face. Mr. Revere sighed.
"Boys, you know the policy. Whatever he said does not mean you beat him up, and you do not have the right to go around saying whatever you said," he said, "You're both suspended for the rest of the week.
"What?!" they both exclaimed.
"Mr. Revere it's the first week of classes! We'll be behind!" Connor exclaimed.
"After what happened last year the school board put in a new policy. I'm sorry. I'll see you both next Monday. Until then, enjoy the rest of your week," The two got up, and turned to leave, "I will also be calling your parents and letting them know," Connor froze. He didn't know how Haytham would react to that, "You're dismissed," Connor and Charles left the office in silence, and went their separate ways to their lockers.
Connor opened his locker and sighed, "Hey what happened?" he looked over and saw Altaïr and Malik, "You look down."
"Revere suspended me for the rest of the week," Connor answered, taking out his books then slamming the door shut.
"But it's the first week of classes!" Malik exclaimed, "That's not fair at all! And considering what you've gone through..."
"According to him, that's not a good enough reason to punch Lee in the face," Connor interrupted him.
"He had it coming," Altaïr said, as the three walked down the hall, "Did you want a ride home Connor?" Altaïr asked. Connor shook his head.
"No. I gotta work today anyways, so I'll just head over there," he answered, and Altaïr nodded. He placed a hand on his shoulder.
"We'll talk later tonight. I hope everything goes okay with Haytham," he said, and Connor sighed.
"Me too," he said, and walked towards the main entrance. Altaïr and Malik walked up the stairs, heading to their next class.
"Poor kid. He can't catch a break," Malik said, and Altaïr nodded, "First his mom, now this. And I have a feeling that Haytham probably has a short fuse," Malik looked over at Altaïr, "Are you okay? You're really quiet which is not normal for you," Altaïr chuckled.
"Uh yeah," he answered, "It's nothing really. Nothing important I mean," he said, and Malik raised his eyebrows.
"Come on, you can tell me."
"It's stupid."
"Altaïr, we've been best friends for as long as I can remember. Nothing you have on your mind is stupid," Malik said.
"It's Maria," Altaïr said, "She wants to Skype tonight," Malik felt his heart stop.
"Oh?" was all he could manage.
"I don't know. I mean, we broke up and she was pretty pissed off when I ended it, so why does she want to talk to me?"
"I couldn't tell you. Understanding what girls do is too much work," Malik said, "Even having a normal conversation with them is hard," Altaïr chuckled again.
"Yeah you're right. It would take a genius to figure them out," he said, "Why can't girls be as simple as guys? We just punch each other in the shoulder and we're good," he said.
"Just talk to her. See what she wants," Malik said, "I mean, what's the worse that could happen?" he asked, but he knew the answer deep down. He didn't want to tell him not to talk to her, because Altaïr might get suspicious.
"True enough," Altaïr answered, "Anyways, I got class I'll talk to you later," he said, and opened the door, heading in the room. Malik walked down the hall a bit, and sighed, then went into his class.
Connor walked into the small convenience store, and saw his coworker, Cristina, behind the counter. She looked up, and smiled, "Hey Connor! Long time no see," she said, as he walked behind the counter and placed his backpack down, "Don't you have school?" she asked, looking up at the clock.
"Long story short, I got suspended for a couple of days," he explained, putting on his name tag. Cristina raised her eyebrows, and popped her gum.
"You get in a fight?" she asked, and he nodded, "Ah, I see. I won't ask anymore about it," That was one thing Connor liked about her. She didn't ask a lot of questions, but he did enjoy talking with her, "So, how is living with dad?" she asked. When he had called to get his schedule, he had explained everything to her because he had missed a couple days of work.
"You mean Haytham?" he asked, as he grabbed a box of candy and began unpacking it.
"That says it all," she said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, "So, how is living with Haytham?" she asked again. Connor shrugged.
"Alright, but I have a feeling he won't be around much. He seems like one of those workaholic type guys," he answered, stocking the shelves.
"That's not good," she said, and the door rang as a customer entered the store. He walked over and paid for his gas, then left, "Have you tried talking to him?" she asked, and Connor shook his head.
"Nah," he answered, and the door rang again. Connor turned around and saw Haytham. His back was to him as he was talking to Cristina.
"Does Connor Kenway work here?" he asked, and Connor got up, looking at her.
"Depends. Who's asking?" she asked.
"His father, if you must know. I was wondering if he was here because I got a call from his school," Cristina looked over his shoulder, "What are you looking at?" Haytham turned around, but saw nothing. Connor was crouched behind one of the display cases.
"No he doesn't work until four," she answered, "When he comes, I'll let him know you were here," she said, smiling. Haytham frowned, and left the store. Connor stood up.
"That was close," he said, walking over to her, "He sounded mad."
"A bit," Cristina said, and Connor grabbed another box, "You're not going to be able to avoid him when you get home," she said, pulling out the lottery tickets and organizing them. Connor sighed.
"I know. I just want to delay it as long as possible."
