Paul walked quickly to class with angry thoughts buzzing in his mind. Wow, and she was complaining about how mean I was?! She should have heard herself talk! How could she possibly put me in the same group as Dan and Richey?! Yeah, we're friends, but that doesn't mean she has to go and put me in the same group as them. I'm different from them. I'm nicer and I can sympathize with people, unlike those two lazy bums who care for no one but themselves. The next time I see her, I'll keep in mind that she isn't as nice as she seems or sounds.
Meanwhile, Dan was hurrying towards him with his arm raised for a high five. "Hey! What's up, man? Nice job this morning, you know, with that no good unpopular little girl?"
Paul forgot about how much he hated Marie for the minute and his anger was redirected to Dan. "Yeah, I guess so. But if it was that awesome, maybe next time you should be the one who pulls that sort of dirty nonsense."
"Whoa man, why are you so mad at me for?! I didn't do anything wrong to you! We do things like that all the time and you never complained about it before! So why do you choose to speak against it now?!"
"Well, maybe because it just dawned on me that the only one doing these so called pranks is me! On top of that, whenever someone catches me in the act, I don't rat you guys out. I say it's all my fault and it was all my idea just to cover you guys up. I tell the principal and teachers a whole pack of lies just for you and Richey. But I don't get anything back. This is the thanks I get for all that I've done for you two?! If that's what you call fair, then I'm out of this group!"
Dan stood still for a while. No, he can't leave this group! I know that he's the one that always gets blamed, but I can't let good old Richard to do the dirty work. We had a deal. Plus, he's paying me not to make him do things like that. Of course there's no way that I can do it because I just can't risk my good boy reputation. I can't believe Dan has us wrapped around his finger so tightly. "Dude, you can't just drop out of our group, Paul. Don't you realize that you're a vital part of this little groupie? We need you to be in so that our rep isn't spoiled."
"What 'rep' are you talking about?! Do you mean the 'rep' that you've set by putting me in the line of fire while you and Richey find a nice hideout and watch the show? Well, I don't know about you, but I consider that pretty stupid. So yeah, I'm out." I can't let them drag me around any longer.
"Alright, we'll make a deal. If you stay in this group, we'll lessen the pranks that you have to pull by a lot." Well, there goes our wonderful reputation. Oh well, that just means the rest of the school will cower in fear when we walk down the hallways for nothing. If Paul isn't going to be putting up with the constant pranks, then we'll just have to stop pulling pranks because neither me nor Richard can pull those pranks.
"What kind of lie are you telling me now?" Paul asked suspiciously.
"I'm not lying to you, Paul. I'm telling the truth. You stay with us and you'll pull less pranks." Well, that's not exactly a lie, so it's the truth. I'm just not stating the truth, that's all.
"Well, the minute things go haywire, I'm leaving, is that understood?"
"Of course, Paul."
Paul nodded. "Alright, then I'll stay. I'm going to class now, so tell Richey I said what's up."
"Yeah, I will. I've got to get to class myself, so I don't know if I'll run into Richard on my way."
"That's fine with me. I just said if you see Richey tell him I said what's up."
"If I happen to run into him, I definitely will."
"Take it easy, man."
"You, too."
Paul and Dan walked in two different directions. Paul walked away with a lot on his mind, with the first thing being Ella. He still hadn't gotten over the fact that she had clumped him together with his no good friends. His friends were obnoxious. He knew that. But that was something that he would never say to their face or else he would be one dead boy. He walked slowly to class, trying to drag the time along so that he didn't have to spend an extra minute in the torture chambers of Spanish class.
He heard someone walking behind him, and figured it was just a teacher. He turned around to check, but he didn't see anyone. It's probably my imagination acting up again. He continued walking and heard the footsteps again.
"Goddamn it, who's there?!" Paul asked with an irritated tone.
Someone dressed in all black with a dark cap appeared.
"Who are you?" Paul asked firmly, but inside he was shaking.
"That's not your business." The voice was husky and rough. The figure slipped a hand inside his pocket and Paul watched nervously. Is he going to take out a gun? Paul watched with relief as the figure pull out a white piece of paper from his pocket. In a matter of seconds, the piece of paper was at his feet. "Read that if you know what's good for you." The voice said before the figure disappeared.
Paul watched the figure leave and stared at the piece of paper anxiously. This might be a trickā¦Paul debated with himself as to whether or not he should take a look at the piece of paper. Finally, he picked it up and put it in his back pocket. I'll read it in class. Paul walked into class quietly and took his seat in the back of the room. The bell rang a few seconds later.
"Ok class; please take out your homework." The teacher said. Paul took out his homework and his binder and put the note in front of it. While the teacher was still on the other side of the room checking people's homework, he read the note:
'Hello, Paul. I'm sure you're wondering about my identity as you read this note, but I assure you, that is none of your business. We have no intention of causing harm to you. We don't intend to kill you or anything. Although the appearance of me might be a bit intimidating, don't be alarmed. It was just a way to hide my identity. Anyway, the word that's going around the school is that you might be ditching the little group that you're in because you're sick and tired of the behavior of your friends. Well, Paul, if they really and truly were your friends, they wouldn't force you to be doing things against your will. It was smart of you to stand up to them for the first time in your life. I also heard about your stupid little prank that you played on a girl. I think her name was Ella. She's a nice girl and I don't appreciate you picking on her. So, if you know what's good for you, you will stop picking on people like Ella. What have they done to you that they deserve this treatment? They've done nothing to you and you should be returning the favor. Until next time. Anonymous.'
