My first day back to school was… educational. Kids my age everywhere, running here and there, yelling at one another and getting reacquainted. I looked down at the schedule in my hands, then at what I was wearing. Ripped, faded jeans; my pink Nike Hyperdunks; and my faded brown leather racer, a gift from my dad, overtop of a tee shirt that said "I'm bringing sexy Bach" with Johann Sebastian Bach on it. I took in a deep breath to calm my nerves.
It's just school, dude… chill out, I told myself. My little moment of calm was interrupted by a cheerful, bubbly voice right next to me.
"Hi, newbie!" The girl said happily. She was about my height with a very petite frame. Her hair was a light chocolate brown, falling in curls that framed her face. Her pale skin was adorned with freckles splotched aimlessly all over. I could almost feel her vibrant green eyes digging into mine, trying to gauge what kind of person I was. I realized I was staring and tried to think of something to say.
"Oh, um… hi," I replied quietly.
LOSER! My brain screamed. She didn't seem to notice, sticking out her hand.
"My name's Marie. Marie Dare," She greeted. I took her hand, shaking gently.
"Antonio Rodriguez, but my friends call me Toni," I responded. Her smile got even brighter, if that was at all possible.
"Well, it's nice to meet you Toni. Allow me to give you the tour!" She exclaimed. Before I could protest, she grabbed my wrist and began dragging me through the hallways.
"Have you found your locker yet?" She asked.
"Um, no actually I just got here…" I was interrupted by her snatching my schedule out of my hands and scanning over it.
"Your locker is close to mine… come on!" She continued pulling me along. We reached a row of lockers, Marie reading off my combination and unlocking it for me. She grabbed my bag and hung it on one of the hooks, locking my locker and once again tugging me along.
"Come on, Toni, there's so much to see!" She exclaimed. She was pulling me so fast that I almost ran into a group of girls talking.
"Ugh, Britney. Ignore her, she's bad news." She groaned. Suddenly, I heard the sound of books meeting floor, turning to see a group of students surrounding a boy, who was picking up his books off of the floor.
"Come on, Porter, what's wrong? Too chicken to fight back?" One taunted. He was a little taller than me, and totally looked like the football team captain. His blonde hair was crew cut to perfection, and he had a posse tagging along behind him, all joining in, laughing. I instantly remembered when I had been bullied, before my little 'powers mishap'; before my abilities really showed forth.
I was swinging on the swings at the playground, my left hand buzzing. I looked over at it and sighed sadly as I watched the other kids play. Why did they get to be normal? I couldn't even try and play with them without the constant fear that one of my arms or legs would suddenly vibrate out of control. I felt like such a freak, even at the age of 7. I was so caught up in my own thoughts that I didn't even see the school bully, Dominick, strutting over to the swings.
"Hey, loser. What's the matter? Freaking out again?" He laughed, mimicking my shaking hand.
"Leave me alone." I whispered weakly. He stepped towards me, stopping my swing.
"Freak," He announced, pushing me off of my swing and into the rubber-mulch.
"What's the matter? To chicken to fight back?...
I wiggled my wrist free from Marie, walking over to the group. I had been the outcast once, and it made me really mad to see other people doing the same to someone else. The boy on the floor was a little shorter than me, and looked like the kind of person who knew his way around a computer. He was wearing cargo shorts and an unbuttoned button up shirt, with a black Xbox shirt on underneath. His long, mop top hair was swept to the side as he continued picking up his stuff. I pushed my way through the herd of bullies, kneeling down and helping him pick up his stuff.
"Oh look, Port-a-Potty has a friend," crew cut jeered. "Get your nose out of our business." The jock continued. When I didn't respond, he grabbed me by my jacket, rearing me around to face him.
"You ignoring me, newbie?" he asked menacingly. I smirked deviously. You see, one of the first things I learned from being an outcast was to never, ever show weakness. Dominick taught me that day; never ever show fear. I've kept the advice near to my heart. I had learned the ancient remedy for bullies long ago; quips. Wisecrack remarks, jokes, and comebacks were bullies' Kryptonite, which I brandished with the skill and expertise one can only achieve through rigorous trial-and-error.
"My gosh… is that your face, or did your neck just throw up?" I replied. I don't think the kid's face could have gotten any redder, everyone bursting out laughing at him.
"Did you just call me ugly, punk?" He asked threateningly. I put my hands up defensively, jerkily removing his hand from my jacket, fixing it back into place.
"I didn't say you were ugly at all…. You assumed I meant ugly, but I meant hideous beyond belief. I would never try to offend you… not when nature has already done such a bang-up job. I mean, you're so freakin hideous, I don't know whether to laugh, vomit, or scream 'It's ALIIIVE'! " I replied, doing my best impersonation of Dr. Frankenstein at the end. That one got the crowd rolling, and even the kid on the floor couldn't help but chuckle. I guess the bully had had enough, seeing as though he suddenly threw a right hook at me. Time slowed down to a near stop, as it always did when my adrenaline rushed. I waited for about 10 seconds, his fist coming at me so slowly it practically made me yawn. Then, at the last second, I sidestepped out of the way, quickly shoving him in the chest and returning to my original position, so no one would know. What they saw was me dodge his hit, and him fly across the room into the lockers behind him for seemingly no reason. Just then a teacher came out into the hallway as I helped this Porter kid to his feet, handing him his books.
"Is there a problem here?" The teacher asked angrily.
"Uh, no, Mr. Samuels… no problem. I just tripped and the new kid here was helping me pick up my stuff." Porter explained. If the teacher didn't buy it, he certainly wasn't going to do anything about it anyways.
"Well, let's go. You've all got classes to get to!" He commanded, everyone scattering. The boy looked back, then smiled warmly at me.
"What you did back there… thanks. Oh, and I'm Russell, by the way. Russell Porter, but you can call me R.J." he greeted.
"Toni Rodriguez," I supplied. Just then, Marie made her way through the quickly dissolving crowd.
"R.J., are you ok? Bryce is such a loser," she steamed, looking at me skeptically. I couldn't shake this weird feeling forming in the pit of my gut that she was going to make my life a whole lot more… difficult.