Hello my lovely readers! You are all amazing and I love you all! (In a completely platonic, not creepy kind of way) As for the questions about George... hee hee yeah you'll find out about that eventually :D And Alyss's parents might make an appearance at some point, I haven't decided yet. And someone asked about Cassandra, I really hate to disappoint but she will not make an appearance in this fic. However, I'm planning a sequel which she would definitely be part of ;)

Will managed to stay awake for all of his classes the next day despite being tired from wandering around last night and subtly stealing from convenience stores. (He had gotten a bag of chips, a Slurpee, a pack of cigarettes, and some beef jerky. So hardcore.) Throughout the day, several people had asked about his bruised eye, which Will tried to brush off as an accident. And during lunch Jenny had constantly asked if he was okay, Will thought it was nice to have a friend that cared but he seriously wished she would back off. He'd had much worse injuries in his time.

Will was up to the last class of the day; Gym. It wasn't that Will disliked Gym, it was that he hated it. Running around playing dodge ball or lacrosse? Not Will's style. It didn't help that Horace was also in this class. Will showed up to Gym class late, like he did every day for as long as he could remember. The Gym was decorated in the school's colours; red, gold, and black. His teacher, a fit woman whose name escaped Will at that moment, glared at him as he walked through the Gym doors.

"You're late," she snapped, standing between two teams for what looked like a game of dodge ball.

"Sorry," Will said, obviously not sorry.

"Get changed and meet us back out here. You'll be on Horace's team."

Horace glared at Will as Will walked to the boy's locker room and groaned. Why him? Didn't the teacher know about the fight that had happened yesterday? Or perhaps the teacher did know and put them on the same team just to piss me off, Will thought.

After Will changed in the locker room he reentered the Gym and the dodge balls were in a row in the middle. Will no sooner joined his team than the teacher blew the whistle. The opposite team rushed forwards, grabbed the balls, and began whipping them at Will's team. Will's team quickly picked up the thrown balls and ran across the gym, eager to hit someone. Will grudgingly joined in the game, mostly dodging the balls and not tossing any. But then, before Will could duck, a ball flew towards him and hit him right on the nose. Will glanced around before seeing the smirking face of Horace.

"Really, Horace?" Will yelled and held his nose, which wasn't bleeding but felt a little bruised.

"Sorry, I was aiming for your chest but you're kind of short," Horace said and smirked.

"We're on the same team!"

"I don't very much care, Shorty. If I want to hit you, I'll hit you."

"Is that a threat? It's not a very good one, because your eyes are so small you could hardly be able to see enough to aim."

"You're one too talk, I gave you a nasty bruise on your eye, didn't I?"

"And I gave you one on your jaw, now your face looks more hideous than before."

"You're going to pay for that, Shorty."

"Mr. Altman! Mr. Treaty! Why are you two standing around when there's a game to play?" the Gym teacher yelled from her spot on the bleachers.

Horace and Will glared at each other, then rejoined the game of dodge ball.

(Page Break)

"So what is it you need me to do?" Will asked Alyss, who was in charge of preparing the Debate competition.

"I need you to carry four desks into the gym," Alyss said. "As well as a table and three chairs, which you can get from the Home Ec's classroom."

"On it." Will walked into the classroom closest to the gym, he believed it was the Philosophy class, and began carrying the desks into the gym. He placed two desks in front and to the left of the podium, with the other two desks facing them.

Will walked to the Home Ec's classroom and saw a long table, no doubt the one that Alyss had mentioned. However, Will knew that he wouldn't be able to drag the table to the gym without scratching the floor, and he wasn't going to ask Alyss for help because she was too busy preparing for the competition. He looked around for a solution, and that's when he saw George walking by.

"Hey, George," he called, and George poked his head into the classroom.

"Yes?" he asked.

"Can you help me carry this desk into the gym?"

"I can try." George walked over, seemingly nervous and refusing to make eye contact with Will.

With one boy on each end, they managed to lift the table, which wasn't all that heavy. "So what are you doing here?" Will asked George, who was fumbling with his end of the table.

"Writing an article for the school newspaper, I come to every school event."

Maybe that's why he's always taking notes, Will thought.

After setting the table up and bringing in the chairs, George excused himself to talk with some of the debaters. Redmont High had three debate teams, with two people on each team. Alyss's partner was in Will's Social Class, a boy named Dwayne. He had dirty blond hair, blue eyes, and an incredibly tanned body. Will thought that he looked like a cliche surfer dude.

Will placed an art easel at the entrance to the gym with a sign saying "Redmont High welcomes you to our debate competition! Let it be resolved that schools should provide self defense classes." Alyss was the first speaker for the affirmative side, going against students from Caraway High. Honestly, Will was glad that Alyss was fighting for affirmative, for he wholeheartedly agreed that self defense classes should be mandatory. If self defense classes were taught, Will figured that there would be less bullying and teenagers would be much safer. Will thought back to when George was getting beat up over his laptop, he probably would have been safer if he knew how to defend himself.

"Mr. Treaty," the principal pulled me out of my thoughts. "The debate is about to begin, so how about you step out and help get the snacks ready."

Will's shoulders slumped in disappointment, he had hoped that he would be able to get away with watching the debate by sitting with George. "Sure," he said, and went to the library where the other debaters were sitting, waiting for their turn.

It was half an hour before the four debaters arrived back into the library, and four other debaters took their spot. "How did you do?" Will asked Alyss.

Alyss gave him a small smile and said, "It was very close, and both teams preformed exceptionally, but me and Dwayne won."

Dwayne snorted. "It wasn't close, we won easily."

Their opposing team's faces fell, and Alyss struggled to keep her composure. "It was their first debate, and as such I know for a fact that they did amazing. I'm not even going to mention your first debate." Dwayne glared at her before grabbing a cookie from the container and walking away.

"What did happen in his first debate?" Will asked.

"It doesn't matter, suffice it to say he made a spectacle of himself. Hey, I have an idea."

Will raised an eyebrow. "Oh? What's that?"

"Well, every Wednesday me, Jenny, George, and Horace meet at the diner for supper. Then we play volleyball at the park against Dwayne's team. The problem is, we're one person short, as a team is normally made up of five people. Would you like to join us after debate?"

Will hesitated, he didn't fancy being on the same team as Horace again. Alyss seemed to read his thoughts and said, "If you're worried about not getting along with Horace, he just likes to intimidate people. Besides, while playing volleyball, he often gets so captured into the game that he puts aside all grudges because he's so competitive. This might be the perfect opportunity for you two to patch things up."

Will thought about it for a couple of seconds, then smiled at Alyss and said, "Sure, I'll go."

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