A/N: Another uber long chapter... because they're so long I won't be updating as often. And plus I've been going crazy with my graphics tablet, it's kind of distracting me from writing xD Anyway, thanks for the reviews everyone! ^_^

Chapter Seven

My First Enemy

The bed springs creaked agonisingly as all one hundred and thirteen pounds of Tommy Jackson dived onto it. He pulled the cover down to reveal Reese's groggy groaning face and grinned mischievously.

'Wakey, wakey, Sleeping Beauty!' Tommy bellowed into his ear. 'Today's your first official day as a scumbag Academy kid! Get dressed and get your ass over to the auditorium for the induction assembly.'

Reese wasn't used to waking before eight o'clock, so he wasn't best impressed to see that it was only seven. 'Piss off,' he muttered, waving a hand around like he was swatting a bug. 'Got plenty of time.'

Tommy pulled the cover down again. 'I'm not leaving 'til you get up buddy.' He replied. 'I can be unrelentingly annoying.'

'I gathered that.' Reese grumbled as he attempted to pull the covers over his head again.

Tommy yanked them down. 'You want me to get Joshua in? Cos he can get you out of bed in a flash. If you fall asleep with him hanging around you can be sure you'll wake up with a distinctly wet and uncomfortable feeling in your-'

Reese sighed and pushed himself up on his elbow. 'Right, right. Fine. I'm getting up.' He shoved Tommy off the bed, causing him to thump noisily on the wooden floor before sitting up and rubbing his face with both hands. His hair was sticking up all over the place and his eyes were puffy from sleep. 'Why the hell are you up so early?'

Tommy shrugged, now sitting up on the floor with his arms resting on the bed. 'I only sleep for about four hours a night. All I need to keep me alive really. And plus the guys and I like to secure the back row seats in the auditorium for some good old anonymous missile pitching. You can only get away with it in the back row and the row seventh from the front.' He paused and cocked his head. 'Never understood that. Row seven must just be a blind spot to the faculty.'

Reese ran his hands over his head, trying to wake himself up quicker. 'Can't you just sit somewhere else for today? Unlike you I need more than four hours sleep. Five would have been nice.'

Tommy rolled his eyes. 'And make the other kids think we're going to give them an easy year? I think not.' He sprang to his feet and clapped his hands noisily. Reese flinched at the sound. 'I'll expect to see you outside in no more than five minutes. And don't try and make excuses like you need to wash and shit like that because the bathroom is still out of bounds. If you need to pee just go round the back of the dorm or something. That's what everyone else does.'

Reese rubbed his head. 'Whatever. Just get out.'

Tommy bowed deeply and backed out of the room. 'As you wish, sir.' He said grandly. With a chuckle he backed out of the door and slammed it loudly behind him. Again Reese flinched. He had forgotten just how unbearable Tommy Jackson was.

Ten minutes later Reese emerged from the Boy's Dorm, face screwed up against the warm morning sun. He pulled at his grey sweater vest. It felt uncomfortable and twisted, although he couldn't for the life of him make it feel normal.

Like Tommy had said, the whole group of bullies were waiting for him by the archway. Kingsly and Joshua were roughhousing while Nigel looked on with the same uninterested look on his face. Blaine was hunched down and prodding at something on the floor with a twig. Tommy was watching Kingsly and Joshua, expression thoughtful. There was no one else around apart from tall, skinny kid with thick brown hair and dressed in a dark green school sweater and black slacks. He was wandering around and looking directly up at the sky. Reese found himself glancing up to see what was so interesting, but he could see nothing. Not even a cloud.

'Reese!' Tommy called to him. 'Get a move on man! Christ you're like a woman! What were you doing, putting on your fake tan? Painting your toenails?'

Reese frowned vaguely and trotted down the steps, rubbing one eye with his fist. He approached the group slowly, still bitter at been woken so early. 'Actually I was fixing on my false eyelashes.' He allowed his arms to drop by his sides and sighed heavily. 'So are we going or what?'

'Hey!' Kingsly yelped suddenly, hopping away from Joshua with a shocked expression. 'You did it again man! What have I told you?'

Joshua shrugged defensively. 'My hand just slipped, dude, that's all.'

Kingsly moved away from him, muttering and rubbing his hands on his shirt. Joshua blushed a little and turned away, frowning. Reese eyed him curiously for a moment, and then glanced questioningly to Tommy. But either Tommy hadn't noticed or it was a common event as he didn't react to it.

'Yeah, we're ready.' He said. 'Come on, guys.'

'Wait,' Nigel said, raising one hand. He was watching the dark haired kid with one narrowed eye. 'He's gonna see it.'

Tommy sighed and rolled his eyes. 'Nigel, man, he's been wandering around there all morning. He's not going to see it.'

Nigel frowned but didn't take his eyes off the kid. 'He'll see it.' He said darkly.

'See what?' Reese asked.

Tommy slumped and leaned against the wall. He shrugged apologetically to Reese. 'It shouldn't take long.' He said.

Reese lowered one eyebrow and looked across to the dark haired kid again. Now all the bullies were watching him. He continued staring upwards for another few seconds before returning his head to its regular position. He rolled his head around, presumably to rid himself of the inevitable crick in his neck, and then noticed something on the floor. Nigel straightened up and took a step forward. The dark haired kid bent over, making the fatal mistake of keeping his back to the bullies, and then tried to pick something up from the floor.

Nigel was off before Reese had even released what was happening. He raced towards the unfortunate dark haired kid and then drew his foot right back. Tommy hissed, anticipating the impact, and then with an awful whumph Nigel's large, sandal-clad foot mashed against the dark haired kids vulnerable rear and caused him to fall flat on his face.

'Score!' Blaine hooted, punching the air.

Tommy raised his hands. 'Right, you got your kid. Can we please go now?'

Nigel shrugged, now oblivious of the groaning kid writhing on the floor. He pushed his hands in his pockets and rejoined them; the bored and distant look back on his face. 'Sure.'

Reese looked over to the kid, a little taken aback by the attack. Then he remembered Nigel gluing down the pennies the night before and suddenly found himself quite impressed by his forethought and patience.

'He'll be fine,' Tommy said, assuming that Reese was concerned for the kid. 'That's Earl Hardwicke. He's had a lot worse than that, trust me. He'll be happy that it was just the one kick he got. Come on, we're already running late as it is.'

Reese nodded. The other bullies were walking ahead. Joshua and Kingsly were play fighting again. Nigel and Blaine wandered along together, Blaine chattering animatedly and miming holding someone by their shirt and punching them in the face.

'The kids here are pretty psychotic,' Reese commented. 'I mean I always knew it, but it still takes you back when you see it for yourself.'

Tommy nodded. 'Oh hell yeah. This place just creates crazed kids. Did you know that Blaine was actually a smart, quiet and pretty balanced kid when he first started here? He got his ass kicked in the locker room and got some kind of brain damage thing. After that… well, you can see for yourself. He's probably one of the nastiest and dumbest kids at this school.'

'Who kicked his ass?' Reese asked.

'Me and Kingsly.' Tommy replied, and then shrugged defensively. 'He was the new kid.'

'Right.' Reese cocked an eyebrow and decided to change the subject. 'Oh yeah, I wanted to ask you… You know you mentioned some chick called Taylor Ruxton…?'

Tommy turned and looked at him with his eyebrows drawn together. 'Dude…' He said darkly, shaking his head. 'So you met her?'

'She was sitting watching the TV in the common room at like… two in the morning.' Reese replied. 'Does she always do that?'

Tommy nodded. 'She is mental, dude. Seriously. If she strolls into your room and decides to take a crap in the corner, you let her do it. She's a complete head case. Even Crabblesnitch won't expel her or anything. She's also the smartest kid in the school, better test scores than even Carlton, and it's like that gives her some kind of immunity. She goes anywhere. None of the cliques bother her; Brooke Harrington just point blank refuses her existence… If there's one person you don't get on the wrong side of in this school, let it be Taylor Ruxton. Some of the kids say that she's some kind of neo-nazi lesbian or something. Hunt Oakley seems to think that she's related to Crabblesnitch. Joey Rizzo says she's some kind of human Black Widow spider that lures in guys just to lop their balls off for trophies. Of course that's ridiculous though, there's no way she could be related to Crabblesnitch.'

Reese laughed. 'Man, she's just some fruit loop. She's harmless.'

Tommy shook his head. 'No way, man. Don't underestimate her. Do you like your balls? If you like them you'll stay on her good side.' He shuddered visibly. 'But man she's hot. If she wasn't so crazy…'

Reese shook his head. 'You just don't stop, do you?'

Tommy shrugged his shoulders. 'If it was dark enough I'd probably think you're hot.' He admitted. 'Come on, the guys are leaving us behind.' He jogged to catch up with the others. Reese continued at his own speed, pushing his hands in his pockets and wishing he were still in bed.

Apparently the back row was incredibly sought after. When they reached the auditorium the Greasers were already hanging around by the door. They didn't acknowledge the bullies as they gathered a little away from them to wait for the auditorium to open. Dante Romano was there with Joey Rizzo practically glued to his left shoulder. He talked quickly and quietly about his bike while another two Greasers listened intently. Quietly, Tommy informed him that the overweight dark haired Greaser was called Jackie Esposito and the short, baby faced red-head was called TJ Spinelli. Despite talking about the guys, Tommy's eyes were glued to Lara Romano, who was standing on the right side of her brother and examining her fingernails.

The auditorium doors opened about twenty minutes later. As expected the Greasers filled up the back row, leaving the bullies to inhabit the seventh row. Tommy seemed a bit put out by it all and fell quiet and sulky. The others didn't seem to care as they settled into their seats. Almost immediately Nigel and Blaine pulled out straws from their pockets and rolls off tissue paper. Blaine bit off a piece and began to chew on it whilst looking up at the empty stage, resembling some kind of brainless llama.

Another half hour later and the other students began to file in. The Nerds filled up the front row. Reese watched them go by curiously; he recognised Carlton Nedry, Herbert Douglas and Mallory Steiner from yesterday, but there were two others also; a short rodent like kid and a tall goofy guy who smiled and greeted nearly everyone he passed, including Reese. Reese could only frown in confusion.

Then the Preps sauntered in. Brooke and Darcy Harrington led the way, closely flanked by Hunt Oakley and three other male preps. Reese didn't take any more time to study them; he had already made his mind up that they were all bastards. After them came a scattered group of friendless kids, the non-clique kids, apparently. Amongst them was Earl Hardwicke, who was still rubbing his rear and wincing. Reese watched him as he took his seat, unable to stifle a chuckle as the kid winced and shifted uncomfortably.

Watching Earl meant that he missed the Jocks entering, and only became aware of them when he heard a deep, dumb laugh from behind him followed by a shrill, 'Todd, you're disgusting.'

Reese glanced over his shoulder. Brittany Henderson was grimacing at Todd who was laughing hysterically.

'You want disgusting?' Todd laughed. 'I can do disgusting if that's what you're into. Just get me a two way mirror, a thong and Edna.'

'Ew!' Brittany squealed, shaking her hands.

Reese turned back around again, eyes narrowing as he scanned the surrounding kids. There were still plenty of empty spaces. The auditorium had been built to house at least two hundred people by the looks of it, but there were no more than fifty kids sitting around. Fifty dumb kids.

He blinked as he felt fingers poke him hard in the back. 'Hey,' a deep voice barked. 'You're that Smith kid, aintcha?'

Reese turned around, resting his arm on the back of his seat. Tommy and Kingsly followed suit, but the other bullies were too busy spitting balled up pieces of paper over the Preps and onto the Nerds. The Jock that had spoken to him was none other than Chuck Wiles.

Reese smirked. 'Yeah. And you're that 'roid monkey, aintcha?'

Chuck frowned deeply. 'You want to watch your mouth, pal. You're new here so I'll let that one slide. Next time I ask you a question you just answer yes or no, got that twerp?'

'Does that one class as the next question?' Reese asked, mocking confusion. 'I always end up making stupid social blunders like this.'

Kingsly sniggered behind his fist. Tommy watched with an unreadable expression. Chuck didn't look at all happy, and neither did the other Jocks who had stopped to watch.

'Is that the new kid?' Todd Peterson asked with a frown. 'What happened to your face, man? It's all cut up.'

'I got hit by a car that was originally trying to mow down my mom and dad.' Reese replied. 'That was a fun night.'

Chuck laughed. 'Oh yeah, you're from that nut job family, aintcha? Yeah you're pretty well known around here, kiddo. Mandy says she remembers your folks. She says she's surprised you weren't born with some kind of mutation or something'.'

Reese nodded. 'I know. I wish I'd been born with an oversized pituitary gland like you guys. I guess I'll just have to make do with being normal, huh? Although I suppose the gland thing is to make up for your distinct lack of cognitive functions… so I guess it all balances out.'

Todd stared at him. 'What the hell is he talkin' about, Chuck?' He started to get up. 'Don't make me smash your teeth you little dirtbag.'

Chuck grabbed Todd's huge forearm and made him sit again. He stared hard at Reese. 'Chill, Todd. The induction is just about to start. Don't want to ruin it, do we?'

Reese eyed him for a moment before turning back around in his seat. Tommy leaned to him. 'Careful, man.' He whispered.

Reese just ignored him. A moment later Dr Crabblesnitch made his way onto the stage. He moved slowly and with the aid of a smooth, dark wooden walking stick. When he reached the podium he seemed a little breathless. Either out of respect or fear of the four Prefects who were now standing down the sides of the seats, the students fell silent.

'Morning,' Crabblesnitch breathed. 'I'm proud to see so many bright and intelligent pairs of eyes on me this morning…'

'Smith,' Chuck hissed in Reese's ear, making it tickle. 'If you've got any sense in that scattered little brain of yours you'll know better than to speak to me like that again.'

Reese narrowed his eyes and listened to him, but showed no indication that he was. He watched Crabblesnitch on the stage, despite not hearing what he was saying.

'You're nothing but another faceless little shit that will more than likely get stuck in the grips on the bottom of my shoe. You keep off my shoes and we won't have a problem, got that?'

Reese turned his head slightly and half grinned at Chuck. 'Just a tip, sweetheart, bring me some flowers next time you want to get so close.' He turned forward again.

Chuck snorted furiously. 'You listen to me you little turd,' he hissed. 'You're nothing, got that? You think you're some big shot kid cos your dad was some big fucking loser who got a bunch of kids to fight. Well you must be as round the bend as he is if you think that's gonna make any difference around here. He's nothing but some stupid story around here now. He's nothin', just like you.'

Reese felt his teeth gritting together and his fists clenching, but he tried to calm himself.

'You're nothing but New Coventry scum with a psycho for a dad and a whore for a mom.'

Reese sprang to his feet and whirled around. Chuck only had the chance to look briefly confused as Reese's fist slammed into his nose. 'Don't you dare say that about her!' he yelled, silencing Crabblesnitch. 'You floppy dicked 'roid monkey!'

A couple of kids hooted and cheered, but Reese didn't get the chance to see who they were. He was seized immediately by two giant Prefects. They practically lifted him off his feet and marched him to the door.

'You little punk!' Todd Peterson yelled, shaking his fist angrily while Chuck clutched his bloody nose. 'You'll pay for that you little turd! You just made one hell of a mistake!'

Reese struggled against the two Prefects so he could grin broadly at the fuming Jocks. 'It was worth it!' he called before he was yanked violently out of the auditorium.

Guarded by the stuffy receptionist Miss Danvers, Reese sat on the couch by Dr Crabblesnitch's office and picked thoughtfully at the worn green material. He hadn't meant to snap like that in the auditorium, but Chuck Wiles hadn't particularly left him with much choice. Reese could take a lot of verbal abuse; about himself, his strange upbringing, the scar that forever marked his face… But he could not take anyone ridiculing his mother. As much as he tried to hide it he was incredibly defensive of her. No one, no matter who they were, got away with calling his mom a whore.

Despite not regretting punching Chuck Wiles in his stupid square-jawed face, Reese knew it was certainly going to be a problem in the future. The Jocks weren't going to give him an easy time until they got him back. Lucky he had the Bullies on his side then. Maybe they would soften the blow a little. Tommy wouldn't let him get brought down on his first day by a bunch of dumb footballers.

'Smith,' Miss Danvers barked suddenly, snapping him out of his thoughts. 'Dr Crabblesnitch will see you in his office now.'

Reese blinked. 'But he's still in the auditorium.'

'No he's not. He's waiting for you in his office. Don't keep Dr Crabblesnitch waiting, boy.'

Reese cocked his head in confusion, trying to remember seeing Crabblesnitch passing him. He couldn't. He stood up anyway, pushing his hands in his pockets and heading for the Principal's office. As Miss Danvers had said Crabblesnitch was there and waiting. Confused, Reese looked around for another way that the headmaster could have arrived but the only entrance was through the reception.

'Reese.' Crabblesnitch said, brow darkening. 'Sit down.'

Reese dropped into one of the seats opposite his grand desk and began to pick at the stitching at the bottom of his sweater vest.

'Three minutes into the induction assembly,' Crabblesnitch breathed. 'I think that is most probably a record for a new student. Usually they wait until at least the third day before they show blatant disrespect for the Prefects, the faculty and the students. What do you have to say for yourself, boy?'

Reese shrugged. 'He provoked me, sir.' He replied.

'Provoked you?' Dr Crabblesnitch enquired. 'And how did he do that when he was sitting behind you?'

Reese glanced up and held Crabblesnitch's gaze. 'He called my mom a whore.'

Crabblesnitch blinked. 'Oh.' He managed finally, appearing to be momentarily flustered. 'Well… If that is true then while I don't condone your behaviour I certainly don't tolerate insulting another boy's mother…' He paused thoughtfully. 'Violent behaviour is not the answer, do you understand that? If something like this happens again then I'll expect you to come to me or one of the faculty members instead of taking matters into your own hands.'

Reese exhaled through his nostrils and shook his head slightly. 'Yeah, whatever.' He mumbled.

Crabblesnitch leaned forward, clasping his hands on the desk. 'You do not need to prove anything here, boy. You do not need to treat me as the enemy. However if you insist on calling me out to battle then I will have no choice but to step forth. And I can guarantee you, Smith, I'll win that war.'

Reese smirked a little. 'Yes sir.'

Crabblesnitch eyed him. 'I want you back in your dorm until classes start this afternoon. Between now and then I will decide if I'm going to punish you or simply give you another warning. Either way I will let you know by the end of the day. Now get out of my sight, Smith.'

Reese pushed himself out of the chair without hesitation or another word and moved swiftly out of the door. He strolled by Miss Danvers, saluting her lazily as he passed. She simply glared at him and muttered; 'Little horror' under her breath. He only smiled pleasantly and passed through onto the landing. The last few stragglers were still heading out of the auditorium and leaving the building. Those stragglers were of course just more victims of Tommy and his Droogs who were hanging around by the main doors.

Kingsly currently had hold of Herbert Douglas by his belt loop and was swinging him around with ease, despite being half the size of the overweight nerd. Tommy was leaning against the wall, head down and brow furrowed in deep thought. For someone as spontaneous and dumb as Tommy Jackson, he sure did look like he was deep in thought pretty often. Reese watched him for a moment. Maybe Tommy was smarter than he let on. After all he had managed to get himself in charge of a good clique and he seemed to know the ins and outs of the school pretty well. He had also looked very wary in the auditorium…

Reese realised that Tommy knew something important about the Jocks. That was why he had told him to be careful when Chuck had been provoking him. Curious to know what it was, Reese started down the stairs towards them.

'Psst,' a voice hissed from above. 'Hey! Up here!'

Reese frowned and looked around. Then he held back a loud groan at the sight of Taylor Ruxton hanging over the wooden rail and grinning down at him from in front of the trophy cabinet.

'Oh. It's you.'

Taylor grinned. 'The one and only. Now are you going to stand there trying to see if you can get a glimpse up my skirt or are you going to come up here and see what it is that I have to tell you?'

Reese raised an eyebrow. 'Looking up your skirt would be like peering into the pits of hell, so excuse me if I pass on that.'

Taylor ran her tongue over her teeth. 'It is pretty hot down there.'

Reese rolled his eyes and looked away. 'Right. Sorry, Norman Bates, but I've got things to be doing.' Shaking his head he went to continue heading down the steps.

'Good work giving Chuck Wiles a nose full.' Taylor said. 'I've been wanting to punch that guy ever since he stole my Barbie in first grade and fed it to a cow. Although I guess I got him back… I tied him down in the yard and poured ants down his pants.'

Reese looked at her for a moment. 'Look, I'd love to stay and… continue whatever this is… but I'm a busy guy, okay?'

'Busy?' Taylor asked. 'What do you have to do? Can I come? I'd love to be busy.'

'You're such a headcase.' Reese told her. 'At least I know what to get you for Christmas; ten rolls of rubber wallpaper and a straightjacket.'

'If you want to go after the Jocks it's no good going to your little buddy Tommy.' Taylor told him, resting her chin on the wooden rail. 'He won't help you. Mainly because he's a little wuss and doesn't want to get his ass kicked and lose the respect of his little gay boys. And plus, if you want to be so ambitious as to hit the big guys first, there's a few things you need to take into account.'

Reese regarded her for a moment. How did she know that he wanted to take down the Jocks just because he had punched one of them for calling his mom a whore? Was it just an assumption because she knew his family history? Or could she really tell? Tommy had said she was pretty smart. So what if she was probably a diagnosed psychopath? She could be useful.

'Alright then,' Reese said. 'I'm listening.'

Taylor chuckled. 'Good for you.' She paused. 'I hope you don't think I was going to tell you how to hit the Jocks. Oh no, I want you to do that on your own. It wouldn't be any fun if you didn't screw it up a few times first.'

Reese sighed in exasperation. 'Whatever. Bye, Taylor.'

'Brian Ostner.' She called after him.

He glanced back to her. 'Who?'

'Meanest Prefect on campus.' She told him with a gleam in her eye. 'He's the one who can snap tree trunks with his pinkies. Big guy, shaved head, looks like a drill sergeant. Sometimes spends a little too long in the communal showers.'

Reese shook his head. 'They dragged me out of the auditorium pretty fast. Didn't get a good look at them.'

'Well Brian Ostner is the number one wrestling champ at this school. Which goes without saying…'

Reese nodded. 'Ah. He's a Jock.'

Taylor winked and made a gun with her finger. 'Correctamundo.'

Reese frowned in thought. 'So that means the Jocks have the Prefects on their side? I didn't realise that…'

'Yeah well that's something you need to take into account,' Taylor told him. 'And I hope you're not planning on trying to beat them down or anything because frankly…' She trailed off, noticing something behind Reese. Her grin widened and her eyes sparkled. 'Hey there, sexy.'

Reese glanced around to see who she was talking to and saw it was Tommy. 'Hey,' Reese nodded. 'Crabblesnitch is a total wuss man. He didn't even-'

'What's your damage?' Tommy scowled. 'Are you completely insane?'

Reese blinked at him and then glanced back to Taylor questioningly.

'For once I think that question is not being directed at me.' She smirked.

Reese turned back to Tommy and laughed in confusion. 'What's my damage? What are you talking about?'

'Smashing Chuck Wiles' nose,' Tommy frowned. 'Do you want to be killed? Cos you're certainly going the right way about it. You don't mess with the Jocks, man. That's not how it works. That's not the rules.'

Reese was confused. He hadn't realised just how much Tommy obeyed the social order at the school. Then it all made sense; his passiveness towards the Greasers, his complete avoidance of the Jocks… Tommy had his place here at Bullworth and he didn't want it to change.

'Screw the rules.' Reese chuckled, trying to hide his bewilderment at his friend's blind obedience. 'New year, new rules. Kids like Chuck Wiles aren't going to have it easy while I'm here. I'm not going to sit back and take crap off those morons.'

Tommy shook his head. 'You're crazy, man. You'll get yourself killed.'

'At least it'll be bloody.' Taylor grinned. She had managed to join them on the stairs without them even noticing that she had moved.

'Who invited you, psycho?' Tommy shot at her angrily. 'Haven't you got some testicles to be arranging?'

Taylor lowered her chin and smiled coyly. 'I do need to dust that little shelf that I'm keeping for you, Tommy.' She winked and licked her top lip.

Tommy flushed visibly and returned his attention back to Reese. 'Seriously, man,' he said. 'You don't know what this place is like. The Jocks aren't just big dumb tough kids, they've got the Prefects on their side. And the Prefects… man you don't even want them on your case. They'll make your life hell. You should be grateful! You've had a better start than most kids here! You haven't even been punched yet!'

'I'm not going to let anyone punch me.' Reese scoffed. 'Tommy, these kids are dumb. All they need is for someone to show them who's boss and they'll turn into pussycats.'

'Meow.' Taylor added.

Reese and Tommy glanced to her in bewilderment before turning back to each other. 'You've got to understand, man,' Tommy sighed. 'They're not as dumb as they look. Seriously. They'll kill you.'

Reese chuckled and waved a dismissive hand. 'Trust me, I've got it all figured out. In a couple of weeks you'll see.'

'That's if you're still alive in a couple of weeks.' Tommy muttered. 'If you're going to mess with those kids then I'm not getting involved. I've got it okay, y'know? I don't want to get myself killed just because you want to see how far you can push people.'

'I think it's a good idea,' Taylor said cheerily. 'I'd like to see some of these kids getting their comeuppance.' She jabbed Reese in his arm with one finger. 'I'm with you.'

Reese rubbed his arm and frowned at her. 'Gee, thanks.' He said sarcastically, eyeing her distastefully. 'That really helps the cause.'

'If she agrees with you then it's definitely crazy.' Tommy pointed out, nodding his head in Taylor's direction.

'What's wrong, Tommy?' Taylor grinned, putting her hands behind her back and leaning forward. 'You chicken? If you want I can make a man out of you.' She winked again, and again Tommy looked deeply uncomfortable. Frowning at her, he took Reese's arm and began to lead him down the remaining stairs.

'Get away from her, man,' he said. 'She's crazy. It must be contagious or something.'

Taylor followed them, trotting to join Tommy's side. 'C'mon, Tommy. I thought you were the big bad bully. Surely you're not scared of a few Jocks. Reese hasn't been here five minutes and he's not scared to stand up to them. That may be due to being dropped on his head as a kid but hell, who's not crazy in this place?'

'You want to screw off, Taylor,' Tommy hissed at her. 'This is between me and Reese. Go get your kicks elsewhere.'

Taylor grinned that snaky grin and leaned towards him. 'Well I guess I know when I'm not wanted.' Her hand shot out and she squeezed Tommy's rear, causing him to jump in surprise, before winking at Reese. 'Ta-ta, boys.' With that she strutted off towards the doors. The bullies lingering there quickly got out of her way, like a pack of dogs giving way to a wolf.

Tommy looked flustered. 'Man…' he sighed, shaking his head. 'I think I need a cold shower.'

Reese shook his head. 'You've got major issues, man. Is there anyone at this school who doesn't make you need a cold shower?'

Tommy shot him a serious look. 'My issues aren't as big as yours, dude. I'm not kidding, Reese. Watch it. Things can get nasty real quick around here.' He patted him on the arm and moved away. 'I'll probably see you after classes. Watch yourself.'

Reese just watched Tommy join his group and then lead them out of the school building. Reese remained where he was, alone in the entrance hall, and wondered why Tommy was so afraid of change.