Chapter 6

The day dragged by after the maths incident, but after what seemed like a lifetime the bell rang to go home. I left the room and stepped into the hallway, heading to my locker, not bothering to wait for my friends, but assuming they'd catch up. A few kids clapped me on the back as they passed, praising me for my 'awesome joke'. I just rolled my eyes and shoved my books in my locker.

Ryan and Jaden rushed up to me. "What did you do that for, you idiot?" Ryan said, smiling. It would seem that my friends found my situation amusing.

"Drop it, okay?" I said, narrowing my eyes. "I got someone else to do my homework; they must've screwed up the questions to make me look bad or something."

"Who did?" Ryan asked, frowning.

"Was it Maya?" Jaden chipped in.

I ignored them and went outside where kids were out having lunch. Ryan left us to go and play football with a few other guys. I'd never been one for football. Or any sport. I wasn't a sporty guy. I was more of a reading guy. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't the geeky guy who spent his time studying and doing generally geeky things. But I did like reading. I was engrossed in my book as Jaden tried to make small talk. I answered him occasionally and after a while Heather joined us. I nodded in greeting and turned my eyes back to my book.

"What's with you lately?" asked Jaden, eyeing me suspiciously.

I turned my head to him. "What do you mean?"

"You've been so distant," Heather said, her face creasing with concern.

I avoided eye contact. "I've just be busy is all," I said with a yawn. "I haven't been getting much sleep."

"All this time I thought he was a lazy kind of guy," Heather said sarcastically, "and yet he doesn't even sleep."

I sighed. It was true; I hadn't been getting much sleep. As useful as the Frog Man had become he still freaked me out and I had many sleepless nights, expecting the Frog Man to appear in my room and do something creepy. Like kill me.

"So, Heather, what are you doing tomorrow night?" Jaden asked, completely changing the subject and smiling at Heather. I was grateful for him drawing the attention off me. I didn't really want my friends to badger me about sleeping and what-not. I briefly wondered about telling them about the Frog Man. Wow, you've definitely gone insane, a voice in my head said. Well, I say a voice. It was my voice. But I was right. There was no way I could tell anyone about our little frog problem. They'd laugh in my face and probably cart me off to the mental institution.

I smiled a little as Heather scoffed. "Not interested," she said, not even looking at him.

I listened as my two friends argued, Jaden begging Heather to give him a chance, Heather cruelly rejecting him and breaking his heart. That made me laugh. Count on my friends to cheer me up. Lunch ended, and so did the school day a few hours after that. I found Maya and we began our exciting, treacherous trip home. Of course, by saying it would be exciting and treacherous, I was using sarcasm. What I didn't expect was that our trip actually would be exciting and treacherous.

We were halfway home, taking a shortcut through an alleyway, when I heard a voice calling behind us. I was listening to my iPod so it was a bit muffled, but I definitely heard it, so I took my headphones off and turned around.

Maya groaned. There were two tall girls ahead of us, sneering spitefully and looking directly at Maya. One had long blonde hair and was dressed in pink, and the other had shoulder-length black hair and was dressed in three-quarter length trousers and a plain tank top.

"What do you want?" I said rudely. Although I'd never met them, I could tell they were trouble, and so I didn't bother with manners.

"We aren't talking to you, you geek. We're talking to our friend Amaya," said the blonde girl, placing her hands on her hips. Just so we're clear, I am definitely not a geek.

"Leave me alone, Robyn," Maya muttered to the black-haired girl. "Let's go, Harlan."

I scowled at them and my sister and I turned to leave.

"Hey, we're talking to you, Maya. You think you can just ignore us?" Robyn yelled after us. I rolled my eyes and put my headphones back in. I could just about hear the girls yelling stuff at us but I didn't really care about what they were saying so I didn't bother taking my headphones off. Their shouting got louder, and I gritted my teeth in irritation. How annoying.

Suddenly, Robyn leaped forward and grabbed Maya by the shoulder and yanked her back. I moved to help her, but the other girl grabbed me by the collar of my shirt and threw me away. I was impressed by how strong she was (for a girl, anyway). I sighed inwardly, knowing that nothing good could come from getting into a fight. I hated fights. I didn't even know how to fight. When I was somehow dragged into a fight I just freaked out and ran the first chance I got. You may call me a coward but it's better than getting your face bludgeoned in and having to walk around for a week with a swollen eye (trust me, I know). I'd rather be a coward than an idiot.

"Maya, let's get out of here before these two hurt themselves," I said to my sister. I suddenly realized that that wasn't the best thing I could have said. I mentally cursed myself. I thought I was trying to get away from them not anger them. Damn it.

Robyn and her friend laughed hysterically. Talk about drama queens. It wasn't even that funny. "Look who's talking, pipsqueak. We can take you down without breaking a sweat." Robyn's friend spat.

I sighed, getting increasingly tired of the name-calling. For the record, I wasn't a pipsqueak either. I was actually quite tall. Just not as tall as them. I wouldn't go so far as to say I was muscular, especially considering I had practically no muscles at all. It wasn't my fault those girls were freakishly big.

"What's your problem?" I asked, wondering why the hell they were bothering to pick a fight with us. I found it hard to believe that Maya had done something to offend them. Then again, I could be wrong.

"Our problem is not with you, idiot. Just ask your little sister, I'm sure she knows," the second girl said, placing her hands on her hips.

I turned to Maya, who blushed slightly. "I have no idea what you're talking about, Caitlin," she insisted.

"Bullshit!" Robyn suddenly yelled. "I saw you with him, bitch! He's my boyfriend, so stay the hell away from him, got that?"

"He's only dating you because you threatened to tell everyone about what he did at his party!" Maya shouted back, finally snapping.

I looked on obliviously. I had no idea who – or what – they were talking about, but from what I gathered, my sister and I were about to get beaten up because of some stupid girl drama. I considered backing away slowly and trying to get away before they noticed me, but I decided not to leave my sister alone with these creeps. I tuned back into the argument between the girls and Maya to hear them shouting at each other, talking about some boy.

I slipped my hands in my pockets and put my headphones back in. This was nothing to do with me. There was no reason for me to listen to their squabbling. My eyes widened in surprise as Robyn suddenly leaped at my sister, shoving her to the ground. Maya cried out as she hit the ground forcefully and then rolled out of the way of a kick that Robyn aimed at her head.

I moved to help her, but Caitlin dived at me and slammed her fist into my face. I went sprawling, and was vaguely aware of blood running down my face. I got up slowly, trying to wipe the blood away but more kept coming. I could not believe I was just beaten up by a girl. I groaned. This was going to ruin my reputation. Not that I had a reputation that was anything more than a cowardly lay-about, but still. That girl had given me a nosebleed. My face, totally, if only temporarily, ruined by some stupid bully who didn't even know who I was. This meant war.

I was about to run when I saw a green blur out of the corner of my eye. I turned and saw Frog Man standing, staring at Maya and the other girl with nothing more than mild interest.

"What are you doing here?" I demanded, my voice sounding weird from my injured nose. The edge of Frog Man's mouth twitched up into what could possibly have been a smile, and he stepped forward calmly picked Robyn up and held her dangling in the air by her throat. She made a horrible choking noise and her face slowly began to turn blue.

Caitlin and Maya screamed and I watched on, wide-eyed. I didn't order him to do this! I looked at Maya, who looked incredibly panicky and started shouting various commands at the Frog Man. Those commands including 'stop', 'go away', 'put the girl down' and 'Oh my God, Harlan, do something!' I realized that last command was aimed at me, and I stepped forward, mustering up all my strength and power and said one simple word: "Stop."

The Frog Man lowered the girl back to the floor slowly, and she gasped for air. In all the commotion Robyn's so-called 'friend' had freaked out and ran for the hills. I didn't blame her, the poor girl. If my friend starting rising into the air randomly and gasping for breath I wouldn't be so calm either. Probably.

I turned to Maya to show off to her about how good I was at controlling the Frog Man, but didn't get a word out before a sickening crack was heard and Maya screamed. I turned around and saw the girl lying on the floor, her neck twisted to the side awkwardly. The Frog Man was standing over her, his mouth curled up into a cruel half-smile. I gaped at him and then the girl. I didn't know what to say. How did that happen? Why didn't he listen to me?

"You killed her!" Maya whispered, horrified.

We stood there in a state of shock, unable to say another word. The Frog Man had rebelled. He had killed that girl. Killed her. And my blood was at the crime scene. I realized I should probably act with a little more concern for the dead girl in front of me rather than worrying about leaving evidence at the crime scene, but that was a big problem. If the police find my DNA and blood at the place where they find a dead body, things won't be too good for me. Robyn had been a bitch but she didn't deserve to die.

I suddenly thought of something. Now that the Frog Man had learnt to ignore commands, what was he going to do to us? I exchanged a glance with Maya and knew she was thinking the same. The Frog Man stepped towards us, and I was certain he was intending on killing us right along with that girl, but we didn't stay around to find out. We ran.