Buttercup
Everything changed. I could hear birds singing in complete silence. Warm sunshine in darkness. Beautiful visions of colourful flowers. I could see everything that made me smile all the time. And the reason behind my constant smile was simple - Butch. My mood was cheery all morning, just because of him, so I couldn't wait to see him in the afternoon, when I would have a class with him.
My friends immediately got suspicious of my smiling course and tried to work up an answer from me. But I just told them I was so happy because my cousin was getting married to her long term boyfriend (There was no such cousin) but I didn't think they believed me. Poor girls. They would never know the truth. Something about the secretive nature of this relationship made me love Butch more.
Today's class was the same as ever. Mr. Norman handed each of us a pistol and told us to shoot at the target in turns. Role number wise. Just like it was done in Combats, the day I still tried to forget.
"Today, I expect everyone of you to excel in this and hit the target," Mr. Norman declared, "Each of you will get three chances. If you wasted away all the three chances, 10 marks will be deducted from your test that I will take later this month." The whole class groaned. I could see why Mr. Norman was Butch's best friend. They had the same tactics in the way of teaching.
"So let's start, shall we?" His eyes wavered over a paper in his hand, "First up, Abigail!"
Abigail was good. And so was Abel. Then Adrian. My role number was 13 so my hands were pretty much sweating when number 10 finished his turn, all of them excelling so far. My hands were shaking so bad, only God knew what was gonna happen when I would hold the gun. Guns were my phobia, that was the truth but I was more afraid of having Mr. Norman insult me in front of the whole class when I would become the first one to waste away the three chances than shooting the gun. I knew I had to overcome this fear to become a good spy. So I took a deep breath, rounded my shoulders, tied my hair in a ponytail and silently prayed.
Brute got the target in the first chance and the whole class applauded for her. She was good in everything, my best friend.
"Next is..." Mr. Norman eyes settled on me before continuing, "Buttercup."
I swallowed hard and stepped forward. The target was probably 6 feet away from me, but it seemed miles away.
Mr. Norman handed me the gun, his face sullen and observant. The whole class was silent, all eyes on me. I swallowed again and raised the gun in front of me. I bit my lip and fired the first shot. The recoil sent me tumbling a little back. It hit the wall above the target. Some people snickered.
"Try again, Buttercup." Mr. Norman insisted. I heaved a breath and raised the gun again and fired. This one ended on the target but pretty far from considering it a success.
Now many people were chuckling. My lower lip quivered.
"Don't give up. You can still do this." Mr. Norman encouraged. I was totally hit by surprise. Whenever I made a mistake in Weaponry, he always scolded me, never encouraged me. Things had definitely changed.
Come on Buttercup, you can do this! I told myself. I raised the gun for the third time, fully prepared for the recoil. My feet firmly planted on the ground. Then, focusing my eyes on the target, I fired the shot, the recoil not affecting me one bit.
The shot hit the target.
My face split into a big smile as the whole class clapped for me. I looked at Mr. Norman and he was also clapping, a smile on his face too.
"Very good, Buttercup." He said. I smiled back, "Thank you sir."
"Girl, you totally rocked!" Brute declared, hugging me. "I know right!" I squealed, "For a moment I thought I was going to miss the third shot too!"
"Well, now you won't have to worry having your marks deducted." Bloom said. I giggled, "That's right." I couldn't wait to tell Butch.
Waiting was always hard for me and my Combats class was the last one for the day and still five classes were before it, so I decided to meet him in his class between units, that was, if he was free and alone.
My prayers were answered. On my way to Communication, I peeked into the Combats classroom and found Butch all alone, sorting through some books. My heart leaped at the sight of him and was screaming at me to run to him and give him a big kiss. So I made up an excuse that I forgot my headband in the previous classroom to escape my friends. They bought it.
I slowly walked the other direction, making them think that I was actually going. I turned around and found then eventually gone. Then taking a deep breath and grinning madly, I ran into the Combats classroom.
"Butch!" I shouted excitedly. He looked up and instantly grinned, "Buttercup."
He opened his arms and I ran into them.
God, I was so excited to see him. I jumped at him and we kissed so deeply as if we had met after years.
Hey! You couldn't blame us. It was pure torture to have each other so close but not be able to do all the things we want to do to each other.
"Oh God. I missed you so much!" I declared.
"So did I babe," he sighed, "It is so hard to have you so near but not touch you or even look at you. I almost got us busted this morning."
"You must be careful!"
"I know!" he said, "But Derek is too smart. One more move and he would have caught us."
"Speaking of Mr. Norman," I said smiling, throwing my arms around his neck, "I've got great news."
I told him all about it. Also how changed Mr. Norman was that morning with me. Gradually, Butch grinned and said ,"My magic worked." I raised an eyebrow at him in confusion and he told me his side of the news, how he had conveyed my complaint to Mr. Norman and had explained it to him to be good to students.
"And he understood?" I marveled.
"Yup," he smiled, brushing a lock of hair behind my ear, "I told you. He is a nice guy. That...rudeness is in his nature."
"Yeah I understand. And I've long forgiven him." I smiled back.
"Great." he said. We gazed at each other for a moment until he checked his watch for the time. "Oh shit!" he declared, "It's 11!"
"Oh no! My class must have started!" I cried, picking up my bag, "I must run back. Bye!"
"Bye babe." he said, dropping a kiss on my head, "See you."
"See you." I replied as I ran away, from him and for class.
Two months passed in the speed of light since my arrival. The classes were getting easier and fun, except of my weaker subjects which got harder and harder. I was no doubt improving in Weaponry but was failing miserably in Combats. I lost every fight Butch made us do and therefore performed badly in the monthly test. But Butch was too sweet. He gave me passing marks secretly and when I found that out, I felt so lucky to have him, the teacher of my worst subject, as my boyfriend.
Speaking of him, he was becoming my best friend as well. I told him everything, let it be a secret, something bothering me, or asking for advice. He listened so intently and always had good answers that satisfied my heart. A good adviser too, therefore. I even told him about my never ending scuffle with my friends and how I wished to depart from them but he said that I shouldn't do that because after all, they were my only friends. All of that excluding Brute of course. She was an excellent friend. It was not like I was the only one who poured my heart out, he did too. By then, I knew his many secrets and about life. If you know everything about each other, you were bound to love them more.
Anyways, back to the present. Me and Brute were making our way to Combats, the last class of the day. "Buttercup," Brute said nonchalantly, "I just thought of something." I raised my eyebrow, "What?"
"Race you to the class!" Brute shouted, breaking into a run before completing her sentence and before I could register her challenge.
"Hey not fair!" I shouted back and sprinted after her.
Brute got there first. Not because she had a good head start but also because she had really small breasts. We entered the class laughing and still running, until we went across the whole room. There we finally stopped, still giggling and catching our breaths.
"Wow Buttercup," said a male voice behind me, "Do run often." I whirled around to find the owner of the voice to be Ethan, leaning coolly against the wall beside me with his two thug like friends.
"You have a very swollen chest right there," he smirked, "Can't help looking at it." I gritted my teeth, "Shut up and mind your own business."
Ethan left the wall and walked closer to me, making me take a few steps back. "Well, it's not my fault," he said, his smile fading, "A hottie always forces me to speak." And he winked at me.
"Shut up!" I said loudly then murmured, "Pervert." His eyes went wide, "Me? A pervert? Then who was running? Showing all of her boobs in a good view?"
"I..." I trailed off because he had a point. He laughed and so did his friends. I was so humiliated.
Brute was glaring and clenching her fists at Ethan the whole time. Then she pulled my hand and tugged me away from Ethan, "Come on Buttercup. Ignore them."
I let her take me away when him and his friends started cat calling me behind my back.
"What is their problem?!" I exclaimed, once we were a safe distance away, "Why can't they just leave me alone?"
"I think Ethan likes you, Buttercup." Brute replied, "But shows it in an abusive way." I shook my head, "I don't think so. He is an abuser but is not interested in me. A pervert, that what he is." I crossed my arms in front of my chest, "And besides, even if he did like me, I will reject him in the first chance I get."
Brute laughed at my comment and punched my shoulder playfully, "Hey! He's cute."
"And not a good guy at all," I added, "My parents told me to stay away from these kind of guys so he is a big NO for me." "Oh come on Buttercup, smile!" Brute said, smiling herself. I smiled finally, not because she said so, because Butch entered the classroom. We both stopped talking and listened to him as he started the class.
Ethan didn't stop the harassment after that time. He commented about me whenever I got close and cat called, and sometimes whistled, when I walked away, pretending that my ears were blocked. I never had a clever comeback and an answer ready to fight him but Brute did and she always saved me. My other friends, Bloom, Blast and Beautiful, also thought that Ethan liked me but I knew very well that he didn't and only wanted to embarrass me in public. After that Combats fight, he knew that I was very weak, and hot, therefore making me an easy target.
"Hey Buttercup!" Blast called, breaking my thoughts, "Where were you?" I shrugged my shoulders, "Nowhere." A week had passed since mine and Brute's race and we were sitting in the cafeteria at lunchtime, gossiping away.
"Lets stop all conversations. And start a real one. Mr. Andrews." Blast declared. My spoon stopped in mid air on its journey to my mouth. Everyone at our table started giggling, except me.
"Oh let's not talk about him," Beautiful said, "It makes me sad. Knowing he'll never be mine." All the girls went "Awww..." sympathetically. I was starting to get sick.
"Does he have a girlfriend?" Bloom asked.
"Yeah he does," Brute said in a no nonsense tone, "I saw him. With this blonde girl."
My eyes widened at her answer. I glared at her and keeping my voice cool, spoke up, "Blonde girl?" Brute looked at me, "Yeah. Hot and curvy. Definitely his type. I saw them a couple of times, talking."
"Well talking to someone doesn't mean you are in a relationship with them!" I exclaimed, more angrily than I intended to. Everyone at the table stopped what they were doing to stare at me. Finally, Brute broke the ice, "Whoa Buttercup. You look LIVID!" I hung my head and pressed it against my hand, "I'm sorry guys. I'm just tensed up because of Ethan."
"Buttercup..." Blast placed her hand on top of mine, "It's okay." All the other girls agreed. I was near tears and I didn't know why.
"Well will you look at that," said Bloom when things went back to normal, "We are out of chips."
"What? I didn't even eat one!" Brute said. I got up quickly. It was the perfect chance to escape and maintain my mental state in privacy. "I'll go and get some." I said, making my way towards the counter.
"Get the spicy ones!" Brute called after me. I went on the counter but found the task a little off hand. A queue was present and I was the 7th person in it. "Oh God..." I mumbled and stood in the queue.
Bored, I looked around and a mirror beside me caught my eye. It was a window really but showed my reflection just like a mirror. I turned to face it and gave myself a once over. There was no uniform here. You just had to wear clothes that fitted your body perfectly and were not long and flowing. In short, something which wouldn't get in the way of your training.
Today, I was wearing all black. A black tank top, over black tights with black trainers. Even my headband was black which held back my waist length black hair that I liked to let down. I smiled at my reflection because everything looked great and turned my attention back to where it was.
After the 3rd person had his turn, my heart started pounding madly in my chest. Three guesses why? Simple, I heard Ethan's voice.
"Hey look who's here!" He said to his friends, all of them sitting at a table very nearby, "The Girl which can turn a good guy into a rapist."
What the Hell? I looked at him, my eyes wide with rage. "Are you psychotic or something?" I yelled at him, "How can you think of such a thing?"
"I'm not thinking," he sneered, "I am planning." He had a devilish grin on his face which managed to scare me. Trying very hard not to look I'm scared, I turned my head away to look in the other direction, the teachers' side of the cafeteria. I immediately saw Butch, sitting with Mr. Norman and some other young teachers, all male. Thank God. I still didn't get who that blonde girl was Brute was talking about. I would ask him. He laughed at some joke which erupted from the conversation, instantly making me smile. I loved to stare at him, especially when he was happy. It was okay for me to stare at him in public because many other student girls did the same.
I was so engrossed in looking at Butch that I didn't hear someone approach me.
"Too busy staring at Mr. Andrews, aren't you?" Ethan whispered in my ear. A chill went down my back by his voice. I quickly stepped away from him. "What are you doing here? Get away from me." I said, in an annoyed voice and looked at the queue. I was now the 2nd person.
"Oh come on Buttercup, I only want to touch you." He said, grazing my shoulder, "Besides, you are already a slut. Luring boys into your trap. Can't you get any better?" I slapped his hand away and stared ahead, on the counter, now it was my turn.
"A bag of spicy chips please."
The lunch lady nodded and went back to get the spicy chips. I waited for her, trying to act calm because my heart was still beating as Ethan was still standing behind me.
"Ooh so you like them spicy," he sneered, "I do too. Except they are girls." He started laughing at his own joke while I pinched the bridge of my nose. "Ethan, get lost," I said in a low voice, and added, "Please." My bag of spicy chips arrived. I quickly took them and started to move away from Ethan but he was blocking my path.
"Move away!" I shouted. He shook his head. When he still didn't budge, I pushed him. Hard. And to my surprise, he went stumbling back. I smiled to myself and headed back to where my friends were sitting.
"You bitch. You whore!" Ethan called behind me, "That's what you are. A stupid slut." He laughed, "I bet you have to take a huge amount of pills everyday! Don't want to get pregnant, now don't you?" His friends laughed with him. I stopped in my tracks at his words, my heart beating wildly in my chest, my hand curling into a fist and my eyes filling up with tears. Without thinking, I turned around and tossed the bag of chips at him as hard as I could. It bounced off from his chest, hardly hitting him, which erupted a new round of laughter.
Ignoring their laughter and sobbing, I ran out of the cafeteria. Not one person stirred from all the commotion because of all the noise, but I didn't care less. I just wanted to get out of there. Away from Ethan, his friends, my friends. In general, from all the people and cry myself until I get satisfied, which could only be done in solitude.
I left the doors of the cafeteria swinging and ran my way to the Combats classroom, the only classroom where I could be alone in peace and without getting into trouble.
I entered the Combats classroom and quickly closed the door behind me. Then I slumped myself against the wall beside the ring, hugged my knees, buried my face into them and cried my heart out.
Never, in my entire life, have I ever met a boy as disdainful as Ethan. I never experienced such blunt rudeness from anyone, let alone a guy. If it was a girl, I could have handled it in a 'girl manner' but this blunt rudeness was from a boy. Someone much more stronger and intimidating than me. I hated all of it. Especially how he didn't care about the publicity of his abuse. As if I was a worthless person whose feelings didn't matter. The rapist thing threw me off good. I never knew such ill mannered boys existed who took such a serious thing lightly.
The harassment couldn't go on. It was too much, for me and for Ethan as well. But I didn't have a really good plan to stop him once and for all. To show him that I was not weak. That I wasn't a person he shouldn't be messing with. The only problem remained...how would I do that? I couldn't shoot him, nor hack his brain with a computer or talk him out of it. The only great thing left was to fight him feverishly. For my revenge for two things. One for the abuse, the other for injuring me in that fateful Combats match. Unfortunately, I sucked at Combats and couldn't even throw a punch deftly.
Fighting physically was a really good way to get revenge. But I was so bad at it, I didn't even know the basics. That made me burst into a fresh round of tears, knowing that there was then no possible way of making Ethan stop the nonsense if I excluded Combats.
I was sobbing quietly behind my knees when I heard the door of the classroom opening. I curled myself into a small ball, hoping against hope that whoever the person was, he couldn't see me. I didn't want to face more humiliation. Unfortunately, that someone saw me and exclaimed my name in a surprised tone. Fortunately, that someone was Butch.
"Buttercup! What is it? What's wrong?!" He vociferated.
I couldn't answer him because of my tight throat. He came over to me and knelt down in front of me.
"Buttercup," he said, frantically, "Please tell me what's wrong. Why are you crying? Someone bothered you? I'm gonna kill that person! Tell me who he or she is! I won't care even if it's a girl-"
"No Butch. Stop!" I finally said, cupping his cheeks into my hands, "It's okay. I'm fine now." I wiped away my tears and tried to smile for his sake. But he wasn't buying it.
"You don't look okay to me." he said softly, wiping away some of my tears from his thumb, "Please tell me. What is it?" I looked away from his, avoiding his eyes as I answered him in a shaky voice, "It's...Ethan."
"Ethan?" Butch's hands gripping my arms tightened a little, "What? Did that idiot bothered you?"
"Bothered is a very small word for this, Butch," I whispered, "More like...abuse.."
Then taking a deep breath, I told him everything.
His hold on me tightened and tightened as more and more words left my mouth. When I finished, I looked for any sign of an emotional reaction on his blank face. Then finally, he burst out in rage.
"I'm gonna kill him! I'm gonna kill that good for nothing scumbug!"
He took both of my hands in his and looked into my eyes, "Buttercup, you don't have to worry about the revenge thing because I'll take it for you. I swear, once I'm through with him, he won't bother you ever again."
"Of course he wouldn't," I replied quietly and continued in a shrill voice, "But if you take my revenge on him, no thought about me will change for him. He would still think of me as a weak girl who depends on others for her defense."
I let go of Butch's hands to cover my face with mine,"I have to be the one to take the revenge," I continued in a muffled voice, "And the best way to do that is to fight him. But sadly, I am so bad at Combats."
I let out another sob. I felt so upset because of the foggy way to success. What kind of a spy would I be if I fail in fighting?
I continued to sob and after a few moments did I realize that Butch was strangely quiet. I uncovered my face from my hands to find him deep in thought, his brow furrowed, his chin resting in his fingers. I stared at him, "Butch?"
He didn't listen to me at first. I shook his shoulder, "Butch! Where are you?" He finally came out of nowhere, "Oh. Nothing actually. I was just thinking about something. And this thing can actually work."
His voice approached an excited tone as he continued, "Buttercup, I've decided I am going to train you. Specially."
Instantly, I got puzzled, "Specially? As in, separately from others?"
He grinned, "Yes. Separately from others." I sighed at his reply, "Don't be so biased."
"I'm not," he took my hand, "With a class of 50, it is impossible to focus on only one person. So, if I taught you specially, my whole focus will be on you. I could then teach you the perfect road to Combats. And then you can fight Ethan if he ever disturbed you again," he squeezed my hand, "And show him you are not a damsel in distress."
I stared at him, mouth agape. I was speechless. "You-you'll really do this? For me?"
He caressed my cheek with his fingers, "I will do anything for you, Buttercup."
I was still so surprised that I didn't react at first. Then I smiled real big and kissed him delightfully. "Oh Butch," I exclaimed, "You are the best ever!" He grinned at me, "That I know of," he said, making me laugh.
"Let's do this after Lights Out. At midnight," he said, "Everyone will be asleep and won't see us and we will have this whole class to ourselves. Also," he took my chin in his hand and gazed into my eyes, "We can spend more time together with each other."
"Brilliant idea," I smiled and gave him a kiss," But don't you think the timings a bit...off? You won't be able to sleep properly. It will be so hard to teach with drowsiness!"
"I know.", he sighed, "But I'll manage. How many days will it take for you to learn? One week? Two weeks? Don't worry, we'll wrap it up in no time."
"I hope I don't take a month."
"Hey. Don't underestimate yourself. With better focus and having the teacher all to yourself, you will get there faster than you can say 'Combats'." I laughed and wrapped my arms around his neck, "I would love to have the teacher all to myself."
"And not learn everything needed to take down Ethan?" he added mischievously. I frowned, "Of course. That's the first reason we will fight through the night."
"Great." he said. I rested my forehead against his and traced his cheek with my fingernail. We stayed like that for a while. Not saying anything. Just gazing at each other. Until the bell brought us back to our senses.
"It's my Seniors' class." he declared as we both stood up. "And I have Physics now." I replied. "Guess that's goodbye then." he said. I leaned up and kissed his cheek, "Not for long. Goodbye, Butch." I said and made my way to the door. "Goodbye, babe!" he called back.
Just as I was about to exit, a question rose in my mind. "By the way, when should we start this...nightly routine?" I asked from the door. Butch rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
"We should start," he answered, "From tonight."
