Stars Over Terabithia
Chapter 9 – The Brawl
(Please read and review, it makes us better writers.)
Disclaimer: I do not own Bridge to Terabithia and no profit was gained
from the writing of this story. Terabithia was created by Katherine Paterson.
Jess Aarons sighed heavily, and then groaned lightly, earning a few disgusted looks from all around the room. His attention was not where it was supposed to be at that moment. He was instead focused on the far more interesting and infinitely more entertaining rotation of his mechanical pencil.
He gazed upon the slick black writing utensil with much diligence, subconsciously making it a personal competition for him to see just how many full rotations his fingers could work to complete before his eyes slammed themselves shut, deprived of moisture. On this particular attempt, he counted two thousand and thirty-eight rotations, just fourteen shy of his current record for the day.
Growing bored of boredom itself, Jess decided to look up at his teacher – Mr. Plumley – and try to decipher what exactly it was that he had been missing over the course of the past half hour or so.
He found the balding man staring back at him from the front of the class with an expectant look about him. After further examination, Jess discovered that the majority of the class was also looking at him, leaving the teenage daydreamer questioning whether he had been asked a question or if he had been called out for not paying attention. In either case, he hadn't heard anyone address him.
Jess looked around for a few more seconds, wishing someone would just say something and give him some kind of clue as to what he was supposed to do or say.
"Karl Marx," Jess answered lamely.
Mr. Plumley looked at him in disbelief, then glanced down and gave the sheet of paper he had been pulling his questions from a similar look of incredulity. The other students in the room were giving him awkward looks too, but all of them quickly went back to their normal positions, awaiting the final few minutes of this boring lecture.
"Right then," Mr. Plumley said, trying to regain his composure and shrug off his surprise at the correct answer.
The class ended early, as had all classes that day, due to the 'student reward program,' which served as an incentive to keep students from skipping school. Such incidents had become a problem in Lark Creek over the past few years, so those who had it in them to miss less than four days of school every trimester were rewarded with a faculty-chosen event at the end of the term. For this trimester, it was a movie. A faculty-chosen movie.
Jess packed up his books and went straight for his locker, spinning the combination lock as fast as his fingers would allow. He dumped his books into the bottom of the locker, ignoring the partially exposed loose papers of his Geometry binder, which folded at awkward angles as they were crushed by his two heavy text books.
As he was about to close the locker door, Jess glanced up at the second-to-highest shelf within and noted how orderly the books were kept. The obvious wear of the Relationships text book contrasted terribly with the new reflective surface of the Social Psychology tome. It didn't matter somehow, as the perfect symmetrical stacking of the two books easily drew attention away from the faults of the books themselves. Sitting on top of both of them was a three-ring binder, very similar to his own, but without a single corner of paper protruding from its rim.
His gaze then shifted upward, to the top shelf, which his locker partner always left vacant for him, though he never actually used it.
Jess sighed and bent down, heaving the books back out with feigned effort. He opened the notebook and quickly snapped each of the loose papers into the ring bindings, and then neatly stacked the text books underneath of it. He placed all three on the top shelf, the stack fitting perfectly, and then smiled in spite of himself at the sight.
"Good job."
Jess turned, startled by the sudden sound of someone speaking, even though the noise of the busy hallway was as loud and obnoxious as ever.
"When did you get here?"
"About two minutes ago," Leslie said, shrugging. Her eyes drooped lazily and her matter-of-fact tone took him by surprise. "You didn't seem to notice."
"Maybe if you'd said something," Jess replied, grabbing hold of the locker door.
"And embarrass you out of being spontaneously organized? I think not," Leslie said teasingly, her expression suddenly alive with enthusiasm. The contrast was startling. "Move, I need to put my stuff in there."
Jess stepped back, letting his friend have at the locker. He watched over her shoulder as she quickly replaced her Geometry book with her Social Psychology one. She then turned to face him, and quickly stepped aside to let him close the door.
"No math homework?" Jess asked sarcastically. "Lucky."
The blonde girl just snorted.
The auditorium was relatively full by the time they got there, the various seats filled to the brim with their peers and upperclassmen. Despite the fact that most used indoor voices, the students' chatter echoed deafeningly through the large room.
Jess and Leslie spent a few moments searching for a place to sit. There were a few vacant areas, though most of them didn't present an appealing view of the stage front. Both of them were prepared to resign themselves to standing along the back wall of the room when someone called for them from the first three rows. Jess could make out no more than the person's outline in the dim light, but as the two of them moved closer, they could see clearly who it was.
"Hey, come sit with us!" Willard Hughes suggested once he was sure that he had their attention.
They approached, and it didn't take Jess long to notice that there was only one vacant seat amongst the senior quarterback and his friends. He looked to Leslie, unsure of whether Willard wanted him or Leslie to take the seat. When he saw Leslie looking back at him, her face a bit flustered, he understood that he had his answer.
Jess just nodded lightly, as if to tell Leslie that he understood, and then started away. Leslie grabbed hold of his wrist and stopped him, turning and firmly addressing the senior. Her gaze was unwavering.
"There's only one seat," Leslie stated plainly, neither a question nor a complaint.
"Sorry," Hughes said. "I'm sure there's plenty of seats up in the balcony for your friend."
Jess felt his blood begin to boil at this kid's tone. He had never been Willard Hughes' biggest fan. In elementary school, the pompous, egotistical jerk sat somewhere between Scott Hoager and Janice Avery on his 'avoid' list. His general tone and attitude at this moment were unnerving, causing Jess to unconsciously clench his fist, something he had rarely felt the need to do whenever he was with Leslie.
"It's okay," Jess said quietly so that only the girl next to him could hear. He just wanted to get this over with. "I can find somewhere else to sit. You go ahead."
Leslie gave him an incredulous glance, her eyebrows squashed together and her face screwed up in a look that clearly told him that she believed that he was out of his mind. Truthfully, in a way he was, his instinct taking over his actions in order to remove him from this uncomfortable situation as quickly as possible. He wanted desperately to move, to leave and not look back, but Leslie still had a firm grip on his wrist, and he couldn't rightly leave her there on her own.
"You gonna have a seat or not, babe?"
The second speaker was heavily masked in the shadows cast over them by the auditorium's balcony, but through squinting, Jess was able to discern his identity. It was Dennis Patrick, and Jess found himself inadvertently throwing a mental contrast of a certain event earlier in the year and the boy's demeanor toward his best friend now.
Jess found himself revolted by his earlier proclamation that Leslie should go ahead and sit with these boys. He managed to wrestle his arm from Leslie's waning hold, and then grabbed hold of hers with the very same arm.
Leslie was obviously very uncomfortable as well. She did little to keep Jess from leading her away, through the doors in the back of the room, up a set of stairs, and out onto the balcony.
Few used the balcony on occasions such as this, though it was a popular spot on the nights of school plays and the rare town gathering. At a student-only school event, the balcony was often regarded as a place for 'couples' to sit together. That particular affirmation of territory was quick to gain the attention of the school faculty, which ultimately led to a significant increase in supervision. This resulted in a heavily vacated part of the auditorium, and absolutely no supervision, which the student body apparently failed to notice.
Jess and Leslie found their seats up front, close to the railing. The movie had already started, the large projection screen currently suspended over the stage coming to life. It showed some boy standing up on a towering structure overlooking a pond, with other boys (and a few girls) below him, cheering him on.
Jess was having a hard time paying attention to the movie until the boy plummeted – pushed by one of his supposed friends – into the dark water. A flurry of bubbles came to surface, giving the usual Hollywood implication that something had gone wrong.
What followed during the next hour was one of the most effective chick flicks in a decade or more, but Jess Aarons hardly cared. He had no guy friends with which to act macho and pretend that he needed massive explosions and bullets hurling through the air in order to enjoy a movie. Instead he sat there, enjoying the movie for what it was.
That enjoyment was quickly dashed as whispered voices reached his ears. Three boys were marching down the aisle separating the two tiers of seats on the balcony. They took their seats directly behind the two best friends, and there was no doubt in Jess's mind of who at least two of them were.
"Do it," Jess heard one of them whisper. "Don't be a wuss, just do it!"
"You do it," another voice said. This one came from directly behind Jess, who was listening intently.
"You're behind him, dumbass."
Jess looked to Leslie, who seemed to have picked up on what was going on behind them and could only roll her eyes to show her disdain for whatever the three boys were planning.
One moment, Jess had been looking at Leslie, and the next he found himself struggling as someone grabbed hold of both of his arms from behind. His attacker locked his arms tightly against Jess's neck to keep him from moving.
Jess immediately caught sight of Willard Hughes leaping over the row of seats and placing himself on the other side of Leslie. Dennis Patrick was already fast at work, his hands shooting over her shoulders and going slightly lower, stopping short of their obvious destinations. Jess fought harder against the imposing grip of the boy behind him.
Leslie, too, began to squirm around, swatting and grabbing for Dennis's hands. He hadn't anticipated this at first, but quickly began jetting his hands around the upper part of her body, trying to be unpredictable in his movements. All he was really doing was frustrating Jess even more, and had this lasted much longer, the boy likely would have been overpowered by Leslie herself.
Having had enough of this, Jess stopped resisting his assailant, leaned his head forward, and sank his teeth into the back of one of the constricting arms. Both arms immediately retracted, and Jess was on his feet, grabbing hold of Leslie and pulling her up and away from the sick amusement of these sorry excuses for Neanderthals.
All three boys were laughing, even Scott Hoager, who was busy nursing his wounded arm. Jess considered his own handiwork and, rather than being satisfied, left himself a mental note to brush his teeth twice as long before bed that night.
He let Leslie go, and both of them walked out of the room and into the hallway. Jess knew that they were going to be followed before he could even hear the hurried footsteps of the boys approaching them. He had no desire to run and continue to embarrass himself. Something inside Jesse Aarons wanted nothing better than to beat down all three of these deranged sickos, or be beaten down while trying. Leslie didn't deserve to be man-handled like that. No one did.
"What's wrong, Jesse?" Scott Hoager mocked as they came into the hallway to meet them. "You look a little pissed off."
"I wonder why that is?" Dennis Patrick mused.
"Dennis didn't mean to grope your girlfriend," Willard Hughes began. "We all just had a talk, and decided that it was high time that you did some sharing."
Jess wasn't even aware of it when he growled in protest, drawing his arm back for a punch. The blow was intercepted by Willard, who was more than adept at dealing with this sort of situation. This did little to calm Jess down, but he quickly backed up to avoid being subjected to the tormenting nature of this particular trio.
"Come on, Jess," Willard taunted. "It doesn't matter how hard you can hit if you can't even hit me!"
Jess knew the kid was right. He wasn't practiced at all in any form of combat, and knew all too well that only bad could come out of the entire situation.
"Come on, man!" Hoager said snidely. "Do something! Show your girl you're a man! If you're not gonna share, do something to stake claim!"
Jess, blood beyond the boiling point in unkempt rage, lashed out furiously against Hoager. The boy was taken by surprise, not at all expecting any kind of resistance from Jess at this point. Jess missed a few poorly aimed strikes, and then sent his knee upward, solidly connecting with the space between Hoager's legs. He immediately stumbled back and fell into a pained crouch against the wall.
This turn of events drove Willard Hughes into action. He fixed a well aimed punch on Jess's face, and then stood back, laughing in self-centered victory.
Dennis Patrick also went into a laughing fit, something which he shouldn't have done. Leslie laid him out with a single blow, anger evident on her normally lively and cheerful features.
Willard's sense of victory was also short lived when he turned to address a tapping on his shoulder. He was met with a five-knuckle response from one Janice Avery, and then harshly shoved away by Eric Hatcher. No one had seen them enter the fray.
"You're a real pal, Eric," Hughes said to his comrade-in-jersey. "Your loyalty astounds me."
"So does your ability to use words as big as 'loyalty.'" Eric shot back. "'Astounds,' even. Have you been paying attention in English, Willard?"
"Typical Jess Aarons. Always has to have girls protect him," Hoager remarked.
"Looks to me like he did a number on you," Leslie shot, snidely.
All three of the boys – albeit Hoager a bit stiffly – turned and marched down the stairs, throwing loathing glances back at the four of them.
"You have to go to someone before they do," Eric said, turning to face Jess. "They'll warp the story real bad."
Jess, still nursing his rapidly bruising eye, nodded lightly.
Renick, as the new assistant principal, was who they all had to deal with, and things weren't quite as bad as they seemed. Out of courtesy, Jess and Leslie left Eric Hatcher and Janice Avery out of the story. Jess was suspended, and the three other boys faced possible expulsion due to the way in which they initiated the brawl. Leslie had managed to escape suspension due to Jesse's incessant claims that she was simply present, not involved.
When Jack arrived at the school to retrieve his son, he wasn't in the least bit happy – until he was informed why the fight even broke out. Then, he was absolutely furious. The normally calm and collected man made a scene, and the equally calm and collected assistant principal took it all in, evenly stating that it was out of his hands. School policy required that all participants be suspended for a minimum of three full school days.
Once everything was cleared up, the student assembly was over and most of the student body had been at home for an hour. Jess sat outside Renick's office, waiting on his dad who had gone to take a bathroom break. He was very aware of conversation taking place in the assistant principal's office, but he paid it no mind, at least until raised voices were used.
"But why!?"
Jess thought at first that it was Leslie's mother yelling, but she had taken her daughter home over twenty minutes earlier. Regardless, his ears were fully attentive.
"I have my reasons," Renick's voice said, barely audible.
"You never should have come back," said the female voice, sounding both angry and frightened. "What were you expecting? What did you think would happen?"
Jess shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He had never been one to pry into other people's business, and he was very aware that he was probably hearing something that he shouldn't be hearing.
"You're making things too complicated, Ju-"
"No, you are!" The female voice shrieked again. Jess found himself glad, for the sake of his psychology teacher, that no one besides him was around to hear any of this. "Have you been back there? Without her? Was it what you imagined?"
"Without her?" Renick questioned, still very calm. "I don't-"
"She's gone," the pained voice said, this time easily muffled by the thin door due to her suddenly soft tone. "She's gone, she's never coming back, and you have to come to terms with that!"
"I came to terms with that a long time ago."
"No you didn't! If you had, you wouldn't be here now!" The speaker seemed on the verge of tears. "Valarie is dead! She's gone! Your presence here just makes things too complicated! I wish you just would have gone away when I told you to during the summer!"
Jess stood up and walked away, as far away as he could. He didn't feel right listening in on this conversation, which was obviously personal. Something did click his mind however, and he made a mental note to ask Leslie about it later.
Wasn't Valarie the name of the girl in the old diary?
- - - - -
Jess was very surprised when he wasn't punished, and was even more so when his father complimented him on "standing up for his friends" and "handling the situation like a man." Though his father's attitude had changed quite a bit since money had become a non-issue in their family, Jess still got a warm feeling whenever this man complimented him.
One good thing came out of the suspension, which was the idea that Jess would have the entire weekend to figure something out for Leslie's birthday, as well as Monday to set things up if need be. He honestly still had no idea what he was going to do, and once everyone was done fussing over the prominent black bruise under his right eye he found the time to approach May Belle about the topic.
"I don't know," his younger sister responded as she closed her sixth grade history notebook. "Get her some flowers! Or maybe you could take her out to a movie!"
"Like a date?" Jess asked suspiciously.
"Uh, sorta."
"May Belle..."
"Okay, okay fine!" May Belle said, obviously aggravated with his rejection of her idea. "Go ask dad. I'm sure he has some power tools you can give her."
Jess gave his sister an incredulous glance and left her to her homework.
Leslie came to visit fairly late, the clock chiming half past ten. Her mother had, of course, been fussing over her as well, given the circumstances under which the fight earlier that day had broken out. She came over with a tray of cupcakes and a perky "thank you" from her mother. Obviously, it took more than a few jerks sexually harassing her to kill the girl's spirit.
They went out onto the front porch, sitting together on the top step. After complaining for a few moments about her mother fussing over her, Leslie ironically began fussing over Jesse's 'battle wounds.'
"Does it hurt?"
"No, it tickles," Jess lamely replied. "It'll take more than a black eye to keep me down."
"So, something like two black eyes, then?" Leslie remarked slyly, her eyes cocked in his direction. Jess looked at her in amazement, and then let a grin break out across his face.
"So," Jess said, changing the subject, leaning back on his elbows. He'd heard enough about Scott Hoager, Willard Hughes and Dennis Patrick for one night. "Your birthday's coming up. Anything in particular you want?"
Leslie let her gaze drift to the night sky, as it always did when they were outdoors after dusk, or even near a window for that matter. Her eyes sparkled whenever she did this, the clear reflection of the stars shining brightly in her striking eyes. Despite their obvious beauty, Jess could plainly see sadness in her gaze. Sadness that would no doubt take a very long time to heal.
"I want more nights just like this," Leslie said after some contemplation. "Before winter, I mean. It might not snow much, but every thing's always so cloudy and cold. These nights remind me just how small I am, and what's still out there to explore."
"There's plenty out there," Jess objected. "Just look at Terabithia."
"In our imaginations, yes," the girl replied, still looking skyward. "But where's the real sense of adventure these days? The sense of discovery? The global map has been filled in. There's nothing left in this world to find. I think I can blame technology. People may love it, but it's made the world a lot more dull."
Jess smiled to himself. Only Leslie would talk about things like this.
"I want to experience what people like Christopher Columbus experienced when he found America," she continued.
"I guess you could try to find Atlantis, or maybe the Loch Ness Monster," Jess mused.
"Very funny," Leslie chimed, rolling her eyes.
A few minutes later, May Belle joined them, forcing herself between the two friends as they sat and enjoyed each other's company. Neither of them minded too much, given that if there was ever a third person in the friendly equation, it was definitely Jess's younger sister.
"Sometimes I play connect the dots," May Belle announced randomly. Jess gave her a funny look, but Leslie seemed to understand.
"What do you see?" the blonde asked seriously.
"I made a sail boat once," May Belle went on. "I tried to make you and Jess one time, but the stars weren't cooperating. The left side of Jess's face was missing, and the heart was broken in two."
Leslie laughed. Jess glared.
"Jess and Leslie, sitting in a tree..."
That particular memory from years ago brought Jess's thoughts back to the night Leslie had returned from Pennsylvania. They were, technically, sitting in a tree. The latter part of the song however, had not occurred. For once, Jess wasn't so sure that he was repulsed by the idea of it happening, either.
"You two are oblivious," May Belle said in frustration. She stood up with a huff and went back inside the house.
Jess watched after her for a moment, and then locked eyes with Leslie. They both just shrugged.
She's still as adorable as ever, Jess thought.
"Yeah, she is," Leslie said, obviously referring to May Belle.
Jess looked around urgently, and suddenly became aware that he had spoken his earlier thought aloud.
"You know," she said as Jess pulled himself up into a sitting position. "We're getting a little too old for Terabithia. I mean sure, you're never too old for your imagination, but the whole jumping around and fighting invisible squirrel monsters thing? Maybe it's time to give it up...or pass it on."
"Pass it on?"
"Maybe to May Belle," Leslie clarified, nodding her head toward the house. "And maybe Joyce and Alexandra."
"You really think so?" Jess asked.
"Yeah," she said, standing up. "I should probably get home before mom sends Alicia out after me. God, I can't wait until she goes home."
Jess snickered, but was shocked out of the act when Leslie leaned forward and placed a kiss not far beneath his right eye, where a bruise was rapidly taking form.
"Don't go picking fights with anyone," she told him as she started away. "Take a rest. You've earned it."
"I'll see you tomorrow?" Jess called after her, both a question and a statement.
"Always."
Jess smiled and watched her until she was out of sight, her far away form vanishing behind some brush as she strode up the path to her house.
Since the accident, seeing Leslie every day and knowing that she was all right had become very important to Jess. She rarely ventured off on her own anymore without first telling him, so in his mind, he know he would indeed see her the next day.
I'm going to be throwing credits at the end of every chapter from now on, especially in light of Foster Marsh doing my editting work now. Thanks a bunch. I may go back and throw some credits into my previous entries as well, so if you're at all interested in whether or not you're mentioned, stay tuned.
Credits:
NarnianMelody -- Inspiration
Foster Marsh -- Beta/Editting (Great work!)
ModTom -- Keeping me in line
Warner Bros. Pictures A Walk to Remember -- The movie playing in the auditorium
