~ Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one's definition of your life, but define yourself. ~ Harvey S. Firestone
Silver and Black – Chapter 8
Sophia shot Jonathan a worried glance. "You look rather pale. Are you sure you shouldn't talk to the nurse?"
"Huh? What did y- whops! Sorry!" Not seeing where he was walking, Jonathan had just managed to avoid a passing student with her arms filled with books. The girl sent him a glare before walking off.
"And you're a bit out of it, you know?" Lila added. "Maybe you're sick?"
The girls had been worried all day, noticing his discomfort and nervousness. Lila had (of course) told her best friend everything about what had happened after she and Jonathan had left Saturday night. In her silent mind, she was a bit concerned that his behaviour might be her fault; that she had somehow crossed a line she hadn't seen. Sophia had quickly calmed her down, saying that he probably was a bit off because of something else.
Jonathan shifted the weight of his backpack on his shoulders and avoided the girls' eyes. "No, no, I'm not sick!" he said, a bit faster than normal. "Isn't this your locker, Sophia?"
While Sophia opened her locker to find her books, Lila kept on observing Jonathan. "It could be a cold," she said, and in her mind, she hoped so. It was better if he was ill than if he was embarrassed because of that moment of... what, exactly? Sparks?
He chuckled nervously. "Ah, maybe. Who knows?" he said and leaned against the lockers, trying to look nonchalant, but instead misjudged the angle, and almost slipped when his weight was placed too far back on his feet.
Giggling over the almost fall, Sophia closed the locker-
And faced a boy standing behind it.
"Well, hello there Blue Blush. How's your dad doing? You invited to a gala or something tonight?"
She rolled her eyes and locked the door, not bothering to meet his eyes. "Hello, Kevin. Dad's fine and no, I'm not. Would you mind commanding your brainless companions to take a step to the side and let us pass to get to class?"
Kevin leaned against the lockers, unlike Jonathan actually managing to look cool. "Maaaybe. Or maybe not. What would you do if we didn't? Have your dad send us to jail? You can't use that watch of yours anymore, the principal said you couldn't."
Crossing her arms, Lila glared at him. "Just leave, Kevin. We don't have time to listen to imbeciles."
"Beware guys! The poodle bites!" From his four groupies, a choir of 'Ooo's came. "What is it, Poodle? Do you have a problem with me and my guys blocking the hall?"
"Yes, in fact I do. So get yourself a sheepdog to guide your sheep and yourself away from us."
"Maybe I could use you, huh?" Kevin said and grabbed a hold on her hair, ripping out some hair pins as he did.
"Ouch! Kevin, let go!" Lila whined.
"What's up, Poodle? Don't like to be in a leash?"
"Let her go!" both Sophia and Jonathan cried.
It didn't seem like Kevin had noticed the new boy until now. He measured him up and down, taking in the tall, but rather skinny body before grinning. "Well, well. I didn't know we'd fallen back into 2010. Show us your wounds, Emo."
The silver eyes narrowed. "I suggest you let go of Lila's hair and then sod off."
Kevin did so, but instead of walking away, he walked over to Jonathan, staring up in his face. "I think you need a lesson. I'm in charge here, and you'll do as I say."
Taking a step closer to the bully, Jonathan made him bend his head back to look up at him. "I don't think so."
That seemed to be the last drop. Kevin pulled his fist back, clearly using his whole body weight in it, and hit Jonathan full force in the chest. In the next moment a boy's cry of pain filled the hall.
But it wasn't Jonathan's.
"Fuck! You broke my hand!" Kevin cried and bent over, hiding his wounded hand in his own embrace.
The fierce expression melted off Jonathan's face, being replaced with panic. "Oh, god, I'm so sorry! Are you OK?"
"What's going on here?"
Mrs Hanson had suddenly showed up, her voice unusually harsh.
"He broke Kevin's hand!" the 'sheep' complained.
"What, no!" Sophia whined. "It was all Kevin's fault! He hit Jonathan!"
"Mrs Hanson, they're lying!" Lila added.
The teacher looked from the whimpering Kevin to the shocked Jonathan. "Karlson, Argent, come with me!"
"What're you going to do?" Lila asked.
"Karlson needs a trip to the nurse, while I talk to Argent. Come on boys."
Jonathan gave the girls a helpless look before following the teacher and the wounded bully down the hall. For a moment everyone just stared after the three. Then the sheep growled at the girls before heading off. No pack without a leader to follow.
Sophia and Lila sighed and looked at each other.
"I hope he gets out of it. It wasn't his fault at all," Lila said, her voice filled with concern.
"Mrs Hanson's all right," Sophia assured before tapping her chin in deep thoughts. "But what I want to know is how on earth Kevin could break his hand while Jonathan didn't as much as wince!"
"What have I told you?" Julian yelled. "We have to keep our cover!"
"It wasn't my fault! I didn't ask him to hit me!"
"You could at least have had the decency to keep all human as he did! Or at least act hurt!"
"I didn't think he'd hit that hard! I just wanted to teach him a lesson!"
It was true; Jonathan hadn't imagined that Kevin would use so much force that he'd break his hand! All he did was to turn his chest silver under the clothes so that he wouldn't get hurt; he never believed it could hurt someone else. Oh god, and when Mrs Hanson had called Kevin's parents! He thought he'd downright die of guilt.
"I've said it a thousand times, Jonah. We can't have any sorts of negative attention around us! It can ruin the whole operation!"
"And I said that it wasn't my fault!"
"You have to take responsibility!" Julian took a few steps towards the younger brother, who tried to keep the distance by backing off, but ended up falling over one of the chairs of the great wooden dining room table. "Whenever you draw any kind of attention to yourself, it is your fault and it is your responsibility! And you have to learn to deal with that." Turning against the sister standing by the window, watching the scene, Julian commanded, "Jen, take Jonah down to the wine cellar. I think he needs to be taught a lesson."
"Julian, it wasn't my fault!" Jonathan tried, but Jennifer's hand closed around his wrist before turning silver so that it would be more difficult to wriggle out.
"Come on, Jonah, let's go," she said with her usual cold voice as she dragged him with her out of the dining room. Jonathan looked back at his brother, but he'd already turned away and was looking thoughtfully out of the window.
Jennifer opened the door to the wine cellar and threw her little brother in, forcing him to take a few steps before regaining his balance.
"You can stay here until you've understood what you've done," she said, before closing and locking the thick door, leaving Jonathan to himself in the little room.
Staring at the door, Jonathan heard her steps faint away.
Then, with an irritated growl, he sat down on the floor in front of one of the shelves. He removed a bottle of wine and stuck his arm into the hole where it had been, finding a hidden music player. His little secret made the hours in the cellar a bit more pleasant.
The room was too small for him to turn silver and burst through the door; he didn't have enough space to get the speed. So instead, Jonathan knew he'd have to stay down here until Julian decided it was time to bring him back up.
Finding a song, Jonathan placed the earplugs in and felt the song fill him entirely until he didn't have to worry about anything else.
So what if you can see the darkest side of me
No one will ever change this animal I have become
Help me believe it's not the real me
Somebody help me tame this animal!
This animal, this animal
"Somebody help me," he whispered with the song, before closing his eyes, letting himself drift off somewhere better.
And that was what happened at the Metro City High School!
The song was 'Animal I Have Become' by Three Days Grace.
Yeah, Jonathan is pretty familiar with the wine cellar. Cosy little place... Not.
I promise next chapter will have more Megamind and Sophia! After all, Sophia is our main character here. And an explosion!
A small one...
Not big...
BUT IT WILL BE THERE!
And a MICROWAVE!
Cool guys don't look at explosions!