Chapter 10; Thanksgiving Part 2
"Bye dad!" Steven waved to his dad as Jasper took off, Steven and Keifer hanging on to her as she dashed through the snow and out of Beach City. Even with all the ice and the constant snow-fall, they managed to get to school relatively quick. They waved the Orange Quartz goodbye as several other students watched her sprint off at her inhuman high-speed.
"Guys, over here!" the two boys spun around to see Connie calling to them from the small over-hang above the front doors of the school. Neither of them wanting to stand in the snow any longer, ran over to Connie who held the door open for them as they all stepped inside, the chill on their bones relieved from the blast of hot air they were hit with.
"Man, I don't recall it ever snowing THIS much..." Keifer thought this aloud to himself as the trio sat off for the cafeteria to grab breakfast before class. Steven suddenly gasped before they entered the room.
"Today we're doing the play!" he quickly texted his dad with his cellphone. "Dad promised he'd be here to see us" he added as they all went through the line. Keifer got himself a few muffins and an Orange Juice, while Steven got waffles. Connie simply got herself an apple and they all went and sat down with at least another 30 minutes before classes started.
"So that's the script you had me read last night" Keifer joked in between bites, recalling the night before when he and Steven had used Steven's room to practice in. "Good thing neither of us are the turkey that Squanto has to, y'know, hunt" they all had a small chuckle at this when a sudden announcement came on over the loud speaker.
"Attention all 10th Graders. You are to report to Mr. Vonshwart's classroom when the First Bell rings" the speaker crackled out and the small group looked to each other.
"Probably some last-minute practice or something" Connie stated.
"More than likely" Steven nodded after she said this. The snow outside had yet to loosen as the group threw their scraps and trays away. As they walked down the East Hall they were spotted by Marcus and his cronies.
"If it isn't the magical freaks!" He laughed at his own stupid joke and so did his group. Steven and the others tried to tune it out and walk past them until Marcus deliberately stepped in the way.
"Look, if you let us go, it'll save us a lot of trouble" Steven said in his polite tone. While he was tired of Marcus, he knew from experience that even the worst of people or gems could be stopped by words.
"Give me one reason that I shouldn't keep you babies from being late" he stood there, tapping his foot like he owned the school.
"We don't have to fight or be mean" Steven looked him in the eyes and took a step forward. "Fighting has never soled anything, so please, just stop being so... mean!" Marcus nearly doubled over laughing.
"Why should I stop being mean to a little fat boy like you who has like, 10 different weird, stupid moms?" it was at that moment, Connie and Keifer knew, that Marcus had messed up. Steven's pupils shrunk and Marcus laughed until Steven spoke, cutting the thick atmosphere with his voice, which now sounded very intimidating.
"What do you know about the Crystal Gems?" Steven walked closer to Marcus, who slowly backed away as everyone else in the hall watched, expecting some kind of stand-off. "Or for that matter, my mom?"
"They're all gay for each other, that's for sure!" Marcus laughed, brushing Steven off as nothing, along with his words.
"No they are NOT! We all care for each other! I love them because they help me, they guide me and they respect me! I do the same things for them!" Steven got closer to Marcus, who scoffed at him.
"So are you gay for your mom's then?" he had a snide look on his face as Steven spoke again.
"What do you know about my mom?" everyone went silent as Steven yelled his next few words. "I DIDN'T EVEN GET TO KNOW MY MOM!" everyone was taken aback by these words, except for Marcus.
"She must've let herself die because of how ugly you are!" Marcus laughed even more.
"You don't know ANYTHING ABOUT HER!" Steven was getting angry now. "But what I do know, is that she saw beauty in everything!" he was now nearly face-to-face with Marcus. "Even in jerks, like YOU!" Steven poked Marcus hard, who just laughed at the whole spectacle. Connie and Keifer just stood there, unsure of what to do.
"Do you think yours words hurt me, you stupid fatty?" Marcus was now walk-shoving Steven. "Let me show you REAL pain!" with those words, he punched Steven in the jaw. Steven fell on his butt and started to tear up. Connie rushed to him as Marcus laughed. "Yeah you little fat crybaby! Run home and cry to your gay moms!" Keifer snapped.
"You. Are. SCUM!" Marcus turned to Keifer who was flaring with rage on the inside.
"Oh look, it's Mr. Tough-boy! What, you gonna cry too? Want me to get you a tissue?" Keifer didn't stop walking until he was merely less than two inches away from Marcus.
"Let me tell you a secret" Keifer suddenly thrust his arm out and with the power of his gem, gripped Marcus and lifted him up.
"Put me down you idiot!" Marcus had the audacity to say this as Keifer pulled him up closer. He then spoke loud enough for everyone to hear.
"Scumbags like you PISS me off" with that, he socked Marcus with enough force to knock him down on the floor hard. He didn't stop there tough. Marcus got up and swiped his fist at Keifer, connecting with his left side.
"You think that hurt?" Keifer said in a mocking tone, which Marcus scoffed at. "Let me show YOU REAL PAIN!" Keifer began pummeling Marcus,and after he stopped the boy was still standing. He chuckled.
"Honestly, you're weak" he threw a knuckle-punch at Keifer's head, which he almost managed to avoid. "You think your tiny little punches HURT?" he then head-butted Keifer hard in the nose, causing blood to start trickling. No one knew where the teachers were, but at that point, people were either yelling, encouraging the fight, or a seldom few had actually went to get teachers. In truth, Keifer had held back, not wanting to break Marcus with the strength of his gem. Keifer let a small tear fall to the floor unnoticed.
"Yeah, you're right" Keifer stood back up and looked at Steven for a moment. His words stunned Marcus for a moment. "I might be weak alone, but here's something you should know. With my friends, no my FAMILY, I can do anything. Even bring myself to hurt jerks. Like. YOU!" with one final wind-up, he brought his final blow, exerting most of his gems' power into the punch. Marcus collapsed hard, gasping for air.
"Stop..." Steven was standing up again, having healed himself. Keifer looked at him tiredly. Connie suddenly gasped, pointing a finger in Keifer's direction. He turned just in time to see one of Marcus' friends bring a chair down on his head with a lot of force. Combined with how he exerted himself, Keifer collapsed, too exhausted to fight back. Marcus began gloating until finally, almost half the teachers came rushing in.
"Keifer, KEIFER!" these were the last words the boy heard as he blacked out, too exhausted to even move as he heard yelling.
XxXxXxXxX
Keifer shot up as he heard the electronic School bell ring, sounding for the first period. He looked around and realized that he was in the Nurse's office. He saw Steven and Connie next to him, both of them seemed to be relieved that he had finally woken up.
"What I miss?" he asked jokingly. He had a small headache, but other than that, he felt better. Still slightly tired as he was, he got off the soft bed.
"Someone went and found the teachers in the Auditorium" Connie began speaking as Steven lightly yawned. Keifer realized that Steven had a small bandage on his nose. "Most of them came rushing over to the hall. By the time everything had defused, you were out cold"
"After me and Connie, along with just about everyone else explained what happened, we brought you here" Steven looked down at the ground after saying this. "We don't know what's gonna happen with Marcus, but he's still participating in the Show" Steven added, sounding worried.
"Hey, it's gonna be fine" Keifer put an arm on Steven's shoulder as they were walking to Mr. Vonshwarts's classroom. "Nothing Marcus said matters - he's wrong. He was just trying to get in your head" Connie nodded in agreement with this statement as they got to the door. They opened it and the room nearly fell silent. Almost everyone in there win in little cluster either getting costumes on, doing make-up, or rehearsing lines. Mr. Vonshwarts greeted them before returning to help one group.
"The Show starts in about 30 minutes" Keifer stated this to them after looking at his small digital watch.
"In that case, let's get dressed up" Steven seemed slightly more cheerful now as the three went their separate ways temporarily to get ready. Unfortunately for Keifer, he had to go past Marcus. Shockingly though, the wrong-doer said nothing, nor did her even look at Keifer as he walked past to one of the changing rooms. Keifer was to play the role of one of the Indians with Squanto, while Steven and Connie were close friends with the ambassador of the Pilgrims.
"You look fancy" Keifer joked as he stepped out and noticed Connie and Steven. They both chuckled.
"So do you!" Steven was laughing happily. They all looked over their lines a few more times before Mr. Vonshwarts called them all over.
"Now 'visten 'ere children" although his accent was heavy, everyone could still understand him okay. "Ze' performance starts in roughly five minutes. So do your best, and please, no repeat of zis' morning!" he quickly rushed off to finalize some lights. As everyone took their positions, Steven couldn't help but smile. His whole family would be out there, cheering for him.
XxXxXxXxX
"And that, is the story of the First Thanksgiving" the curtains closed as the narrator said those final words and the whole school, plus everyone else in the audience clapped. The Show had went off without a hitch, and Mr. Vonshwartz claimed it to be one of the best performances he was proud to have shown in his life, running off for the break with tears in his eyes.
"Steven, that was amazing!" Greg hugged his son as the gems, consisting of Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl, Lapis, Bismuth, Peridot, Jasper and Pink Pearl congratulated them.
"Forget the Show - it's time for break!" Keifer bursted out of the door, only to feel something smash against his legs and he went flying to the floor, his left foot twisting in a nasty way. He looked up to see Marcus and is friends laughing at what they had just done.
"Why you...!" Keifer tried to stand up, but his ankle flared with pain. Unbeknownst to Marcus, everyone had just seen him do that. He turned as Jasper grabbed him by the shirt.
"Hey there, punk" Marcus slowly began panicking. That's when Bismuth placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Don't you DARE mess with any of us" Marcus gulped and nodded as Jasper tossed him like a rag-doll at his friends, getting a strike in Human Bowling.