Chapter 9

"A girl you say?" Inquired Jervis, pouring himself another cup of tea. "How delightful! Did you invite her to tea?" Jonathan sat beside Jervis behind the counter of the book store, his head rested against his fist, staring out the display window into the distant realms of the city.

"No," he said softly, practically mumbling, "I barely had time to say anything. She was gone before I could even open my mouth." It had been almost a week since his encounter with his mysterious heroine, and Jonathan hadn't stopped thinking about her since. "Are you sure you haven't seen her around the shop?" Asked Jonathan, turning his head to look at Jervis. Jervis sipped his tea and shook his head.

"Unfortunately not, my dear boy," he said with a frown, "No girl that appears similar to how you described has ever walked into my shop. I'm terribly sorry." Jonathan sighed and turned to look back out the window.

"Look, Jonathan," said Alice, dusting off one of the bookshelves, "I love a good rescue story, but are you one-hundred percent positive that this girl really exists?" Jonathan's head snapped in her direction.

"What do you mean?" He asked, a slight tone of anger in his voice.

"I'm just saying," continued Alice, twirling around to face Jonathan, "you told us that you got beat up really bad by Bo and his friends last week. Maybe this mystery girl was just a hallucination created by your brain misinterpreting chemicals released during your encounter."

"No!" Said Jonathan, practically shouting now. "She was real! I touched her hand!"

"Don't get upset, Jonathan," said Jervis, placing a hand on Jonathan's shoulder, "However, Alice does have a point. The brain can create ghost feelings sometimes to trick you into believing something is really there."

"I knew you'd take her side," said Jonathan, angrily shoving Jervis's hand off of him. "I know I wasn't imagining it, I know it! She was real..." Jonathan sadly walked over to the display window and placed his pale hand against the cold glass. "She has to be." He stared out the rooftops, scanning for a sign of his mystery girl. Could it really be possible he had made her up? That it was all just...a vision? Maybe it really was impossible to think somebody would take a minute of their time to help someone as insignificant as him...

"Jonathan," said Alice sympathetically, "I didn't mean to-"

"It's okay," answered Jonathan before she could finish in a somber tone, "I understand." Alice looked over at Jervis with a sad expression on her face. Jervis gently patted her shoulder twice and walked over to Jonathan.

"You know," he said, "science can be wrong. There's always a margin of error. And my boy, for someone as extraordinary as yourself, I'm sure that the restrictions of science don't apply." Jonathan looked at Jervis skeptically, unsure of where he was going. Jervis simply giggled and ruffled up Jonathan's hair. "The point is that I, Jervis Tetch, do hereby swear on this frabjous day that myself and Alice will do whatever we can to help you find your disappearing rescuer." Jonathan felt a small smile grow on his face.

"You're serious?" Jervis nodded his head and Alice did the same. "Thank you both very much! Your assistance means so much to me." Jervis let out an animated laugh, but before anyone could speak again, the cuckoo clock on the wall being to chime.

"Oh me, oh my! Look at the time! You better go before the school bell chimes!" Jonathan nodded and grabbed his schoolbag off the floor.

"Have a nice day at school, Jonathan!" Called Alice from behind the counter.

"Thank you both again," said Jonathan as he ran out the door, "Keep an eye out for her!" He bolted down the streets and headed for Gotham High. He didn't like to be late, especially when he had his new favorite class first. He managed to make it into class during the Pledge of Allegiance, so no one noticed him slip into his seat.

"Good morning class," said Mr. Herbert after the pledge. "I hope that you all had a pleasant weekend. Please pass your homework forward and then we will begin our adventure into the human mind!" Several members of the class rolled their eyes with a groan and reached into their folders. Jonathan, unlike the rest, hopped up in his seat with excitement. He reached into his bag, pulled out his homework, and enthusiastically handed it to the girl in front of him.

"Freak," coughed the girl as she grabbed the homework. Crane, too intrigued to listen, focused all his attention on Mr. Herbert. Jonathan opened his black notebook, ready to take notes and thrilled to learn more.

"Now," said Mr. Herbert, placing the pile of homework down on his desk, "today we will be discussing Freud and his psychodynamic theory."

"Ooo!" Thought Jonathan. "Sounds interesting!" He titled his notes, "Freud's Psychodynamic Theory," and waited eagerly for Mr. Herbert to continue.

"Hey, Bo," said Mark Huggins, "watch me shoot this spitball at the back of Crane's head!" Before Mark could fire, Bo grabbed his peashooter and snapped it in half. "What'd you do that for?"

"Shut up, idiot!" Whispered Bo angrily. Mr. Herbert stopped his lecture for a moment, eyeing Bo's corner of friends, then continued teaching. "Look," said Bo, scowling at Mark, "do you even remember what happened last week?"

"I remember," laughed Jacob, a freshman on the football team, "you and your boys got beat to a pulp by a g-" Bo grabbed the boy's shirt collar aggressively.

"If I were you," he growled, "I'd keep my mouth shut! Who's the captain of the team?"

"Y-You," choked the boy.

"And...who's the waterboy?"

"M-Me," gulped the boy.

"That's right. Now keep your trap shut!"

"Is there a problem, Mr. Griggs, that you feel the need to interrupt my class?" Mr. Herbert looked at Bo with his right eyebrow raised.

"No sir," said Bo with a smile. "This young man just had a question about what we were discussing and I was offering my help. Isn't that right?" The freshman quivered with fear and then nodded quickly.

"Y-Yes, Mr. Herbert, he's telling the truth."

"Come on, Mr. Herbert," thought Jonathan, pressing down on his pencil's eraser top, "see through the lie. It's obvious Bo is manipulating that boy!" Mr. Herbert scanned the young freshman, then did the same with boy, who was cockily smiling.

"Fine," said Mr, Herbert, making Jonathan's jaw drop, "you get one more strike, Mr. Griggs, then I won't feel so uneasy about giving you a punishment." Jonathan growled to himself.

"Bo gets away with yet another thing." Jonathan sighed. "Oh well, I suppose. At least he was picking on that poor freshman and not me. That's all that really matters." Bo gave his friends a few high fives, then stared down Jonathan, who was back to taking studious notes.

"Look at him, boys," said the jock, "that little freak is sitting comfortable and feeling so special." Bo spat out the last word, the hatred in his voice so prominent.

"Well, what can we do about it, Bo? What if that girl shows up again?" Bo huffed.

"I ain't afraid of no dumb girl and neither are you! Besides, she ain't gonna show up because that was just a fluke. We gotta show that scarecrow that we're still the bosses around this school and we're gonna do it today, get it?" The boys nodded and Bo smirked a very sinister smirk.

It was lunch period and Jonathan made his way to the outdoor courtyard the school had. He placed his paper lunch bag on a slightly rusted metal table and took a seat on the wooden stool beside it. Jonathan took out his psychology notes and happily studied them as he chewed his peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

"Hellooooo, Jonathan." Jonathan raised his bright blue eyes until they met with a pair of almost as bright green ones. Jonathan's expression changed from pleasant to annoyed in a second.

"Edward," he said in a monotone voice, swallowing a piece of his sandwich, "How are-"

"Fine." Edward spoke quickly. His face, like Jonathan's, had changed much since their days in Gotham Elementary. Edward had become much skinnier and his head much more rectangular than Jonathan had remembered. His glasses made his ears stick out and brought attention to his fairly long nose. "What kind of sandwich are you eating?"

"It's a-"

"No, no! Let me guess!" Jonathan looked up at the sky impatiently, mentally praying for lightning to strike him down from this earth.

"Hmm..." Edward got uncomfortably close to Jonathan's face and sniffed. He then poked the sandwich with the tip of his index finger, then licked it. "Judging by the scent of peanuts and grapes, not to mention the soft squishy texture, I'd deduce you're eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich." Jonathan, irritated beyond belief, clapped slow and condescendingly.

"Very good, Edward," he said, "I thought I really stumped you this time." Edward fixed his glasses with a chuckle.

"You thought wrong, but that's okay." Edward patted Jonathan's head several times. "No harm done, little freshman." Jonathan growled, but then took a deep breath. He felt bad for Edward. After Elementary school, each one of his friends (or at least the people who could semi-tolerate him) either moved or just went in a different direction. Jonathan, also being an outcast, felt the least he could do was put up with Edward until he found someone else to bother. Jonathan sighed and crumpled up his empty lunch bag.

"Wanna hear a riddle?" Jonathan rolled his eyes and tossed the trash bag ball into a nearby dumpster. The crumpled ball hit the rim of the dumpster and fell onto the ground below.

"Sure," said Jonathan defeated, "give me a hard one this time." Edward smiled bright and tapped his index finger against his chin thoughtfully. Suddenly, Edward's face became even whiter than before and his pupils became wide.

"What's dumb and monstrous, yet beloved by the majority?" Jonathan thought for a moment. He actually was kind of stumped.

"I don't think I know, Edward. Can I get a-" Jonathan turned around to see Bo Griggs and his comrades towering over Edward and himself. "Hint?"

"Well, well, well," said Bo, cracking his neck, "look what we got here, fellas. Mr. know-it-all and scarecrow."

"A two-for-one deal, huh, Bo?" The group of jocks laughed and Jonathan felt his stomach sink with fear.

"It's been fun, Jonathan," said Edward, quickly rising to his feet, "but I gotta go. Good luck!" He fled from the lunch table as fast as he could and, with a snap of his fingers, Bo Griggs sent half of his group after Edward. The other half grabbed Jonathan's arms and held him up against a nearby wall. Jonathan kicked and fidgeted, trying so hard to build up whatever strength he had, but the fear of Bo and getting beaten was too much to overcome. He shivered and shook with fright as Bo got closer and closer, cracking his knuckles and laughing to himself.

"Aw, is little Jonathan scared?" Chuckled Bo, throwing a punch into Jonathan's stomach. "I'm gonna enjoy this. A week is too long to miss out on a prime time beating." Each blow hurt more and more. Jonathan tried to scream, but each time he took a breath, Bo or another one of the brutes would punch. He felt himself getting dizzy and the world around him fading into black. He could the boys laughing, but it was slowly being drowned out by the shrill sound of his ears ringing.

"Final blow!" Chanted the jocks holding Jonathan back. "Final blow! Final blow!" Bo raised his arm back and spat on his knuckles, just to make the punch even more unbearable.

"Night night, scarecrow!" Laughed Bo. "No little girl here to save you this time!" Jonathan, bruised and broken, closed his eyes and accepted what was coming. Bo threw his punch directly toward Jonathan's face as hard as he could. The boys laughed, but their laughter was broken by a single gasp.

"Who you calling a little girl, chump?" Jonathan opened his eyes wide and even felt a small smile appear on his mangled face. Bo, furious at reencountering his past conqueror, began to throw every punch he had at the girl. Swiftfully, she dodged each one. "Sloppy, childish, weak, come on! You can do better than that, can't you?" Her taunting enraged him more, and Bo kept missing. Finally, the girl grabbed Bo's wrist and kicked him right in between his legs. Bo whimpered and fell to the ground in undeniable pain. The two boys holding Jonathan back looked at her in fear and shook as she turned around to face them. She flashed Jonathan a smirk, then hissed like a cat at the two boys, making them scream and run away in fear. The girl laughed and stretched her arms out, satisfied with herself and her work. She then immediately ran over to Jonathan and shook him lightly.

"Kid, hey kid!" Jonathan was not responsive. His eyes were closed and his body was limp. She immediately checked for a pulse and sighed with relief. He was still alive. She placed her palm on his chest and could feel his lungs inflating from inside his chest. She lifted his shirt and observed the large bruises across his stomach. She swore softly under her breath and looked around. Even though it was broad daylight, and people surrounded them, not one of them stopped to take a moment to help this poor boy. The girl shook her head in disappointment and placed the boys arm around her shoulders.

"Hang on, kid," she whispered softly, "I'm gonna take you someplace where I can get you cleaned up. Don't think it'll be a problem, considering all these lovely people don't seem to notice anything important."

"You're...real." The girl stopped for a moment.

"You say something?" Jonathan's eyes fluttered, then opened slightly. His bright blue eyes focused on her own.

"Are you," he whispered, "are you real?" The girl smirked.

"Sure I'm real, what kinda crazy question is that?" Jonathan's eyes shut slowly and he let a small smile rest on his face as he whispered in satisfaction before passing out,

"I knew it."