Hours later, I had been woken up by someone shaking me. My eyes met with them and I saw an overweight man wearing a bus driver uniform. "Hey kid, you and your girlfriend have been asleep for hours." He said. "Oh, sorry man. Hey, what time is it?" I asked. "Around 9, I think." He replied. "Cool, thanks." I said.
I had shaken Amanda awake. "Stop, I'm tired." She said ignoring me. "Amanda, we've been asleep on this bus for nine hours. We need to get off now." I replied. She had moved her head away from the window and was now fully awake. "Oh wow." She said, grabbing our bags.
We had gotten off the bus and started walking. "So, where do you live?" She asked. "It's a few miles from the bus stop." I replied. We had been walking for a while before we finally made it to my house. I had stood there for a while. "Mike, what's wrong?" She asked. I had stared down at my shoes. "It's been so long since I've seen my parents." I said.
"Do you have a relatively negative relationship with your parents?" She asked. I shrugged. "It's just, the last time we talked I was such a disrespectful little shit. I guess I'm thinking our encounter now will be negative." I replied. She put her hands on my shoulders. "Mike, your parents will love you no matter what you do or what you say. Believe me." She said with a smile. I smiled back at her.
"Why are you so preachy?" I asked. "Well, we love each other. We should always try to help each other out when the other one is feeling down on themselves." She replied. I nodded, taking this into consideration. We had finally walked up the steps to my door. I rang the doorbell. Two figures had approached the door.
An adult male with long grey hair combed back, a blue button up shirt, jeans, and white sneakers and an adult female with short blonde hair, a pink shirt and necklace, tan capris, and sandals. My mother did not hesitate she had opened the door and hugged me. I hugged her back. "Hey mom." I said, trying to loosen her hold on me.
My father followed after her. "Oh, I see you brought a guest with you." He said. She waved at him. "Hi, I'm Amanda. Mike and I have been dating for a year now." She said. "Oh, you're the Amanda we heard about during Mike's phone calls over the summer." He replied.
"Yes, I can only imagine he said very polite things about me." She said. He nodded. "Yes, very polite and quite romantic things." He said with a smile. Mom had finally let go of me and switched her focus to Amanda. "Hello Amanda, you've already gotten acquainted with Alan, I'm Jennifer, Michael's mom." She said. "Hi, Mrs. White." She replied. They had both given each other a friendly hug.
"So Michael, do you see the resemblance?" He asked. I looked at him slightly confused. "Between Mom and Amanda? Look, I know they say that most men are born with an Oedipus complex, but it's an odd thought if you ask me." I replied. "Look, it doesn't matter what she looks like, if you care about her and you think she's worth the time, then she's most likely the one you'll marry." He said. "I know she's the one I'll marry. But at the moment, that's an afterthought." I said.
Mom and Dad had led us into the house. I had dragged our bags along with us. "So Amanda, we have the guest room in use, so I guess you'll be staying in Michael's room." Mom said. "Wait a minute, what guest?" I asked. I saw the woman walk out of the kitchen.
"Get out!" I shouted at her. "Michael!" Mom shouted back at me. "What is Dana King doing here?" I asked. "Michael, you will treat her with respect while she's a guest in our house." Mom replied. "I don't care. She's a bitch who had sex with my best friend." I said. Amanda looked around the room trying to avoid eye contact with my parents.
"Mike, I know you and I have a lot of tension, but I came here because I wanted to talk to you when you had the chance." Dana said walking past us. "Well, I'm going to go get set up in your room, Mike." Amanda said giving me a kiss on the cheek. "Yeah, I'll see you up there." I replied. I folded my arms over my chest and stood there. "Michael, you had no right to talk to her like that." Dad said. I took a deep breath. "Yeah, I know. I'm going to try to talk to her now." I said, before turning to the door.
Dana had been sitting on the steps drinking out of a flask. "Daytime drinking, for real?" I asked. "I don't see why that's a big deal to you." She replied. I sighed. "I'm sorry." I said. She shrugged. I walked over to her and sat down next to her. "Look, it's been hard since Jeff died. So, I guess I got a little promiscuous in the last few months." She replied. "So, that's why you and Aiden hooked up in California a few months back." I said. She nodded.
"So, why are you drinking now though? Do you really want to go out the same way Jeff did?" I asked. "Jeff didn't die from alcohol, he was murdered." She replied. "What?!" I asked surprised. "Yeah, he went to high school with a pair of brothers who he had been rivals with. They caught up with him twenty years later and then the eldest one, he just, pulled the trigger." She said, tears forming in her eyes.
"Dana, I am so sorry." I said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "What was the last name of these brothers?" I asked. "They were known as the Johnson brothers." She said. I was silent, I was trying to run this all in my head. So basically, Alucard's father or uncle possibly killed my uncle. When I get back to Bullworth I am going to settle things with him once and for all. "Dana, I go to school with a guy named David Johnson, do you think it's possible that he's related to Jeff's murderer?" I asked.
"It's possible, but highly unlikely, Johnson is a common as dirt last name." She replied. I sighed. "Do you and David have a long history?" She asked. "Yeah, kind of. All I really want to do is just beat the shit out of him" I said. "I see where you're coming from, but revenge is a dangerous game to play Mike. It's what killed my husband." She replied.
"I understand that, part of the reason I came here is to find some of my old tormentors and find out why they treated me like they did." I said. "But, no violence, correct?" She replied. "Not intentionally." I said.
"Good, because even if I don't know you that well, I do care about you." She said. "Thanks Dana, I guess I'm warming up to you too." I said. I got up and decided to go back inside. I had walked up to my room and found the suitcases to be empty. I had heard the sound of water running and sat on my bed waiting for Amanda to be done showering. She had walked out in a blue bathrobe and a towel covering her hair. "Hi." She said with a smile. "Hey, I'm going to take a shower and then I'll show you around Edison." I replied. She nodded. "Sounds good."
Twenty minutes later, I had walked out of the bathroom wearing nothing but my boxers. Amanda had been tying her hair into a side ponytail. She was wearing a blue and black tank top, denim shorts, and blue converse shoes. I had gotten changed into a red and black flannel button up shirt with a white t-shirt, blue jeans, and red converse shoes. She turned to face me. "So, where are we going first?" She asked.
"We're heading into town to visit my old karate sensei Mr. Okada." I replied. "Ok, but then are we going to visit some of the town's hotspots or…?" She asked curious. "I'll take you wherever you want to go, we'll be here for two weeks we might as well find some fun spots in this town to hang out at. I replied. She had gotten up from the chair and followed after me.
Minutes later, we were standing outside of Master Okada's dojo. I had walked in with Amanda to see him warming up. "Sorry to intrude like this, Sensei. I just wanted to check up on you." I said bowing before him. "Ah, Michael White, how are you?" He said turning to face me. "I'm alright, Sensei." I replied. "Michael, you stopped being my student two years ago, you can refer to me as Mr. Okada, if you wish" He said. I nodded.
"Mr. Okada, this is my girlfriend Amanda, we're going to be in town for a while, I figured I would show her around." I said. She bowed. "Sir, it is an honor to be in your dojo." She said. I laughed. "You'll have to forgive her, she's not very experienced with how dojo rules work." I replied. He bowed to her.
"No Amanda, it is an honor to have a new face in the dojo." He replied. She smiled. "Mike is right though, I'm familiar with the art of boxing and fencing. My ex-boyfriend and his friends take those sports very seriously." She said.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't wimpy White." A familiar voice called out to me. "Kai Seto, what the hell are you doing here?" I asked. "I came to do one on one training with Sensei Okada, I'm actually quite close to becoming a Sensei myself." He replied bragging.
"With a strong sense of discipline and the right amount of training, anyone can become a sensei." Mr. Okada said. Kai looked over to Amanda. "Who is this vision of loveliness?" He asked. "I'm Amanda, Mike's girlfriend." She replied disgusted by Kai.
"Little wimpy White actually found someone who wasn't a two faced slut." Kai asked taunting me. I shoved Kai down to the ground. "Shut up Kai! You're a dick." I said looking down at him. He shot back up and got into a fighting stance.
He was a black belt, and I was only a blue belt. I knew there was no doubt he would beat my ass, but he doesn't get the right to bad-mouth my girlfriend. "Kiai!" He shouted throwing punches at me. I started dodging his punches with different styles of blocking.
I had hit him with a side kick and then threw a few punches at him. We had continued our battle for a few moments, mostly with a repetition of punching and dodging. I had finished Kai off with a roundhouse kick and he had collapsed to the floor, winded.
"Don't you ever talk about Amanda that way, you hear?" I shouted at him. I had walked out and Amanda had followed out after me. "So, now do we get to go and see some of the hot spots around town?" Amanda asked. My adrenaline was pumping now.
"Why are you so interested in this town's hot spots?" I snapped at her. She had stood there silent. "Damn it, Amanda, I'm sorry." I said hugging her. "Why did you really come back to your old stomping grounds?" She asked.
"Look, one of the things I wanted to do here was meet up with some of my old bullies and try to find out why they treated me like shit after all this time." I said. "But then why did you take me along?" She asked. "Honestly, it was a last minute idea. I didn't expect us to get back together so quickly." I replied. "But, I'm here now. So, what are we going to do?" She asked.
"Well, my mom has a coupon for her and two friends to go to a salon tomorrow. Maybe you can tag along with her and Dana." I said. She nodded. "Sure, but what about right now?" She asked. "Now, I give you a tour of some of the town's best spots." I said.
It took us a few hours to hit up some of the teen friendly spots in town, but we were now heading back to my house. "Maybe we can go to a movie one night, and then go play mini-golf and go to the park another night?" Amanda asked.
"We can do as many as you want. Anything for you, babe." I replied, gripping her hand tightly. She looked down at her hand. "You're strangely protective." She said, loosening her grip. "I'm sorry, I guess I'm just scared of losing you." I replied.
She smiled at me. "So, do you see us getting married in the future?" She asked. "I'm not a psychic, and I don't play one on TV, but my parents believe that if you care about someone and think their worth your time, they're your future husband or wife." I replied. "That's funny, my parents believe in a similar idea." She said. "Great mind think alike, am I right?" I replied. She giggled. "So, why don't you tell me more about the bully you'll be going after tomorrow?" She asked.
It would be a long story, I walked with Amanda and the porch and told her to sit down with me. She nodded. "So, when I was ten years old, Lucy, Ryan and I had grown up with these pair of siblings. Heather, who was our age, and her older brother by one year, Eddie. For the longest time, the four of us had been the best of friends. Even though we were all 10, I was developing feelings for Eddie's sister Heather. But, Eddie didn't show his true colors until my freshman year of high school." I explained.
3 Years Ago
Monday
Lucy, Ryan, and I had been roaming the halls. Lucy and I were holding hands and swinging our arms back and forth. Heather and I had been dating throughout middle school, but whenever I kissed her there was no spark. Lucy and I had kissed once at a middle school Halloween party, we were playing spin the bottle, and the moment we kissed sparks had flown.
The night before, I had met Lucy at Roosevelt Park, where we had been sitting on the swings and we had just kissed, enjoying every moment. Heather had seen us walking home together and had been quick to tell Eddie about this. So, when I got to my locker, Eddie had caught up to me.
"Mike, we need to talk." Eddie said. "Do we? Why's that?" I asked. "Why'd you break my sister's heart like that?" He asked. "I'm sorry, we had been broken up for the past few months, I don't think I'm in the wrong for wanting to get together with Lucy. " I explained. He shoved me against my locker and was looking for a fight.
I tried to break loose from his grasp, but I couldn't. Eddie had been on the football team throughout middle school, there was no question that he was probably on steroids. Ryan had jumped on his back, releasing Eddie's hold on me.
"You want to fuck with my boy, you'll have to go through me." Ryan said. After that, Max, the kid who got me kicked out of my old school alongside Derek had saw the fight going on and joined in.
"Hey newbie, Mike looks about your size, why don't you show him what's up?" Max asked. Derek nodded and gotten into a fighting stance facing me. I had gotten into a fighting stance ready to take him on. I had swung a few punches at him and he dodged those.
He charged at me and I stuck my leg out and he collided with the lockers. Derek had checked his head for blood, but the collision wasn't that severe. He was majorly pissed off though and threw several rapid punches at me. I had stood in a block stance dodging his punches. I threw a side kick at Derek, knocking him down on the floor.
I had joined Ryan in taking on Eddie and Max. It didn't really matter, because a teacher had caught us fighting and sent us all to the principal's office. Derek, Eddie, and Ryan had been suspended. But Max and I were expelled, due to us both having negative permanent records.
"I never forgave Eddie for being friends with the guy who bullied me, and I'm sure he never forgave me for breaking Heather's heart." I said. "Wow, so how are you going to handle dealing with Eddie?" Amanda asked. "Honestly, I just want to talk. Eddie was the older brother I never got to have. Then he betrayed me, but I guess Aiden's like the older brother I've always wanted now." I replied.
"Why do you want an older brother so bad, anyways? If you don't mind me asking…" Amanda said. "I don't know. Maybe I have abandonment issues." I replied, honestly I wasn't sure why I liked the idea of having someone there to protect me. "Maybe it's not abandonment issues, maybe you just like having friends you know you can rely on. When you got to Bullworth, you started with no friends, and with the fucked social system Bullworth has, if you don't have friends you're nothing." Amanda said.
"I guess." I said quietly. "But Mike, you do have friends who are there for you. You have Aiden, and Salem, and me." She said. I broke down. "Never leave me." I said holding her tightly. "Try to stop me." She said, her voice breaking. We had sat there and watched the stars in the sky. Amanda had looked down at her phone. "It's getting late, maybe we should go inside." She said. "Yeah, let's go." I replied.
By the time I had woken up, Amanda was gone. I guess she went out for a spa day with mom and Dana. I had gotten dressed and grabbed a quick meal from the kitchen. I basically had the house to myself because dad was at work by now. I decided to leave a note for them. "Went to visit an old friend. Be back whenever. Love Mike." I said reading it over.
I had walked out of the house heading for Eddie's house. I had stood on his porch and knocked on the door. "Yes, who is…" The girl stopped dead in her tracks when she recognized me. "Heather?" I asked looking at the girl. She definitely grew up. She had shortened her hair to a bangs style haircut, was wearing a pink tube top, denim short shorts, and white high heeled boots. "Why are you here?" She asked. "I'm going to be here for the next two weeks, I figured I might as well visit some old friends." I replied.
"Sorry Mike, I don't think you and I can really be considered friends anymore. Get lost." She said walking away from the door. I had stood there for a while. I knocked on the door again. "Yeah, what do you…" He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw me.
"Surprised, Eddie?" I asked. "You know, with all the shit Max and I gave you, and the shit Kai gave you at your karate school, you'd never come back once you got sent to Bullshit Academy." He replied. "Nope, I'm not the scared kid I used to be. I did some growing up these past few years." I said. He nodded. "Yeah, you got a little bigger, you still look like a total poser though." He replied.
"I think a poser is better than what you got going for yourself." I said looking him over. He had a blonde buzzcut, was wearing a blue tank top, cargo shorts, and white sneakers. "What, you mean the washed-up athlete look? I guess the whole college thing isn't working out at the moment." He replied. I folded my arms. "Can I come inside? I just want to talk." I said. He nodded opening the door.
"Why are you really back home in Edison?" He asked. "I figured that's what you wanted to talk about. I'm still enrolled at Bullworth, even though I feel like I'm wasting my time there. Everyone just sort of uses me to help stir their drama throughout school. You see, I came back here for spring break with my girlfriend, I got this idea in my head that I should try to meet up with my old tormentors and find out why they treated me like they did." I explained. "How's that going so far?" He asked. "Well, I beat up Kai in Master Okada's dojo because he started running his mouth. Whatever happened to Max though?" I asked.
Eddie seemed hesitant. "The last time I or anyone saw him was after you both got expelled. Rumors started to spread about where he would end up now. Most people bet that he would get involved in drugs, marry young, become abusive, or go to jail." Eddie said.
"So, I guess, once a fuck up, always a fuck up, huh?" I replied. He shook his head. "Not always, you sure changed." He said. I shook my head. "I only started become less of a waste a few months ago." I said.
He nodded. "What happened?" He asked. "Long story short, I thought I got my girlfriend pregnant, we broke up, and then got back together. She's out having a spa day with my mom and my, well I guess Aunt." I replied.
"You know, after you and Heather broke up, she became slightly destructive, but then Ryan started dating her." He said. "Right, but Ryan and Lucy are at Bullworth like I am, so who is she with now?" I asked. "She's hooked up with a few guys throughout senior year, but now she's hooked up with this guy who's been treating her like princess and making her feel worthy." He said. I nodded. "Well, that's good."
"Yeah, as cocky as Kai is, I guess he can actually be a really sensitive guy." He said. I was kind of surprised, Kai had always treated me like shit, but I never got to know him that well.
"So, why did you abandon us all for a douche like Max?" I asked. "I guess I'm insecure. When you're in high school, it's not exactly cool to be involved with a bunch of lame middle school kids, you know?" He said.
I nodded. "I guess so. But why didn't you do anything when you knew he was bullying me?" I asked. "The same reason a lot of cronies don't tell off the bully they hang out with, they're afraid of being a victim." He said. "I guess it really doesn't matter now, because I eventually stood up to you guys, but still, it's good to hear your side of the story." I replied.
"So, why did you break up with Heather?" He asked. "When you're 13, you're a hormonal little spaz who wants to get together with anyone who has a pretty face. She could be a complete bitch and you would just think, damn, she's hot as hell." I replied.
"So, Lucy didn't mean anything, she was just lust…" He said. I shook my head. "No, not necessarily. Lucy did actually mean something to me at the time. We had been best friends for the longest time, and it took me a while to see her as anything else." I said.
"Then, you should know that while you were gone at Bullworth, Lucy and I had gotten together for a bit." He replied. "I'm not even mad. You don't seem like the kind of guy who gets with a girl just for sex." I said. "No, I was not using her for sex. You have to admit she was smoking hot though." He replied. I nodded. "Yeah, I used to feel the same way." I said.
"Look, the reason why I confronted you about Heather a few years ago was just me being an overprotective older brother. I didn't mean to just randomly attack you like that." He said. "I get it, man. I always wondered why you did what you did, but now that I know your reasons for all of it, I guess I'm done here." I said getting up.
"Hey Mike, enjoy the rest of your time back in Edison." He said opening the door. "I will." I replied. "Make sure you treat your girl like a princess." He said. "Gee, thanks dad." I replied sarcastically.
Now that I finally got to reconnect with an old friend and take on an old bully I figured the rest of my time in Jersey could be spent doing romantic things with Amanda.
A/N: Little fun fact about this chapter: It took me two days to write, well, technically 3 hours one day and two hours another day. That would be a total of five hours spent writing and re-writing. Originally I wanted the confrontation between Eddie and Mike to be more dramatic and there was going to be a flashback to Mike hanging out with his friends back when he was around 10 years old, but the chapter was getting long and I didn't want you guys getting bored out of your minds.
Kai and Master Okada were last minute additions to this chapter which is why that section is so much shorter than the rest. It just felt weird mentioning that Mike can fight with Karate but never really elaborate on where he learned it from and if it was an easy road for him to follow.
This is the penultimate chapter, meaning that the next chapter is the finale and then an epilogue chapter after that.
Not much else to say, so RRF, Read, Review, Follow if you like my work or this story.
ShadowRoxas134 Signing Out!