Chapter Thirty-Five

As the two hulk-like prefects strolled away, Pete allowed himself a sigh of relief. Being head boy technically elevated him to a higher status than them (in fact they had just been checking in and handing off some paperwork), but he still got nervous enough to stammer when around them. Perhaps it was their freakishly tall height and built bodies. Or it could be from all the times he was harassed by them in previous years. Whatever be the reason, Kowalski dreaded when his duties involved them. He wished he could be more like Jim. The king of Bullworth never feared prefects. He even taunted them for fun.

Petey watched the two figures now in the distance pull out their flashlights. Yellow beams flickered in front of them. It wasn't pitch black out yet, but the sun definitely was setting. The red and yellow sky enveloping the school grounds was a tad bit surprising to the head boy. Where had the day fled to? Last he remembered noticing it was only early afternoon. There was too much to dwell on inside his head. He missed Gary of course. They hadn't seen each other for a few days, and he could always feel his mood sour the longer their separation. There was also the matter of his best buddy. Jimmy was acting like such a jerk! Pete did not enjoy seeing his friend do wrong. And going along with his Jim problem, there was Gord. Kowalski had been making sure to visit the guy every now and then. He liked Gord now that some of his attitude had dissolved and he actually remembered his name. Seeing him so defeated was major downer. Maybe part of that had something to do with the guilt he was feeling for keeping Jimmy's secret.

What could he do with the remainder of his day? There was his fresh paperwork to look through. He skimmed it with the natural light still left. A messily written schedule for the following week sat on top. He didn't know why they bothered; it was always the same. Underneath it were at least twenty of the forms they had to fill every time they forcefully detained a student. Pete shuddered. That was not the first stack of them they delivered that day.

The thought of going back inside the school to call Gare crossed his mind. It was still probably too early to reach him though. He wanted to talk to his boyfriend so badly. He needed someone to unload all of his troubling thoughts onto, and Gary always had an interesting perspective. Maybe talking about Jimmy's ill behavior was not a good idea. Lately, Gary was looking for any reason to trash Jim.

Before he realized what he was doing, Pete discovered that his sneakers were carrying him towards the front gate. Slipping away to go see Gary on a Wednesday night? What was he thinking? Thinking could very well be his problem though. Petey overanalyzed every situation. And Gary had told him to be more spontaneous. The head boy took responsibility of his feet and continued on down the road. He might even skip all of school the next day as well.

The streets were completely empty for the first few blocks away from the academy. Pete noticed the figure walking his way about four blocks out. The closer they got to each other, the more his stomach warned him. He attributed this to being nervous about breaking so many rules.

Blonde hair was the first thing he recognized. Next it was the stench of booze and the masses of pure threatening muscle. Pete tried his best to keep his head down. Why would Trent be venturing so close to the school? Oh Jim I wish you would just give up on this guy. There was no real reason that he should have been mildly shaking. What kind of a beef did the roid rage actor have with him?

"Hey! You're that punk!"

Well, there was that night Pete found a semblance of courage and yelled at the guy to leave. Surely, the drunk couldn't remember that.

The beast roared again, "Hey, I'm talking to you!"

Crud. There wasn't anybody else nearby. Trent was addressing him. Pete could feel his breathing gain speed as he started to inwardly panic. Shouldn't he turn around and run? What was the sense in coming even closer to him? They were only a little over a street apart. Kowalski kept moving forward. I should at least stop. He didn't. If only he could have been frozen in fear, instead he couldn't halt his motion.

"I am going to pound you."

A pair of hands grabbed onto Pete's shoulders and he couldn't stop his terrified scream. The grip tightened. Whoever was behind him began to gently pull him back. After a few steps, a voice whispered in his ear, "Kinda late to be out Femme."

"Gary!" Pete could have started crying, partially from relief and some just from being near the tall slender boy. He tried to turn around to face Gary, but was stopped.

"Now's not the time to get all lovey on me. It seems you've managed to piss off the pimpled ogre."

Pete at least turned his head far enough back to get a glimpse. He was wearing a dark grey sweatshirt with the hood up. "Shouldn't we run?" A car drove by. Did they find this scene interesting at all? Could they feel the nerves pulsing through the teens?

"No. That would make you stick out in his imbecile brain all the more. Just stay here with me and let him pass."

They waited wordlessly for the bully to get within a yard's distance. Pete had thought for sure that he was going to charge them. He stumbled forward at his slowed pace. "Gary. Sup?" Trent greeted. Did he not realize that he was shouting threats a few moments ago?

"Nothing. Where are you headed off to buddy?" Gary's tone hinted at condescending.

He kept on walking, passing by before responding. "Gonna get Jimmy and punch his lights out. Then I'm comin' back for that one."

"Bullworth is crawling with prefects right now for the evening curfews."

"So?"

"Jim's in the dorms. You'll never get to him now. Just go home."

"Can't. Not alone."

"C'mon, I'll walk you back. We can have a drink at your place."

"Gotta kill Jimmy. Punk won't get in touch."

At this point Gary had to shout to get to the blonde. "Alright. Have a good night then."

"Bye."

Gary started to laugh after the other boy was out of earshot. He took his hands off Pete and cracked his knuckles. Pete frowned. "Don't worry, he'll never make it. Prefects will smell him before he even gets to the gate."

"Why aren't you at work?"

"I took a day off as our friend there apparently did."

"You could have told me. I was on my way to go see you."

"I noticed you naughty little thing." Gary smirked and gave a devilish wink.

"Why were you coming from that direction anyways?" Smith put an arm around Pete's waist and started them walking towards his trailer.

"Does it really matter?" Pete didn't respond. "You're not going to like my answer."

"Were you on school grounds? Do you know how bad it would be if you got caught!"

"Well I obviously outsmarted that brilliant staff. Gee, who would have thought?"

"What were you trying to do?"

"Relax, I just wanted to see if I could find the kid. I haven't seen him since the world changing split." Gary gave him a little squeeze and Pete couldn't help but smile. He certainly didn't approve of his boyfriend being near the academy. The reasoning was sweet, and gave him some really good feelings about his villainized partner. He was so enamored that he didn't noticed when Gary swiped the prefects' schedule later that night.