Hello people, it's me again... Yeah, I bet you aren't all that thrilled about seeing me again, but anyway, here is the latest installment of my story. I am going to be doing something most writers do, yet I'm not going to do it the way they do it, if you understand what I am saying. I'm not entirely sure when I'll be doing it, but I'm pretty sure that I will. I'm probably going to do it in the next chapter or something. I don't really know if the last chapter was the best I've written, definitely the most dramatic so far, but I'm not quite sure about its quality. I guess "impromptu-ness" can be a bad thing sometimes... especially when you have writer's block. So, don't forget to review. Hope you all enjoy the story!
Chapter4
Aftermath of the Episode
As the knife slid down the Katie's cheek the world seemed to slow down, prolonging the moment, scribbling it into my mind, bestowing on to me the horrid memory for all eternity. I saw the metal penetrate her skin as it flew from my grasp. I saw the blood seeping out like a slow poison waiting to devour you. I saw my army knife, gleaming underneath its bloodstained edge. But then I saw the look on her face, one of pure terror, hatred, and fear...
I felt her emotions as she laid there in the grass, dumbfounded as we all had been. I saw the tears glisten in her eyes. I saw her run away from me in fear and anger. I saw the all the mistakes I had committed in my life all in a moment...
I stood there, body not moving, and my face was in the same stunned position. My friends were whispering loudly, grunting here and there. They were probably talking about what had just happened, and what exactly went on. Gossiping would have been an appropriate term.
I swear, even the toughest boys could act like teenage valley-girls...
I heard big footsteps on the damp grass; someone had put their hand on my shoulder. Without any need to guess, I already knew that it was Frankie, "Hey Freddy dude, are you okay?" He asked me cautiously, there could have been a hint of genuine concern in his voice.
I had to save face here, "Yeah of course," I said my voice was a bit scathing, "I wasn't the one whose cheek got sliced!" I let out a weak laugh, but it was strong enough to make him believe that I wasn't disturbed. He continued talking about something, but an angry thought filled my head.
Saving face? I can't believe what I just thought of doing, and what I just did as well. How could I think of saving face when someone I've know my entire school life was just cut on the cheek by my army knife?
Another guy stepped up to me, he was some years older, but an okay guy nonetheless. His name was Drell, or maybe Del, probably something like that. He was popular in his level. His longish, brown hair was slicked back like all of them, yet Miss Mullins gave up on reprimanding him about Horace Green's dress code. His sleeves were rolled back and his trousers were torn in several places. His face was visibly attractive, yet he was a few beers short of a six-pack... If you catch my drift, "Hey dude, what just happened now?" He asked me lazily, as if he didn't care, but I could all sense their burning curiosity.
"You got eyes, right?" I snapped back, clearly not in the best mood, "Or were you just zoned out the entire time," It wasn't a good insult, but I was mad and I didn't really want to be creative at that point. Frankie shifted uneasily in his shoes. Drell or Del or whatever his name is flinched at me tone.
"Hey dude," He put his hands up in a defensive manner, "I just wanted to know man, and give you my... what do you call them again?" He scratched his head, definitely not the smartest kid in the field, "Condomelons? Consolonces? Oh yeah, condolences..."
I rolled my eyes discreetly, but I only grunted in reply. Another one of the guys went up to talk to me directly. His real name was Arnold, but he forced us to call him by his surname, Crisp, "Freddy, who was the girl," he asked wryly, obviously not noticing my bad mood, "Cousin, friend, old girlfriend?"
You would have never guessed that Crisp was one of the so-called 'badboys.' His hair was cut short and gelled back, his uniform was always ironed and pressed to perfection, his back stood straight, and he wore glasses! I mean, some of us, unlike Drell, or whoever he was, were forced to stick to the dress code, but of course we rebelled in little ways, for instance, I didn't tuck in my shirt, I sometimes wore a crumpled uniform, my face would have dirt streaked on it, you know... the works. But Crisp, stuck to the dress code like a man, nearing death, but hanging on to life, yet somehow he was a tough guy and many of the girls found him... 'Desirable...'
"None of those," I answered curtly, holding my fist back from hitting all the people who were currently pissing me off, "She's just some nosey girl, one of the losers in our class, she's friends with Mooneyham." My voice was as sharp as the knife.
"Ah, the Mooning Ham," Crisp said, his high-pitched voice went abnormally higher, "Pity, for now and forever she has been tainted by the evil disease that Zack Mooneyham passes around to all who get close to him, which we fear and know as, "Dorkitis." He bowed to embellish the dramatic effect, his glasses nearly slipping off.
I gave him a threatening glare, "Are you trying to make me feel better, Arnold?" I used his first name just to piss him off, but no one could miss the spite that my retort was full off. Frankie and whatever his name is looked surprised at me.
"Hey man," His big hand pulled my shoulder back gruffly, "Don't go there," His voice was a bit seething, but then his tone went back to his usually 'chipper' self, "If you want me to back off, just say it!" I had been waiting for someone to say something like that.
"Then BACK OFF!!!" I yelled at him, and then I stomped away, leaving the guys confused and a bit irritated. As much they thought that I needed 'condomelons' I really wanted to be alone at that moment. My emotions were spinning at an alarming rate and my heart was pounding as hard as a jackhammer. I ran out of the field too. I didn't really know where I was going, but I let my feet do the thinking and let my mind do the running.
I had reached the end of the field. I had reached the side of the school; there were no people there so I sank to the cement floor. I was out of breath and out of focus. I tried to fully comprehend what had just happened, yet even the thought did not want to register in my brain. 'Okay, Freddy, backtrack,' I told myself as I ran my hands through my sleek hair. It became disheveled and unruly.
I replayed the event in my mind, trying to separate 'that' from 'that.' I didn't actually hurt her, did I? I mean she grabbed by arm. I jerked away, but the knife flew away from my hands and just happened to slice her cheek. I didn't make the army knife slide down her cheek!
Good God, she was probably blabbing what happened to her friends. And if she did blab, Hathaway would blab too! She would blab to Dunham who would then blab to an even higher power, Miss Mullins. Zack and Lawrence would be extremely pissed off at me, not that I would care, yet word would get around and I'd probably loose a third of my school fan base.
Why am I thinking about my fan base? Why do I have to be so trivial? I can't think about myself right now, but this sensitivity thing was a tad new to me...
As she ran, I remember tears, sliding down her cheeks, mixing with the blood of her abrasion. I wonder if anyone else in the field had seen her and what had just happened. I doubt it, since superficiality is dominant in this school, but the fact still remained that someone else may have seen the little episode.
What am I thinking? Why would I care if Katie was crying, my conscious should be clear. I mean I did not personally cut her cheek. I never meant to and I did not. Who cares if she told them? I would have the guys backing me up. They know what had happened and I'm sure that they would back me up. As for the tree, I could just scratch it off, or maybe cover it up with some dirt.
I was safe, I had witnesses, a cover-up, and the girl couldn't lie about what had happened. I doubt that Katie can lie compellingly, whereas I can lie, as if it's breathing, sleeping, and eating! I had no problems, none at all...
...My conscience is completely free...
I decided to go back to my friends. I turned around the wall and ran back to the site of the incident. As I neared the tree I found that my friends had gone off, but my army knife was still there and some blue notebook with a pen some inches beside it.
I ran to the discarded things. I picked my knife up and retracted the blade. Then I walked towards the notebook, there was no sort of label or print on the notebook. It wasn't a notebook from Horace Green. It was just some plain, blue, spiral notebook. I picked it up along with the pen and my eyes widened.
It took me some moments to realize who had owned the notebook. Who else was at the tree just a few moments ago? It was obvious that none of my friends had 'notebooks,' but Katie probably did.
The moment flashed in my mind once more. The knife flying downwards, the look on her face, and the way she ran. I relived everything. I vaguely remember her holding anything, but she had dropped something as she ran, and the pen and notebook must have been that.
I couldn't leave it here; that would only complicate my conscience. But how could I return it to her, she was obviously distressed. A confrontation with her would only make matters worse. I studied the notebook once more, it was worn, the edges were frayed; it was clearly precious to Katie, but I couldn't drag my feet over to her and return this ratty notebook. I just slipped the notebook and pen into the bag I had brought with me. I just couldn't do what I had to...
Even if me and my conscience suffered...
"Were is Katie?" complained Summer, they had spent ten minutes waiting for Katie, and they had twenty minutes of recess left, "I mean, it can't take a person this long to get a notebook from their desk!" She wasn't exactly mad, yet she was leaning towards immense frustration. They were seated behind one of the trees in the front field. The tree wasn't in such a crowded spot, so they took refuge there quite often.
Zack who was currently fixated with a pebble answered back lamely, "Maybe she got detained somewhere," He kicked the pebble with force, it flew off to the mass of talking students, "Some person is probably talking to her right now, maybe a teacher or an old student," He shrugged, "I have no idea!"
"Well we have only nineteen and twenty-five seconds left of recess," Summer cried, obviously stressing, "Oh my God, now we only have nineteen and twenty-three, now it's twenty-two! Twenty-one! Katie where are you!?" Summer was sobbing maniacally.
The boys weren't sure if she was acting or if she really was panicking, "Summer, I do not think that it is the best idea to be to so paranoid at the age of ten," Lawrence suggested helpfully. Zack stifled a giggle.
Summer took in a deep breath, "I know," She said, her voice was reasonably calmer, "I'm not usually like this, but I guess Freddy Jones fired up my anger and my stress-level," She concluded theoretically, but there was a humorous tone in her voice.
"Summer, chill," Zack said, plopping down against the tree, beside Summer, "It's only the first day of school, don't get your stress-level and blood pressure too high just yet, you have about two hundred more days of this!"
"I know what you mean Zack," She admitted, "School is like an unending cycle, but don't get me wrong! You all know that I love going to school, but I'm like every other kid too," She said, remembering the two girls who walked past her house, "School gets tiring and I hate what the other students see me as, even if there is a bit of truth in it..."
"Who cares about what other students see us as?" Zack burst out, clearly a bit peeved at the certain topic, "I mean, they see me as a lackluster dork with absolutely no social life, they see Lawrence as a monotonous Asian dork, no offense intended man," Lawrence nodded curtly, "And they see you as a teacher's pet, but what does it matter?" Zack asked Summer plainly, "We are what we see ourselves as," Zack, obviously profound today, told them persuasively. He didn't usually open up, yet today he seemed fired up as well.
She pulled her legs up to her chest and hugged them tightly. Her voice was weak when she answered. "It just hurts so much sometimes..."
"Did anything happen to happen some time before Summer?" Lawrence asked her with genuine concern and careful cautiousness. That was the great thing about Lawrence, he wasn't like the other boys, obviously since he made friends with Summer and Katie; he actually showed that he cared about the people who he was close to. He wasn't even like Zack, who could be even colder than all the boys at Horace Green.
"It's nothing," her voice cracked audibly, "Some girls said some stuff about me, that's all." Zack and Lawrence gave her a look, both knowing that there was more to it than that, "They said stuff about how I acted in school, and that I was so overbearing or something like that," She buried her head inside, "They said that they were glad that they weren't classmates with me and that that I didn't have any friends!" Her voice came out muffled, yet her message stood clear enough.
"Well they are Dough-minded Deluded Ditzes," Zack spat out, "Summer, why obsess over this, when you know that in the future, you'll be the one who everyone's going to be begging from! They, and all the other people in this school, are probably going to be working for you."
"Yeah, but Zack," She began, her voice unsteady, yet she persevered to keep it strong, "We are still here. We are still stuck as kids. That future won't come until how many more years, how many more insults, and how many more nasty looks?" She raised her head to meet the two off them, "Even if I can terrorize them in the future, the pain won't last as long as the pain they've given me from the horrible memories that replay in my head every single day..."
Her face began to contort, but she forced a smile on her face. She closed her eyes tightly, forcing all the unshed tears back within her. When she opened her eyes, she saw the concerned faces of Lawrence and Zack, and she smiled a real smile, "Thanks you guys," She murmured quietly, yet she filled into it all the gratitude she could muster.
"Don't worry guys," Zack reassured them, "We're better than those Flippant Finicky Fakers!"
"Zack, I don't think that you should exploit your use of alliterations," Lawrence told him in a forced monotone voice.
Summer and Zack laughed at his comment, "Hey, I think we should go now, we have seven minutes left," Summer announced, checking her watch. They picked up the things they brought with them and headed for the doors that would bring them inside the great building.
Miss Dunham re-entered the class and put on all her sugar-coated cheeriness, "How was recess?" She asked them in her most chipper tone. Most of the students had all filed in, but some desks were empty.
"Fine, Miss Dunham," The children answered in chorus.
"Great!" She clapped her hands together and smiled again, "Now Summer Hathaway, aren't you the factotum of this class?" Summer nodded enthusiastically, "We had no chance to take attendance a while ago, so we shall be doing it now," She handed Summer a sheet of paper. Summer bounded from her seat with her clipboard and pen. She fastened the leaf of paper to it, "I'll give you a new piece of paper every week."
Summer nodded and practically frolicked up to the front of the class, "Alright then..." She began with the attendance, announcing names and ticking them as she went along down the list.
Zack leaned towards Lawrence, "Hey," He whispered, waving his arm to catch Lawrence's attention, "Look over there," he pointed to Katie's desk, which was conveniently empty, "Where do you think Katie is?"
Lawrence shrugged, "She has to have a plausible reason," He concluded, right before he answered to Summer, who had called his name out, "Maybe she was sent to Miss Mullins's office for some reason." He offered.
"Miss Mullins doesn't give detention on the first day of school," Zack answered reasonably, "And besides, Katie is not the type to get in trouble with Miss Mullins or any other of the teachers."
"Okay, check," Summer flicked another empty box with her pen, "Now, Katie?" She looked up from her clip board and scanned the class for Katie's familiar face, but her desk was left vacant. Miss Dunham approached the space beside Summer.
"Does anyone know where Katie is?" Miss Dunham asked her class in a serious tone.
"No, Miss Dunham..." They answered in unison.
"Well, who are the friends of Katie?" She asked them. Zack and Lawrence shrugged at each other, but raised their hands anyway. Summer did as well, but Miss Dunham didn't notice her, "Alright then, Zack, Lawrence, do you know why your friend, Katie, is not present right now?"
"No, Miss Dunham," The two answered together.
The door creaked open and a small voice came, "Miss Dunham," An unmistakable voice was present, "I am sorry that I am late," The door opened wider and Katie stepped unsteadily though the door frame.
The class suddenly sat rigid in their seats and silent gasps resounded within the room. Katie stepped in. A long bandage was stretched across her left. The bandage's whiteness was stained by the unambiguous color of blood.
"I went to the school nurse," She said, handing Miss Dunham the nurse's notice. She bit her lip as she waited for the teacher's reaction. Miss Dunham's eyes quickly scanned the nurse's note and then looked at Katie with teacher's concern.
"Oh my, Katie," She exclaimed, clearly shocked, "How did you get that awful wound?" Miss Dunham walked closer to Katie and put her head in her hands and examined her face very carefully. Katie winced as she was pulled forward.
"I tripped and the edge of a drinking fountain caught my cheek," Katie said softly, yet it was loud enough for them to hear. She couldn't force a smile at Miss Dunham, it probably hurt too much to even try.
"Well are you okay dear?" She asked, gently stroking Katie's face. She nodded hesitantly, "Well then, get back to your seat and we'll start on our History lessons, after Summer finishes up the roll call," She then added after some thought, "You may rest for a while if you want, dear." Katie nodded again and quickly returned to her seat, refusing any eye contact with anybody. She planted her gaze firmly at the chalkboard.
"Alright, Katie is here," Summer noted, regaining her momentum. She finished up the roll call, smiled graciously at Miss Dunham, and scurried back to her seat. Miss Dunham resumed her place at the front of the class and began teaching.
A few certain students zoned out.
I ran. I can't believe that I ran, but I did. It seemed like the most Katie- like thing to do. And well I am Katie, and I did run. And now I'm repeating myself? What is happening to me? This is by far the worst first day of school that I have ever had! I was now, inside the school building, barely ten minutes before class started again. I was crouched in front of a wall and my head was buried underneath my arms. The sleeves of my uniform were soaked in blood.
I was crying.
Why did this have to happen? I can almost imagine the boys back there laughing their heads off. I can imagine Freddy Jones gloating and praising himself for making me cry. I can imagine him making my life harder for me.
The worst part is that I can't even be angry at him in matters related to the wound. He didn't command the army knife to cut me in the cheek, but I had a right to be angry at him for what he did to the tree. He had no right to deface something so historical and culturally-enriching to this school, as much as it seemed like a prison.
He was probably smirking at the fact that I couldn't bring myself to fess up on what really happened. I didn't have the courage to tell everyone the truth behind the bandage, and I'm sure he was soaking up all the glory within it.
I don't know why I can't tell anyone... I know that the only person stopping me from doing so is me. Although Freddy may threaten me, I'm practically untouchable. If I can't get him for the wound, I can get him for vandalism, but I had no actual evidence. Perhaps if I get him to confess, while I'm recording him secretly...
What am I thinking? I couldn't do it. For some reason, I didn't want to see him crash and burn. Even if he had burned me down so many times before, I didn't really want to do the same thing to him. After all that he worked on to gain his image, after all those years of hard work, after millions of days of uphill climbing, he became what he is now. Even if I didn't like what he was, I still couldn't do it. He had spent so many years painstakingly working to become what he was, I know that if he lost his image, he would loose everything.
I wanted to get even with him, not crush him and all he had worked for...
Suddenly, I heard tapping shoes. They were coming closer. I looked up and saw Miss Mullins hovering over me, but as soon as she saw my face, the reprimanding look on her face turned to one of concern and shock.
"Katie," Wow, she knew my name, "What happened to your face," She offered me her hand, and I had to reluctantly take it, "Why are you crying," This was a big change from her usual cold and strict demeanor.
The skin on my face blanched, I couldn't tell her the truth, but I hadn't thought of an excuse yet, but somehow I managed to, "I was tripped on my way out to recess. I slipped and my face got scratched my one of the water fountains," I could never really lie well, but since I was sobbing, Miss Mullins couldn't tell if I was telling the truth or not.
"Would you like to go to the nurse, Katie?" Her voice was nice and concerned.
I had to nod. She led me, by the arm, to the school nurse's clinic. I was glad that I was the only student in the corridors. They were still outside, enjoying recess. In fact, I don't even remember how I got inside the school building.
After a minute or so in silence we reached the school nurse's clinic. Horace Green actually had more than one school nurse; one of them was the usual school nurse-type. Her name was Daisy, and she had curly, blonde hair, blue, eyes, such an airy voice, and was insanely benign. While the other one was Keith; who was a college drop-out. He was tall, lanky, and skinny. He read sci-fi comics, brought fast food to the school, hardly ever shaved, but used so many products on his hair, that it was probably his best feature, listened to rock music on his Discman, brought his skateboard and dirt bike to the school occasionally and was generally a bad influence to the children. He only stayed because his father was on the board of directors.
Unfortunately for Katie, it was Keith's shift to work at the clinic. He opened the door to Miss Mullins and Katie, "Oh," He slurred, surprised nonetheless, "Yo wassup Miz Mullinz," He then noticed me, "Oh hey there dude! Kelly is it?" We went inside and he made me sit on a chair, I doubt he noticed my wound.
Miss Mullins obviously had a strong distaste for Keith. I answered him, "No, my name is Katie." My sobbing had decreased and I could almost talk normally now, "Mister Keith," I added as an afterthought.
"Hey dude, no need for that fancy pansy 'Mister' crap," Miss Mullins flinched as he spoke, "Do you, like, know Frank-o, and the Jonesmister?"
I stiffened as he said those two names, "Yes," My voice was even more unsteady now, "They're my classmates."
"Yeah, for real?" he asked me with an extremely high voice. I swear that I could hear Miss Mullins twitching, "Those two are like the coolest kids in your grade. They totally rock. I mean those two boys are geniuses compared to me!"
"Now, Keith that may go without saying" hissed Miss Mullins, "But Katie needs some taking care of, if you haven't noticed..."
Did Miss Mullins just insult someone?
"Oh really, Mullinator!" exclaimed Keith in an even higher voice, "Well, what's the matter little girlie?" He swaggered towards me and slouched in place. I could tell that Miss Mullins really didn't like being called "Mullinator."
"Can't you see what is wrong with her?" She practically yelled at him. Maybe what she said came out wrong, but I suppose her intentions were good enough, "Katie's cheek is bleeding!" He seemed unfazed by her outburst, "Just bandage the wound up and you would be able to say that you actually did your job well today and you'll feel good about yourself!"
"But Mullins, my man," He said in an idiotic voice, "To say that you have worked," he began off, "You would actually have to work..."
Miss Mullins looked at him like she wanted to wrangle him and gouge his eyeballs with a blunt spoon, "Listen," Her voice was reasonably calmer, "Just clean and dress Katie's wound and I will give you a bonus!" she offered. Keith perked up at the sound of more money.
"Alright then Mullins, old man!" he happily bounded off to work.
He got some cotton balls, covered them with alcohol (A/N: You do know what kind of alcohol I'm talking about, right?), and began dabbing at my wound carefully, but it was way too painful. I screamed as loud as I could every time the cotton ball came in contact with my skin. After he had cleaned the wound and washed the blood that had dripped on my face, he got a strip of cloth, some gauze, some other materials, and began to bandage my wound. After some more minutes, he had finished.
"Now Katie," he said, his voice actually had some gravity in it, "The wound is going to bleed for some time. It isn't very deep, but it's deep and long enough, so be careful all right," He retrieved a kit from within one of the many white drawers, "This kit has all the stuff you'll need to change the dressing of your wound." He told her, "You change the bandage everyday, you can ask your parents to help, and don't worry. There are instructions inside the kit." I nodded as he handed me the little, white box, and a nurse's note.
Then he faced Miss Mullins, "Hey you're right Mulley!" she grimaced as he used another horrible nickname, "It does feel good to know that you did something good," then he shrugged, "I think I'll go to sleep now." with that he plunked right down to sleep on one of the beds they had at the clinic.
Miss Mullins groaned and muttered something incoherent, but it was probably along the lines of, "Why does his father have to be on the board of directors?" Then she turned to me and took my arm, "Come on Katie, I'll bring you back to class."
I nodded and pocketed the box, but I held the note in my hand, knowing that Miss Dunham would want it. Miss Mullins and I didn't talk at all during the walk. The corridors were empty again, since everyone was in class.
We reached the classroom and Miss Mullins spoke to me, "Do you want me to accompany you inside, or do you want to go alone?"
"I can go alone," I answered her steadily. My sobbing had disappeared and I was much calmer than before.
"Alright then, be more careful next time Katie," Miss Mullins told me and began to walk off. I said my thanks and opened the door. I began to say that I was sorry for being late, or something like. I told her that I went to the nurse's and how I got the wound. I could tell that everyone was looking at me, and I hated it. I didn't like being the center of attention.
She let me resume my seat and was being extremely nice, although I didn't know if she, or Miss Mullins were actually showing genuine concern, but I suppose it wasn't such a horrible thing to do on their part.
I didn't look anywhere else besides the chalkboard and Miss Dunham. I didn't want to have to face the questioning looks and the quizzical glares that the others would give me. Summer would definitely ask a lot of questions, she would want to know the whole story. Zack would probably know that I wasn't telling the truth, while Lawrence would reprimand me with his silence. I wanted to prepare myself as much as possible by the barrage they would attack me with later
I wondered if Freddy would approach me sometime later. But then again, he'd have to. We five were going to eat lunch together. He'd probably ask why I didn't rat him out, and then probably gloat, smirk, sneer, and snicker at the same time. He would be unbearable to eat lunch with after what had happened.
I would have as little contact with him as I possibly could...
We were heading back to the classroom, me, Summer, and Lawrence. I had just told them that we shouldn't care about what other people perceived us to be, but somehow, I found it even harder to believe what I had just said.
I just spoon-fed Summer and Lawrence a bunch of powerful words that had no meaning to me, but at least they helped Summer. Even if I couldn't completely accept what other people thought about me, maybe Summer or Lawrence could.
It was obvious that people thought I was a quiet dork, who wasn't even the littlest bit excitement. I told myself before that I didn't care about whatever words they threw at me, but somehow those words got lost between the other broken promises and fabricated stories.
I didn't actually completely know what made me boring? Was it my monotone voice? Was it was my unending reluctance? Was it my lack of noticeable emotion? Was it the fact that I was silent and brooding?
If any other guy was like that, he would be welcomed with open arms into the supposed 'cool' group. But no, I'm not one of those guys who can expertly carry the cool look. I was just Zack Mooneyham...
We entered the classroom and took our seats. We were one of the first people there, aside form Michelle, Eleni, and Frankie, who was conspicuously without Freddy. We filed into our seats and waited for the others to arrive.
Tomika and Alicia entered, chatting animatedly. Marta followed close behind. Marco went inside, followed by Gordon and Leonard. Billy pranced inside and jumped inside his seat. Then after some minutes Freddy Jones stomped in with his usual chipper self.
...Note the sarcasm...
I scanned the room for Katie. She wasn't in the class room yet. Miss Dunham entered the classroom and began talking about some junk. She asked us, "How was recess?" A basic question for teachers all in all...
"Fine Miss Dunham," We answered to her. That was a basic answer for students to their teachers.
I blocked her out and rubbed my head, trying to calm my thoughts. I was too young to have these stressful thoughts. Couldn't they wait for some more years? I wonder if all kids have to be equipped to handle what's in store for the future. Unluckily for me, I had a sneak preview of what anguish the following years would bring me...
I wasn't even a teenager but I already had the angst...
They had spent some hours listening to Miss Dunham lecture about American History, then they moved on to Science, afterwards they had Literature. The students participated well enough to keep Miss Dunham happy.
After Billy had finished his very... interpretative... interpretative reading selection, Miss Dunham clapped her hands together and smiled at the obviously chipper boy, "That was excellent William, now why don't we hear from-"
She was cut short by the clanging sound of the lunch bell, "Oh phooey! That darned lunch bell!" But she shrugged anyway, "Alright class, please go with your groups during lunch and you will find your table in the lunch hall. That specific table will be you and your group's table for as long as this project will last," She looked at their impatient faces, "You may have your lunch now. Goodbye class!"
"Goodbye and thank you Miss Dunham," They answered robotically. She left the room and the students began to fix up their belongings, returning them to their desks, pocketing them, or bringing them out to drop them off at their lockers. They each went out with their groups of five.
Zack, Summer, Katie, and Lawrence waited for Freddy, who was seemingly taking his time to tie his shoelaces, "Freddy will you just hurry it up!" Summer groaned, "We know that you aren't looking forward to lunch, but don't think that we don't hate the fact that we have to eat with you as well!"
"Oh really?" he smirked as he swaggered over to them; "I thought that you would be honored to eat in my presence, after all I am the Freddy the Great!" He announced to them, he snickered loudly.
"Can we please just go to the cafeteria before all hell breaks loose from your mouth," Zack snapped at Freddy, who grunted and followed reluctantly. They exited the classroom with Freddy dawdling behind them, talking amongst their selves, ignoring Freddy.
"Hey wait up!" He complained, as the distance between them had increased. The other four stopped intolerantly and waited for him to catch up, "Man, I'm kinda getting the impression that you guys want to ditch me!" He smirked at his wise crack.
"And we wouldn't want you to think that, now would we?" Zack muttered sardonically. Freddy rolled his eyes, but the others smiled slightly. They continued walking, Freddy tailing at their heels closer, in order to not loose himself within the mass of students.
They reached the large swinging doors of the cafeteria, which were already opened, and went inside. They scanned the lunch room for one of the empty tables. They had found one, two tables apart from the teachers' table, and Miss Dunham was standing in the center of three tables. She saw them and waved them over.
They scampered over to their teacher and waited for her instruction, "You will be staying in one of these three tables for as long as the project. Please do not remove the label I put on your name label," She said to them. They nodded and sat down on the only vacant table. Miss Dunham scurried away to the teacher's table.
"WHAT!?!" yelled Freddy, the surrounding tables turned their heads. He lowered his voice, "We are going to be called "The Surf Smurfs!?" He hissed indignantly and incredulously and clearly very pissed.
"It's a first come first serve thing," Frankie leaned his chair to them, "At least you didn't get "The Fairy Fighters!" He hissed to them, ensuring his group didn't hear him, "It was four against one. Tomika, Marta, Michelle, and even Billy wanted Fairy Fighters!"
Freddy laughed at their misfortune, but groaned at their own. They headed towards the line for their food. He faced them, in attempt for at least some conversation. The line wasn't very crowded. They got their food and returned to the table.
Summer sat beside Katie, who sat beside Lawrence, who reluctantly sat beside Freddy, who reluctantly sat beside Zack, who of course sat beside Summer, "I can't believe it..." mumbled Freddy, "We got stuck with "The Surf Smurfs."
"I wonder what Miss Dunham's been smoking," muttered Zack. Freddy let out a wholehearted guffaw, while Katie and Lawrence giggled quietly.
"Zack!" reprimanded Summer who looked abashed, "You aren't supposed to talk about teachers like that," She hissed at him. She shot her head around to see if any of the teachers or students had heard what Zack had said.
"Oh come on Summer," Katie smiled slightly, "Let him have some fun..." she tried to grin, but winced as she did so.
"Hey speaking of which Katie," remembered Lawrence, as she looked at Katie, "How did you really get the wound on your cheek, and why, weren't you at recess with us?" He asked her seriously. Zack leaned in closer to the table and sipped at his milk carton inquisitively.
Summer added, "You can tell us anything, we're your friends..."
I gave into eye contact.
When Lawrence asked me, my insides clenched. I had hoped that the issue of what really happened wouldn't come up, but my friends knew that I was a lousy liar. I shot my glance straight in front of me, and Freddy just happened to be sitting there.
Our eye's made contact, although he seemed to be scowling and my brain was racing as fast as my blood pressure was. I felt his foot jerk under the table. I glared at him and he glared back.
When Summer said, "...You can tell us anything, we're your friends..." I blanched. No, well yes, they were all my friends, but Freddy wasn't. And how could I tell them that he did it when he was right across me, scowling his heart out.
"Well he isn't!" I said as forcefully as I could, pointing at Freddy, who was still scowling. He just looked at me again, rolled his eyes, and snorted, like a diseased warthog, but then again that's an insult to the warthog.
"Katie, it doesn't really matter if Freddy's here," began Zack, "I mean, why, would he have any reason to tell anybody about what had happened to you?" But then he looked at Freddy who was seated beside him, "You aren't going to tell anybody, are you?" He asked Freddy, mustering all his seriousness.
Freddy snorted again, only much louder, "No," He let out a snicker, "Why would anyone care about Katie anyway?" He was such a jerk... He knew that I couldn't tell the truth, so he was absorbing all the glory he could extract from that fact, "In fact, I'll just block all of you out!" He gave an extremely fake grin and pasted his gaze to the ceiling, while sipping his plastic cup of orange juice.
I swear that I wanted to strangle him. This was a change from my attitude a while ago, but I couldn't care less. Summer jostled my attention again, "So, are you going to tell us?" She asked me, "I mean, the Nincompoop over there said that he wasn't going to tell anyone, and you know that we would never break the vows of secrecy and friendship!"
I vaguely heard Freddy snort, "...girlish vows of secrecy and bull..."
"Err," I mumbled. I wasn't good at creating stories on the spot. Although a while ago I got lucky, I doubted that I could pull it off again, "Well, I didn't go with you for recess, because I went to the back field instead, for some alone time, and well-"
A shower of orange filled the center of the table. Luckily my food was salvaged. Freddy Jones had just spat, no, sprayed his orange juice at us. Now, that seed of memory would be either extremely embarrassing for us or most especially, it would be extremely embarrassing for him.
"As I was saying," I continued on, not minding Summer's extremely disgusted look, Lawrence's eye twitching madly, or Zack trying not to react to what had happened, "I went to... one of the school's outer walls. I... tripped over one of those cracks and my face scratched one of the broken beer bottles that were there..." Well, it seemed plausible enough.
"Oh yeah," Freddy grunted, after wiping his mouth, "Those probably belong to Keith... Was he the one who fixed you up?"
If looks could kill, he would be writhing in agony right now. He was helping me lie, just to keep him safe, but what could I do? I had to play along, or else they would find out, and well, I don't really want to think of what would happen, "Yeah, Keith fixed me up," My voice sounded monotone, I tried to keep my anger for him at bay.
"Keith, The guy with the hair?" asked Summer incredulously, "I can't believe that they haven't' kicked him out yet!" She fumed, "I went there last year for a cut on my hand. He taped a lollipop to my wound and gave me a bandage as a 'nice, tasty treat!'
"He only does that when he's piss drunk!" protested Freddy, "And that's only at least two times a week!" He contented himself to picking at his food.
"He still deserves to be booted out of Horace Green," muttered Summer. Then she faced the rest of us, "So, you guys we should meet at my house tomorrow, for the project right?" She asked us.
"Why not?" said Lawrence. Zack and I just shrugged. We were all familiar with Summer's house.
But of course Mister Jones had to have a say in the matter, "Wait, no one said anything about working at Hathaway's house!" He protested, "I can't go to your houses, what will the other people be saying? I mean, it's bad enough that I have to eat lunch with you cretins!"
"Freddy," Summer began, restricting herself to a first-name basis with the idiot, "This is an investigatory project, meaning it will take some time and some effort to at least get a passing grade, but since we want more than a passing grade, we're going to have to put even more effort into our work. Therefore, we are going to have to work with each other after school, for at least four out of seven days. So, I think you'll have to get used to what other people are going to think about you!"
"I am going to turn into a dork after all of this is over..."
So, here's the fourth chapter of the story. And people by the way, this story isn't only going to revolve around the "Pre-Dewey" era, but the "Dewey" and "Post-Dewey" era as well. These first chapters are "Pre-Dewey" of course. I hope you people like the story. I really don't know how it will evolve, but I hope it does evolve well enough for you people to like. Please don't forget to review... I hope you enjoy reading what I have written.