Reese sat alone in the courtyard during lunch listening to his MP3 player. He didn't bother buying anything to eat because he had no appetite. He cast his eyes toward the ground while the music blared in his ears. That way he wouldn't have to see or hear everyone talking about him behind his back. Two years ago he would have pulverized the first person who dared to glance his way, but he didn't have much his old spirit left anymore. He had mostly grown out of his childish activities like playing cruel jokes and tormenting his peers by pushing them around for no reason. Unfortunately, everyone still saw him as the mean-spirited bully that he used to be.
By now, the word on what happened to he and Malcolm had spread through the entire school. Upset for being left out of the school's "ditch day," they had decided to get revenge by scaring the popular kids at a party. All they ended up doing was making things worse for themselves though. First they were laughed at for being so immature, and then they were humiliated with a long list of reasons why they were never included in anything before finally being kicked out of the party. After reflecting on it for awhile, Reese realized that it was a really stupid idea. To make things worse, the true facts of what had happened—as shameful as they were to begin with—had likely been distorted to become even more mortifying as the story circulated around school. The reasons why no one liked them shouldn't have been news to Reese, but he had never really given it much thought before. Now that he knew the undeniable truth, it hurt.
He briefly looked up only to see a group of cheerleaders glance toward him then burst into laughter. He looked around for Malcolm who was nowhere in sight. He had likely cowered in the library to do homework, leaving Reese to face the humiliation alone. As his eyes roamed over the courtyard the scene was no different. Everyone seemed to be laughing at him. At first he thought it was just his imagination, but quickly dismissed the idea when he saw the former Krelboyne geeks—who were supposed to be Malcolm's friends—look his way and snicker.
Reese rolled his eyes and got up to leave. He couldn't take it any longer so he decided that he would head to his next class early, figuring that anywhere would be better than staying in the courtyard much longer. He turned and shoved his MP3 player into his backpack, then suddenly had a feeling that someone was standing behind him. Prepared to fight, he dropped the backpack on the ground and spun around with fists clenched at his sides. A sense of relief washed over him when he realized that it was just a girl and not someone ready to tear his head off.
"Reese Wilkerson, right?" the girl asked. With long red hair, green eyes and delicate features, she was very pretty. Reese recognized her from around campus, but they had never spoken.
"Yeah. Why? Are you here to tell me what a loser I am too? Just save it." Reese picked up his backpack, preparing to walk off.
"No. You just looked like you could use some company so I thought I'd come say hi. I'm Jade."
"Well then, hi Jade! I'm Reese!" Reese mocked and flashed a condescending smile. "Look, I don't need your pity so take it somewhere else and leave me alone." He turned and started to walk away.
"That's why no one likes you." Jade said.
"Huh?" Reese turned to face her again. Her words had struck his sore spot. "What did I do?"
"That's why no one likes you." She repeated. You're a jerk and you don't even know it! I just thought you might like someone to talk to since the whole school is laughing at you right now and all you do is act like an ass and blow me off. I can see why everyone hates you!"
"Sorry if I don't like people who only talk to me because they feel sorry for me. I'm not that pathetic and desperate yet." Reese said bluntly.
"I didn't come over here because I feel sorry for you. I've seen you around and thought it would be a good chance to introduce myself. That's all. I know how it is to have everyone treat you like an outsider, trust me. But if you want to sit around and sulk by yourself, then fine. Sorry I wasted your precious time!"
"Fine, I will!" Reese shouted as he watched her walk away, thinking about what she'd said. "Wait…come back!" he called, finally realizing that he had treated her like crap for no reason. When she didn't stop he broke into a jog and caught up with her. He matched her stride when she ignored him and kept walking. "Look, you're right. I'm sorry. I was a jerk….I'm always a jerk. I guess that's what's wrong with me. I say really stupid stuff without even thinking. I'm really sorry. Can we please just start over?" he babbled.
Jade finally stopped walking and smiled at him. "Ok, but the bell is about to ring now. Do you want to hang out with us after school?"
"Who is 'us'?" Reese asked.
"Just some of my friends. They're cool."
Reese could hear his mother's voice ringing in his ears. 'You better be in this house at 3:30 on the dot', she'd said. But she didn't get off of work until 5:00 so he would have over an hour to get home before she did—unless Dewey and Malcolm ratted him out. 'I have to take the chance' he thought to himself. 'I'll just have to do some serious butt-kissing and beg them not to tell. I can't blow this' "Uh…sure." he said to Jade.
"Great! I'll wait for you in the student parking lot."
"Ok, see you—" Reese was cut off by a voice behind him.
"Awww look, the little loser has him a loser girlfriend! Maybe you can go crash some parties that you weren't invited to together." The voice was followed by a round of cruel laughter. Reese turned to see Brandon Adams, one of the most popular guys in school. He and the group of his friends behind him had been at the party Friday night.
Reese was an expert fighter, but even he knew his limits. There was no way that he could take on all of them at once, but he couldn't just walk away in defeat in front of everyone. That would be even worse than getting his butt kicked. "I'll show you a loser!" Reese shouted, though he didn't move toward them.
"Oh yeah? Bring it on then!" Brandon retorted.
"You first." Reese raised his fists, ready for the attack. He hoped that by showing no fear they would back off and he wouldn't have to fight. That way he could still hold on to the small amount of dignity that he had left. Of course, things never went the way he planned.
"Fine, punk. You asked for it!" Brandon yelled and charged toward Reese. Brandon's fist made contact with Reese's stomach, knocking the air out of him.
Reese staggered backwards, but his determination wouldn't allow him to slow down. With all his strength, he delivered a hard blow squarely in Brandon's jaw. Blood sprayed from they boy's split lip as he went crashing to the ground. Reese dove on top of him and continued to pound his fist into him until one of Brandon's friends grabbed the back of his shirt and hoisted him to his feet. A hard fist smashed into Reese's temple causing a white hot pain to flash behind his eyes. He struggled to hold onto consciousness, but finally managed to steady himself and kick the jock's leg as hard as he could—sending the boy to his knees. Just as he thought he had the upper hand again, a third boy attacked Reese from behind with a blow to his back. He groaned in pain but didn't go down. He spun around to return the favor, but someone's hand grasped his shoulder firmly and jerked him backwards before he got the chance.
"Get off me!" Reese screamed, expecting that it was yet another of Brandon's lackeys. He flailed his arms behind him, but only made contact with air. A brief glimpse over his shoulder revealed Mr. Herkabe, the school's Dean of Student Discipline. He froze, his stomach sinking to his knees in dread.
"You just can't stay out of trouble, can you Reese?" Mr. Herkabe asked maliciously. He grabbed Reese by the arm and started to drag him toward the building to his office.
"It wasn't my fault! What about them? They jumped me first!" Reese screamed as Mr. Herkabe hauled him through the crowd of onlookers that had gathered to watch the fight.
AN: Thanks to MysticDreamer673 for your nice review. I'm glad you like it so far. Reviews are much appreciated, as always!