"So you're the one who saved that girl from that psycho teacher last month, huh?"
"Yeah," I said between bites, "…that was me."
"You know, the kids around school are saying that you ran so fast…you dodged his bullets."
"…Yeah, I…I guess I did," I pondered.
You could say that it had been a strange change of pace for me in the past month. See, I was always considered a freak. Don't ask me why…I never really understood it. I wasn't any different from the other kids. I dressed the same, had hair like they did. I was just…unpopular, I guess.
Then one day I came to school and everything changed.
A teacher had lost it. He'd gone completely postal, right? Well, he somehow sneaked a gun into the school and was holding a hostage whom, ironically, was a close friend of mine. In fact she was…the only friend of mine.
As you can imagine, this didn't sit well with me. So I gallantly rushed to her rescue like in those movies with the knights and the horses.
What?
Okay, okay, so I didn't bravely, gallantly jump into the fight on a mighty steed with sword and banner drawn to scare the guy off. I did take him down and save the day, nonetheless. Since then, it's like all the previous moments of unpopularity have just…disappeared! I'm on the top of the food chain! Kids that used to pick on me won't put a hand on me for fear of her older brother coming and wiping the floor with their asses!
"…So…why did you do it?"
"Well, if you must know, I'd do anything for a lady in distress…" I quoted my favorite movie, trying to be suave and cool. I brushed a bang out of my face and stared at her with slanted…uhhh…staring eyes.
"Cute…but I've seen that movie."
She stuck her tongue out at me as I dropped the act and mumbled curses under my breath.
I groaned and finally just gave her the answer, "That girl that he was holding hostage? She's the only true friend I've ever had. And…at the time…she was my only friend at all. That and I was pretty sure I wasn't going to make it out of the whole situation alive so I figured it would be my big, glorious curtain call thing, ya know?"
She giggled before staring at me, in almost an examining way.
"…What?"
"Hm? Oh, sorry…you have really nice eyes. I've seen you enough, but you always had your face hidden. I never really had a chance to figure out what you really looked like behind the bangs."
"Well, now's your chance, baby. I'm all ears and ain't got no fears! And as of this month, I'm the hippest, coolest, most awesomest thing to happen to this school since the word, "erection" became part of its vocabulary!"
She laughed out loud to my comment almost leaning back so far as to fall off the bench she was sitting on. I chuckled a bit, regaining my own composure before rolling up my sleeves to dig further into my lunch…which she bought for me.
I have to say, this "being kickass" gig is pretty sweet.
Hell, the teachers have even been nicer to me. It's like, all of the sudden I'm respectable. Not like I wasn't before but now I'm actually getting the respect.
"I will say that you are pretty cute. In fact you're almost too cute."
"Whadda-ya-mean?" I said, munching on a chilidog. I saw her point behind me, grinning. It looked almost like she was making fun of me. I turned around and saw a large group of girls all sending random looks my way. At first I thought that it was cool, but then I realized that they were all of differing ages. Some of them would be too young or too old for me. The other thing that I noticed was that none of them were anything but too young or old.
I gotta tell ya, that kinda sucked.
I turned back to the girl I was talking to and fake-glared at her. She smiled and giggled.
"You should be careful in the halls…you might get jumped. If not by them, then by me."
"Heh heh…" I blushed uncontrollably, shrinking a bit into my seat.
She smiled and stood up, grabbing her backpack. As she walked by, I grabbed her hand and brought her close to my face. "Uhh…what're ya doing later?" I asked, somewhat half-heartedly.
"Why do you wanna know?"
She was obviously toying with me. It's what the girl did in that movie I mentioned earlier. And that smile was…voluptuous? Is that a good word? I dunno. All I know is I seriously forgot that I was even talking to her at that moment. My brain lapsed into some form of sleep or coma that I've never experienced before in my life.
"You askin' me out, or something?"
Again with her coy antics and cruel mind games. "Yeah…yeah, I am!" I blurted out, though thankfully not as loud as I'd though I had. I saw her face turn bright red but also saw her keep a composure that was iron.
"I'm busy during the day…but if you're willing to climb a tree, go across a bridge and find my tree house…I'm sure we can arrange a little get-together."
"Awesome!" I said, bringing her close and hugging her. She hugged me back, giggling. She stood up and started to leave the lunch room. I turned back to my chili dog and took a couple bites. Then I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned at saw her standing there, blushing again.
"Hey…Sonic?"
"…Yeah?"
She leaned down and kissed me passionately before finally saying it.
"Thanks again…for saving my life…"
She smiled and walked away. I stood in awe at what had transpired, only to glance over and see the "fan girls" all glaring in her general direction. Not one of them was left without red on their face at that moment, and I gotta tell ya, I laughed. I finished off my chili dog before outwardly commenting, "Today is going to fucking rock."
-+-
"Mom…it has nothing to do with the school being bad. I just don't want to go to school anymore. I don't need an education to be a super cool, hero dude!" I explained, trying to reason with the only driving force to the endeavors of this and my previous lifestyle.
"You still need an education. But I'm not sending you back to that school…it's too dangerous. And besides, the kids that go there are thugs! Worst parenting jobs ever."
"Jeez, Ma. Let it go. Listen, I'll keep going to school if you promise not to make me change schools, fair enough? You get what you want, I get what I want." My reasoning seemed logical, even for me. It was a win-win situation either way. I felt for sure that this is what needed to happen.
"Out of the question! I don't want my son growing up in a crack warehouse! Why would I want you anywhere near such influences?"
"Mom, those same influences have been there since kindergarten! It's no different!" I was on a roll tonight. Everything I was saying was gold, streamed with logic, "You and dad taught me all about this stuff long ago. I've never done drugs, I've never gotten seriously injured!"
"But you almost got shot by an insane teacher!"
"And I fucking stopped him! I saved the school and my friend! I saved everybody!"
"Watch your language, young man!"
"Why should it matter? It seems to be the only thing I say that gets your attention! You never listen to me, and when you do, you say I'm wrong! Just because you're older, doesn't mean you're right or that you know what's best for me and what I want!"
That last one struck a nerve.
"How dare you? How dare you say that to me?"
"Just shut up already!"
There was an awkward silence in the room as my mother looked at me in horror. I, myself, was a little amazed at what had just happened. Had I actually just told my mother, the person who bore me for nine months, gave birth to me, fed me, gave me a roof over my head and countless other things…to shut up?
Oh you better believe I did!
"I'm going to my room. Good night," I growled, heading up stairs and to my room, slamming the door behind me.
I let time slip by, as I studied for a math test. The problems weren't particularly hard and I was pretty good at math. But I figured it would be a good way to pass time, and it's what my parents would've wanted me to do anyway. They might come in later for our annual, "After Argument Discussion" about how I'm wrong and they're right, they'd see me studying, they'd assume I was sorry, end of story.
Strangely enough though, neither of them actually came into my room. I was there 'til midnight, waiting.
About that point, I decided to go ahead and give her a call. I dialed the number on my phone and waited, nibbling on the pencil tip.
"Hello?"
The voice was dreary and tired, but awake. "You ready for the hottest night of yo' life, baby doll?" I said, quoting the movie again.
"God, you're pathetic."
She said mockingly as I laughed at her.
"So…like…my dad's gone. He had a business trip he had to go on, so it's just me here."
"Really? Well, that's good luck."
"Yeah. So, just like knock on the door when you get here. Probably won't take you too long, Speedy."
"God, I told you to stop calling me that!" I exclaimed, but quietly so my parents wouldn't hear. I heard an evil laugh on the other side and a click, signaling that she'd hung up. I grinned, grabbed my backpack and got ready. I grabbed my guitar, which thankfully was small. It would be easier to lug around. I took off all the strings, wrapped 'em up in coils, and put 'em in a little baggy to be used again later.
Now was the longest part of my plan.
I went downstairs, grabbed various things to eat and live off of (particularly hotdogs and hamburgers) followed by some things I could use to entertain myself. After that I grabbed my game gear, a pack of sixteen double-A batteries, stuffed it in as best I could and finally zipped the bag up. I only had one stop to make before I left for good.
-+-
I had been in her house before but only on the basis that we couldn't be alone upstairs. Her dad was a cool guy, but was kind of overprotective. Still, he was much better than my parents. A viewpoint I made clear to her on any occasion where she was complaining about him.
"So…what do you want to do?"
"I want to quote that movie some more…" I said, kind of generally. I knew she wouldn't understand, but strangely enough, I think she got what I was getting at. Least, enough to ask me to clarify…but only to make sure her guess was…
Yeah, she had no freakin' clue.
"Whadda ya mean?"
"Well…I guess to tie in how we talk to each other…being that it's our favorite movie…" I began, waving my hands in circles as if trying to lead her down the imaginary trail I was creating.
"Hands down, the best movie ever made."
"Word." I said, simply, grinning.
"Well…What I mean to say is…uhh…well…" the blush on my face wasn't just physically apparent to her, but I could actually feel it.
"Sonic, are you trying to tell me that you want to…"
"Yeah…"
She blushed about as much as I did before scooting closer to me. Her breath was very warm on my neck. She started doing what the girl in the movie had done, kissing me up and down my neck. She opened up my shirt gently rubbed her hands over my chest. I purred like a cat for her petty amusement. We kissed like they did in the movie, touching tongues together.
I gotta tell ya, it was kind of weird at first. I remember telling her that if I ever did this with anyone, I would get sick and stop at the part where we had to touch tongues. Strangely, though, this was actually lots of fun.
She pulled away, looking like she was about to cry.
"…What's…what's up?"
"One condition…"
Did I mention I told her I was running away?
"When you're famous…when you become that big superhero and you get surrounded by girls…remember me? Send me letters if you can…"
At first, it all sounded so hokey. I couldn't understand what she was getting at.
"I'm not telling you to love me now…we're just doing this as friends."
She smiled more truthfully than I'd ever seen her smiled. I nodded in agreement, crossing my heart, without saying it.
"Just promise me that you won't forget about me. That you'll stop by every now and again…you'll never know if…if I might need rescuing again."
At this point I was starting to tear up. I hugged her close, and kissed her like we had just done. This time though, it was less experimenting and more honest. When I pulled away, I leaned forward to her ear, gently resting her head on my shoulder.
"I promise…I'll never forget you Zi…"
Lights out. And all that could be heard was our little noises.
I gotta tell ya…it was the best time I'd ever had.