The first day of school wasn't exactly one of Jack's more shining moments. It started off bad, and only got worse.
Riddick had to drop her off an hour early because he had a meeting he just had to attend. So, she ended up sitting around the lobby on a bench for what seemed like forever. She watched as other kids arrived, welcoming each other into a new school year with hugs, high fives, and the pleasant chatter that came so easily between groups of friends.
Jack resumed playing her well-rehearsed part of being a small piece of everyone else's background. Again she allowed her eyes to wonder, taking in brick patterns in the walls, the smell of fish sticks cooking in the cafeteria, bits of random conversation that floated her way. This was what she did best. Watched, and waited. Observing, constantly observing.
And wouldn't ya know it, one of the first things she observed was an undersized freshman girl being beaten on by a group of senior boys. Thick, rolled up calendars they'd swiped from the office were their weapons of choice; and small, outsider-type freshmen obviously their victim of choice.
Jack considered leaving well enough alone and doing nothing, just like everyone else. Why should she be the one senior sticking up for the little stupid freshmen? If they couldn't handle themselves, that was their problem, not hers.
You'd better get USED to fighting for the underdog kiddo. You ain't gonna be no help to Riddick if you don't. Besides, making a statement the first day isn't always a bad thing. Make sure they know what they're dealing with if they decide to fuck with you here too. And you KNOW they will.
Jack got up, leaving her pack where it was. She strolled casually over to where the so-called young men were taking it to the freshman. The girl was a scrawny kid, nearly in tears by the time Jack reached the outskirts of the event. She was trying desperately to curl up on the floor in a ball to lessen the hurt. Already she'd given up fighting.
Why are you fighting for this kid again? Should just let her learn how to stick up for herself, you'd be doing her a favor. They aren't really hurting her, mostly just scaring the hell out of her. Those rolled up newspapers probably don't even leave a good bruise.
Jack paused a few feet away from them, crossing her arms over her chest. "Hey, assholes," she said smoothly without any anger seeping into her tone. No anger, but plenty of command. A trick she'd learned from Riddick.
The boys looked up, snickering when they saw her. The biggest one, a red headed boy with a stud earring in his left ear gave her a rather charming grin. It wasn't hard to see through to the ugliness behind it. "Yes, sugar? Something you need?"
Jack almost laughed. So, she had a tough guy on her hands. Somehow she wasn't impressed, especially since at one point in time she'd known the real deal. And these mama's boys weren't it.
"Yeah, you could say that," she continued, hoping he would play into her hands if she gave him enough rope. Maybe hang himself too, while he was at it.
When she didn't say anything more earring boy cocked his head slightly to one side, his smile never slipping. "And what would that be?"
Jack tapped her chin with her index finger as though deep in thought, her eyes roaming the ceiling tile directly above her head. "Hmm, what do I want? Well, I think that maybe I want you to pick on someone your own size."
Big Red and his posse of friends roared with laughter. Jack wasn't impressed, but no one would know that by looking at her face. She was mimicking the slightly amused look that Dominic Conte had given her just the other day, the one that had reminded her so much of Riddick-the-murderer.
"You want me, to pick on someone my own size? And who exactly would that be?"
Jack snickered. Here came the fun part. "I think that would be me, asshole," she informed him ungraciously, winking to throw little gasoline on the fire. Might as well make it interesting if she was going to bother.
They really let loose then, just about laughed her out of the lobby. And it didn't look like there would be any end in sight to their hyena-like behavior until she stepped up to the plate and without missing a beat decked Big Red with a quick, solid, haymaker to the temple. Then, they shut up. Then, the whole lobby shut up.
When he was down on the floor, dazed and confused about what had just happed to him, Jack kicked him hard in the face. She held back a little only because she didn't really want to kill him. That wouldn't exactly do her any good. Going to prison the first day of school somehow just didn't appeal to her.
Projectile blood spurt out of his nose and mouth, covering her black leather boot. Since this kind of thing happened to her relatively often she'd never stopped copying Riddick in her selection of clothes. Blood had a tendency to leave nasty stains. Besides, in Jack's opinion, black went with everything.
He rolled away from her, screaming and yelling in pain, tears suddenly gushing forth along with the blood. Jack kicked him again, in the ribs this time, keeping him rolling right along. This was what he deserved, what every bully deserved for picking on someone smaller than them. And now that Jack's blood was flowing hot through her veins, it was time to release a little tension on this bully, using her imagination to put Shella's face in place of his. Just the way she liked it. This was the part she was addicted to.
"Having fun now, asshole?" she half-yelled, punctuating her sharp words with stiff kicks to his torso. She wanted to make sure he didn't get too comfortable down there. "You like it when some mean fucking bitch comes along and kicks the living shit out of you? Huh? Do ya? Just so you know, I'm having a grand ol' time right now and I think I could do this All. Fucking. Day! Beg for mercy, asswipe, and maybe I'll let you go home to your mother without too many broken bones."
With a final kick he rolled into the wall, no longer able to retreat any farther away from her. On his belly he whimpered and cried, unable to prostrate himself any more and unable to get away from this relentless she-devil. Surely the teachers would come soon to save him? Surely anyone would come to save him?
Jack stared down at him, her eyes cold, her heart unfeeling. This sort of thing happened to her sometimes. She would start out wanting to make a point and it would end up skyrocketing into something far bigger. They shouldn't have laughed, they should've known not to fuck with her. The compassionate human being she prided herself on being most of the time didn't extend to these periods when she lost her cool totally and completely. She hadn't survived on the street because she was warm-hearted. She'd survived because she could block out everything but what needed to be done, leaving regret and guilt for later. She'd survived because when she got pissed she could whip a boy twice her size without mercy or relent, and she could do it well.
Through dozens of fights Jack had learned that the only secret to winning, more often than not, was the willingness to cause more pain to an opponent than they'd ever dreamed of experiencing.
That was what she did to Big Red. She hit him fast, hard, and didn't stop when he was down. She beat him for a whole fifteen seconds and broke his will. City kids were easy, they didn't have much grit to start with. Then there was the fact that they always expected someone to come to their rescue. They had no concept of what it was like to live without a higher authority to turn to for help. The very idea of being completely alone in fending for themselves was almost enough to crush them on its own.
Reality always set in eventually. For Jack it just took longer than it typically did for others. Her heart rate eventually would slow, her temper cool. Just a bit though, in all honesty she'd be worked up for hours. But seeing as there were teachers working their way through the crowd, drawing nearer with their threats of suspension or expulsion, Jack decided it might be time to move along.
She took one last look at her first statement to her peers on this new planet. She still felt no pity for him. She hadn't hurt him that badly. "You know, I really don't know what's more pathetic. You crying for mommy, or the fact that when I jumped you, your buddies stood by and watched. Might want to think on that long and hard, asshole. You never know when you might run into someone who really will pound you through the floor. This was nothin' bud, trust me on that much," she warned softly before slipping into the crowd of stupefied students who'd come to watch with wide eyes and slack jaws.
She weaved through them, cutting through far more quickly and gracefully than any of the authority figures present. She made her way in the direction of the closest exit she could find, carefully working on avoiding any adults coming her way.
As a final touch, Jack pulled the little white handle on a fire alarm in passing, on her way out of the main lobby. It sent the entire building into chaos before the mess of the fight could be sorted out. She just figured she might as well give herself a shot at a clean getaway, considering it would take quite a bit of her brain's energy to make up a story about how the whole thing had been entirely self-defense.
