I once remembered a review criticizing me for my author notes being longer than my actual chapters. I don't know why, it just came to me xD. Anyways, probably the biggest scene this story had experienced so far was also heavily inspired and is almost copied off of Measure of Life by Borne. I keep saying this, but I don't want people to say it is a good story without acknowledging the person who originally wrote that, but nonetheless enjoy!
…
Toby's POV
Another week past. It was now the two-month anniversary since the incident, where he returned to the school, with the intent on shooting anyone who had wronged him.
Finishing yet another round of muscle and cardiac exercise, with dumbbell bench presses and an 8 km run, I filled up my water bottle, until it was full. Looking back at the school, my mind couldn't help but ponder on the aftermath.
It had seemed that, for the most part, everyone had moved on, aside from a few, there seemed to be no remnants, which both surprised and disappointed me.
As I walked through the halls, I couldn't help but notice the looks of concern that were shot my way, specifically by Emma and Manny. While I didn't mean to be that harsh to Manny, I said what needed to be said. As with Emma, Manny probably told her, to which I wasn't surprised with at all.
Speaking of Emma, last week marked the breakdown of Emma. Like Sean and I, who had already suffered our breakdown, Emma's eventually came, almost two months after. As to what sparked the trigger, it could've been that she was caught hooking up with Jay, which cause her to get gonorrhea, which alone made me sick to my core. While I can see that Emma was struggling emotionally and was being taken advantage of, I still couldn't believe what she had done.
I was among the students to witness her breakdown, but despite me wanting to help her, I ultimately didn't, giving her a sympathetic look before walking away. I knew that Emma had other people who could help her better than I could've.
So, my assumption was that since Emma was feeling better, she probably realized the state of where I've been, amplified by the fact that Manny definitely told her about me.
While today was the two-month anniversary since the shooting, one week later, it would be the two-month anniversary since I started my exercise heavy workload, as I had entered that health club a week later.
I took a look at myself; the baby fat was completely burnt off, the muscle had tightened, and my condition and health were all improved. I took a look at myself in the mirror, and I had looked completely different from what I originally looked.
My face now had a jawline, which wasn't observable due to my chubbiness, and my glasses were replaced with contacts, meaning my eyes were easily seen. Maybe that was the main reason towards me looking different, as the nerdy geek no longer wore his glasses, but I digressed.
My upper body frame now contained tightened muscle, gained from the weeks and months of weightlifting and punching. The increase in energy consumption caused me to eat more, which in turn allowed me to gain some height.
I also thought that maybe this was also the reason for the looks, as I was notoriously short, and was now no longer that, though I was still shorter than say, Jt and Craig. Still, growing from 5'4" to 5'9" was a big margin, especially in a short span. I must have had a lot of growth left, or maybe the increase in calorie intake caused a growth spurt, I don't know.
Even my legs consisted of more muscles, most notably my calves and thighs, mainly from all the running, bench presses and calf stretch.
Regardless, my appearance now to 2 months ago is indeed a transformation, and unfortunately, my choice of cloths is not helping me hide my appearance. My baggy clothes seemed to not be hiding my muscle mass as well as they previously did, and my headband and hand wraps were sparking some interest in some people.
I thought back to what Spinner and Alex both said to me when I went to the Ravine with Craig.
"Probably did, he does look taller than usual,"
"What's with the headband, geek?"
"I may have laughed, but I'm serious, the headband looks good,"
All of those quotes were probably just used to mess and toy with my emotions, so I have shrugged them off mostly, however, the fact that they were noticing the changes in my appearance was a bit unsettling.
However, now I was fine. My body looked capable of defending myself, as well as inflicting damage to any pieces of shits in Degrassi. Now, I was able to. Throughout the torment and shoves performed by Jay and Spinner, I was now able to wipe the smug looks off their faces when they realize they can't mess with me, or an acquaintance of mine no more.
The days where Toby Issacs was a nerdy geek was no more. Gone was the nerd, and in its place was a strong, confident person who wasn't afraid to let people know what they were.
The situation and condition of Degrassi was no longer of my concern, but I was willing to help those get used to it. I had adapted to the environment, and was now able to at least defend myself. Anyone who previously saw me as an easy target was in for a surprise.
Craig, Marco and Ellie are all nice people, I would go as far as to say they are my friends, Craig especially, as they took me in when nobody even acknowledged me. Sure, it started with Craig looking for Ashley, but through us mutually standing up to each other from the likes of Jay, Spinner and Kate, and similar interests, we quickly developed a bond. Marco and Ellie, while I had less time to get to know, were still great people who were also friends with Craig, and their friendliness and respect for not spreading anything revolving me was enough for me to trust them.
As for Jt, Danny and Derek, I couldn't care less. They had shunned me for hanging out with a shooter, and their eyes, see me as a threat and traitor. While it had hurt me at first, this rejection made me accept my isolationist stance in Degrassi.
My relation with Kate had also deteriorated, due to befriending Craig. I know understood better the situation between them, with Craig cheating on Ashley being the main reason towards the hatred towards Craig. That clearly explained the sudden hostility I saw from Kate. Regardless, that goes to show that befriending others will cost you others.
Right now, I was yet again in Mrs. Kwan's class, chatting alongside Craig, a common thing now.
"Lost in Reality, that's the name,"
I heard Craig tell me, to which snapped me out of my thoughts.
"Lost in Reality? What do you mean?"
"The name of my song,"
"You actually gotten it finished?"
"Yep, and I'm proud of it,"
"How did you complete it? I haven't seen you in the Downtown Sasquatch since Jimmy,"
"Yeah, we've had to improvise, we've used pre-recorded audio for the guitar, which I replicated, plus Ellie's been willing to help,"
I nodded in acknowledgement.
"How did that happen; I mean wasn't Ellie on Hell Hath No Fury?"
"It's just separate guitar practices Jimmy did before the incident. Ellie helped me in the music room when it came to the audio fixing, and recording stuff. She said she wasn't good, but managed to make it sound normal within the song,"
"How did you release it?"
"Through a personal account CD, as a single for the band, though it was a bit of a struggle,"
"How do you know it'll do well?"
"We've had practice and now were ready to take the next step, don't you think you are asking too much questions?"
I laughed before continuing.
"Okay, fine, what's Lost in Reality about?"
"It's about a person who's struggling to find their place in the real world, as they are too caught up in their perfect world,"
"Can you sing me a lyric?"
He laughed.
"Am I worth all the joking to you? Or do I have to go on my knees, that's all I'll give you; maybe you should buy the CD and listen to it yourself,"
"Maybe I will," I chuckled towards him.
The bell rang, signifying our cue to go onto the next classroom. Just before we went our separate ways, Craig stopped me.
"We have another single, prerecorded that we are planning to release soon, it's just the situation with Jimmy really slowed everything down,"
"That makes sense, but did you tell him about the release?"
"Of course, I did, I played him the song and he was excited for it to be released,"
"If you need help with computers and released, you know I've been a nerd since Grade 7?"
Craig chuckled before continuing, "You'd help me with that?"
"Of course, now I got to get to my next class,"
"Okay, I'll see you at lunch,"
"See you Tobes,"
I nodded, but feeling a bit uncomfortable at that name, but whatever, I was alright with him calling me that.
…
With the next class over, I sat down in a nearby lunch table, taking out another one of my healthy nutritious meals, alongside my water bottle.
It was no secret that dieting was a relatively important part towards getting healthy, however, you also must each enough to maintain the energy consumed during workouts. Which was why surveilling the workouts were important. You wanted to eat just the right amount, no less or more.
It was a struggle at first, but the officials at the health club were happy to support me and train me on the stuff. Now, I knew the number of calories I ate daily, the amount of energy I released, and, with the help of a book I could write in, I knew of each small workout I did.
"I could've avoided that laxative period entirely,"
Maybe things would've been different if I was accepted into the wrestling team, maybe not. But my mind was always crushed when I failed to make the team.
But that happened a while ago, and now I didn't need to join the team to prove anyone wrong.
Though the thought of attempting to rejoin the wrestling team did sound appeasing to me, I knew it was ultimately too late and I was too old to reconsider joining now.
But that also went against me trying to stray away from Degrassi entirely, I knew if I joined, I would've officially become an athlete of Degrassi, which was something I didn't want.
My thoughts were interrupted, yet again, by Craig, who sat down next to me.
"Hey, Toby, you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm good, just eating my food,"
"You seemed a bit 'Lost in Reality,' Toby, you sure?"
I laughed at the mention of his band's single name.
"Yeah, I'm good, I'm just processing everything, that's all,"
"Fair enough, it's just you've been in your thoughts recently, just making sure, you know isn't still haunting you,"
"I appreciate it, but I'm over it now, I've had two months to heal,"
"I wish Emma could've done the same,"
I grimaced at what he said. Emma was still relatively unstable in her thoughts, even though she was doing better, she was still a train wreck from hiding everything.
"Yeah, but she's getting help now, and that's all that matters, right?"
"Yeah, you're right,"
"Isn't it crazy that this happened two months ago?"
"Yeah, how's Jimmy doing?"
Craig seemed a bit sad at the mention of his name, but continued.
"He's healing, but he's paralyzed from the waist down, so it's hard to know when he'll be out,"
I nodded in solemn, poor Jimmy, the description of an alpha, was now reduced to a cripple. I felt bad for him as I knew he was just sticking up for him since the tournament, so to be shot was a simple shock, especially since their blooming friendship.
"I couldn't imagine living the rest of my life confined to a wheel chair, it just sounds impossible, until you realize that's the reality of some people's lives,"
"Trust me, from how he looked, I'm very glad he's alive,"
I looked at him in confusion. From how he looked?
"What do you mean?"
"I saw Jimmy after he was shot, Toby, and it's haunted me to this day,"
I looked at him, shocked and saddened that Craig had to witness his friend and bandmate shot.
"Oh god, I never knew,"
"No one really did, I just saw him, then ran, I couldn't let myself get overwhelmed when there was a shooter above him,"
I nodded at acknowledgment.
My mind, however, shifted to where Marco and Ellie sat, and as my mind filled with fury, my hands turned into a fist and my muscles tightened.
There, right next to them, was Jay, who was clearly trying to annoy Marco. Judging from Marco's expression, Jay was clearly trying to pick a fight.
Growling lowly, I got up from my chair and walked towards the direction of where Marco and Ellie sat.
"Toby, where are you going-" He cut himself off the last word after he too saw what was occurring, and he shortly got up, running towards the table faster than I was moving.
By the time I reached them, Craig had already sat in front of Ellie, protecting her in case Jay would target her next. Jay had knocked Marco off his chair, before grabbing his shirt with both hands.
"Look at you! Pathetic piece of shit," I heard Jay
"What are you doing?"
"Shut up, you know what I do with fags like you?"
"Come on Jay, you're being homophobic! I've already been attacked for this!"
"I don't care if your-"
I cut Jay off, letting him know of my presence.
"Leave him alone," I said in the most serious tone I've ever heard myself make.
Silence, caused from shock, filled them for a few seconds, as Jay let go of Marco, who quickly sat down in a nearby chair away from Jay, looking back at me.
Eventually, Jay recovered, before speaking, back still against me.
"What did you say?"
"I said to leave him alone," I fired back.
He turned around to face me, before walking towards me, sizing me up. Despite being shorter than him, I did not flinch in the slightest.
"So suddenly the geek's found his testicles," He smiled, but I knew he was hiding anger and rage inside him. I knew from that glass incident.
"And the bad boy has found his backbone," I shot back, clearly hitting him back, but he remained composed.
"Well, look who's acting like a bitch, whining about my actions," Jay taunted, to which I remained fixed in both my position, frame and facial structure.
"I guess I act like a bitch so you don't come off as one too," my face turned into a glare, clearly taking Jay back, but he continued.
"You got a problem with me Issacs?" He turned his sight in the direction of me, clearly eyeing me up behind my baggy clothes, which he noticed made me appear bigger, not that he knew of my muscle mass, yet.
I didn't flinch, and instead kept my glare, "Not if you keep acting like a son of a bitch,"
Jay instead chuckled, clearly thinking that me standing up to him was a joke, "Well, here I thought that you were the bitch and Rick was the man, well that doesn't matter,"
I fumed at him, staring him down further and Jay continued with his insults.
"What did I say you were? Oh right, weak, and feeble, yeah that's a bitch, now follow my rules and get out my way you little -" Jay proceeded to try and shove my left shoulder.
I caught his arms quickly, before pulling his arms down, his head close to my head, where I spoke to him right next to his ear.
"If you start anything, Jay, I will do everything in my power to end it, even if it means throwing blows, and not just verbal," I finished before pushing him off of me, him tumbling back farther than I had anticipated, but he caught himself.
Jay walked back up to me, looking at me. He quickly licked his lips before, grabbing a chair, without taking his gaze off of me.
He patted the chair before saying, "Why don't you take a seat right now Issacs, before you get your ass beaten like your friend Ri-"
With my left hand, I grabbed the chair before flinging it off to the side. The chair making a loud, hard crash when landing on the floor, almost hitting another group of people at a nearby table.
Upon the crash, everyone within the cafeteria turned their heads to the source of the crash, some standing up to see what the commotion was about. They were clearly now watching as Jay and I eyed each other up. From the corner of my eyes, I could see Ashley, Liberty and Jt on one side, and Emma and Manny on the other, looking at my direction, alarmed at what was going on.
Nonetheless, I kept my eyes on Jay, who looked surprised and puzzled. His favourite nerdy target was standing up for himself, and he had clearly not expected that. My mind was turning, like gears, as I anticipated his next move, either a sucker punch or another insult, but instead, he did nothing.
He blinked a few times, but saw nothing. He opened his mouth, but said nothing. He moves his arms uncomfortably, but did nothing. We just continued to glare at each other, as the rest of the people in the cafeteria stared in anticipation, shock and suspense at what would happen next.
"Hey! What's going on here?!" Jay and I turned our heads off each other to the source of the voice, Mrs. Hatzilakos, the principal.
When both of us said nothing, she instead said, "Both of you to the office, now!" Before she walked away, towards her office.
I shrugged; I wasn't afraid of any principal. What was she going to do, berate us like children? I watched as Jay began walking, clearly confused and trying to process everything that had happened.
Before I began heading towards the office, I was stopped by Craig, Marco and Ellie, all of whom looked at me worryingly.
"You didn't have to do that," Craig started, but Marco finished.
"But I'm glad you did,"
Ellie looked at me, stating simply, "Thanks for protecting him,"
I nodded in advance, before I picked everything up, tightened my headband and hand wraps, before heading to the office.
Once I entered, I saw Mrs. Hatzilakos and Jay sitting in chairs. I silently scoffed, is this really how she treats us?
"Sit down," She told me seriously, to which I did.
"Now what was going on in the cafeteria between you to?" She continued, awaiting our answers.
"It's no big deal," I started, to which she interrupted me.
"No big deal, you two were clearly eyeing each other up, ready to attack, what do you mean by no big deal?"
I responded, thinking of an acceptable scenario off my head.
"It was a misunderstanding, someone was going to trip on the chair, so I kicked it away from them, it must've hit Jay, because he got mad at me afterwards,"
She looked at me, then Jay, who said nothing, before letting me continue.
"Jay just took it as me throwing a chair at him, when I was just trying to move it out the way, for someone quickly that's all," I finished. She looked at me doubting my excuse, but seeing no objection from Jay, she sighed.
"Okay, but I don't want to see you two near each other, got it,"
Jay just nodded, while I replied, "Yes ma'am,"
Jay walked out first, still looking confused as to what happened, while I walked out a minute after, breathing a sigh of relief.
"Well, that could've gone worse," I told myself, before walking to my locker.
That felt amazing, while I had managed to avoid a physical confrontation between me and Jay, I now had a bunch of energy that I had no idea what to do with it. My adrenaline, while was slowing down, was still there, making me antsy for more. But throughout all of that, I knew I couldn't just beat up a random bystander. That would make a tyrant, similar to Jay and Spinner. So, I just let myself calm down, by breathing and walking slowly. The nerves of my hands were burning, my arms were filling with goosebumps, and my legs were shaking, vying for sudden movement. Eventually, it mostly subsided when I reached my locker.
Throughout the scene that had happened and how I had handled myself, standing my ground and defending Marco from a tyrant, I gave myself a smile at my accomplishments. I looked down, letting my hair, which was now the length of my chin, block my smile, so that no one could see.
Too busy feeling good about my interaction with Jay, I failed to realized someone approaching me. With my hair blocking my smile and sight, it wasn't until I felt a tap on my shoulder when I knew someone was acknowledging me. Originally thinking it was Craig or Marco, my smile quickly faded once I saw who was in front of me.
Jt, who's faced looked puzzled and concerned, looked at me sternly, like a parent at a child when they did something wrong. Before I could tell him to go away, he beat me to the punch.
"What the hell was that?"
"What was what?" I said, with no care in the world, explaining the events to Jt, who clearly saw everything.
He scoffed before continuing, "The sudden tough man routine you pulled back at the cafeteria, what were you thinking?"
I rolled my eyes at him, "I think he was being too rude and homophobic to Marco, so I stepped in for him,"
Jt looked at me, "You can't just get up in Jay's face because you're upset with him,"
I made a fake laugh, "What did I just do just now, I defended Marco from Jay, what are you trying to say?"
"I think you're putting yourself in danger by standing up to Jay," He looked at me, trying to figure out what was going through his mind.
I scoffed at his attempt to care for me, "Yeah, and why do you care? You stopped caring for me since the incident, and left me in the dark, why do you care now?" I locked my locker and went my way, before I felt a hand stop me.
"Look, I don't know what's happened with you, but it looks like you need someone to talk to, it wouldn't kill to," I pushed his hands down, before glaring at him.
"Why do you care? You haven't checked on me ever since the incident, and now I make a small scene, and now you realize the state I'm in? Is it because you truly care about me? Or is it because your nerdy friend is doing much better without you?!"
He looked baffled, "You looked like you were going to murder him, Tobes!"
I jammed my finger in his face, "Two things! One, it's Tobias, two, he threatened someone for his sexuality, and for the amount of times he's gotten away with shit, nobody would've stepped in, so I did!"
He looked at me, "Come on, talk to me?" I laughed.
"Why should I? I tried to talk to you, but all you did was laugh in my face! Are you now seeing how much of a different person I am to actually care for me? Is your old dorky sidekick doing better than when he was with his cool friend? Or are you now seeing that your old friend doesn't need you anymore?"
Shaking his head, Jt desperately tried to reason with me, "Come on Tobes, don't do this,"
Once again, I jammed my finger in his face, "It's Tobias damnit!"
Without anything left to say I stormed off, leaving a shocked Jt in my path.
Forget all of this bullshit, I did what I needed to do, I saved my friend, and I showed the tyrant that his favourite nerdy target wasn't afraid of him anymore.
Degrassi now knew that a different man occupied Toby Issacs, and now, things were going to be different.
