8

Sonic

To some miracle, I managed to stay true to my word. I was on his best behavior for a few weeks. I didn't talk back to teachers, retaliate against my enemies, or instigate fights with my siblings. Instead, I tried to stay quiet and ignore the burning fire in my bones whenever someone

ticked me off.

The only three people who actually got more than two words out of me were Silver , Amy and Mr. Connors. I had to talk to Silver ; we were best friends. I couldn't brush him off the same way I did to everyone else. With Amy, I just liked messing with her. I continued participating in their playful banter at work and light wrestling whenever we were alone. I did my best to avoid getting into real arguments with her. God knew I wanted to at times when she was really getting on my last nerve. Sometimes, I felt like she was doing it on purpose just to get a rise out of me. But, I bit his tongue and settled for putting her in a headlock and making her beg to be released.

My conversations with Mr. Connors were much different. Since it was the second half of my senior year, my counselor wanted to start preparing me for college. During my usual study hall, I would go down to Mr. Connors' office or meet him in one of the computer labs for college prep.

In the beginning, we'd started with the simple question of which college I wanted to go to. Mr. Connors helped me research the schools I'd been accepted to and weigh my options. I settled on committing to the University of Illinois. It was a state school, and I couldn't imagine myself going anywhere else. Besides, the Chicago campus wasn't too far away. I could still live at home, keep my job at Benny's, and save money throughout my four years of college.

With my decision made, Mr. Connors helped me find scholarship applications

and fill them out. He also taught me about loans and grants and other ways to pay for college.

Once the question of where and how was answered, Mr. Connors moved on to the topic of what I wanted to study. For a solid week, Mr. Connors had me take a million different personality and career tests, so we could get a sense of possible future careers. All of them were bullshit, though. I didn't take them seriously, so half of them spit out inaccurate results. Mr. Connors must've caught on to my carelessness in taking them, since he told me to meet him in his office today.

I waltzed into his office with a bag of Hot Cheetos I'd brought from the vending machine during lunch. I tossed the extra bag of sour Blazeand onion chips on his desk.

"Oh, thank you," he said. "How did you know those were my favorite?"

"I listen sometimes," I replied, ripping open my bag of chips. I dug my hand in and popped a chip into my mouth. "So, what's on the agenda for the day?"

"Well, since you obviously didn't like the computer questionnaires, I thought we could do an in-person one? What do you think?"

I shrugged, crunching on another chip.

"Alright, first question: When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?" He asked with a soft smile.

"I don't remember."

"Okay, well what can you imagine yourself doing in the future?"

"I don't know."

"What kind of lifestyle do you want for yourself?"

I shrugged. I really wasn't in the mood for this shit right now. I had at least two years of general education classes before I moved into my specialized classes. I had time to think about what I wanted to do. At least, I thought I did.

Mr. Connors sighed. "What are you passionate about, Sonic?"

I hesitated. "I like fighting," I replied with a shrug. "I know that's not what you want to hear, but I do." A smile tugged at my lips. "Maybe I can be a professional mixed martial arts fighter. I can be in the UFC."

Mr. Connors shook his head. "While that isn't an impossible idea, as you are extremely talented inside of the octagon, it's only going to take you but so far. What happens after you're seriously injured or too old to be doing it anymore?"

"By that point, I'll hopefully have enough money coming in to support me. If I have a great career, I'll definitely have more than enough more flowing through my bank account for an early retirement."

"Sonic, take this seriously. You like fighting, but what else is there? What other hobbies do you have? What other things are you good at?"

I looked down. "I'm not really good at anything else," I murmured.

"Your grades would say otherwise."

I rolled my eyes. "I'm not good at school. I just don't half-ass the work like everyone else does. Besides, I don't even like most of my classes. I'm just doing it as my one way ticket to get out of this hell-hole."

"You say most of your classes. What's the few classes you actually enjoy?"

Silence ensued for a long moment. I kept my eyes to the ground

as I mentally debated whether or not I wanted to reveal a sacred part of myself. I trusted Mr. Connors, but at the end of the day, he was just my counselor. Once I graduated, he didn't need to be in my life anymore. Not if he didn't want to be. That could work, though. Sharing it now and having him forget about the moment the next fuckhead they assign to him walks in the door.

"English," I murmured. "I like English class."

"What do you like about English class?"

"I like the writing portion of it. Mrs. Wells this year has us writing a lot of creative pieces that go along with the literature we're reading. I like doing that. I like being able to put my thoughts and emotions on paper."

"Have you thought about majoring in English?"

"There's no money in that."

"Sure there is. If you major in English, there's a lot of different careers you could choose from; you could be a teacher or an editor or work for a publisher or be a journalist or a literary analyst or even a professional writer yourself."

"I don't have the patience to be a teacher. I'm not interested in working for a publisher or some shitty newspaper. I don't like reading books. I don't like sharing my writings; those are private." I shrugged as I looked away. "Maybe I'll just join the army or even a trade school like Manic did. I don't particularly have to go to college."

"I agree you don't have to go to college; you could do all of those things, and perhaps they may suit you more since you're a very hands-on type of person. However, I do encourage you to go to college. You may not think you're smart, but you are. You're very intelligent, and I think college will be good for you." He walked over to one of his file cabinets and gathered a couple brochures. He handed them to me. "Here are some pamphlets about majoring in English and Criminal Justice; I think you'd be interested in that. If you want, you could even minor in English or double major if you'd like. With those two put together, you'd make great law school potential."

"Let me graduate high school before we start talking about law school, Mr. C," I said, glancing over the pamphlets. The loud chime of the bell echoed through our ears, citing the end of my free period. "Thanks, Mr. C…for helping me with all this."

"Don't mention it, Sonic. Have a good rest of your day."

"Yeah. You too." I headed towards the door and exited his office. I walked out of the guidance office and weaved into the crowds of kids in the hallway. I glanced down at the pamphlets in my hand. Mr. Connors is crazy if he thinks I'd major in English, but Criminal Justice might be pretty cool. As much as I got in trouble, I was all too familiar with some of the processes.

Curiously, I flipped through the pamphlets about that major. I was careful as I read and walked, glancing up every few seconds to make sure I didn't collide head on with someone. For most of the walk to my class, I managed to avoid bumping into anyone. I was only down the

hall from my classroom when the pamphlets were smacked out of my hands. "What the fuck!" I snapped as I looked up. I wasn't surprised to see Scourge passing by with his crew. Wide smiles were painted on all of their faces as they waited for a reaction.

"Whoops, my bad Mexico; I just didn't know they taught you how to read English over in the immigrant camps," Scourge said.

I glared at him. "Fuck off," I growled.

Over the past few weeks, Scourge had been doing whatever he could

to get on my last nerve. He'd bump my shoulder in the hallways, shove me as he

passed, and shot an insult whenever he could. He was trying everything

in the book to get a rise out of me. I don't know why since the only reward was going to be another ass whooping. I was taking Mr. Connors' advice by ignoring Scourge 's antics and walking away from him. But, there was only so much anyone was willing to endure before they stood up for themselves.

Scourge stepped into my personal space. "Why don't you make me?" he challenged.

"Not here. Not now. After school. By the park." I pushed him away. "Be prepared to get your ass whooped again."

Scourge smirked. "We'll see about that."

I watched him, and his crew, continue down the hallway. I quickly bent down to gather the fallen pamphlets before anyone could step on them. I stuffed them in my backpack as I rushed into the classroom before the bell could ring.

At the end of the school day, I ran down to Amy's locker with Silver hot on my heels. Luckily, Amy was standing there switching out her books. Jet was leaning on the locker next to hers. He seemed to be sweet talking to her. His mischievous smirk and lingering hands at her waist told me everything he needed to know. After I busted Scourge 's face, his was definitely next.

"Hey short stack," I greeted her with a nod.

"Hey," she said. "I'll be ready to go in a minute."

I gritted my teeth, loathing the words about to come out of my mouth. "Can you walk home with your boyfriend today?"

She raised an eyebrow, turning her green eyes to me. "Why?"

"It's fine, baby girl. I can walk you home," Jet said with a grin.

Amy ignored him. She kept her eyes on me, waiting for a

legitimate answer.

"I just have to handle some business. If your parents aren't gonna be home then have him walk you to the park and I'll come get you in an hour."

"Sonic," Amy started.

"I'll see you in an hour," I promised. I gave a nod to Jet before rushing off down the hallway.

Silver and I quickly walked down a few blocks to a small park. Waiting in the empty alleyway across the street from the park was Scourge and his crew. They all smiled at us as we approached them.

I didn't speak as I dropped his backpack on the ground. Scourge had talked enough shit for the both of us. I charged at Scourge and punched him directly in the jaw. He hadn't been expecting my quick attack - or the other punches I threw immediately after. He fell to the ground from the force of my punches. I didn't waste any time straddling him and pounding his goddamn face in with my knuckles.

One of Scourge 's friends grabbed my arms and threw me onto the concrete. I kicked him in the stomach before he could attempt to hit me. Silver cracked him from the back, sending him towards the ground. We shared a knowing look before the rest of Scourge 's friends hopped on us. Three of them took advantage of my position on the ground, punching and kicking me. I blocked my face and swung my long legs to kick at their shins and stomachs.

Two of the others took turns swinging on Silver , leaving my friend constantly dancing around their punches. He may be scrawny, but he was fast. He was doing his best to dodge their punches. But, when their punches did land, it left Silver stunned and open to more of their attacks.

I managed to kick the three hitting me to the ground. Quickly, I rose to my feet and punched both of the assholes hitting my friend. Before I could help Silver to his feet, another pair of arms grabbed mine and pulled me away. I locked eyes with Scourge as he moved in front of me. "You're a pussy," I spat at him.

For once Scourge didn't have anything to say. He reached his arm back and punched me dead in the face. His next punch went for my chest. Then my ribs. Then my face again. He punched and punched and punched until my body felt like it was on fire.

I kicked him a few times, but I couldn't get out of his burly friend's grip. We both knew if I escaped then he was a dead man walking. Him and the rest of his punk ass friends. I wouldn't have cared if they'd just jumped me - but jumping Silver ? They all had their own personal ass whoopings coming.

"Hey! Boys! What the hell do you think you're doing?" A man's voice roared down the alleyway.

Scourge and his crew immediately fled, tossing Silver and I on the ground. Their laughter echoed bounced between the two walls as their shadows disappeared on the other side of the alley.

I coughed on the blood in my throat as I slowly got to my feet. My muscles roared in pain from the movement. I walked over to Silver 's fallen figure. "Hey," I said as I kneeled down next to him. "You alright?"

"Yeah," Silver said. He spat out a bit of blood. "I'm fine."

"Fucking cowards," I muttered. I held my hand out to Silver and helped him up.

"What the hell happened?" We heard the intervening voice say from behind us. We turned to see Mr. Connors glaring at us. His glare softened as he noticed our' swollen eyes and bleeding lips.

"Nothing," I replied.

"It doesn't look like 'nothing'. Sonic, weren't you just in my office being a good sport and talking about college? You spend not even a full half an hour outside of school, and you're already back to fighting. And you've dragged Silver into it! When is it going to stop?"

"Don't fucking call me that," I snapped. "And those fucking pussies started it. Stupid cowards had to jump me, and Silver , in order to feel good about themselves."

"How many times have I told you to walk away?"

"Yeah, well, walking away hasn't worked. Trust me, I've been doing it for weeks now." I took a few steps towards the other end of the alleyway, grabbing Silver's arm and tugging him along.

"Don't walk away now!" Mr. Connors exclaimed. "We're not done talking."

I continued walking, a friend to patch up and a girl to check on the only things on my mind. "Save your savior speech for someone who gives a damn!"