Guild Invites 4.5
I remember it so clearly. It was the summer I turned thirteen, no longer a pre-teen or a tween, but a real teenager. The summer I got my first period. I'd slept over at Emma's house, like I'd done probably once a week the entire summer. We were eating breakfast, playing music way too loud when Emma's older sister came downstairs. From the look on her face I knew something was wrong. She told me that my mom had died in a car accident. I didn't believe it. I couldn't believe it. Moms don't die. I wanted someone to tell me that it was a sick joke. Emma got me through the days following my mom's death. I remember her sister driving me home. I sat in the back seat with Emma and we both cried our eyes out. Back then she'd thought my mother was cool. Emma had been my rock during those days.
Life didn't stop for my pain, and you can only cry so many tears. It wasn't easy, but day after day passed. I learned it was okay to live my life without feeling guilty that mom wasn't there to share it with any longer. Maybe a month after we'd put her to rest, I was sitting on a bridge in a little park. The same one where I'd been dropped off last night, but it had still been kept up back then. Emma and I were sitting there drinking coffee when out of the blue she'd told me how much she admired me. At times I was completely puzzled about why Miss Perfect: money, looks, and popular; was even my friend. When she said that she admired me because I was resilient, that I'd put my life back together – it had to be a joke. I was getting by, but just barely. I broke down crying on her shoulder and admitted that I'd cried myself to sleep for a week straight.
I should have expected this. The defilement of my dead mother's flute was proof that nothing was sacred, and the locker was proof of how far they would go. Emma would say anything, do anything, just to hurt me. This had been planned. She'd remembered my tearful confession and her only thought had been how to use it to hurt me. She was grinning with glee that her barbed tongue had drawn blood.
"Boo-hoo-hoo, baby's crying!" sang Madison.
I closed my eyes against the pain and focused on the wall in my mind. I felt millions of insects all around me incensed by my pain and anger. It would be so easy to set them loose and unleash a «Swarm of Doom» upon my tormentors who were laughing at my tears.
"It's like you have a superpower, Emma!" one of her followers called out gleefully.
"I would think a supervillain wouldn't need to outnumber someone nine to one before attacking them," said a familiar voice.
My eyes flew open. James?! What was he doing here? For a moment everything seemed better. I was no longer alone. James was on my side. Then reality kicked in. He was in his cocky mode running off his mouth. This could only make things worse. I shook my head back and forth trying to signal him to stop. It was this kind of behavior that almost got him killed and did get him shoved into my locker.
"Supervillain?" Tiffany looked puzzled. She was mostly harmless. She wanted to please Emma so badly she'd gone beyond merely copying her style to dyeing her hair red like Emma's. In terms of personality Tiffany was a much faded copy lacking both Emma's wit and viciousness.
"Unprovoked attacks certainly aren't superhero territory, are they?" asked James, determined to poke the hornet's nest.
"Oh, she provoked us alright," responded one of the pack.
"How?" asked James. He packed a lot of disdain in that one word.
The flock of sheep quickly bleated out their answers explaining why my mere existence was an affront to them: I was fat, ugly and stupid. I was disease-ridden slut and a ten-dollar whore. I was a strung-out drug addict. I was a loser nobody. I a liar, a cheat, and a thief. I made up stories to get attention and blamed everyone else for my failings. I should just die already. Madison joined in the character assassination, but Emma and Sophia were notably silent.
I let the words roll over me, took deep breaths, and pushed back against my angry swarm. I'd heard it all before and it didn't matter. It was just more proof that there was nothing for me at Winslow. Maybe with their attention on James I could slip away. Once I was gone, they'd probably leave him alone. I bent down to retrieve my backpack, but Sophia had moved so that she had her foot on it. Although her attention was focused on James. Maybe I should just leave it. It had my major project for Art, but what did that matter if I was dropping out of Winslow?
"What did you call me, nerd?" Sophia's angry words cut through the babble and hushed the sheep. Their pet wolf was angry.
"You heard me." He tried give Sophia the badass stare, but he wouldn't have scared me let alone the big bad bitch of Winslow. Sophia wasn't having that, and she wound up to do something: push, shove or punch, but before she completed the motion James punched her.
"James!" Oh fuck, I couldn't believe that James threw the first punch. We were so screwed now. Even the sheep knew it. They were bleating away about a boy hitting a girl. Technically true, but Sophia was a girl in the same way that a great white shark was a fish. Sophia retaliated and they started trading blows. My attention went to Emma as she moved behind James and went for a shove.
Ikkyō – first technique. I reached out and gripped Emma's wrist with my right hand, turning with her motion, left hand on her upper arm, pulling her arm straight, and locking her elbow. Now she was off-balance and I controlled her motion. Rather than forcing her to the floor I let go and let her continue onward to collide with Sophia's legs. Except, Sophia danced away and Emma went crashing face first into the lockers. Oh shit! What had I just done? For a moment the gaggle of girls just stared at me while I stared back at them. Maybe they'd stop now?
Tiffany broke the stare-off. "You bitch!" She charged me with her hands up and polished pink nails extended as if to claw out my eyes.
I stepped in, redirected her and tossed her, but I'd enraged the herd and they all attacked me. Really it wasn't that bad. They had no idea how to fight and telegraphed their hair-pulling, face-slapping and just pathetic attacks worse than the zombies I'd fought. «Aikido» seemed designed to deal with this situation. Each attack they made became an opportunity for me to take control, redirect and toss the trio's sheeple into each other. Everything was happening at once. It was so confusing without my bugs to maintain «Combat Mapping». Emma on the floor clutched her bloody nose. Julia behind me. Turn, pivot, tossed her at blonde bimbo number three. James and Sophia traded blows. One of Madison's giggle buddies came at me with… a punch? But she lead from her elbow like this was a slapfight. I sent her flying and I was clear. The rest of the girl herd were keeping well away from me and staring like I'd suddenly grown shaggy hair and started howling at the moon.
James wasn't doing quite so well. Madison had literally jumped on his back, but he had it under control. He spun as Sophia struck, and she punched Madison in the side. Apparently cuteness didn't stop fists. She yelped, let go, and fell on her ass. James didn't stop and punched Sophia, but she converted it into a back walkover with an accompanying groin kick. I knew damn good and well that was a gymnastics move, but I doubted I could pull it off with my «Acrobatics». I started to edge my way into the fight, but James didn't fold. Instead they had a stare-off.
I spotted Coach Shane racing through the halls toward us just before a long loud blast from his whistle cut across all sounds in the hall. That got everyone's attention, but he could handle it. He wasn't one of those gone to seed coaches with more belly than muscles. He towered a full head and shoulders above me and looked like he should be playing football instead of coaching it. He was also clearly pissed off. "What the hell is going on here?!"
There was a moment of silence before the sheep started bleating. "Taylor started it!" "James punched Sophia!" "Taylor broke Emma's nose!" "She tripped me!"
"I think I broke a nail," lamented Tiffany.
I almost broke out laughing at Tiffany. She said it like spoiling her manicure was the worst thing ever. Sophia Hess was glaring at everyone, but apparently even she knew this had gone way too far. Unfortunately she wasn't the one in trouble. She'd only fought with James. I'd attacked most everyone else. On one hand, it was gratifying to see Madison get shakily to her feet while Emma held a tissue to her bloody nose, but I was certain that James and I would be paying for this in spades.
"Office. Now. All of you," ordered Coach Shane.
I turned to follow. How had things gotten so out of hand? I'd held back the bugs, but when the attacks came «Aikido» had almost taken over. This was a disaster. I already knew how this would go. I could already hear them whispering among themselves, working out their story.
"No talking," demanded Coach Shane.
That silenced everyone. Madison immediately pulled out her cellphone – undoubtedly to text Emma.
Coach Shane stopped her. "Nuh-uh, No cell phones either. Not until I get to the bottom of this." He stuck out his hand. "Hand it over."
"But, I need to call my parents." Madison gave him the puppy dog eyes.
Apparently Coach Shane was immune. "Oh, I wouldn't worry about that. We'll be calling all your parents. Give me your phone. Now."
Grudgingly, Madison handed it over. Coach Shane took it and directed everyone to head to the office.
I looked over at James to assess his damage. Doh, what was I thinking? He looked fine, as always. The question was how many hit points had he lost? I wanted to talk to him, but didn't want to piss off Coach Shane any further. Emma had whipped up a big batch of crocodile tears. I wondered if I had broken her nose. I wouldn't be upset about spoiling her perfect face, but her father would sue my family if I'd damaged his darling girl. Was Emma's face insured?
In the office the school secretary looked up as we all trudged in. She was a crotchety old biddy who hated me for absolutely no reason. Coach Shane seated me and James away from the other and then briefly disappeared. Emma, Sophia and Madison were sent to talk with Principal Blackwell. Various vice principals took different members of the herd. James and I waited with Coach Shane hovering over us.
I tried to look on the bright side. The worst they could do was expel me. No, that wasn't the worst. I knew that my father would take my side over my tormentors, and I wanted to drop out anyway. The worst would be turning me over to the cops and pressing charges. That had never happened to me when I'd been attacked, but I could see them trying to send me to juvie. How was I supposed to be a hero with a criminal record?
I'd picked up a couple of pop-ups during the fight, two levels each in «Aikido», one in «Dodge», and one in «Intimidate». I mumbled quietly to dismiss them while we waited. I'd also noticed several relationship/reputation pop-ups during the short fight for James, Winslow, Emma and Sophia. I wondered if there was a way to check them. I quietly mumbled, "«Relationships»" and was rewarded with a window. Most of it I already knew. James considered me his [Friend] and [Partner]. I had relationships with James, my father, all the Undersiders, Miss Militia, Armsmaster, Clockblocker and Vista. Each came with a little cartoony icon of the person with tiny bodies and huge heads. I also had entries for Sophia and Emma. My status with Sophia was [Prey], whatever that meant. My status with Emma was [Hated]. That really shouldn't have had the power to hurt me. It wasn't really news, but seeing it written out still felt like a slap. Couldn't it tell me why? Also why only those people. I knew a lot more people. Why wasn't Gram on the list? I dismissed the window and whispered, "«Reputations»." A different window opened:
«Villian Groups:»
«Azn Bad Boys – Hated»
«The Undersiders – Friendly»
«Hero Groups»
«The Protectorate – Friendly»
«Wards ENE – Friendly»
«Other Groups»
«Winslow Staff – Unfriendly»
«Winslow Students – Unfriendly»
«Emma's Clique – Hated»
«The Dockworker's Union – Honored»
In addition to words each category came with some kind of graphic that went: Hated»Hostile»Unfriendly»Neutral»Friendly»Honored»Revered»Exalted. Shading from dark red to yellow, to green, to silver and finally to gold.
I was startled from my inspection of the Reputation screen when Coach Shane spoke up. "You're going to want to watch your temper, James. Your… new diet is helping you get in better shape, but you don't exactly know your own strength right now. A little rough-housing is understandable from our athletes, but you can't have shit like this on your record if you want to play. You can't fight girls."
What was that all about? Didn't know his strength? Did Coach Shame know James was a cape? But the comment about diet didn't fit in. While I was still pondering that, the door to Principal Blackwell's office opened. She was a narrow woman with a narrow figure and narrower mind. She wore dressed for a funeral: black blouse, black sweater, black skirt, black hose, and black shoes. Her severe bowl-cut made it look like she was wearing a dirty-blonde helmet for hair.
«Fashion Rating: Serious, -10% to initial reaction rolls, +20% to Intimidate rolls. Dearly Beloved, we are gathered here…»
The trio slipped out past her. Sophia glared at us while Emma looked smug, and Madison smirked. It didn't take a genius to figure out that it had been a friendly visit.
"Ms. Hebert, Mr. Barron, I'd like to have a word with you." There was no warmth in her tone or gaze. Clearly she'd already made a decision even before hearing our side of the story.
«Relationship with Principal Blackwell has decreased!»
«Relationship with Principal Blackwell is now Troublemaker.»
How exactly did that work? Principal Blackwell hadn't been in my «Relationships» window. Had she really just decided that I was a troublemaker? James and I both stood at the same time. After a slight moment of confusion I led the way and James followed me. I quietly dismissed the «Reputations» window as I went. Playing with powers time was over. Time to face the music.
Principal Blackwell's office mirrored her fashion sense, severe, utilitarian, and almost military. No plants and no photos of smiling family members or pets. None of the female touches that would distinguish it from a man-cave. On the walls were two diplomas and a pictures of five graduating classes. I sat down in one of two hard uncomfortable wooden chairs, and James took the other.
Principal Blackwell didn't sit. "Ms. Hebert, I need to search you before we begin."
"What? Why?" Why just me? Why not James?
"I'm not required to give a reason. Please hand me your backpack and remove the jacket."
James butted in. "I don't believe you. Lockers are one thing; they're school property. Taylor's backpack is her private property. Without reasonable cause, you have no right to search her property. And no, I am not taking your word for it. Taylor shouldn't either."
I glanced at my defender. "It's alright, James. I have nothing to hide." I was lying. It wasn't alright. I was being singled out again, but it wasn't worth fighting. I handed over my backpack.
I wasn't sure what I'd done to earn this attention, but I was damned glad I hadn't tried to bring my costume to work. I was also glad that I'd kept the $210 that was my share from the Legion Zombie in my pocket. That was a lot of money and I'd been afraid that it would vanish from my backpack like too many other things had done. I watched in silence as Ms. Blackwell thoroughly searched my backpack. There was nothing in there that shouldn't have been. At least my art project wasn't damaged.
She nodded when she was done. "Please stand. I'm going to do a pat down search as well."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" James shot back to his feet. "You're not a cop. You can't just search students for no reason. A pat down? That's just wrong. We have rights in this country."
Blackwell frowned at him. "Mr. Barron, if you read your student handbook that you signed, you'll find that faculty have broad powers of discretion. Numerous court decisions support that. All that I am required to have is a reasonable suspicion, which in this case I have." She turned to me. "Ms. Hebert, there have been allegations that you have drugs in your possession. If you're innocent, it is in your best interest to have this allegation addressed. Now, you can either submit to a pat down search by me, or I can have the resource officer and the school nurse perform a strip search in the infirmary. Which do you prefer?"
James muttered something that I'm pretty sure was 'bullshit', but I ignored him. So that was why she searched my backpack. Drug use. I'm surprised the trio hadn't tried this already. Thankfully they hadn't gone as far as actually planting anything. "I'll take the pat down. I have nothing to hide." Another lie. I had the cash, which I couldn't really explain.
«Your skill in [Bluff] has increased by 1.»
"Thank you for your cooperative attitude, Ms. Hebert. Mr. Barron, could I ask you to turn and face the wall please?"
James gave me a long look, sighed and turned away.
I stood up. What was it that I was supposed to have? I hadn't used a weapon. They couldn't know about my roll of tens. Ms. Blackwell patted me down, including my breasts, and paused at my pockets. "Turn out your pockets, please." Her voice sounded more tense.
Naturally. I turned out my pockets revealing my house key and the cash.
Mrs. Blackwell pounced on them and counted them. "Two hundred and ten dollars, in tens." She carefully looked at a few of them. "Freshly pressed, but non-sequential. That's an awful lot of money to be carrying at school."
I had to agree. It was a lot of money. Especially considering that my clothes were from the thrift store. She almost certainly thought I was either buying or dealing drugs now, but cash wasn't proof. I exercised my right to remain silent.
"Care to explain why you're carrying so much cash, Ms. Hebert?"
I decided upon the truth. "I planned to go shopping after school." For skill books.
She stared at me for a long while before nodding. "You can put away your backpack and your cash. I recommend you don't bring that kind of cash to Winslow again. Students have been knifed for less money."
"You can turn around, James." I slid the roll of cash back into my pocket and returned my other stuff to my backpack. I could feel myself flushed. I'd done nothing wrong. There was no law against looting zombies. However, I certainly looked like I was taking part in something criminal.
She sat down and rummaged through two manila folders until I was done. Only then did she speak. "So this will be the first time in my office for both of you, but not the first incident between you, James, and the three young ladies who just left. I would have thought that you and Miss Clements had learned your lesson about fighting from your last altercation." There was a lecturing tone to her words, one that was far too familiar to me after my talk with my father this morning, clearly she had her mind made up already.
James opened his mouth and then closed it. "I didn't start it then, and I didn't start it today." The tone was more even than I expected from James.
I jumped in to back James up. "I haven't been here before, Principal Blackwell, but you've spoken to my father before. Or have you completely forgotten the locker incident where the three… girls that just left your office shut me in my locker and left me to rot in a pile of human waste?"
Principal Blackwell turned her gaze to me. After facing down Lung, she wasn't scary at all. "I clearly haven't forgotten that incident. I just referenced it. It is plain to me that there is bad blood between the two of you and Ms. Hess, Ms. Barnes and Ms. Clements. They were wrong to laugh at what happened to you, but we investigated and found zero evidence that they were involved in the planning or execution of that prank was found. We are not going to rehash what happened in January. We're going to talk about what happened today. Now, which one of you wants to go first?"
James looked to me. I didn't really want to be the one to tell the story. Unfortunately, this was my problem and I sucked him into it. I had to speak up. "If by bad blood, you mean they've been bullying me for the past year and a half, then yes, there is bad blood between us. Today they pulled one of their usual tricks. Emma, Sophia, Madison and a bunch of their friends cornered me and started insulting me –"
"Cornered you, Ms. Herbert? Did they grab you? Were you restrained?"
"It's Hebert. Not Herbert." It was a very common mistake, but I'd prefer it if my judge, jury and executioner at least knew my damn name. "They weren't holding me in place if that's what you mean. But I would have had to push my way through to get past. I was surrounded."
"I see." Her tone made her words a lie. "Continue."
"Emma said something especially hurtful…" Damn it. Merely saying 'cry for a week' doesn't express it. "We were friends once… She… knows how to twist the knife. She used a personal confidence against me. I was crying, and that's when James came up. He tried to help, and Sophia took exception and tried to punch him, but she missed." Words came easier now that it was about the fight. "Then Emma attacked James from behind. I pushed her aside. Tiffany tried to claw my face, and I spun her away. Then several others attacked me and I defended myself."
"Pushed her aside? Spun her away? Defended yourself? Rather vague answers. I have nine injured girls and neither of you seem hurt at all. What did you do to them?"
Great. Better to admit to martial arts. She might think powers otherwise. "I threw them. I used Aikido. I've been studying some self-defense."
"Where at?" asked Blackwell.
Huh? "We were in the hallway outside of Mr. Gladly's class. In fact, you can ask him. He saw me surrounded by all the girls and did nothing."
Blackwell scribbled something down. "I'll be sure to ask Mr. Gladly, but what I meant was where have you been studying self-defense? I may want to have a word with your instructor about how you're using his lessons."
"Oh. I don't have a sensei. I've been learning on my own. Just out of a book." Honestly, it was the truth! I did learn it from a book.
Blackwell didn't look like she believed me. "Mr. Barron, do you know Aikido as well?"
James shook his head. "Nothing so nice. Taylor's happy moving attackers aside. I'm a bit more direct. Sophia tried to hit me. I just... did it better than her." His words have a simmer of anger to them, but he's holding back and not letting them boil over.
"So let me summarize:. I have two students that claim that after an exchange of taunts Ms. Hess attacked first, missed, and then all the other girls also attacked first. None of them hurt you two at all, but you injured all of them. Do I have your version correct?"
Why was I bothering? "You twisted our words around, but mostly."
"Do tell. How did I twist them?"
I crossed my arms. What was the point?
James jumped in. "Taylor was crying when I arrived. They had her surrounded and Sophia had her foot on Taylor's bag. Deliberately. They've been attacking her every day for months and you and the teachers never do anything! We told you what happened in January. You ignored us then, and now you're trying to make today sound like our fault. You're just another bully, like them."
"Mr. Barron, you will talk to me in a respectful tone. This is your chance to tell your side of things. If you raise your voice again, I'll decide based on the facts I already have in hand. You won't like that result, either one of you. Now, to address your point, if there has been months of bullying, why am I just now hearing about it?"
"I. Have not. Raised. My. Voice. Yet. If you would like me to raise my voice, I'd be happy to demonstrate the difference." James paused and took a deep breath. "What facts? You've only spoken to those liars so far. And did you say you're only hearing about the bullying now? That's a bald-faced lie. I was in this... very office, three months ago, telling you about the locker. Or have you forgotten all about that?" asked James. He wasn't yelling, but there was a lot of snark in his reply.
"We did increase our observation of Ms. Hebert following that incident. No bullying was reported to me."
"I have a journal," I blurted out. "Dates, times, email addresses from hate mails, even photographs of bruises going back to the start of this school year."
There was a twist Blackwell's face. That struck some kind of nerve, but what? "Ms. Hebert, that won't impact what I will decide today. Documentation like that is good, but you should have been bringing it to the attention of the faculty from the moment it started. There is an escalation path that we have to follow: teaching warning, office referral, parent conferences. All of those can prevent things from getting to the sad state they did today. By not involving us earlier, you've made a difficult situation worse. If you'll bring them in, we'll review the incidents, but it's going to be difficult to prove your allegations months after the events. You'll have to start at square one."
Make it our fault, James had said. He was so right. "I did try to tell at first. No one listened. No one took action. They always took their side." Just like Mr. Gladly did today.
"I can assure you, Ms. Hebert, if you make official complaints in writing to the office, they will not be ignored."
Really? Like this one wasn't being ignored?
"Got a pen I can borrow?" asked James.
"We aren't discussing that issue at this time, Mr. Baron. Do you have anything to add in your defense?"
"Yeah. Do your job. If people are allowed to hit me, I'm allowed to hit them back. If those... girls are allowed to attack Taylor, she shouldn't have to just stand there and let them."
"Anything you would like to add, Ms. Hebert?"
I shrugged. "No." This was a kangaroo court. No point in drawing it out.
"Very well. I have nine witnesses that claim that Ms. Hebert was unwelcome and asked to leave and didn't." A snort from James drew her attention to him. "The same witnesses say that you struck Ms. Hess first, and then Ms. Hebert shoved Ms. Barnes. I have visible injuries on eight of the nine girls. Both sides have made more severe allegations, but this is America, and here at Winslow we assign punishments based on evidence. The other nine girls will all be suspended for a day. Before you argue about this being a token punishment, this can impact their eligibility for extra-curricular activities."
"So Sophia might not be able to compete in track?" Yeah, pull the other one. "I'll believe that when I see it."
Blackwell just continued as if I hadn't said a word. "You two, as the instigators, are suspended for a week. That's not optional on my part. We have too much gang activity here. I will not tolerate fighting in my school. When you return, I'll be glad to look at this journal, Ms. Hebert. I don't tolerate bullying either, but I do demand evidence. Do you two understand?"
"Yes." I understood quite well. Nine little liars banding together trumped two students telling the truth.
"…Yes." James sounded as sulky as I felt.
"Then you're dismissed. Go see Alice and she'll give you the paperwork for your suspension. Make sure you have it signed by your parents. Alice will also be calling them this afternoon."
I stood and shrugged at James and we both filed out. It sucked, but honestly was about what I expected from Winslow. I kept my mouth shut beyond the minimum needed to get the forms. James and I could talk later, about a lot of things. Winslow was one of them. It was clear they didn't want either of us, and frankly that was fine with me.
As we walked out of the building, I whispered to James, "Sorry that I dragged you into that."
"Don't be. It's not your fault."
«New Quest Alert: Bring Justice to Winslow»
«Reveal Emma Barnes, Sophia Hess and Madison Clements as the lying bullies they are.»
«Reward: 10,000 XP, Increased reputation with Winslow Staff and Winslow Students, matching piece of equipment, and the satisfaction of justice being done.»
«Failure: Humiliation, injury, criminal charges, and/or loss of reputation with Winslow Staff and Winslow Students»
«Bonus Goals: Reveal the complicity of Winslow Staff »
«Bonus Reward: 10,000 XP, Increased reputation with ?, Increased relationship with ?»
«Accept?»
«Yes» «No»
"Oh hell yes!" I grinned at James. "Tell me you got that quest, too."