Extra Baggage Chapter 3: Some People Never Learn, a bully fanfic

"Extra Baggage"

Story #3: "Some People Never Learn"

By: Seinasu

Author's Note #1: This story focuses a little more on the so-called relationship (I use that term very loosely) that Tabitha has with Gary.

It was shortly after Halloween when the iron gates of Bullworth Academy were officially reopened. Every year, the majority of the students were confined within Bullworth's walls in order to help them (especially the new students) get a better feel of their school. Once the gates were opened, students were able to walk in and out of school property freely, as long as they attended their classes and returned to their dorms upon curfew.

Gary decided to visit the Town of Bullworth on the first day of freedom during lunch time, seeing as how he hadn't been there since his expulsion last year. After he was kicked out, his parents took him home, only to quickly realize that none of his old schools would take him back. That's when the legal hub-bubs and headaches began and only after a month or two, was he able to return to Bullworth under the conditions that he was monitored when he took his pills and that he kept a clean nose.

"C'mon, Leech, pedal faster. I think we'll make it to town by the time I graduate."

Tabitha huffed and puffed as she peddled the BMX bike they took from the auto shop's garage. She struggled to move her legs as hard and steady as possible, while Gary sat on the front of the bike trying to keep balance and telling her where to steer.

"Oh... Gary..." Tabitha wheezed as she found themselves going up a slight hill. "You... You're so... smart...! You always know… the best way to... to... ugh... go about things...!"

"Don't tell me you're getting tired of riding this bike already?" Gary asked in annoyance.

Tabitha shook her head and quickly gained a burst of energy as she pushed them up and over the hill. "No way, Gary! I'll do whatever it takes to see that you're taken cared of—AIEEE!"

The other side of the hill was much steeper than she had anticipated. Both kids went flying down the hill and were heading towards afternoon traffic.

"Turn! Turn!" Gary screamed.

"Which way?!" Tabitha shrieked frantically.

"LEFT! No right—wait! It's left! GO LEFT!"

She maneuvered to the left just in time to barely brush an inch away from a semi-truck. As they speed through the streets and headed into the dark alleys, they could hear a bunch of horns blaring at them followed with a string of curses from the pedestrians they narrowly missed. Gary and Tabitha held on as they twisted and turned through narrow, twisted alleys and knocked over boxes and trashcans. Finally, there was one obstacle they didn't expect to stop their ride—a bum wearing a dirty Christmas hat.

Upon impact, the kids were thrown off their bikes and tossed to the ground like ragged dolls. All was silent except for the distant noises of cars. Eventually, Gary managed to roll himself up to a sitting position, his head spinning like crazy. Meanwhile, Tabitha had landed just a few feet away and she was slowly pulling herself up off the murky puddle she occupied. She trembled as she felt every inch of her body ache. She managed to sit upright and breathe short, ragged breaths.

"Whoa," Gary whispered as he ran his fingers through his shortly cropped brown hair.

The bum they struck was lying on the ground with the bike seemingly twisted around his ragged, dirty body. Gary and Tabitha looked at each other, stood up, and cautiously approached the scene of the crime despite the aches and sores they experienced. All was eerily quiet. No longer could they hear the cars or any nearby pedestrians.

"Oh... my... god..." Tabitha gasped as she covered her gaping mouth. "I... Did... We...?"

Gary looked a bit shocked for a minute. But then he folded his arms across his chest and from his lips, a small, frightening smile formed.

"That's one less dirty perv off the streets," he simply calmly said as he turned away. "Let's get going. Lunch is already halfway over."

Tabitha's eyes widen and her heart pounded heavily inside her chest. Never the less, she took one step back, turned around, and proceeded to follow Gary out of the alley. Suddenly, a loud hacking noise was heard from the supposedly dead bum. Gary and Tabitha spun on their heels and watched as the bum shoved the now broken bike off of his body and staggered to his feet.

"God... Goddamn you lousy kids!" he growled as he used the wall to support himself. "Jesus Mary Joseph... You got no respect for your elders! None at all! I didn't die in 'Nam just to let little snot-nosed punks like you push me around! You're disgusting! ... Can I have five bucks for food and maybe another ten for a hooker?"

Gary snorted in both amusement and bemusement at the request, while Tabitha took a bold step in front of Gary with her arms stretched out.

"Don't you ask such a thing for Gary!" she snapped as she fixed her eyes on the bum who was slowly shuffling away from them, already forgetting who they were and what had happened to him. "Why, he has money that he needs for lunch and possibly for treats for himself later! How dare you even think about—ah!"

"Shut UP," Gary said as he dragged Tabitha away by the back of her collar. "Just get us some food while I go check out the new military shop that just opened. Meet me there."

"Okay, Gary!" Tabitha replied all too happily.

Twenty minutes later, they were at the park. Having finished their lunches, they were occupying a picnic table and all was relatively quiet until Gary spoke up.

"Here."

Gary reached into his front pocket and pulled out something that Tabitha couldn't see. He opened his hand tossed the item in question to her. She managed to catch it without dropping it (one of the few times she was able to coordinate properly) and she saw that it was a silver bracelet.

"F-For me?" Tabitha asked in astonishment as she held it closer to her face. It looked so smooth and pretty! Upon closer inspection, she realized it wasn't just a bracelet.

It was a Medic-Alert bracelet.

"Oh... Gary..." she said weakly as she looked over at him, unsure if she should feel happy or confused. "You got this for me?"

Gary shrugged as he got up from the bench. "I swiped it off that bum we smacked into earlier. Think of it as a Secretary Appreciation Day present or whatever nonsense you may call it."

"Really...? Thanks, Gary!"

He said nothing more as he climbed on top of the table and sat down. Tabitha also climbed on top of the table and sat next to him as she put the bracelet over her wrist, admiring it. It was wrong, the way he took it, but it was the first real present Gary ever gave her. It meant that he registered her as someone he could actually think of getting a present for, no matter how big or small. She may have been a scapegoat or his torture victim from time to time, but now she was also someone he considered he could trust.

At least, that's what she'd like to think.

After a long stretch of silence, Gary jumped off the table and turned around to look at her.

"You know how to use a slingshot?" he asked.

Tabitha shook her head as she climbed off the table.

Gary looked around the area and saw that nobody else was present. Then he reach into his school vest and pulled out a small, meager looking slingshot.

"Stole this off of Davis when he had his ass served to a trash can the other day," he stated. "You're gonna learn how to use this if you wanna survive around me. I'm not exactly popular around the school... Only because everyone realized how weak minded they all are compared to me."

The blonde nodded as she took possession of the slingshot. She'd never used one before and it felt strange to hold it. She'd seen Jimmy use it countless of times against various people. It looked pretty easy but she couldn't find a good way to hold it and she dropped it a few times. Gary shook his head as he took her hands and placed them where they should be.

"That's how you're gonna use it when you're about to knock someone's eye out," he explained as he looked down at the ground. Grass, grass, lawn gnome, grass, rock, dead rat... Ah, ha. Jackpot.

He picked up something brown and mushy and held it out to Tabitha.

"I want you to put this crap around a piece of rock and aim for that cop car parked right there."

"W-Wait, what?" Tabitha looked squeamishly at the moldy looking poo Gary held in his hand. He looked positively mischievous! Then she looked over in his line of sight and saw that indeed there was a cop car parked just down the road with nobody inside of it.

"Leech, hurry up," Gary said as he took her hand and slapped the poo in her palm, causing some of it to splatter on both of their uniforms. Bending down, he picked up a small rock and placed it on top of the poo. "There, now make it nice and pretty then practice your aiming. Trust me, I'll guide you all the way."

An hour later, Tabitha was released from the police station. Her eyes were red and her cheeks were wet from the tears she cried. She had NEVER been arrested in her life! How was she supposed to know that there was a cop sleeping inside of the car and he had his seat pushed down? There was no way she couldn't have seen him... until it was too late of course. Who'd have thought she would hit the window her first time with a slingshot? The cop inside had been awakened (obviously) to the sound and feel of shattering glass. By then, Gary had taken off running, his laughter carried by the cool, autumn winds. Tabitha dropped her slingshot and ran but of course, she just had to trip over the stupid lawn gnome and scratch up her knees.

Thankfully the police went easy on her because she was a meek looking girl whose voice was so quiet, and she stammered so much that they had to lean forward to hear her speak. She made sure to not mention Gary's name throughout the ordeal. Fortunately, they only sent her off with a warning, despite the fact that she broke a police car's window. It was bad enough they had at least half of the boys of Bullworth Academy in their files but they didn't want to start adding girls to their Most Wanted List. It was so much hassle for the cops to deal with the parents and to get the school involved... They just didn't want to bother with Bullworth after last year's fiasco. It was a school for troublemakers who wasted everybody's time with juvenile fights and petty theft.

It was dusk by the time she made her way back to the academy. The school buses were broken down due to vandalism and she wasn't crafty enough to steal a bike without Gary's presence, so she ended up walking. She knew she'd missed the rest of her classes for the day, but she didn't care. Besides, she was worried about Gary.

I hope he's okay, she thought as she timidly wandered through the main gates. There were a few small children exploring the trees near the entrance while Russell was intimidating one of the prefects just a few feet away.

"Russell smash your head!"

"Jeez, cut it out Russell! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Just... Just lay off of those Nerds, okay?"

Tabitha quickly took this chance to sneak by everyone. She made a mad dash to the left and over to the Boys Dorm. Even before she reached the building, she had to squirm her way past Christy and Beatrice, who were pulling each other's hairs while Jimmy was trying to get them to stop fighting over him; just a few feet away some of the guys were cheering the girls on. Just a few feet away, Petey was trying to play mediator between a Peanut and Damon looked about ready to pound each other into next Tuesday. Just as she was about to head over to Gary's window, she noticed Trent and Kirby holding hands around the corner and talking in low, husky voices to each other.

Tabitha blushed and shook her head, trying to get the image of those two out of her mind. She carefully made her way through the dead bushes and plants that once grew outside of Gary's window. She knocked on the window in a sequence that indicated to Gary that it was her.

A minute later, the blinds were opened and the window was pushed up. Gary leaned outside without a shirt and a white towel slung over his shoulders. It looked like he'd just gotten out of the shower.

"Hey Leech," he said casually. "What's going on?"

Tabitha bowed her head shamefully and said, "I'm so sorry I got caught! I didn't mean to get you in trouble!"

"Huh?" Gary raised an eyebrow and looked away momentarily, mumbling something to himself. Finally he looked back at her and said, "Oh yeah...! I'd forgotten all about that. Did you get caught?"

She lifted her head and blushed with embarrassment. "Yeah, I did."

"You going to jail?"

"Er, no. They let me off easy."

"The slingshot?"

"They confiscated it."

"Oh great, now I have to steal another one from those mindless gorillas. Thanks a lot, Leech."

"I'm so sorry, Gary!"

Gary took his towel and dried off his hair. "Calm down, okay? Don't get so excited. Next time you just have to learn to run faster. You know how I stuff you in garbage cans or throw water balloons at your head?"

Tabitha blinked. "Um... yeah?"

"You need to do that whenever you're in town and get into trouble—not throw water balloons but I mean hide in garbage cans. Cops tend to swarm around you even if you don't see any around. They're complete bitches who have nothing better to do than to pick on kids. Find a place to hide before a cop sees you, wait a minute, look around, then get out. That way you're sure not to get noticed."

"Gary..." Tabitha beamed proudly as she clasped her hands together, her fingers brushing against the bracelet she still wore. "You're so smart and fantastic! You always have the best ideas!!"

Gary smirked arrogantly. "Of course I do. Which reminds me, I gotta take my meds. This time I have to make sure I don't mix 'em up again. Man, the voices in my head have got to stop keeping me up all night."

He withdrew from the window and brought down the glass. The blinds quickly snapped shut and Tabitha stood alone once more. Turning around, she sighed dreamily as she walked away from his bedroom and held her wrist close.

"Gary, Gary, Gary," she cooed as she literally skipped away from the Boys Dorm. In a sing-song-voice, she sang, "He's so great, he's so wonderful, he's… GARY!"

THE END

Author's Note #2: Hopefully the next installments will feature more of Jimmy and Petey. Thanks again to those who've reviewed my stories. You're all awesome!