Jarrod had nearly finished his schoolwork by the time his mother made it back to their room. At least she couldn't be upset with him if he was doing something educational, Jarrod thought, as he made his last few responses longer than absolutely necessary.
"Congratulations, Mother!" he forced cheerfulness into his voice.
"Oh. Thanks, Jarrod. Derek and I and the rest of the council will have our work cut out for us, I'm sure." Her distracted response gave Jarrod hope that he wouldn't be yelled at, at least for a while.
"I see you've changed clothes. That's good. You should hurry along, though. The rest of the council member's kids are getting together in the gym, at least the ones around your age. I don't need to remind you to do your best to get along with them… do I?"
"I'll do my best, Mother." Jarrod inwardly sighed. If Derek had won the High Priest spot, that meant Mark would be there along with Eric and Dennis, sons of Alex and Sandra. They weren't so bad on their own, but with Mark around, there could be trouble. Emily should be there, too. She was his age, but he hardly knew her - just knew she was Douglas' daughter and that she was usually quietly hanging around with the younger kids. Of course, small as she is, that kind of made sense.
Jarrod put away his schoolwork before heading toward the gym. Being aboard ship didn't give the colonists much chance to stay in shape, so most of them used the onboard exercise facilities. When they finally landed on their new planet, there would be plenty of things to keep everyone busy and lots of hard work to keep them fit, but for now, the gym fit into everyone's schedule at some point.
The kids mostly used the climbing bars and playground style equipment that took up one third of the room, while the adults often used the resistance equipment arranged on the other side to maintain their fitness. The middle of the room was open, with cushioned floors, to facilitate wrestling and martial arts falls. A yoga class was finishing up as Jarrod entered the room.
He spotted Emily first. He couldn't hear her, but she seemed to be arguing with the older boys. Dennis and Eric stood on either side of three scared looking younger boys. Mark was listening to Emily and frowning, his hands slowly clenching into fists. Jarrod walked up quickly, keeping his voice light to try to break up the tension in the group.
"Hey, guys, what's going on?"
Emily started talking fast, "Mark thinks he should be able to make the kids do whatever he wants just because his dad was made High Priest."
Mark interrupted, his voice oozing with charm as he lightly punched Jarrod in the shoulder. "Hey now, Jarrod, you and me, right? Got to show these little ones some leadership. How would it look for our parents if we don't have the respect of the kiddies."
One of the younger boys gave out a squeak, drawing Jarrod's attention. He realized that Dennis and Eric were gripping the boys tightly by the arms. The noise brought Mark's attention back to the trio of kids.
"So, brats, as I was saying, you and your little friends need to be more careful about who you bump into. Running around can be dangerous to your health.
The boy in the middle tried to stammer out an apology, but Mark sneered as he stepped toward the kid, "Too late, brat. You're going to be a lesson for the rest of these losers."
Before Jarrod could react, Mark lashed out, punching the boy in the stomach. Eric and Dennis let go of the kids, the one Mark had hit fell to the ground.
Dennis paled, "C'mon Mark, the kid didn't mean to bump into you, he was just playing."
"Can it," Mark snarled, narrowing his eyes at Dennis.
Dennis backed up a step, holding up his hands in a stopping gesture.
"Hey now, I'm on your side, remember?"
"You'd better remember whose side you're on."
Jarrod moved to help the boy up, but was stopped by Mark dropping an arm across his shoulders.
"Leave the brat, Jarrod. He'll survive, and now he'll know not to mess with his betters."
Jarrod shrugged off Mark's arm, glaring at him and continuing to help the boy.
"Knock it off, Mark. No one is better than anyone else. We're all the same. And if you can't figure that out on your own, maybe you're the one being a brat."
The kid Mark had punched gave Jarrod a grateful look before running off with his friends. Emily chimed in to support Jarrod.
"For goodness sake, Mark, that child didn't hurt you in the least. What do you think you're doing? Whatever it is, it isn't leadership, and I doubt your father would like to hear about it."
"Well, my father isn't going to hear about it, so it doesn't matter. And you need to keep your pretty little mouth shut, this doesn't concern you."
Emily gave him a look of outrage and turned bright pink, but didn't say anything else. Mark turned back to Jarrod.
"Come on, Jarrod, I'm sure there are more kids that need to be brought into line."
Jarrod shook his head, frowning at Mark. "No, Mark. Fighting doesn't solve anything, and besides, there's nothing wrong that needs to be solved - other than you being a bully. Leave the kids alone."
Mark turned to Dennis and Eric, "Leave the kids alone," he mocked, "guess little Jarrod is too much of a momma's boy for us, guys. But just to make my point…"
Mark paused and gestured for Dennis and Eric to grab Jarrod's arms. Emily moved toward the group, stepping between Jarrod and Mark.
"Stop it, Mark, you don't want to do something you'll regret," Emily pleaded.
"Well, I'm not going to hit a girl, that's for sure." Instead, Mark gave Emily a shove,
pushing her down onto the padded mat, before turning back to Jarrod. "Just stay down, Emily, you don't want to get hurt."
"You interrupted that kid's punishment, Jarrod. I guess you'll just have to take his place."
When Dennis and Eric finally let Jarrod sink to the floor, he was covered with bruises. Mark had placed his blows carefully, though, so no permanent damage had been done.
"Now, don't get any ideas about talking to my father about this, either of you. Unless you just want more pain."
Mark laughed and walked out, trailed by Dennis and Eric. The only witnesses were a group of younger kids playing on the climbing bars. They watched with wide eyes as Emily helped Jarrod get up.
"I'm going to tell my father what Mark has done, Jarrod," Emily started, but Jarrod broke in quickly.
"It won't do any good, Emily, no one will believe it. Mark is too good at looking like the perfect kid around his dad, and Dennis and Eric will back up whatever he says. Don't worry about it. He'll get tired of all this soon enough and life will go back to normal."
"I don't like it, but if you're sure, I'll let you handle it however you want." Emily frowned.
"Good. At least that's settled. I should get back to my room, I guess." Jarrod gave Emily a half-smile as he slowly walked toward the door. "I'll see you later."
Yes, you will, thought Emily as she watched Jarrod leave. Her thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of another workout group. Emily watched the kids playing on the climbing bars for a while before heading back to the room she shared with her mom and dad.