A/N: Thank you for the favourites and follows. Wasn't sure what to expect when I started writing this, so many thanks.
Jimmy winced when he hit the packed dirt. The pain forming in his ankles was far greater than he'd anticipated. Bu at long last he was alone. Finally in a place where he could begin to put together a plan of action. Shouldn't be a big deal, anyways. Doesn't take a nerd to see that Gary spouts off a lot of crap. Bullworth the toughest school in the county? Complete and utter bullshit! Bullworth has nothing over the seven other schools I've been in!
What's taking him so long?! Duncan squinted in the rapidly dimming evening light. He tried in vain to make out the dark blob a short distance away from where he was hunkered down. It's a guy! Definitely a guy, for sure and certain. Some of his anxiety dissipated; as much as he loathed Bullworth Academy students beating up the female component of that population wasn't Duncan's style.
Still thoroughly worn out, Jimmy plopped onto his ass. He didn't care about the moisture seeping through his pants and undershorts from the loamy soil of which his woodland throne was compromise. Hell, might even help me focus better!
This is just too perfect! Duncan thought. The bastard's making himself a sitting duck! This shifted the dynamics of the situation at hand considerably. He let his worry as to whether the other party was packing weapons or had a mean left uppercut fall fallow. His grin became sinister as he threw himself atop the other boy.
"Whoa!" Jimmy screamed, suddenly pinned to his back on the woodland floor by an unknown assailant. He brought his arms across his face in a futile effort to protect himself from the storm of punches raining down across his body.
Duncan sneered with contentment. His face grew more animated as he continued to swing blow upon blow upon the boy he'd ambushed. His arms began to ache and shake with fatigue. But he didn't care. All that mattered was him now being the supreme warrior knight exercising vengeful justice upon the hapless peasant that embodied the helpless creature he'd once been.
Fuck! Pain was beginning to cloud what little remained of Jimmy's better judgment, but remnants of that morning's chemistry lecture and the unlikely product it'd helped him concoct during his solitary lunch hour in his room was still at the forefront of his brain. The terrific item he'd produced on the ancient chemistry set he'd stumbled upon during a more thorough appraisal of the room's contents.
If only I can grab it! he thought desperately. His breath coming came out in a series of ragged gasps in the valiant effort to wriggle free of his attacker before quickly surmising that was too much to hope for. He instead tried to move his right hand towards his pants pocket. He prayed his aggressor didn't fathom just what he had up his sleeve.
"Had enough?!" Duncan bellowed. He adjusted his body so he sat atop the mystery boy, both knees digging into the ground to keep himself steady. His fury only increased when his inquiry was met with silence, aside from the occasional grunt of exertion from the force he was duelling.
There we go! Jimmy's fingers clasped around his explosive salvation.
"I said have you had enough?!" Duncan snarled, twisted one of his opponent's wrists in a brutal Indian burn. It would have been an undecipherable puzzle to a daylight observer why no smoke rose from the sheer intensity of the assault.
Come on! Jimmy flung the homemade firecracker he'd managed to grab, hoping against hope it would detonate in a place that would play out to his advantage. He processed aim in the same realm as a well-practiced marksman and it was infuriating to be deprived of it now.
Flash! Bang! The loud crack echoed through the trees and ricocheted off the leaves.
"Yeow!" Duncan cried when the force of the sudden explosion blew him onto his back.
Ears ringing and body stinging, Jimmy feebly rolled onto his stomach. Guess I might've made the TNT a bit too strong. In a hazy daze, he tried to prop himself up on his elbows and see what carnage his firecracker had wrought.
Blurry snatches of the world swam before Duncan's eyes. Fuck. He's done it this time. It must've finally happened. Davis White, one of the coldest and most vicious bullies to ever grace Bullworth Academy's hallways, had finally pummeled Duncan into oblivion. A nasty gash on one cheek began to bleed, his literal life-force ebbing away drop by drop.
His head beginning to clear, Jimmy was at last able to sneak a glance of his assailant. Shadows from the trees that towered above both boys captured most of the soft moonlight, but he was able to make a haphazard guestimate of his enemy's size. To his amazement his fellow teenager was just as tall as he was, but that was where the similarities ended. Whereas Jimmy processed a stocky, sturdy build the other guy was thin. Almost gaunt. It was a wonder the wispy cornstalk hadn't been swept away to be battered apart by the autumn wind.
"What the fuck did you do that for!? You tryin' to kill us both?" yelled Duncan, sitting bolt upright and pressing a sweaty palm to his injured cheek.
You delusional or something buddy? Jimmy shook his head, not even attempting to disguise his disgusted disbelief. "I did what I had to do!"
"Had to do?!" Duncan spat back, smearing and caking blood across his face.
Jimmy nodded carelessly in reply. He could feel his very innards growing cold and hard. "I was minding my own business when you fucking jumped me, man! So when I say I did what I had to do, I did what I needed to get your ass off of mine! And I'm gonna share a little secret with you right now, buddy: I only give people what they have coming to them so I hope you're hurting right now!"
"Utter and complete bullshit if I've ever heard any!"
Jimmy smirked. Just revenge and punishment was one of his firmest values. And this stupid asshole thinks he can tell me otherwise? We shall see my friend! "Ha. Well, I guess you're entitled to your opinion buddy if nothing else!"
Duncan's blood boiled. How dare a lowly Bullworth punk talk down to him like that. He had to suppress a snort at the not-so-subtle insult towards his intelligence. Before his academic career had drawn to its reluctant close, it wouldn't have been an exaggeration to claim Duncan had read every book in the school library at least twice cover to cover.
"It's not just an opinion or a mere untested hypothesis. It's a bonafied proven theory! But I should've known you Bullworth pricks are just as fucking thick as ever!" Duncan shot back, struggling to get back on his feet.
Fat chance you bastard! Jimmy manage to scramble upright first. It didn't take a Nerd to figure out that that balled up fist was aimed straight for the side of his head.
Thwack!
"Jesus fucking Christ!" Duncan yelled, crumbling to the ground and clutching his left shin in agony.
Jimmy crossed his arms, trying with all his might to resist the temptation to spit in the other boy's face. "Think that so-called theory of yours needs some fucking revision! You didn't deserve anything I've dished out to you tonight? Bullshit! Look at just what happened now: you thought it would be a smart idea to sucker punch me, so I kicked you in the shin instead. I'd say you got your just desserts just now fair and square!" He gave the treacherous scumbag a light kick to the ribs to empathize his point.
Duncan averted his head so the boy didn't even have the faintest chance of spotting his sudden tears. Fuck. He couldn't believe he was here again, lying on his fucking back like a hapless wretch once more. Eighteen months had come and gone since this had last occurred. One-and-a-half revolutions around the sun. Almost a lifetime ago. Yet that damned hellhole so close by still coloured each and thought that crossed his hyperactive mind. "Whatever, dumbass! Mark my words, hapless peasant, when I say I'm gonna give you what you've got coming!"
Jimmy leaned against the chickenwire. He was tempted to just hightail it over the fence and sneak back into the dorms for some much needed sleep. But something in the other boy's diction struck him as odd and made him pause. Hapless peasant? Jimmy turned the quaint phrase over in his mind several times. The peasant bit wasn't so strange; that word had been directed his way by any one of the massively inbred, completely brainless Preppies he'd been unfortunate enough to cross paths with earlier in the day.
He snorted when the realization came to him. Jimmy hadn't been completely checked out when Gary had given his lecture on each of the Academy's main cliques that morning. Whilst tuning in for the only the relevant bits of the bumbo jumbo being shot in his ear he'd been astute enough to make some auditory observations of his own. "You one of those mamas' boy dorks or something, pal?" he taunted.
"What's it to you?" Duncan shot back before he could stop himself. It still remained so damned difficult for him to completely close off the memories of the fat, helpless nerd he'd once been. Christened 'Dunnie' by his legions of tormentors, Duncan had literally been at the mercy of the Jocks and Bullies he'd knocked only knocked his skull and bashed his shins on a good day. Fucking idiot! Don't think about the past! Look ahead; you're Duncan McTavish, black ninja warrior. Not-
Jimmy smirked, feeling perverse satisfaction at drawing blood. "It's nothing. I could care less, actually, if you want the real truth."
"If that's the case why'd you even ask?"
"How the hell am I supposed to know? You're the nerd. Aren't you supposed to be the one with the answers to everything that goes on in the world?"
His body becoming numb to last frail thread of pain that still remained, Duncan glared. The late evening breeze waving the tree leaves overhead allowed more light to filter downward. He stole a quick glimpse of his advisory: stocky and well-build around the shoulders with a red buzzcut and a generous helping of freckles spread across a sunburnt face.
God he's fugly, Duncan thought. He added another entry to his mental list of guys he had no desire to screw. Amazing what spending a little time alone will do for you. He'd always figured that someday he'd dig chicks the way the rest of his buddies did. But instead the onslaught of puberty had made very clear just which gender did it for him.
"Guess not," Jimmy remarked, anxious to break apart the silence enveloping them both. "I should've known you were just like the rest of them."
"The hell's that supposed to mean?"
"You put up a front. Try to act tough and convince yourself you're smart and too good for the rest of us. But you know what you really are? A phony. Nothing but a big fucking phony who's too chickenshit to even fight fair!"
"Why you little," Duncan snarled, fists clenching as he made a beeline for the other boy's torso.
