Merry Christmas, my lovely readers!
Everyone was wondering why I spent the night at Caveman's house and not meeting them at Hinder Park like I usually do. I could see it in their eyes when they pulled up to Caveman's driveway but no one asked. Zigzag tried to ask but thankfully, X-Ray came to my rescue by shooting him a warning glare.
And if X-Ray tells you no, then it really means no.
The car ride ended up being long and awkward because of me. It wouldn't have been so weird if I had just told them that me and my roommate had a disagreement but of course I didn't. Besides, you could read all over my face that it was more than that
The only time anyone spoke was when Caveman (who was pretty oblivious to the tension) asked X-Ray if we had any homework in Math class.
X-Ray told him that we didn't.
When we finally reached school, I had never been so happy in my life! Okay, maybe I was slightly more happy when I finally got let out of that hell-hole called Camp Green Lake but that also led to me getting abandoned by my own mother. That happiness was definitely short lived.
I found Armpit and Magnet standing by the flag poles. Magnet looked like a lost puppy while Armpit had this big Jack-O-Lantern smile on his face. "What's up with you guys?" X-Ray asked.
"Tell 'em Magnet!" Armpit laughed.
"A few days ago, my mom told me that I wasn't allowed anymore animals because she was tired of all the dog shit all over the floor." Magnet started and we all chuckled. "So I got a bunch of fish instead… nine to be exact. I named them after us."
"But there are only seven D-tent members?" Caveman looked confused.
"Don't forget about Twitch and Barfbag!" Magnet corrected. "Anyway, I woke up this morning to find that they all ate each other-"
He was cut off when the guys burst into laughter. Magnet and I were the only ones not laughing. I mean, the whole situation was funny but I just couldn't manage to laugh.
"It turns out that Betta fish eat each other if they're in a tank with others…" Magnet sighed. Twitch gave him a pat on the back.
"It's like the Hunger Games but with fish!" Twitch added and all the guys laughed. Zigzag just looked confused.
"What's the Hunger Games?" he asked.
The bell rang at that moment so we all started walking inside. X-Ray tried explaining the Hunger Games to Zigzag but he was a lost cause. The leader just couldn't explain to Ziggy that it wasn't about fish eating themselves.
"Squid, you try explaining it to him, man!" X-Ray laughed. I responded by shrugging and continuing on my way.
When I got to Math class, I took a seat next to X and Caveman as our hippie teacher walked (galloped) into the room holding a stack of papers.
"Today, we shall be writing our tests!" Miss. Poulterhanst sang out as she began distributing the tests to everyone in our class. We all groaned at the pop quiz. There was no point in learning Trigonometry.
I seriously doubt that learning about triangles is going to benefit anyone in this class. Want to be a guitarist? Well, you'd better learn all about right angles! How about a cook? You should definitely know about tangents before you start boiling that water.
See? It's completely useless.
Miss. Poulterhanst slammed the test down on my desk, her big rings clinking against the wooden table as she glared at me. Ever since I told her I got arrested, she's been treating me like I'm dirt.
She didn't realize that Caveman and X-Ray got arrested as well. Along with a bunch of her other students.
I rolled my eyes and picked up my pencil and started the test. I realized that I had accidentally left my calculator in my backpack which was laying on the floor, not even a foot away from me. Not thinking about the fact that my teacher was a complete bitch, I started unzipping my backpack.
"Alan!' I looked up to see Miss. Poulterhanst staring at me venomously. "Are you cheating?"
I furrowed my eyebrows, "Uh, no? I'm getting my calc-"
"Do it without one." My jaw dropped. "You came unprepared so you must finish the test with what you brought."
"But I brought a calculator, I just forgot to take it out before I started the test." I argued. This chick was really getting on my last nerve. "I can't do any of this in my head!"
"That excuse isn't going to work for you in the job industry." Miss. Poulterhanst growled. I could tell that I was getting on her bad side, well more than I already was, but I couldn't take any more of this.
"Because-"
"One last word out of your mouth, Mr. Smith, and you will be sent to the principal's office." she snarled.
"You can't-"
"Get out, Alan." she snapped and I knew that this was the end of the conversation. I'm usually pretty respectful to most adults, I mean I never back talked the Warden. But this was just ridiculous.
"Whatever." I spat as I stood up and slung my backpack over my shoulder, "I would have failed anyway."
I stormed out of the room, as angry as ever and stomped in the direction of the office. Hopefully, Mr. Whatever his name is, would see how absolutely retarded the situation is and let me off the hook.
Before I could make it even half way down the hall, I heard it. It was a whimpering from a girl and laughter from what sounded to be a group of people. I picked up my pace, following the sound until I turned the corner and saw a group of football players towering over a brunette.
"Aw, the little slut is crying like the baby inside of her!" one of them cackled.
It was Emily.
I slowly started towards them, none of them noticing me. I don't know why I was doing this but I felt the need to help her. I had to make things right. Even if this was the same girl who sent me back out on the streets and destroyed my relationship with El, I had to help her.
"Where's your baby daddy to help you?"
And that was the last thing he said before the football player had his head smashed into the wall. He collapsed on the ground as all the others, which consisted of three or four guys, mostly freshmen who were only there because they wanted to be accepted by the older guys.
"I think you should leave her alone." I snarled and some of the guys started backing up. Like I said before, most of them were just freshmen trying to feel like they were part of a clique. "Beating on a pregnant chick is fucked up."
One of them stepped up to me, staring me right in the eyes. He was the same guy who I had got in a fight with on the first day of school. "So you're the daddy?" he smirked and I snorted.
"Look at the chick," I pointed to Emily. "I was in prison the day she got knocked up."
Not exactly true, but it wasn't exactly badass if I told him that I was at camp when she got preggers. Besides, Camp Green Lake was basically the same thing. Shitty food, strict schedule, a Warden bringing hell on all the prisoners.
Football Douche seemed to take that into consideration. I guess he's not as big of an idiot as I thought he was. I'm not saying he's not stupid, but he's slowly getting better. "Then leave us alone."
Aaaand he's officially retarded again.
"You're beating up a pregnant girl!" I snapped, "There's something messed up in your head!"
"It's none of your business so scram, Octopus!" Football Douche spat. That was the last straw. Between getting kicked out by El, my friends treating me all weird because they knew something was wrong with me and having to deal with Miss. Poulterhanst, I finally snapped.
My fists slammed against this idiots face and he stumbled back, falling to the floor and hitting his head against one of the lockers. He looked dazed, but not like he was about to faint or anything so I just looked down at Emily and signalled for her to get up.
"If they bother you again, hit 'em in the balls. No guy would bounce back after that one." I offered. Most people would laugh, but Emily just stood there frozen, as if she couldn't really believe that the guy who had laughed in her face had actually just saved her.
"Th-thank you." she stuttered.
"Yeah, no problem." I shifted on the balls of my feet. I was never good with this kind of stuff. "I gotta go though. The principal is waiting."
"O-okay. Thanks again, Squid." I nodded in acknowledgement before turning and heading towards the office again. This time, I made it there without any problems.
The principal agreed with me that Miss. Poulterhanst was being unfair with the whole calculator thing but he wasn't too happy with what I said to her. I didn't really think I said anything that bad but I still ended up sitting in the office for the rest of the class and next.
Now I would have a bunch of homework from two classes and to top it all off, I have work after school. It looks like I'll be staying up all night tonight.
By the time I finally got out of that damn office, I was suffieciently pissed off at everyone. Anyone who passed me in the hall stepped back because they could just see the murderous look on my face.
I trudged into the cafeteria, already more frustrated than I've ever been and collapsed at the table where my friends were at. They all hushed down when I arrived. Meaning: they were talking about me.
Everyone was staring at me like I was some stranger. "What?" I finally snapped.
"You've just been different lately." It was obvious that Armpit was trying to choose his words carefully. "At first you seemed happy but today you've been kind of miserable."
He picked the wrong words.
"Miserable?" I repeated, "Yeah, no shit I'm miserable. I have had enough of this stupid school with these stupid teachers and these stupid people! You can't expect me to be all rainbows and butterflies all time when I'm dealing with shitheads all day!"
Silence. Nobody knew what to say. Caveman kept his eyes trained on the table and X-Ray was looking at me like he couldn't believe I just said that.
"We're trying to help, man. Don't flip out on us when you're feeling like shit." X-Ray snarled. I rolled my eyes. He was my best friend but at that moment, I couldn't find him more intolerable.
"Whatever." I scowled and picked up my backpack. "I'm leaving. Feel free to talk about me when I leave."
With that, I turned around and left. I didn't know where I was going but I figured that I might get a few extra hours at work and maybe figure out my sleeping arrangements for the night as well.
It was a long walk to get to HMV but when I did, there was this girl, Cathy already there. She was about 25 and had long orange hair with one side shaved off. She was the kind of chick that pierced every place available and treated everyone like crap.
I honestly hated Cathy. She was lazy and whenever I came to work after her shift, she always left the place a mess and I would always have to clean it. The only reason she still worked here was because she was someone's daughter. They must have been very important because that girl should have been fired a long time ago.
"Need any help?" I asked and Cathy shrugged.
"A new shipment came in today so that needs unloading. It's been kind of slow today." she shrugged and chewed at her nails. I nodded and got to work.
I loved working at HMV. There was always great music playing and my boss was fantastic. I always found the time flying by and soon enough, Cathy's shift was over and mine began. I had just finished inventory before I started my shift.
I was expecting one of the usual people to come in. Some hipster of hippie. But I was definitely not expecting her.
El wasn't supposed to walk in.
Review! I got a laptop for Christmas and I looooove it! But FFN hasn't been working for me today… It kept on saying 503 Service Unavailable whenever I tried logging in. You know what's great though? I'm writing this on google docs and I found the very first fanfiction I ever made!
It's absolutely atrocious! It's not on this site but it is a Holes fic. I might post it on a friends account if I feel like editing it later in life.