The real deal is about to come out...

Chapter 3: Discovering

The next day comes along and Jojo makes his way to school, when he sees Cyrus, Jonah, Sam, Hawk and Travis walking on the other side of the sidewalk. He turns to them and said, "Hey!"

They looked up and saw Jojo there and Jonah said, "Hey, Jojo. How goes it?"

"Pretty good."

They decide to walk to school with him around and Jojo asked, "So, how's it going? Ready for a second day of school?"

"As ready as we'll ever be." Travis said.

Then, Mike, Marcus and Cody came by with their skateboards on the other side of the sidewalk and seeing Jojo caught their attention and they rode their boards to where they're at and Cody asked, "How goes it, guys?"

"Hey, what's up?" asked Jonah.

"I wish you guys would've stayed longer. We got our kicked by some s at basketball, but mostly just Mike, Cody and Marcus." Jojo said.

"I did NOT realize that Caitlyn and Misty play so good! They like creamed us." Cody said.

"That's because you say that s don't play basketball."

"I was just making a point."

"Yeah, a point that definitely got to the point where you actually got creamed at basketball by a ." Mike said.

"Oh, sure. Make jokes at your brother."

Mike laughed at Cody and sighed happily and told him, "Sorry, dude. I just think it's funny that Cailtyn creamed you."

"Wait, Caitlyn actually beat you at basketball?" asked Jojo.

"Don't rub it in, please."

"I'm not. I'm just asking."

"Who's Caitlyn?" asked Travis.

"She's a friend of ours, but mostly Jojo's crush." Marcus said.

Jojo rolled his eyes and said, "She's just a friend."

"Oh, sure she is. I've heard it all before. Admit it, Jojo. You like her."

"Just a little."

"I've never actually had a crush before." Jonah said.

"Why not?" asked Marcus.

"Well, some s don't like hanging around guys who are emo and goth. I get called that most of the time in our old school and so do us, because they think we look the part."

"Oh, trust me. I've been there. It's all because my dad put so much pressure on me, thinking that I can become mayor, when I know I don't. Again, he just doesn't understand that I don't want to take part of it."

All of a sudden, Cody sees a black eye in Jonah and asked, "What happened to your eye?"

Jonah looked at Cody and noticed that he saw his black eye, because of his fight with his stepfather and didn't want to mention it, so he said, "As soon as we came home, some bullies from here wanted me to join a fight with them, and I told them 'no' and then...they beat me down and punched my eye out."

"Where they big?" asked Jojo.

"Huge."

"Then, they saw us and had us cornered and start beating us too." Sam said.

Then, Jojo noticed the cuts and scars on all five of them and realize that it wasn't the bullies' doing that did it. He suspected that it was something else deeper. Marcus stared at Cody and asked, "What's up with you?"

Then, he turned to Marcus and answered, "Nothing. Just wondering that if the bullies really did to them."

"What do you mean? Of course they did it to us." Jonah said.

He didn't want to ask personal questions to any five of them, so the best thing he could do is just keep it to himself and said only, "Okay, I believe you."

Jonah breathed a heavy sigh of relief and said, "Thanks, Jojo. You're a good friend, even though I've know you for a day."

Jojo chuckles and said, "No problem."

As soon as they got to the school, they saw Misty and Caitlyn standing in the steps and Misty said, "Well, if it isn't the big B-ball boys, minus Jojo."

"Oh, come on. If you really think you're gonna beat us yesterday, we would beat you any day of the week." Cody said.

"Admit it. Me and Caitlyn are better than you guys."

"You s think you're so good at it, but you're lying through your teeth."

Caitlyn scoffed and said, "Actually, you're the one that's lying through your teeth because I beat you and Mikey fair and square."

Marcus gasped, then told Jojo, "That's a serious one, dude."

Misty kept her eye on the new guys and asked, "Who are they?"

"Well, these are our new friends, Sam, Jonah, Hawk, Cyrus and Travis. They're new here from Whereville." Jojo said.

Misty got very familiar with one of the boys and asked, "You're on my Who-story class, right?"

Hawk chuckled and said, "That's me, actually."

"Oh, yeah. You're the guy I met in the hallway before the class started. Nice seeing you again."

"You too..."

"Misty."

"Misty, gotcha."

"And this is my best friend, Caitlyn."

"Hi." Caitlyn said.

"Hi." Hawk answered, shyly.

"Hawk is very shy around new people, especially s." Travis said.

"Really?"

"All of us are kinda shy around new people."

"How so?"

"Well...we're not sure if they want us to be friends with us."

"How do you know they're not sure?"

"We can tell by the way they look at us, like we're from another planet and also back from where we live, we've been called 'emo band' and separately, we've been called 'emo', 'shrimp', 'sissy emo dude' and 'punk goth maggots'."

"Jojo gets called 'emo' several times before we met him." Mike said.

"Except the last part." Jojo said.

Caitlyn noticed a little scar on Travis' arm and asked, "Where'd you get that scar on your arm?"

Travis looked at her and then, looked at it and said, "Fell down out a tree a few weeks ago."

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah, I was climbing this tree and then, I got too high and I fell down on one of the branches and fell down on the ground."

"Wow, that must hurt."

"It definitely does."

"I think we should head to class."

"Good thinking."

All but Jojo walked to the inside of the school and Jojo was thinking that something else might've happened there and thought that all five of them were hiding something that they're not telling him directly to his face. He decided to just let it go and worry about it and he walked inside the school and sort of keep his mind away from it.

Later after school, Jojo walked himself home from school when he receives a text message on his Who-phone and the text was from Jonah. He reads, 'Where do you live?'

He texted back said, 'By that blue house where it says 'McDodd' on the front.'

He sent the message and kept walking until 5 seconds later, he got another message from Jonah and said, 'We're on our way there.'

It was kinda weird that Jonah and his brothers are actually coming over to his place, but it seems as though they want to see where Jojo lives. So he kept walking until he reached the house and went inside there. He walked upstairs and went into his room, flopped on the bed, got a piece of paper and started drawing a new musical instrument that he would actually build in the observatory. A few minutes later, the doorbell rang and Jojo went out of his room, walked downstairs and opened it and to his surprise, it was Jonah and his brothers.

"Hey. I got your message."

"Thanks for replying to us."

"So, why did you want to come here, anyway?"

"We just moved in and we thought that since meeting you, we could see where you live."

"Can we come in?" asked Sam.

"Sure, why not."

They let themselves in and looked around the place and what caught their eyes were the family pictures. Sam asked, "Hey, Jojo. What's with all the pictures?"

Jojo scoffs and and said, "These are some of the pictures from our family heritage. Ironically, all of them were mayor of Whoville, both men and women of our kind. Kinda scary, but true. And he's thinking that I can actually be in 'one of the greats'. I'd rather be in music than be one of the greats."

"So, your dad's the mayor of Whoville, right?"

"Yep."

"Cool."

"Where's your room?" asked Travis.

"Upstairs. Follow me."

The boys followed Jojo to his room and his room was rather dark, but he turned the light on and everyone was taken aback from what it looks like. Cyrus chuckled and said, "Wow, your room is cool."

"Yeah, it is."

Jonah looked at all the pictures and posters around the walls and sees that those are emo-punk bands and he sees some CD's there and asked, "You like music, right?"

"Yeah, I do."

"We like this type of music too, only Travis is more of a heavy metal person."

"On some occasions. I like pop-rock and sometimes even punk rock and ballads."

"Sam and I are into punk rock, emo and alternative rock as well. Hawk is pretty much into the bubblegum pop stuff." Jonah said.

"I quit listening to it like several years ago." Hawk said.

"Whatever."

"Your room is the coolest room I've ever been to, especially this house."

"Thanks. It's like the best room here where I can just go in and be myself." Jojo said.

They all went out of the room, went downstairs and saw Sally walking across the hall. She saw Jojo and some of his new friends and asked, "Jojo, who are they?"

"Hey, mom. These are my new friends; Sam, Cyrus, Hawk, Jonah and Travis."

"Nice to meet you, ma'am." Travis said.

"Where are you all from?"

"We're originally from Whereville, but we moved here sometime a few days ago, because our stepdad had a job here at City Hall as a janitor and I think he's working as a messenger in the City Hall." Jonah said.

"My husband's the mayor here."

"We know. Jojo told us." Sam said.

"So, is he an only kid here?" asked Hawk.

"Nah, Jojo's the oldest of 96 s."

"96? And they're all s?" asked Cyrus.

"Yep."

"Jojo, you never told us you have 96 sisters."

"You never ask."

"You boys wouldn't mind staying for dinner, right?"

"Sure. I just gotta text my stepdad first."

"Perfect."

A couple of hours later, everyone gathered around the table where Jojo and his friends were there having dinner at the McDodd house. Sally asked Jojo, "Where's your father?"

"I'm not sure where he is." Jojo answered.

"He should be home by now."

"Honey, I'm home!"

All of a sudden, Ned comes in and kisses his wife 'hello' and they both sat down and Ned sees Jojo along and asked, "What's the haps, J-Dawg? How's it hanging, my homie?"

Jojo didn't understand it completely and neither did his friends and Sam muttered, "And I thought my stepdad was unusual."

Ned looked at Sam and asked, "Who are you?"

"I'm Sam. Most of my friends call me 'Sammy' and these are my brothers, Jonah, Travis, Hawk and Cyrus. We just moved into your guys' neighborhood a couple of days ago." Sam said.

"Where are you all from?" asked Ned.

"Whereville."

"So, does Jojo go to school with you all?"

"Yeah. Jojo's a pretty cool person." Jonah said.

"I met your dad. He seems...kinda odd, in some ways."

"Kinda like someone I know." Sally said.

"Well, my stepdad...can be a little strange in a way towards us."

"How strange?"

Jonah knew that this would lead to a real problem between him and his stepdad and said, "Let's just say he's a person who can't keep his cool down."

"So, in other words, he's an angry person."

"Somewhat."

"Did you let him know you're having dinner with us?"

"Well, I texted him a few hours ago."

"Well, I'm not an expert on texting, but maybe he read it and expects you back at whatever time he expects you to be back."

"Yeah, I guess so."

Minutes later, Jonah and the others were about to head home and then, they turned to Sally and said, "This is pretty cool house you got here."

"Well, thank you."

"And thanks for letting us stay for dinner."

"Anytime."

"Me and Jojo will take you all home." Ned said.

"Bye, nice to meet you."

"Bye, Mrs. McDodd." said Travis.

By the time they got there, they went in the front porch and knocked on the door and within a few seconds, Paul bursted the door open and asked, "What do you want?"

Ned jumps back and said, "Hello, Paul."

Then he realized that it was only Ned and said, "Hello, McDodd. What are you doing here?"

"Well, I came to bring your kids back."

"Why? Where have they been?"

"At our house."

Paul looked at Jonah and asked, "How long were you there?"

"After school."

He was able to keep his cool and said, "Well, thanks for bringing them back home anyway."

"You're quite welcome...I think."

Ned suspected that he is a little strange, but in a different way. Paul looked at Jojo and asked, "Who are you, kid?"

"I'm Jojo."

"Figures."

Jonah and the others came inside and Paul turned to them and said, "See you tomorrow, McDodd. Nice meeting ya, kid."

Then, he slammed the door on both of them and Ned looked at Jojo and he looked at his dad and Ned said, "He does seem kinda strange and when he came here, he seemed intense and whatnot."

"No kidding?"

"As long as he keeps away from my office, I think he'll be the least of my problems."

As soon as Ned and Jojo walked off home, they immediately heard loud noises inside the house and they crept back to see what's the cause. Through the window, they can see Paul going ballistic on those boys.

"You were supposed to be ehre after school!" Paul screamed.

"Is there anything wrong about visiting my new friend?" asked Jonah.

"Why would you be friends with that little shrimp?"

Ned took it to heart when he heard him call his son a 'little shrimp' and got totally offended. Jojo shushed him because he didn't want anyone to see them standing there.

"He's our new friend and he seems cool." Travis said.

"Who asked you?"

"I was just saying."

Paul got totally heated and went off on all five of them. He picked up photo frame and threw it at Travis and hit him on the skull. Then, he jumped on top of him and beat him down hard. Ned and Jojo found it hard to watch Travis gets beaten up. Jonah and Sam planned to save Travis and he grabbed him out of Paul's hands, but Paul turns around and throws both Jonah and Sam on the ceiling and slammed them in a wall. Hawk and Cyrus ran away, but Paul grabbed both of them by the ankle and dragged them to him. They tried to break free, but Paul kept dragging anyway and he picks up a wooden board and beats their head, face, arm and elbow in it.

Ned and Jojo could not believe that this was actually happening in front of their eyes. At that point, Jojo knew that there was a real reason for those scars and bruises. Paul gathers up the boys and slams them down to the chair and yelled, "You boys are useless monsters and somehow, I wish you would not exist in th world. If your beat mother would've left me here with you, why would I even be here? I'm disgusted to call you my stepsons and I wish you'll all have never been born!"

Travis' eyes filled up with tears and he didn't want Paul to see it, but Paul could sense it and slapped him in the face and shouted, "If you shed on tear, I will hurt you...literally."

"I can't help it." Travis said, ly.

He grabbed Travis and punched him in the eye and slammed him down back to the chair. Then, he screamed, "All of you, get to bed!"

Paul stomped upstairs to his room, then slammed the door three times, leaving all five of them emotionally scarred. Sam, Cyrus, Hawk and Travis went in their rooms and suffered in silence, while Jonah was sitting alone in the couch, just crying. Ned and Jojo suddenly feel sorry for the kids and thought that they should come in and show that they're here for him. They looked at each other and Ned asked, "What are we gonna do?"

Jojo sighed and said, "I don't know, dad. I knew that there was something wrong by the look of their scars."

"How?"

"Like someone beat them up before they moved in here and tonight...my instinct was right."

Ned could see that Jojo is positive that Paul was responsible for beating the crap out of them. He felt as if now is the time to just comfort his friend for a few minutes. He slowly went to steps, and the door was open anyway and he saw a broken-down Jonah, sitting on the couch crying. He crept silently towards him and Jonah looks up and sees Jojo standing there. He sniffled a few times and asked, "How long were you there?"

"All of it."

Jonah could tell that Jojo knew the real thing unraveled before his very eyes and asked, "How much did you see?"

"Everything. I'm sorry that this happened to you guys."

"This is why me and my brothers didn't want anyone to know about it, because nobody would care."

Jojo looked at Jonah and wiped his tear and said in a choked voice, "I do."

Jonah stared at Jojo, glassy eyed and said, "I've only known for a day, but you're a good friend, Jojo."

They reached in for a hug and Jonah cried into his shoulder, unaware that his brothers were watching as well. Travis, Sam, Cyrus and Hawk came down and joined in as well. Jojo looked at them and said, "If you guys ever need someone to talk to or at least have some comfort, just count on me and my dad."

Travis sniffled and said, "Thanks, Jojo."

Ned saw it through the window and started smiling. He whispered, "You're a good friend to them, son."

"I gotta go. See you guys tomorrow."

"Okay."

Jojo walks off and then Jonah said, "Hey, since you saw what happened, I guess I should tell your friends tomorrow."

"So will we."

Jojo smiled and said, "I'd appreciate that."

He turned to the door and walked outside, where his father was standing there. He said, "I can't believe I have a furious stepdad as my messenger in city hall. As far as I can tell, that house is not safe for them."

"So, what do we do about it?" asked Jojo.

Ned didn't know what to think and he sighed heavily and said, "I don't know, Jojo. I don't know."

Jojo knew there was something wrong and he was right. He and his dad saw it in front of their eyes...Jojo's new friends gets beaten by their stepdad. What are they gonna do? Find out later!