Chapter 7

The gym was rather cold, Kirby thought as he sat in the bleachers. He leaned back, against the wall, watching a few of the guys (mainly Juri and Damon) wrestle in their varsity clothing. Their grunts and yells and grabbing of each other came across to Kirby as rather erotic; however, he quickly pushed the thought to the back of his mind and tried to enjoy the competitive aspect of it.

Suddenly, his cellphone rang. Kirby quickly checked the caller I.D. Before flipping it open – it was his dad.

"Hey, dad."

"Kirby! I'm glad you answered so quickly. Where are you right now?"

"Oh, just in the school gym. I'm watching the guys wrestle, it's..." he paused. "Great!"

"That's my boy. You guys have fun." He seemed rather pleased, and Kirby knew he was smiling. "You going to football practice today?"

"Well, I dunno...I'm just not feeling it tod-"

"What?!" his father cut him off. "Kirby, if I wanted a girl whining about her feelings, I would have had another kid. Don't get soft on me!" He chuckled, despite his initial surprise. "Anyways, I wanted to ask you if you could go into town tonight and get something for your mother and I."

Yells and cheers continued on the court. Damon was winning, but it was a close match. "The gates are closed for freshmen right now. And I do have football practice..."

"That's okay, I gave permission for you to leave the school. Oh, and I talked to your coach already and he said he was going to cancel practice today anyway."

Kirby was silent for a few moments.

"But...why did you ask me if I was going when you knew it was canceled already?"

"I wanted to hear your answer!" his dad replied, as if it was obvious. "I'm a little disappointed, but I think I'll forgive you. I faxed the office what I need you to buy, alright?" His dad didn't wait for an answer. "Okay, bye Kirby!"

"Bye d-" the line clicked before Kirby could finish. He rolled his eyes at his dad's impatience. The shopping list or whatever he faxed to the office was probably stupid, useless crap, too...

Football practice was canceled today? That was really weird. Usually Mr. Burton loved watching the team suffer from the harsh exercises he threw at them. Well, Kirby thought, it would be nice to have a damn break for once.

"Hey, Kirby!" a voice called out. Kirby glanced around and saw Casey with Dan, waving him over.

"So you're gonna come, right?" Casey asked, punching Kirby "playfully" on the arm like a true jock. Kirby fought the urge to rub it.

"Yeah, c'mon, Kirby!" added Dan.

"Well, I got...errands to run," Kirby said, embarrassed at the word.

They stared, dumbfounded.

"Errands? Fucking errands?!" Casey looked over at Dan, who shared his bewildered expression. "You're crazy. We're not gonna get an opportunity like this one for a while – Coach said that this wasn't going to happen again soon and that we'd better join while we have the chance.

Kirby sighed, saying nothing about the redundancy of Casey's statement. "Uh, OK. That store's near the place I need to go to, I think, so...why not..."

Casey smiled, relieved. "Good. Burton said to meet him outside the school gates tonight – I'll come and get you and Dan." Dan nodded vehemently in agreement.

Kirby forced a laugh. "Yeah, cool – no real man would turn an invitation like that down, right?"

"It's just you and me, baby – what should we do?"

Trent had Gordon pinned against the back of the school building, faces inches apart. Trent had a sultry expression on his face, while Gordon seemed absolutely terrified.

"You – I'm not – you're hitting on me?" Gordon managed to gasp, trying to edge away unsuccessfully.

"Yeah, why not? I have a thing for the smaller ones," Trent replied, moving in even closer, if possible.

Gordon's face scrunched up in despair. "Oh man, this is all your fault! Just because I said I might've gone for you if I was a girl..." he pushed Trent away. "You...you...letch!" He ran.

Trent watched Gordon as he turned around the corner, screaming. Why he even bothered with those non-cliques, Trent honestly didn't know. He sighed, walking to the school gates. Trent had been planning on alleviating his boredom with some good old making out, but now he'd have to settle for cigarettes. He leaned against the wall nearby, pulling out his pack of smokes from his back pocket and flicking it open.

It was empty.

"Aw, fuck!" Trent cursed aloud, throwing the box to the ground. This actually happened often – though Trent would never admit it – he'd forget to buy more until he needed them most.

Trent groaned and trudged towards the boys dorm. He was gonna need a different shirt and his fake I.D.

"An adult store, huh?"

Kirby stretched out on the football field bench, plopping his sneakers onto Dan's lap. Dan jumped, then glared and pushed them away in disgust, making Kirby laugh triumphantly.

"Yeah, it's going to be awesome," Dan finally replied, grinning. "Too bad we have to go for your lame errand thing as well, though." Kirby kicked him in response.

"Naw, I'm just kidding around, Kirby. What did your dad put you up to buying?"

Kirby sighed. "Stupid stuff. My parents love 'town-exclusive' things, so they want me to get some of those Bullworth Special Chocolates..."

Dan said nothing for a long moment.

"Your dad got you permission to leave the school, called the crazy coach to try and get you out of football practice, and faxed the office a note...saying they want chocolates."

"Yep."

"Aren't they coming to the Parent Weekend in November?"

"Yep. My dad's pretty impatient." Kirby swiveled up to a sitting position. "So, who else is coming tonight?"

"Pretty much everyone on the football team, except for Bo, who said he might be getting lucky with some girl in town or something." He checked his watch and looked back at Kirby. "Casey said he was going to come and get us at 8:00, right? I don't see him-" Dan broke off as Casey trotted down the stairs nearby.

"Speak of the devil," chuckled Kirby.

"Can I see some I.D., please?"

Trent nodded and handed over his fake one. The cashier squinted at it, looked at Trent, then squinted back at the I.D. Trent stared in silence, waiting.

"Hmm...this seems okay, but..." the cashier paused. "Aren't you a student at the school? I'm pretty sure my niece has mentioned you." He handed the card back to Trent. "Sorry, but I think this is fake."

Trent glared at the cashier and drummed his fingers on the glass lottery ticket display. Suddenly, he leaned in and said in a low voice: "I...apologize, but I think you may have met a friend of mine before – Russell?"

"I don't know a Russell, kid. Get out of my store and buy some Proactiv or something instead. Come back for smokes when you're old enough!"

"Russell; A big, neanderthal-like guy who wears a white Bullworth Academy polo and jeans? Likes...hurting people?" Trent smirked as the man paled, recognizing the description.

"Are...are you threatening me?"

Trent shrugged, saying nothing.

"What kind of cigarettes did you say you wanted?"

"Alright boys – listen up," Mr. Burton squatted with the football team like they were at just another practice. He gestured towards the store beside them, neon letters spelling out "COME HITHER". "I know the guy who owns this place pretty well, so he said he'd let me bring you guys here, if you all buy something." He looked at each of them in the eye. "I'm bringing you little girls to this store because I want to..." Mr. Burton paused, searching for the right words. "...Help 'keep up the morale'."

Kirby nodded along with the rest of the team, trying to get a little more excited than he actually was at the moment.

"BUT -" Mr. Burton added, glaring at them, "If you get caught with something – anything – I have nothing to do with it. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, sir!" the jocks answered in unison.

"Alright, alright, let's go inside."

The jocks spread across the store, as enthralled as six year olds visiting Willy Wonka's chocolate factory for the first time. Most of them broke off into small groups, chatting excitedly. Kirby wandered the shelves by himself, blankly staring at the sexy images of women plastered on DVDs, magazines, costumes, adult toys, everything under the sun (well, everything under the sun that you'd find in this kind of store).

Did this mean that he liked men? Was this one of the final nails on Kirby's coffin? He could honestly admit to himself that nothing here appealed to him. An aisle over, Kirby could hear Casey exclaim something about "fucking hot lesbian chicks!" and he sighed, leaning against a bare wall with his face in his hands.

"Yo, Kirby!"

Kirby jumped nearly a foot into the air and looked up to see Dan with an armful of DVDs.

"Hey, Dan." Kirby ran a hand through his hair, trying to act cool. "Uh, what'cha got there?"

To Kirby's surprise, Dan went red.

"Just...DVDs! Lots of, um, hot girls and –" Kirby yanked a box out of his arms, looking at the cover. It had two women with long, flowing hair and clad in scanty armor holding each other closely. The title read: "Grottos & Gremlins: The untold tale of the Beautiful Princess and Her Sexy (Female!!!) General! Features all of your favorite G&G women in live action..."

Kirby gave Dan a long, searching, stare and wordlessly put the DVD back in his arms. Dan was now white instead of red. "I-"

"I don't wanna know." Kirby was just glad Dan wasn't asking why he wasn't holding anything –

"Hey, why haven't you picked up anything yet?! What's wrong?"

Kirby gritted his teeth and fought off the urge to smack Dan in the face. "Uh, I'm trying to find something that will leave me with enough money to buy the chocolates for my pare-"

Dan snorted, interrupting him. "Dude, they're making you pay for the stupid chocolates? That's B.S.!" He managed to grab Kirby by the shoulder, very serious. "Still, you can't miss out-"

"-On a 'great opportunity' like this one – yeah, I know." Kirby rolled his eyes, something he found himself doing a lot lately.

Dan stared at him for a few tense seconds, looking quite a bit more pensive than Kirby was used to seeing. Finally he grinned and smacked Kirby on the back.

"Don't worry about it, man. I'll get something for you. That's what friends are for, right?"

Kirby strolled out of the store with the rest of the jocks, black plastic bag clutched at his side. He had ended up grabbing a random video and handing it over to Dan, who payed for it on top of his massive pile. Kirby felt a little guilty, considering he didn't really want the DVD – but he knew that it would be dangerous to walk out empty handed.

"Olsen, you got your errands thing, right? Haul your ass over there!" Mr. Burton said impatiently. Ted and Damon snickered at the housewife-like image the word brought up.

"Tee-hee, better get on those little ol' errands, Kirby!" said Ted, waggling his fingers.

"Yeah, better get on them!" Damon faithfully echoed.

"Man, shut up, you two." Kirby turned to Mr. Burton. "I'll be back soon, sir."

"Yeah, yeah. If anyone else wants to go to the Yum Yum Market as well, go now."

Everyone followed Kirby to the store, as it was more interesting than standing around waiting.

The owner, an Asian man, stood behind the counter with a stiff smile as Kirby and the other jocks walked in. A pretty, young girl with glasses stood next to him, smiling sweetly at Kirby when he walked up to the counter.

"Welcome to Yum Yum Market..." she giggled shyly. "Aren't you adorable?"

Trent took a long drag of his cigarette and exhaled, sighing in satisfaction. He shouldn't have gone to Yum Yum Market – the guy there didn't really seem to like students from Bullworth. Well, honestly...Trent could care less – he just would of liked to make the whole cigarettes deal quicker.

He finished his smoke and crushed it into the pavement of the alleyway, starting his walk back to the school.

A small sniffle echoed in the darkness nearby. Trent stopped in his tracks and peered into the other alley.

It was a guy, leaning against the building and holding a couple of plastic shopping bags. He took a deep breath, apparently trying to stop crying. He sniffled again involuntarily.

"Uh...Kirby?"

Kirby jumped, startled, and backed away. A streetlight shone on his face, which was wet. He stopped and squinted at Trent.

"Fuck no! Not you!" He spun around to dash in the other direction, but Trent caught him by the wrist and pulled him back.

"Were you crying?"

"No!" Kirby shouted, eyes wide. "I'd never sob around like a little fucking girl-"

"Your face is wet. Don't lie, jockstrap."

Kirby yanked his arm away but didn't leave. "Why the hell would you care? Gonna try and have your way with me or something now? Screw you," he spat.

Trent actually felt a little sorry for the guy; it must of taken quite a bit to make a jock actually cry. He narrowed his eyes, in thought.

"Did you get hit in the balls or something?"

Kirby scowled. "No."

Trent shrugged. "Well, that was my only good guess. What happened?"

"Again, why the fuck would you care-"

"I might like to mess with your head sometimes, but that's just in fun and games, you know." He grinned and patted Kirby on the shoulder, who flinched but didn't shrug the hand off. "Tell me what happened."

After a couple seconds Kirby sighed and ran a hand over his face.

"Alright, fine. If you want to know so bad..." He shrugged. "I'm probably a fag. That'll make you happy, won't it?"

A jock, admitting he liked guys?! Holy shit, was all Trent could think.

"And, uh...how did you come to terms with that information about yourself?"

Kirby stared hotly at the ground. "Some chick in Yum Yum Market tried to hit on me..." he paused. "...And I handled it really bad. I started to fucking back away, 'cause I was so...grossed out, in front of pretty much the whole football team. They were all, "What the hell, Kirby?!" because she was hot, I guess – I dunno. So I payed for my stuff and said I had to run back because I felt like I was going to barf." Kirby shook his head. "I don't know if they believed me or not...so...I guess this means I don't like girls – that I'm a queer." He looked up at Trent, who struggled to keep himself from jibing "Yup, you're queerer than a 3 dollar bill, alright!" He cleared his throat instead.

"Uh, well, I wish you the best of luck then, man." Trent had no idea what to say. He was used to making fun of people, but he would of felt guilty doing that right now.

"Yeah, whatever." Kirby pushed off Trent's hand and started walking away. "I'm going back to the dorm." Suddenly, he stopped and looked back at Trent. "Uh, thanks, I guess. I thought you'd be the first to take a jab at me." He resumed walking. Trent watched Kirby go, one hand in his pocket and the other holding his bags.

This was the first time in Trent's life he actually felt sorry for someone other than himself.

I have no idea what an adult store looks like on the inside, me being a rather normal, non-porn-buying teenage girl in high school. I think I saw one in a movie once, like, 3 years ago, but I don't remember much. So, a vague description for you! Yaaaay!

Reviewers:

Wolfgirl730959 - Hehe, I feel the same way - about Trent, I mean, not......creaming myself....... *awkward silence* Moving along here...
Zbwoop - Oh, Dan is definitely in denial. He supposedly used to be a nerd, after all. (Bully Wiki =B) And thanks for the compliment, yo - I've tried my best here with Trent, I think he's a pretty cool character.
Rainbow_Platypus - Yes, yes, yes, told'ja it was a good show! Also, stopping in mid-piss was just too good not to put in there - it's hard to do, so Kirby must of been puh-retty surprised to manage that.
When. In. Doubt. Whip. It. OutXD - Yeah, poor jocks and their anti-girl mentality. Wait, maybe that means they're pro-boy mentality? YAYS FOR GAYS
Randomstrike - YES Oh my god, yes. People need to write more bully fanfiction! Especially Kirby/Trent. And the jocks. The jocks are my favorite.

Until next time, people!