Kevin POV
Riiiing!
I hop out of my desk and follow everyone out the door as our teacher sorted thru the assignment we just turned in.
Where is she…
I try to hide in the crowd and look around for Ashton.
C'mon…
I feel someone scratch my lower back tenderly.
That's her.
I smile happily and turn to see Ashton, the most beautiful girl in the entire world and wearing jeans and a collared shirt, smiling at me.
"Hey Kevin. Who were you looking for?" She smiled.
"Huh? Nothing. I was just looking for Matt. But you'll do. How are you?" I smile at her.
She smiled happily.
"I'm great. Do you mind walking me to class?"
YES!
She always walks with that gigantic gag of girls.
BUT NOW I'VE GOT HER!
"Yeah, sure. Awesome." I sputter, then smile.
I know where her next class is, so I gesture for her to go ahead.
She giggled then started walking.
"How are you?" I ask her.
"I'm good. Anastasia called me a stupid pig in gym."
"I'm sorry." I immediately say.
"For what?" She asked.
"Uhh…nothing. Sorry."
I'm blowing it.
I'm an idiot.
"O…kay…how are you?" She asked, then looking around.
"Have they gotten to you today?"
I shake my head.
Thank goodness.
Stupid Albert, Caine, Sam and John.
Meatheads.
All football players, and they just picked me to be their victim this semester.
"My mom keeps trying to talk to me. Trying to tell her what's going on. But I can't do that!" I say.
"Why not? You can't let them control you!" She frowned, picking up her pace.
"I'm not! But they'll beat me up for real and punch me and stuff if I snitch on them!"
"You'd be a hero. Everybody hates them. If you got them in trouble, they'd be gone and you would be incredible."
"What am I supposed to do? Snap my fingers? Abra kadabra I wish they were gone! Poof!" I roll my eyes.
She suddenly stopped and held her history book in between her crossed arms.
"Fine. Let them have you for all I care. You're our best hope! Why do you think I was texting you! Pumping you up!"
"I…" I sputter.
Is that only why she was texting me?
She spun on her heel and marched off.
"Boys…" I hear her say.
"Ashton! Hey!" I call out.
…
Please?
Aww man.
…
Keep it together.
You need to get going before those idiots find you.
I start off to class on a light jog, ignoring people staring at me.
They all do it too.
Riiing!
CRAP!
I speed it up and turn the corn—
WHACK!
I land on my back near the lockers.
"Hah!"
Oh no.
"It's our lucky day boys! The squirt literally runs into us!" Albert laughed.
The other three laugh as well.
"Good day indeed." Caine cackled.
I silently get to my feet, only to have my backpack yanked from me.
The force of it sends me back onto the ground.
"You really should work out twerpie. You're skinnier than a stick figure." Caine smiled as Sam ripped open my backpack.
"Today…apple! And pudding dessert! Yum."
He bit into the apple and smiled at me.
Great.
No lunch. AGAIN.
I assume he already found my sandwich.
Mom made it today too.
DANG IT!
"Well twerpie, I'm in a good mood. I'll let you go."
Whew.
"Go? What about a timeout in locker land for being twerpie?" Caine suggested.
I snatch back my bag and whip it over my shoulder.
If they charge, dive and run.
Dive and run.
Dive.
Run.
Instead they do what I can't get around.
They surround me and get me against the lockers.
"Hey! LET ME GO!" I yell right in his ear.
"Shut it twerpie."
Then a rush of steps come.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
I fall roughly to the ground.
"Yeah…no." I hear a familiar voice say.
I roll away from them and hop to my—
"Austin?" I blurt out.
He has Albert and Caine in both his arms, hands around their collars.
Two other gigantic guys have the other two pinned.
"You know this guy?" Caine yelped.
"Let me go!"
"No." Austin said flatly.
"Where'd you guys come from?" Sam squeaked, still pinned by Austin's friend.
"Nowhere. Now where's the office?" Austin said.
"No." Albert smiled.
Austin threw Caine to his buddy, who grabbed him too.
Then Austin got about two inches away from his face.
"DO…NOT…tell me no. You're a coward and a bully. You hear me? You're pathetic. Now where's the office?"
Albert, who is about as white as paper pointed to the left.
"Wrong way." I blurt out.
Austin grabbed him and put him in front of him.
"We're walking. Lead the way Kevin."
I smile. "Okay."
HAH!
We start walking, and the three guys ignore Albert's begging, Sam's complaining and Caine's bargaining.
Once we hit the main hall, Austin doesn't need a guide and speeds up.
He busted right in and turned to the secretary.
"I need to see the principal." He said simply, but softly.
"He's in a meeting. Who are you and why are you here…?" She asked.
"I'm Austin Harper, this is Miguel Ruiz and Stephen Trout. We're here for the comm service painting for the next two weeks. We were walking to report to the coach, when we saw these four—"
He gestured to the guys around us.
"—trying to put Kevin here in a locker. They also had his backpack and his lunch."
"Well you should see their respective Assistant principals about this. What grade are you all in?"
I say "7."
The four meatheads say 8.
"So you're picking on somebody younger? You're really on my bad side buddy." Austin growled at Albert.
Albert looks like he needs a change of pants.
"The assistant principals offices are two halls down, to the—"
"Kevin!"
We all turn.
Mom?
And Dad?
"Mom?" I gulp.
One of them, I think it's Caine laughed.
Then the principal pops out behind mom and dad.
"What's going on?"
Austin spoke up.
"They're bullying him. These are the ones."
"You knew about that?" I ask.
"Yeah. Jade told Sydney, who told me. I was hoping to see you sometime soon and give you a word of encouragement, but this works just as well…" He scowled at Albert.
"Come into my office, all of you." Principal Williams said quietly.
Mom and Dad silently follow him, and I lead Austin and the others in.
One of Austin's friends shut the door quietly.
"Now…this works out quite well because Kevin's parents were just here about this issue. Kevin being bullied." He began.
I gulp and look to Dad.
He's barely smiling, but clearly trying to keep his distance.
I'm surprised Mom isn't strangling me with a hug.
"What happened?" Mom quietly asked.
"Well, me, and my baseball teammates here Miguel and Stephen are here to paint a new classroom for a class we have to make up. We were walking back there, and stumbled upon this. They were trying to stuff Kevin in a locker and already had gotten his backpack and lunch. We stopped them, brought them to the front desk, where you found us."
"That's not true!" Caine cried out.
"Quiet! Yeah it is. The security camera right above your thick heads will back us up. Now shush." He scowled at him.
"We'll review the footage." Principal Williams said. "Now…as all four of you should know, and I'll inform the rest of you, that bullying on this campus is an automatic suspension, loss of all after school activities and spending the remaining days of the school year at an Alternate Learning Center."
"ALC." Austin said.
"You know that?" I ask.
"I went to middle school in this district. Sorry sir." Austin nodded.
"As I was saying…it's triggered automatically the moment the claims are verified. Now to my eye, it certainly looks true, but the footage will have final say. Since we don't want to waste all day about it, you four will all be sent to your assistant principals. The high school students will paint their room, and we'll review the footage."
"What about me?" I ask.
I'm in trouble.
I DIDN'T EVEN DO ANYTHING!
"Can we take him home?" Mom asked.
…
"Given the situation, I believe that would be fine. He's excused from classes today." Principal Williams smiled.
YES!
I try to appear calm and not happy beyond words, but I still smile.
The door opened again.
The constable.
"You called me?" He asked.
6'8 Mexican guy.
His gun is visible.
He easily intimidates everyone.
But he's actually nice. He usually gets me out of the lockers.
He has reported it, but can't do any more by law.
I think he filed something last week.
"Take those four to the AP's. They should recognize them." Principal Williams waved them off.
Albert opened his mouth, but the constable said "GO." In his deep voice.
They all scurried out the door and shut it behind them.
"I need to get my homework from my locker." I tell Principal Williams.
"Fine. Would you three please keep an eye on him?" He asked Austin and his friends.
"Gladly." Austin smiled.
"We'll wait by the front door." Dad smiled.
"Okay."
I quickly dash out the door, and Austin's friend shut the door.
"Uhm…thanks."
"No problem big guy. Glad we could help." One of his friends said, while the other brushed me off.
"Thanks." I smile.
"I got him. I'll meet you there." Austin said to his friends.
"Sure. How do you know him?" One of them asked.
"He's Sydney's brother."
They both seemed to understand, then walked away.
Oh…no.
Oh crap.
"Locker?" He gestured me on.
"Yeah."
I hustle to there and get it open.
I quickly start getting the books in.
"You're not mad at me right? Do I owe you?" I ask, looking in my locker.
He laughed. "No! Of course not! Why would you owe me?"
"I…I'm always giving you and Sydney a hard time. Plus I haven't really…you know…talked to you." I look down.
"You're fine. I'm on your side. Doesn't matter we haven't really spoken, that'll come around someday. The point is, that I've got your back, and not just because I know Sydney." He said to me.
"Seriously?" I ask.
"yeah. She loves you, and I'm glad you're jealous of me."
"Jealous?"
He smiled and nodded.
"I'm not jealous." I blurt out.
"I'm not a genius, but I know when you're lying. You don't like me dating Syd, which is fine. I'll convert you one day. But until then, I just have to work on it."
I open my mouth to reply but I hear my name.
"Kevin!"
Oh no.
Austin looked up and froze.
I know it's Ashton.
"I'll go away now. Good seeing you." He gave me a fist pound, then walked back to the front.
Suddenly my anger boiled right back to the top and I turn and face her with a frown.
"I saw everyone get lead away by the constable! You did it! I'm so proud of you!" She tackled me into a hug.
Ahh!
I push her away and take a step back.
No.
She looks shocked.
"What? Did I do something wrong?" She asked.
"Yeah. A lot. You try fighting a bully. It's not as easy as you think. And you just made it worse by yelling at me. Next time, try something else. Anything else." I say to her, furious.
"I…I didn't mean to—"
"But you did." I finish for her. "Now I gotta go. I'm going home."
I turn away and start off.
"Kevin! Wait!"
I keep walking, then stop.
And turn back to her.
She has the bathroom pass wrapped around her wrist like a bracelet.
And her shoes look awful.
"No. Text me. And think about something. Okay? Put that big brain of yours to work. Why do you think I was texting you? For weeks! After I got your number. Maybe reply to my last message. Or don't."
I turn and start walking again.
She…
I hear her crying.
In the middle of the hallway.
Keep going!
Her loss.
Go.
Go.
Go.
Matt always says "Make them work for you. It always works."
Now work Ashton.
Stupid girl.
I see Austin talking to Mom and Dad, then dad saying something and everybody looking to me.
"I gotta go paint and be dirty. I'll see you at dinner." He fist bumped me again, then smiled at Dad and hugged Mom.
Then he was gone.
"Let's go home." Dad smiled.
We start out the door, and the second I got outside mom had me in a hug.
"Mom!" I gasp out.
"Oh baby I'm so sorry…I'm so glad you're ok…" She said, hugging me like her life depends on it.
"It's okay mom! I'm fine!"
"No you're not! You're bullied. I'm sorry I'm a bad mom!"
"You're not a bad mom honey. Come on. Let's get to the car before you cry please."
Mom suddenly let me go.
"Yeah…right. Ok."
We walk all the way to the car and hop in.
"What were you guys and Austin talking about?" I ask, as Dad started the car.
"We thanked him for sticking up for you, and invited him to dinner." Dad said effortlessly.
"Why?"
"He saved you from getting put in a locker bud! Isn't that enough?" Dad asked, sounding slightly annoyed.
"I…yeah I guess…but he's been over with us or with Sydney for what seems like every day!" I say.
"They're dating and you'll understand one day." Mom said simply, looking at her phone.
Typical mom.
"Now, who wants a shake to cheer them up?' Dad asked.
"Me!" I say.
Mom shot her hand up, and Dad pulled into the drive thru laughing.
Robbie POV
I let out a quiet breath and try to loosen up my chest.
What a day.
I hear Cat's quiet footsteps and open my eyes.
As I silently watch, she kicked off her shoes and hopped onto the bed with me.
I silently pull her into my arms and smile.
"Kevin's playing Nextbox. He said he doesn't mind Austin eating with us."
"Cool." I reply.
She simply hugged me tighter.
"Oh Robbie…what are we going to do?"
"About what?"
"About those kids!" She said.
"The principal will take care of it. Those kids will be taken off campus, and things will go back to normal." I reassure her, twirling a lock of her hair in my hand.
"But what if it doesn't go back to normal? What if we opened the door for somebody else?" She asked.
"Hey…don't think like that. If it doesn, we told Kevin to tell us. He will." I say.
"But he didn't this time."
"He didn't know how to react. Nobody does when it's their first time getting pushed around."
"I wonder how it went with that girl Austin was talking about." Cat said quietly.
"I don't think well. He came too fast after Austin stopped by for them to talk long." I say.
"Maybe she didn't have time and was like delivering papers or something." Cat rationalized.
"You saw his face. He looked upset."
"But he just got pushed around by those kids Robbie! Wouldn't you be mad?" She asked me.
"Well he looked like he was protecting himself from something to me. Somebody close to him."
Cat suddenly squeezed me. "It's not us right? It can't be!"
"No, no. He was fine with you hugging him and us having that little chat about what happened. Nothing is wrong with us and Kevin. Next time, he's smart enough to survive and come tell us." I say, then kiss her ear.
…
"I'm still worried about Austin."
Yeah.
Something isn't right.
"Me too." I say.
"Do we have any idea why he was yelling at his mom last week?"
"No."
"That makes no sense." Cat said.
"I know."
"And Sydney wouldn't talk. She made up an excuse about rehearsing for Pasadena."
"I know baby. I was there." I tease her.
"Sorry…I just don't get it."
"Glad he was there today."
"Yeah. But why does he need to make up a class? That doesn't make sense." Cat said.
"He could have failed something sweetie. He's not perfect." I say.
"But…that doesn't make sense. I…"
"I what sweetie?" I ask.
"I think that he is going to go pro for baseball." She said quietly.
"Huh?"
"Why else would he be taking an extra class outside of school? It doesn't make sense."
"During school too, but we have nothing to go on." I say.
"We have the fact that it's weird. I don't want Sydney to get hurt." Cat said, stuffing her head in my chest.
"I don't either. But we can't protect her. She has to get hurt at some point."
In response to that point, Cat simply wrapped her whole body around me and squeezed me.
Sydney POV
I kill the ignition and push the start button to kill the engine.
I swing my backpack over my shoulder and…
…
Is that Austin's car?
Why is he here?
I literally just pulled into the driveway.
Why is he here?
I take a few steps and open the door.
"Hello?" I call out.
"Sissy!"
Corey quickly ran downstairs to me.
"No running down the stairs Corey!" I hear Dad say.
He ignored it and tackled me into a hug.
"How are you sissy?" He smiled.
"I'm great. How are you?' I smile at him.
"I'm awesome. Austin's here!"
"He is?" I ask.
"Yeah, he's playing nextbox with Kevin and me. C'mon!"
He made a dash to the stairs, but dad blocked him easily.
"No running dude." He said softly.
"Sorry daddy."
"A few seconds won't matter. But you falling and cracking your head open will okay?" He rubbed his hair. "Please don't okay?"
"Okay daddy." Corey hugged him, and then fast walked up the stairs.
"Your mom and I need to talk to you quickly." Dad said.
"O…kay?"
I follow him into their bedroom.
"Hey!" Mom smiled at me. "How are you?"
"I'm fine. Just got back. What's going on?" I ask.
"Well…it's been an exciting day."
"I know." I say. "Austin said that he saw Kevin at school."
Both mom and dad look surprised.
"I…he mentioned that?' Dad asked.
"Yeah? Why wouldn't he?" I reply.
He's my boyfriend, why not?
"Oh. We thought we were delivering the news. So you know what happened?" Mom asked.
"Yeah. He was going to his class and saw Kevin getting beaten up. He and his teammates stopped him, took them to the office where they found you. The principal sent them to the AP's, and Kevin came home after talking to some girl."
…
"So you do know what happened. Ok." Dad said.
"Yeah. Why is he here?" I ask.
"We invited him for dinner." Mom smiled.
"Why?"
"He saved Kevin from those kids. Can't hurt to say thank you." Dad said.
Good point.
Plus his mom won't be screaming at him.
His dad left the house last Friday, and Austin is now the main object of his mom's yelling.
"Sydney, do you know why he has a class at Kennedy?" Mom asked.
"He has to make up a class he failed in 8th grade. Computer science. They're letting him make it up by doing handyman stuff."
Mom suddenly looked suspicious.
"It's not because of baseball?"
"No! Well…he failed the class because he was so busy in baseball, but other than that no." I say.
"You sure?' Dad asked.
"Yeah! Why wouldn't I be? He told me that himself!"
After making out for 2 hours.
"Okay okay…no need to be all defensive. We were just asking." Dad said with a smile.
"Okay, he won't lie to you guys. Especially mom. Remember, she's his idol. He loves her." I frown at him.
They're being so stupid.
"I know. He's finally loosening up." Mom smiled.
"That's great. I'm going to go say hi now." I spin around, still annoyed and walk out.
"Sydney!" I hear Dad call out, but I ignore him.
Trust him.
It's not hard.
I walk up the stairs and drop my backpack on my bed.
"Get him! He's down!" I hear Austin say.
I poke my head into the game room and see that Austin, Kevin and Corey are all playing that bloody war game.
Kevin never turned down the settings, so all the swear words are still there.
I can't believe Corey hasn't said anything yet.
Yeah Mom and Dad have accidentally said swear words when they get hurt or something. But not like this.
"Having fun?" I ask.
Austin and Kevin jump, then turn to me.
"Oh hey." Austin smiled.
"Hi!" Kevin said, then turning back to the game.
"You guys play, I'll be right back." Austin stood up and handing Corey his controller.
Corey took his spot and I silently lead him to my room.
What Mom and dad don't know won't hurt them.
Once we get out of sight, leaving my door open he lifted me up and kissed me.
"Welcome home. How'd it go?' he said softly.
"Fine. The stage director said I need to work on my footwork."
Austin rolled his eyes. "You dance fine. Your feet are great."
"But I'm clumsy." I say.
"So? Everyone is. Don't worry. You're perfect." He smiled.
I smile back, but then hop onto my bed.
"My parents think you're lying about the class at Kennedy."
He sighed and frowned. "You were right."
"I didn't want to be!" I say.
"I know…you're annoyed." He replied.
"At them, yeah!"
Austin shrugged.
"They should trust you! I mean…what is it now? You've had dinner like 5 times here?" I ask.
"6. But I'm not counting." He smiled.
I laugh quietly.
"We still on for Friday?" He asked.
"I asked mom, she said it was fine." I say.
He smiled and quickly kissed me again.
"Great. The beach again afterward?"
PLEASE.
I happily nod, and he hugged me.
"Now if you'll excuse me, I have mass murder to commit." He joked, getting me to laugh.
Boys.