Chapter 59: Barry & Buddy: Billy Buddy by warelander

''Yeah, Yeah
Do we rock?
Yeah, Yeah
Take it to the top?
Yeah, Yeah
Are we gonna stop?
No way!''

''Let's get physical
Get down, get hard, get mean!
Let's get physical
And beat that other team!''

The cheerleaders were led once more by Ess, with a zest that prior to a recent event, was thought to have been lost for good.

Everyone in the group gave their all, with Jaan, Ally, Amitie, and Draco harmonizing flawlessly with their leader. Even Raina was once again following Ess' every command for their routine.

Being so deep into practicing, the girls didn't notice at all that from farther away, someone was watching them.

And for once, it wasn't Choppun.

On a bench, far away, but still close enough to watch, sat a blonde girl in a white dress with a blue jacket complementing it. She watched the cheerleaders attentively, taking notes of their every move. Their energy. Their sheer excitement and upbeat vibe.

The girl wasn't even sure for how long she had been watching, she was too enchanted to have noticed the time, being fully captured by the other girls' performance.

Next to her was a boy with long brown hair and a scar on his right cheek. Unlike the girl, he didn't seem into it, he was looking practically anywhere else.

''You're really into this, huh?''

Barry de Babine
AKA Billy Burn

Barry broke the silence with a casual remark. Still seeming not interested himself, but trying to at least say something.

The girl jolted up a little, being rather suddenly snapped out of her captivated trance. A small blush coloring her face, giving away that she was a little embarrassed to have been staring so much.

''I-I just like what they do y'know? Spreading the good mood and support and all. It's cool.''

Buddy
Everyone's Pal

Buddy tried to collect herself, trying to not make things awkward. Not that it was needed much, since Barry didn't raise much of an eye, now more so seeming to relax himself, instead of being bored.

''Ever thought of joining up with them? You've been watching them every day.'' The boy crossed his arms behind his back, giving off a lax if somewhat aloof vibe.

The blonde paused a little, her eyes wandering from left to right, as if trying to look for a good response somewhere hidden on the ground.

''Was it that obvious?'' Was all she could think of.

''Very.'' Her friend stated in blunt honesty.

Buddy mentally slapped herself, that probably wasn't the best look for her if even more people had noticed.

She considered what Barry said. It would make a lot of sense and it's not as if she didn't have that thought before. Her eyes now wandered back to the cheerleaders. To see herself as one of them…it was tempting.

A part of her wanted to get up and use this as her big chance, but she quickly repressed that thought, with a silent sigh.

''It's a nice thought, but I don't think I'm cut out for that.'' She really did feel that way, feeling goosebumps at the mere thought of having that kind of spotlight on her.

Barry didn't change his posture much, though he did now look at Buddy more directly. His look would be hard to read for most, as he always seemed to come off as rough looking for most, but Buddy understood.

''You should think about it. I don't care about this cheerleader guff one bit, but if it makes you happy, then sure.''

That did get a smile out of Buddy, that was all the support she needed to get, and from the right person too.

The girl stood up and gestured to her friend that she wanted to go somewhere else, to which Barry did not object one bit.

The duo walked by students upon students, all of them practicing their break routines as was the norm. Neither had a real goal of where to go in mind, but just a relaxed walk was fine by itself.

''So, have you heard anything from your brother recently?'' Buddy remembered she hadn't asked that in a bit.

''He's doing fine. Him and that Linda girl already got a place to stay once they're out of college. Last thing I'd want for him is to live with our dumbass dad and that seems like it won't happen.''

Buddy nodded, but found herself also feeling bad. The way he could dismiss his dad so casually, as if he'd grown so adjusted to resenting him. It's as if he saw it as something as normal as tying shoelaces together.

Clearly, the things leading up to his parents' divorce were rough, but she never asked for details. It was his choice if he wanted to tell her.

''That's good.'' She decided it was best to not dwell on it.

Barry nodded, still treating the entire thing as a fleeting, normal conversation, only to suddenly stop in his tracks.

''What's wrong.'' Buddy noticed her friend was looking around, as if he heard something from a distance.

After a little looking around, the source of what the boy had heard was found out. With a head tilt, Barry led the two of them to a nearby spot where a girl could be found sitting on the ground, sulking.

It was Chico, who had her head buried in her legs, the sound of her sulking making it clear she was crying, even with her face fully covered.

''Hey, what's wrong?'' Buddy kneeled close to the crying girl, empathetically putting a hand on her back in an attempt to provide comfort.

The red-haired student looked up, now seeing the two friends that had just come to her side. It didn't do much to calm her, but they at least had her attention.

''T-That mean blonde kid took my scripture away! It's my dearest mortal possession and he took it from me!'' Chico explained, trembling the whole way.

Buddy and Barry both looked at each other, there was no doubt who she was talking about.

''I'll handle it.'' Barry declared, surprising Chico, but not so much Buddy.

''Y-You would do that for me?''

''I hate punks like that. I'll go and teach him what's for.'' The boy was set in his plans, one could almost swear there was fire burning in his eyes at that very moment.

The devoted religious girl perked up significantly, touched by her newfound hero's determination to bring justice upon a sinner. At least that is how she would describe it.

''You have my dearest thanks! May the Creator protec-''

''Yeah, yeah. Creator, Shmeator, I'm off.''

And with that, Barry took his leave, not even giving one more look. Chico was a little stunned by it, but once more, Buddy knew better.

''He doesn't mean it like that. Just let him sort it all out.'' She assured her classmate while waiting for her friend's triumphant return, with nothing but confidence that he'd succeed.

A little farther away, Alucard struggled to carry the heavy book he had stolen from Chico. He'd have to put it down every once in a while, because the thing made it feel like his arms were going to fall off otherwise.

''Man, how does that annoying chick carry that thing around all the time? This better be worth something to make up for this.'' He ranted to himself, wishing he could just throw the thing away, but that would be a waste of potential money.

''And if not we'll just sell this junk's pages as premium toilet paper or something. Hehe, imagine her face when she sees that.'' The blonde boy cackled at the thought.

The freshman was about to pick the bible back up, but a certain someone had already caught up to him. Alucard was alarmed by the sound of stopping footsteps that someone was watching him and turned around.

Not that it impressed him though.

''What do you want? I'm busy here, so buzz off.'' He commanded the older student, with expected results.

''This isn't yours. Hand it over.'' Barry stretched out a hand in a demanding way, making his intentions for approaching the smaller boy very clear.

''This belongs to Schezo's gang now! Mind your own business or you'll get the thrashing of a lifetime!'' The young bully boasted.

Barry wasn't moved though. He took a step forward, glaring at Alucard all the while. The younger boy did start to question his decisions a little when he saw the older student crack his knuckles, but he didn't budge.

''Last chance. Hand it over or I'll take it from you twerp.''

That last bit was enough for Alucard to throw any sense of self-preservation completely out of the window. If he was in a cartoon, steam would have been blowing out of his ears.

''Twerp!? Come here then! Stop talking and start fighting you p-!''

Before he could even finish his angry tirades, Alucard was lifted up by his coat, by none other than Lawrence, who looked none too pleased.

''You are not getting into fights on your own. Don't even think that would go over well, little smartass.'' Lawrence scolded his bullying colleague, before directing his attention to the other boy.

Barry and Lawrence exchanged glares, both visibly not in a mood to come across each other. This could have gone many ways, but the horned senior student was not up for the extra headaches that the blonde freshman's presence could bring to a potential confrontation.

''Take the thing. We're done here.'' With those words, Lawrence left the scene, still carrying Alucard who was babbling and ranting, trying to convince him that they shouldn't go and instead fight.

It didn't work.

Though a little puzzled, Barry was more than happy to take that turn of events and picked the scripture up, to return it to its original corner.

He'd soon realize the little bully wasn't exaggerating. The thing was heavy.

Buddy and Chico still sat in the same place. Eagerly waiting to see how things went. After what felt like an eternity, even though it really wasn't, they could finally see a familiar face approach them.

Chico leaped off the ground and ran over to him in absolute joy, with Buddy not far behind.

In a surprising showcase of strength, Chico practically ripped the heavy book out of Barry's hands, embracing it and spinning in circles in a way theatrical enough to invite anime sweat drops all over.

After a little bit of dancing around with her book as if it was her dearest loved one, Chico found her way back into the real world, grinning all over.

''You have my dearest thanks. I'm certain the Creator is smiling down on you.''

''Suuuuuuure. I'll just take the thank you though.'' Barry resisted the urge to roll his eyes at the religious talk.

Buddy too was more than pleased, but it wasn't as if she had doubts to begin with.

''So how was it? Did he give it to you or did you fight over it?'' The blonde junior student was understandably curious to know.

''That horned jock carried him off. Not sure what that was all about.''

That did make all three of them wonder. The bullies weren't exactly ones to shy away from physical confrontations, unless it was blatant they'd be seen by school faculty and get into trouble.

One had to wonder what went on with that gang, that they had no way of knowing….