Ostinato

Chapter 3

It was clear to Theodore that these kids were not going to let him go. There were a lot of people around, however. If he made enough noise that would probably get someone's attention, and send these goons scurrying. Theodore had more than enough experience with people like this to know their confidence came from strength in numbers.

Yet Theodore also didn't want to give them the satisfaction of thinking that he was in any way scared of them, let alone so scared that he needed to call out for help. He was eighteen after all - an adult, if only currently in his mind. Theodore had dealt with plenty of bullies at Holyoke academy. By the time sophomore year had rolled around, he had gotten a little bit of a growth spurt giving him some confidence to not just let his bullies walk over him. He had still gotten pounded more often than not, but not without getting in a few of his own jabs. One could even say he had walked away on top in a couple of fights.

Theodore knew he had more experience in a fight than the two boys before him. If Theodore had been able to deal with the much bigger opponents in high school, then surely these two should be no problem?

"Last chance to leave me alone," Theodore growled, confident in his ability. Both boys laughed.

"Ooooh the teddy- '' the ginger boy began to say, before Theodore wasted no time in rearing back his fist and swinging up hard at his jaw. When it came time to a fight, there was no such thing as good sportsmanship.

Something that Theodore hadn't been expecting however was how light and feeble his strike had felt. He had neither the strength nor the coordination to land a solid strike, the ginger boy pretty much shirking off the hit with no problem as he grabbed Theodore by the collar.

"You're going to regret that," he said as his nostrils flared. It was the other boy who put his hand on his partner's shoulder, saving Theodore from reprisal.

"Don't go crazy now, we probably shouldn't send him back all beat up," the greasy boy said.

"I suppose," the ginger boy said with a thoughtful look. "Wouldn't want mama bear getting involved.." he snickered.

"Let's use that," the greasy haired boy said, pointing off towards something Theodore couldn't see.

"That's perfect," the ginger haired boy laughed, before looking back at Theodore. "Little bears are always getting into the garbage."

The ginger boy began to drag Theodore over to a garbage can. Theodore tried to resist, but the greasy boy had already hoisted up his legs.

"In you go," the ginger boy said, before they tossed him into the garbage can so that his legs were sticking up in the air - his body folded over like a chair.

"That'll teach little teddy bears not to wander too far from mama bear," the greasy haired boy chuckled.

"Yeah, no telling what kind of mischief they get up to on their own," the ginger haired boy crowed before both the boys walked off laughing heartily.

Theodore struggled, rocking the trash can back and forth before it finally fell over and he was able to crawl out. Standing up, Theo could feel stickiness all up his arms. He sulked over to the bathroom to try and clean himself up. He had gotten most of the filth off of him before giving himself a check in the mirror. He had managed to clean himself up off enough that he didn't look too disheveled. It was then he noticed the blob of brown paint smeared across the seat of his pants. Theodore grimaced before attacking it the best he could with some paper towels.

Despite his best efforts however, he had done little to make the situation any better. There was now a large noticeable dark stain that not even the navy shade of his shorts could hide. Theodore gave up, walking back into the hallway. He certainly wasn't going back into the ceremony -not like this. Theodore gave a look towards the double doors down the hall that lead outside. He figured he could just go outside and find someplace to hunker down until the ceremony was over. He had skipped his high school graduation after all, why shouldn't he keep up the streak with this one? It's not like he actually wanted to be here in the first place anyways. As he started to make his way towards the doors, he was stopped by the sudden appearance of his Mother.