Confessions of a Middle Schooler

Chapter 5: 9T9 Lives (Part 3)

Sorry for the delay!! Here is Part 3!

Plot

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Recap

Just as the teacher was about to begin talking, a call went out to the teachers; anyone on our bus was to leave early. So we did.
"Tomorrow, here, same time, all of you."
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So I get home, and give the forms to my parents, and they ask me how it went.

"Good," I say, not mentioning the bus or anything else.

"Ok," my dad says. "Did you make any friends?" I tell him briefly about Caroline, Claire, Tyler, and everyone else, but I don't mention what they said in homeroom.

"I'm meeting them at 5 today at the bus stop," I say.

"Be safe," my mom calls from the kitchen where she's making dinner.
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At 5, I'm at the bus stop with Gaby, but I don't see anyone.

"Guys?" Gaby asks, hoping they're somewhere nearby. "Hey, a note," she said as she picks up the folded paper. "'Meet at school, not safe here.' What?" She reads. So we make the long walk there, and see the building unlocked. We go in and we see Tyler turning a corner. We follow him to Mr. K's room, and he goes in. We look at each other and we both have the, 'who thought of this, it's a bad idea' face. We go in, and are shocked to see Mr. Kopnisky, the nurse, and everyone else there. "Anyone wanna... you know... explain what I'm not in on?" I ask, noting the rude tone a second too late.

"You're finally here," Mr. K says. "I'm guessing you don't really know much about this whole 9T9 Lives thing, huh?" He sees the look of confusion on Gaby's face and mine, and takes it as a definite 'no.' "On paper, 9T9 Lives is an anti-bullying and support group. We help those people who've had tough lives. Realistically, we're more than that- we're pretty much a peaceful flash mob group of sorts. We plan flash protests and temporary or corrective graffiti." At this point Mr. K goes out of the room and stands down the hall.

"Yep," Ms. Jennings says, "I've been involved in what these guys have been doing for about a year and a half. That's how I knew em when they brought you in with the black eye."

"Corrective graffiti?" Gaby asks. "Yeah, we pretty much anti-vandalize buildings," Caroline says, "by repainting the walls." 

"Oh.. And why did Ms. Jennings ask why you guys haven't 'inducted' me?" I ask. "What do you guys mean by 'induct' anyway?"

"I think," Mr. K says as he walks in, "that question's answer will wait til tomorrow. The Eight tracked you hear," he says to Gaby and me. 

"Oh crap, get out of here," Nelly says. "They're gonna whoop you, and trust me, Gerald is not the strongest of the group. I know." She says that last sentence with a dark look in her eyes and on her face.

"Wait.. he raped you?!" Gaby asks.

"GABY!!!" I yell at her. "YOU DON'T JUST SAY THAT!!"

"It's ok, and yes, he did Gaby," Nelly says, a hurried tone in her voice. Dan's now taken out his earbuds (a rare occurrence) and gone into the hallway, carrying what I hoped was not a knife. We run out of there, through one of the side doors, but I look back and see Dan cutting one guy's arm, and his black shirt is splattered red. He dodges a heavy punch from G, but goes down as another knees him in the neck. "NO!" I scream as Tyler and Gabe escort me and Gaby out.

I see some tattoo on his arm, what I think is a dripping razor blade.   

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The confession will be next chapter from Dan. Check the Character page, it's been updated!