Radioactive: The Mystery Avenger

3~ An 'Unfortunate' Incident

1 YEAR, 3 MONTHS LATER:

August 22, 2003

*Jodie's P.O.V*

Well, what more can I tell you? Oh yeah, Caleb, Tom and Andrew turned 18 and left Morningside once they graduated and went out into the world together, leaving the rest of us in the gang to get along without them. We were sad, yes, but we knew we'd see them again soon. Michael and David are now the eldest in the gang, turning 18 in a few months and they'll be leaving as well once they graduate. I turned 17 three months ago, James and Liam are already 17, Robin's birthday is next month, and Harry's birthday is next week. Nicholas is still the youngest at 16, but he doesn't seem to mind anymore. In fact, he seems just as mature as Michael, who is two years older than him.

We still have our group motto and code (the whistling and song), and although it's not exactly the same without the others, we make do. We still play soccer whenever we can, even though Ms. O'Dell doesn't let us out as much as she used to. We've had fewer dog piles and mud slides in the rain, but we still make our own fun. I guess we've had to face the fact that we're growing up sooner than we thought.

I haven't seen any more of the strange man with the eye patch since last year, and I am grateful for that. However, since that encounter the boys have noticed how much more protective I am and they say I've become a lot more sneaky. Protective I already am, sneaky I like.

Right now, we're in school - unfortunately. It's lunch break, and although it's sunny it's also a bit cloudy, but we don't mind. Michael, Harry, Liam, James, Robin and I are sitting in our usual spot under some trees on the school field, and on the far side we can see David and Nicholas walking towards us. We are clearly bored; Michael is tearing up blades of grass, Harry is using his drink bottle as a bat while Liam and Robin are taking turns throwing balls of tin foil at him and I am doodling in my maths book. Harry whooped with delight as he managed to hit a ball of tin foil more than a few metres away and Robin got up to grab it, even though I can tell he is feeling too lazy. He picked it up, and I heard him curse.

I immediately looked up at him. "What's wrong, Rob?"

"Nicholas has a blood nose again."

I saw he was right; Nicholas' grey shirt had spots of red on it, and there was a thick trail of blood running from his nose. David was looking rather pissed, his hand resting firmly on Nicholas' shoulder. I feel sorry for Nicholas; David has become even more protective of the rest of us since the others left, Nicholas being the one we mostly pay attention to when it comes to decisions that affect all of us even though he assures us he'll be fine.

Sighing, I put my book aside and got to my feet as they walked up. Liam grabbed a bunch of tissues from his bag and handed them to Nicholas who pressed them gratefully to his swollen nose. David dropped his bag beside mine and began pacing. I thought for a moment he was going to tear his hair out. While Michael, Liam, Robin and Harry tended to Nicholas I walked over to David. "What was it this time?" I whispered so the others wouldn't hear.

"It's that bloody Baxter kid and his jerk-ass friends!" he whisper-shouted. "I'm sorry, Jay, but if they think they can beat him up one more time just because Tom's not here..." He groaned in frustration and continued pacing.

I placed a hand on his shoulder and he stopped. "They won't get away with this, David. I swear, there will not be another day where they beat up Nicholas. Heck, I would rather they beat me up for the rest of my school days than him; Nicholas is like a younger brother to me!" David's eyes softened, and I glanced at my feet. He knows how I feel about Nicholas, since I lost my own younger brother 9 years ago.

I sighed and rubbed my eyes. "We'll find a way to end this. But for now, we need to take turns walking Nicholas between his classes, meeting him at break times. Anything to make them back off for the moment."