Wil steered me towards the trailers through another exit so that we wouldn't have to pass the gawkers again right now.
My legs were shaking badly and, had it not been for Wil's arm being a steel band around my waist, I knew I would be a heap on the ground by now.
We got to a relatively empty hallway and Wil propped me up against some lockers. "Sang? That wasn't necessary."
"Wil," I put a hand up in a stopping motion. "Yes it was. He hurt you. And don't think I'm not pissed off at you too. You didn't tell me! Do you realize how much it hurts to find out from someone else that someone I love so much has been hurt and didn't even tell me?!"
"Sang, stop yelling. You don't intimidate me like these other people." He had a weary look and sighed. "I would've told you after school. You're driving, remember?"
"I don't think Tony would've appreciated the crash I would've gotten into if you'd told me while I was driving."
"We've got to change that jeep's name. Tony just doesn't fit anymore."
"No changing the subject," I said.
"I'm not," Wil innocently injected. "It was just a thought. Besides, I happen to think 'William' would fit it too."
He smiled and it was nice and kind. It was a 'truce' kind of smile.
I smiled back. Except I verbalized it, "Truce? We're okay again?"
"Yes, we're better than okay. Sang, I--I just worry about you. I don't like watching you fight. You get all--"
"Brutal like a fuckin savage," I snarled still angry with myself. I may or may not have been trying to press down some lingering hurt feelings from the look of disappointment that seared me from Mr. Blackbourne's eyes.
"No. You fight beautifully, like a warrior woman from Valhalla or something. I just don't like that you have to fight so much. I don't like that you fight idiots like that--" he pointed back the way we'd come, "and they don't act like you're a girl. Believe it or not, you are a girl."
I laughed and looked at my chest. "Um...yep! One, two, I got two reasons to think so right here."
Wil rolled his eyes but smiled at me.
"You ready for this meeting?"
I must have had a blank expression because he said "It's lunchtime. You've got the 1s meeting right now, remember?"
I nodded, "Yeah and the 2s are coming too....but if its lunchtime, where are all the bustling students?"
"Yeah that's weird," Wil scratched at his temple, "The halls are never this quiet around lunch time especially."
"These kids are crazy enough to deal with on a regular day. We'll worry about them being quiet if and/or when it becomes a real problem. Shall we?"
I crooked out my elbow and he slipped his arm through it. We walked through the halls like that all the way out to the trailers where we would have our meeting with Rocky the Jock Idiot and Greg the Pothead Idiot.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
We sat in the trailer quietly chatting together for about 15 minutes.
No one had shown up; Greg, Rocky, Eddy, nor Jay.
We were just about worried and deciding that perhaps we should go check up on them when Jay came in the room. I liked Jay well enough. He was quiet, always observing, and he had an inner strength-outwardly calm thing going on that reminded me of Silas Korba or maybe North Taylor.
Thinking of him, I scolded myself for leaving him unconscious in the hallway. I had not even gone to check on him since; I was a horrible friend. What an impression I was leaving on this, their first day AW.
"Hey Jay," Wil smiled.
He nodded in response.
I nodded.
See? We're cool.
"So where's--" I ventured.
Jay paused me saying "He should be on the way."
Nodding again, I turned my back to him and made a face at Wil. I also rolled my eyes because I knew Wil would have to keep his face straight if he didn't want Jay to think we were making fun of him.
A small--millimeter at most--smile turned up the corners of his lips and steel grey eyes swam through my vision. What. The. Hell.
UGH! I wanted to pull at my hair. The Academy guys shouldn't be taking over like this. That "you must be tired because you've been running through my mind all day" pickup line must have some truth to it.
We sat in there another 10 minutes talking between ourselves with Jay throwing in the occassional comment before Rocky, Greg, and Eddie all swaggered in together.
"Hey Rocky's girl," the lame-brain spoke to me.
Ignoring him, I said "Shall we get this meeting started?"
"Hey hey what's the rush for? We're 1's. We're supposed to get perks like this, no class, just chillin."
"Shut up Greg," I said. "We need to get through this meeting. Some of us actually do like to go to class and get an education." Ok, sue me. I might have lied a little. Class wasn't all that interesting to me though I managed to keep up my grades relatively well. Who wouldn't with a brother like Bryan and an honorary one like Wil?
Eddy jumped in "You gonna let her shut you up like that man? Hell, I thought a 1 was tougher than that. No wonder she made it."
I heard him egging Greg on but ignored him. Eddy was a pathetic waste of space to me.
"Anyway, so apparently your followers have been bullying some of mine Rocky." I looked at him expectantly.
"So? What am I supposed to do about it?"
"You're supposed to have a heart and tell them to go to tutoring or pick up a fuckin book. They're big meatheat jocks and my people don't fight. They'd rather get
through this miserable hell called Ashley Waters and go. They can't do that if they can't do their own work because they're terrified your guys are going to come after them."
He just watched me. Jay stood and said something in his ear and Rocky's cocky smile came back. "Sure thing Rocky's girl. I'll help you out. For a price."
"What kind of price?" See, we could get along.
"You're letting them just have their own meeting without you? That's how that Bryan fucker got messed up by you and Rocky remember?," I heard Eddy whisper
over to Greg.
"Let it go, Sang," Wil said to me. He'd saw my fists clench but I knew he was right. Nobody called my beloved big brother a fucker. But as long as Greg didn't let Eddy's goading stick in his twisted head, I could let it go. I didn't want problems.
"Back to you," I said to Rocky. Instead of looking at him, though, I looked to Jay. I wasn't stupid; Jay was more influential to Rocky's people than Rocky was at times.
If he ever went against Rocky, I wasn't really sure but I could guess Rocky wouldn't end up a 1 anymore. "What kind of price?"
"For one thing, give me your parking space." Hell no. I left my face impassive but really come on?! My parking space? That Bry had for years and finally left to me that was close enough to the school that I didn't get wet even if it was pouring raining? It was simple but, like they said, as a 1 I deserved some perks.
I giggled as I recalled that we had parking spaces in a triangle position. Greg's was in the same column as mine but waaaaay back and Rocky's was at a meeting point on the other side which was kind of far from the entrance doors. Neither of them usually attempted coming in while it was raining because it was a fact that they would get soaked before they could make it in.
"For two, I want the Academy Guys."
"All of them? You know there's 7 of them right?" I wouldn't add in Mr. Blackbourne of the Doctor I had yet to meet. We couldn't control them but I'd vowed to myself that Mr. B. at least was under my protection as well. Even teachers could get hurt if the student was motivated enough. And Mr. B. looked like he made enemies simply by being himself.
"I want the two huge fuckers. And that smart one with the glasses, and that rich one."
I snickered "Tell me their names and we'll see."
He rolled his eyes. "This isn't a slumber party. I don't need their fuckin names. All Rocky needs is his team as the best. Those huge fuckers will dominate on the field, besides Rocky of course. And the others, Rocky has his plans for them."
I was already shaking my head. I couldn't control what those guys did but I'd be damned if I'd just let them go. "I've talked to them before; I don't think any of them are your type at all. Pick something else."
"Fine. Give me Wil. He'd make a nice Third."
I know my eyes bulged. I know my fists clenched. I know my mouth spewed some very un-child-appropriate words. What I don't know is how I ended up on top of Rocky with him under me bucking and me throwing punches at him. I'm also not entirely sure how Jay's arms got under my armpits. I do know that he yanked me up like I was nothing but a little doll and put me to the side.
Wagging his finger in my face, he said "No no no. No fighting," with an amused tone. Then he turned and stood back up against the wall while Rocky picked himself up.
I didn't apologize.
Wil came to my side and put his arm around my shoulder. "It's alright, Sang. I chose you remember? Even if you traded me, I'd come back."
"I'd never fuckin trade you Wil. He should know better than that."
"Rocky's girl! I know you like to be on top, but not at school huh?" His cocky attitude remained intact despite the throbbing in my hand which told me I'd gotten him but good.
Eddy's voice irritated my already raw nerves as he said "See what I mean? You're standing here quiet--"
"I'm fuckin observing," Greg interrupted.
"No, you're standin here quiet and everybody sees you as the weakest 1 because of it."
"Shut the fuck up Eddy damnit! The adults are trying to have a civilized conversation" I shouted finally tired of his bull.
He stood and glared at me. "Nobody shushes me. Who the fuck do you think you are bitch?"
I stood "Definitely not a female dog you dumbass." I turned to Greg,
"You want respect you give me and mine the same amount," I waved between myself and Wil, "and that includes from your asshole followers," I said switching my glare between him and Eddy.
At the same moment, my phone rang and one glance at the screen had my confusion level rocketing. Why would he call me right now?
Answering, I held one finger up to silence Rocky and the others. They all glared at me angry from all that had happened so far. So what? "Hey Bry," I half fake-cheerfully greeted.
"Hey sis. So....whatcha doin?"
What? I simply replied "Not much. A little 1's meeting that's about it."
"I have some news for you. Not that I wouldn't call just to talk to you." He rushed.
Giggling, I said "I know Bry. What's the news?"
"You might have a little problem on your hands. I'm not sure when. I'm not sure why. But I've heard rumors of a Last Day happening soon."
"I've heard about it but I'm not too worried. I don't think anybody would be that crazy." As I said this I watched Greg and Rocky's faces. They were now standing side by side and their mouths kept moving but they kept their volume low. Coupled with Bry's call, a ball of dread lodged itself in the pit of my stomach.
"I'm coming home for about a week, alright?"
"What why?" I'd spaced out after I told him i wasn't worried. He must have kept talking.
"You weren't listening were you? I said I got a call about Dad. He's in the hospital; they think he had a stroke while driving from wherever he was. By the way, you don't know where he was do you?"
I was a little in shock. My dad had a stroke? "I...I don't....Yeah, I think I remember him saying something about going on a business trip but...No I don't know where."
We weren't close at all. I don't think what I was feeling was true pain, but I was just....shocked. It was so random a thing to have happen. My dad having a stroke?
"Yeah, well, the hospital called me after they couldn't reach his next of kin and they saw my number in his phone. I figured it was you they tried to reach."
"No, I've had my phone all day. No one's tried to call me."
"That's weird," my brother had a confused tone, "I'll see who he had listed as next of kin then and call you back. Be careful okay? I don't need two people in the hospital. I can't stay long once I'm there; school's kickin my ass. Love you baby sis."
"Love you Bry."
The clicking sounded and then a dial tone and I was still holding my phone. I felt in a fog. What the hell....I just couldn't picture my dad in a hospital bed. Though we weren't the Brady bunch, and I hardly ever saw him, I had never actually just thought of him not being alive somewhere. It was an eerie feeling to add to the dread from this meeting.
It was at that moment that I knew something big was going to go down and I was going to need help.
- - - - - - - - - A to the Rescue - - - - - - - - - - -
**A's POVs. Timeline: Beginning of Lunch period/ Beginning of Part 18 (where Sang and Wil first go to the trailer) **
"Oy where's that fucker? I bet he's hiding! I can't believe Trouble--little tiny Trouble--beat North's ass. And at school?!!!!"
"Gabe, language," Kota said raising an eyebrow. He knew he could say that til he was blue in the face and it would never truly stop his friend. Gabe used cursing to express himself and, as an artist, Gabe had a lot to express.
Gabriel, Kota, Luke, and Silas were seated at opposites of the bench with Gabe and Luke to one side and Kota and Silas on the other.
Victor approached with Nathan not far behind.
Scanning the table, Nathan let out a bellow of a laugh. "So he's hiding?"
"Little brother must be scared we're going to mess with him," Luke added with a weird mischeivous tone. Oh, yeah, they weren't letting this go. North. Mr. Grumpy with a side of Health Nut? If he'd maybe let Luke have those chocolate chip pancakes this morning, Luke may have taken his side in what he knew their other brothers were planning but he didn't. Just desserts, Luke snickered as he thought.
North came stomping up to the table. Slamming his books down and taking a seat, he pulled out a bottle of water. After sipping some, he closed it and slammed it on the table. His famous scowl was locked in place as he glared around the table at the 'innocent' faces of his brothers.
"Alright. FUCKIN GET IT OVER WITH!"
His growl caught the attention of a few others but mostly other people were caught up in whatever buzz caught their attention. Though, Nathan noticed, there weren't really many others out there.
"North," Kota calmly said. "Calm down, why don't you? We don't need you fainting again."
He had a completely straight face. Luke and Gabriel looked to each other and high-fighed. It had begun.
- - - - - - jokes. laughing. ha ha ha - - - - - - -
"Oh my God North! Did she try to paint your nails? Oh I bet you screamed like a girl and your hand went to your head as you fell and everything like one of those Disney princesses."
"Shut up Nate shit. You guys have been at this all lunch," North squeezed his empty water bottle letting the crackling noise take over the suddenly silent atmosphere.
The others burst out laughing.
"AWWW guys let's leave him alone. If we keep reminding him of the incident, he might have bad dreams," Luke said.
Gabe scoffed "Bad? Don't you mean wet? Northy poo, if we say Sang's name before you go to bed, you think you'll piss yourself?"
Nathan chuckled. "She scared you that bad?"
North glowered and sulked. "She didn't fuckin scare me!"
"No, he's right," Victor injected. "She didn't scare him. She probably just, oh I don't know, flipped him over her head like a rag doll."
The table got quiet.
"What's that Vic? DId you see that? Holy shit that'd be awesome!"
"I mean," Victor put his phone out so his brothers could see what he'd just pulled up from the security cameras. "This."
They all watched as Sang started to walk away, obviously pissed and then North put his hand on her shoulder. The next thing they knew, super heavy ass North was flying in the air over tiny little Trouble's head and she had him down as she pinched his carotid artery which they all knew would stop the blood flow to the brain sending the person unconscious or, if held longer, creating worse circumstances.
"She VULCANED your ass!!"
Gabriel laughed so hard. North pushed him from the side and he fell to the grass but he just kept laughing.
Luke banged his fist on the table wiping his eyes with the other hand as tears of laughter kept pouring down. "North....you got vulcaned!!!!"
"Don't we have a fuckin JOB to do here?! Kota for piss sake fuckin get them to work or something!"
Kota let out a few more chuckles before he pushed his glasses up his nose. "Fine. Guys, he's right. We can laugh about him getting knocked out by a girl who barely weighs 100 pounds later." The others laughed again. North glared at Kota who said "But for now, anybody got something on Hendricks?"
The lunch period was almost over but Kota would need to report a summary of their findings to Mr. Blackbourne before he went to his next class.
"No but have you noticed some fuckers stalking you? Like everywhere I've gone, I've seen some kids just watching me."
"We are new here, Gabe," Luke said.
Nathan interrupted "Actually, no I don't think that's it. Some weird vibes are flying all over this place. I've noticed some people watching me as well."
Kota cleared his throat. "I thought it was weird and just random but there was a small incident earlier."
"What happened?," Victor said.
"Like I said I thought it was just random. Well, some guys--big, maybe 190 to 200 pounds--almost cornered me when I was leaving one of my classes. One of them asked me how fast do I do my homework. Of course, I realized they were probably leading up to asking me about my homework but then a guy came up. He said something weird that sounded like 'A 1 compared to what are you negative 800s or something?' At that point, the two guys glared at him but then they just walked off. I went on to my next class. I planned to add it into my summary for Mr. Blackbourne but it was really nonsensical."
The others looked around with confused faces.
After a minute, Silas inquired "Did he say that word for word?"
His accent was a bit heavier as he was genuinely concerned. The Academy taught them well not to use any kind of code that could be predicted; it was why they were so random at times. Still, that sentence sounded like a code. It must have been since the other three understood what was being said and acted upon it. But it was not one that Silas could figure out.
"Is that one of your American phrasings?," Silas added.
North shook his head. It was Luke who answered, "Not one I've ever heard of. Kota, so that was it word-for-word?"
"Yeah," Kota nodded.
Gabriel rolled his eyes. "Well what the fuck is a 1?!"
A quiet voice sounded from behind him and he whipped around as she spoke. "Not what, Meanie. Who. And I am a 1."
{Anybody from the site, be aware that these are from my Part 18A and Part 18B but I'm not going to say they're the end. Originally, I'd planned for 18 to be the very last chapter in this story but it'd be so super long it'd be like 10 pages at least here on Wattpad. But, you all know, I suck at frequent updates so there's maybe one or two more parts after this but don't hold me to it since I don't always get all the stuff I want in each part which makes me have to use more parts....gosh I can ramble! I'm done. bye.....no seriously........oh, I know. You want VL, right? VOLTO LOVER COME HERE!----wait, never mind, what's that? You hate her? You want Gabriel? NO! MINE! My Gabe Babe lol! To get that reference, check out a story called Immaculate here on wattpad. Or you can check out Academy Love's Can You Teach Me. Or Chosen by ladybugtastic. All of them are awesome so even if that reference isn't in the story, you'll still enjoy the reading.....okay i'm done now.}