"Your hand in mine. The great divide. A stitch in time. Then we recombine.
The way it was. Well, dust to dust. Has led us here to collide."
[Song: "The Great Divide" - The Shins]
RECAP:
Operation I Completely Forgot the Name of It is still going on. Bennett learned the hard way that Naomi can be pretty passive-aggressive after he turned in his own research paper without telling her leading her to be scolded by a teacher. Naomi decided to check out the book The Three Musketeers from the school's library because Bennett had betrayed her and she's petty like that.
We have the off-brand Heathers: Rachel Lane, Alyssa Li, and Trisha Lewis with their eyes set on the transfers. However, so does Carmen.
Before they came up with the operation, Raymond and Declan had a little of a disagreement in the nurse's office when Declan stopped Naomi from giving Raymond the homework she did for him. Declan seems to have made a lot of enemies seeing that he won a fight in the parking lot afterschool between the captain of the soccer team, Marco, and one of the soccer players, Aiden, I mean, Adrian.
NEW RULE!
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Trigger Warning: Depictions of verbal and physical bullying, one scene being specific to race. Two counts of sexual harassment. One graphic fight scene with blood.
~
Operation Losing My Faith Humanity is going great.
Declan turned my backpack upside down, having all of my stuff fall out. A few guys from his basketball team laughed behind him as he gave me an apologetic look.
I'm having the time of my life with Operation I Hate This Operation.
Taking the opportunity when the teacher stepped out of the classroom, I had to rip up an old report in front of the entire class after Bennett told me that it was already a waste of paper.
Nothing could possibly go wrong with Operation Why Are We Doing This Again?
Setting down the stack of textbooks I was carrying for him, I was forced to tie Jordan's unlaced sneaker before being kicked away with the same shoe.
We only did enough, the bare minimum to keep the facade going. Every time we were next to each other without evidence of bullying, every time we laughed together, every time we smiled together, every time we stood together- we needed this to happen to rebalance it. To remind the school that we aren't friends.
Even though that was supposed to be the case from the montage, it still doesn't make the next scene any easier to deal with.
"Are you done bullying yet?" Alyssa asked with a sigh as she wrapped her arms around Jordan's arm. "I wanted to see your artwork, Jordan. Maybe you can even paint me like one of your French girls."
"I know you guys want to be the only one's bullying her, but isn't it a little bit unfair that you're the only ones having fun?" Trisha said with a huff. "You can always make it up to me later, Lynch," she pressed.
Rachel rested her against Bennett's shoulder with a smirk. "I'm loving this view. Three stunning power couples looking down at the most pathetic case of a person just like how it should be."
They all looked at me.
"Well wow, what do you want me to say?" I asked. "You're absolutely right."
"What hurts me the most is how you actually thought you had a chance with them," Rachel said with a sigh as she shook her head in disbelief.
I leaned back against the locker. I should at least make myself comfortable. "Me? Have a chance with them?" I scoffed. "I would never. I'm but a humble mortal, never daring to fight against the tide."
Alyssa snickered to herself. "Just imagine if she really didn't. What would that mean? They would just be friends instead?"
"I heard it's not really possible for men and women to 'just be friends'," Trisha said as she did air-quotes. "One of you either have to be in a relationship or..."
The three of them shared a look and a slow smirk spread across their faces.
"You're gay."
Do you remember when I said that most of my bullies usually cycle through the usual list of insults that it's rare for me to hear something new? This... this is definitely new.
"Oh no, I've been found out," I said deadpanned. "How could you possibly have known? I've thought I've been hiding it so well."
"Way to take the fun out of it, Lorraine," Trisha said dryly.
"Wait," I said abruptly, considering it deeply for a moment. "With that thought process, then maybe... you're gay." I faked a gasp, placing my hand on my chest.
Rachel blinked. "Wait. What?"
"Oh my gosh. Are you? Because I'm totally cool with that. Go pride!" I exclaimed cheerfully.
"That doesn't make any sense," Trisha interjected.
"No, it does," I told them. "Your excessive flirting with most of the male student body could be overcompensation for your love of women. You shouldn't be afraid. We're in a pretty liberal state."
I looked at the guys- Jordan biting his bottom lip in an attempt to stop laughing, Declan holding his hand over his mouth fighting back a smile, and Bennett looking at the other two in confusion.
Alyssa looked at the others. "Is... Is she serious?"
"No... don't tell me. You're... actually in love with me."
If only I was better at descriptive writing to accurately paint the stunned looks on their faces.
"Think about it. Bullying me to be with me at any possible moment. Forcing yourself onto the transfers because you know we can never be." My hand went to my mouth, unable to comprehend this. "This whole time and I never knew. I'm so sorry for not realizing your feelings for me."
"What is wrong with you?" Rachel demanded. "We're clearly into guys. I have only dated guys."
"Do bisexuals suddenly not exist?" I asked thoughtfully.
Jordan coughed, failing to stifle a snicker to himself.
I smiled at them. "Now that we established how idiotic your thinking is, let's move on to another type of insult rather than outing someone just because you think it's funny. I can only imagine how many people you did this to given how dangerous an outing can be."
"Outing someone is dangerous?" Rachel asked in disbelief. "What? They're going to trip on their way out of the closet?"
"Anyway," Trisha cut in. "Just know that you're out of your league, Naomi. Don't try to fight for them back."
I smiled. "I won't."
"Because you'll never- Wait, you won't?"
I kept smiling. "Nope. I won't."
"Why?" Alyssa asked slowly.
I looked at them, but specifically at three of them. The innocent smiled slowly vanished into its true form- a devious smirk.
"Like Rachel said, you're each such a power couple. How could I possibly think to break you guys apart? You are all made for each other."
That's when they realized it. Jordan mouthed for me to stop and to take it back, Declan's eyes widened in horror and shook his head at me, and Bennett narrowed his eyes at me knowing what I had done.
The glint in my eye and the smirk on my face told them one word:
Suffer.
My happiness was shared by the girls as they practically latched themselves onto each of their respective transfers.
"Naomi has her moments," Alyssa said. "Then again, she is a nerd so she has to get some things right."
I thought about it. "Thanks for the compliment?" I asked.
"Well, I'm glad you know your place," Rachel snapped.
"Me too."
"This is easier than I thought," Alyssa considered.
"Very easy."
"But don't think of trying anything," Trisha reminded me.
"I'd never."
Rachel snapped her fingers. "Let's go."
I gave the happy couples a cheerful smile as I waved them goodbye. The guys looked back at me with the usual looks of awe and betrayal, Jordan going so far as to point two fingers at himself then back at me.
-
I left the restroom stall and abruptly stopped in my tracks.
"Calm down, Lorraine," Carmen said as her eyes were fixated on the mirror. "I'm more concerned about fixing up my makeup than bullying you right now."
"Comforting," I said as I walked up to the sink and began washing my hands.
As I did the mundane but important task of washing my hands, my eyes flitted at the direction of Carmen who was engrossed with her reflection. Carmen took a few steps back and slightly turned around to study her outfit. Although it was a simple outfit of a loose patterned crop top and ripped skinny jeans, her goal was accomplished- it highlighted the curves of her hourglass figure. With manicured fingers, she combed her curly black hair that fell shortly past her shoulders. I caught the medium tan foundation on the counter in front of her. I made the mistake of looking back at the mirror and locked with her light brown eyes. I instantly looked back at the sink.
I was hoping to make this a short and quiet trip to the restroom. Hoping.
"So I heard you gave the so-called power couples your blessing," Carmen commented.
I scoffed. "I think we both know that even if I was able to give them my blessing, they would do whatever they wanted without it. And all six of them are my bullies. Why will they listen to me while their foot is on my neck?"
"Well, rumors come and go, some managing to turn a few heads," she said as she rummaged into a small makeup bag.
"Rumors like what?" I asked, having turned off the faucet and shook the excess water off my hands.
"The usual," Carmen mused. "Some guy on the baseball team who got an athletic scholarship also got his girlfriend pregnant. A junior got caught trading weed for essays and was so high he tried to offer his stash to the principal."
I rolled my eyes. "Those are all fake."
"Maybe, but they're interesting enough to spark some excitement in our boring lives." Carmen paused from reapplying lip gloss. "Although, there is one rumor that seems to be pretty believable."
I didn't like where this was going. "What rumor?"
"That you and the transfers are actually friends."
I let out a sigh then reached out to snatch a paper towel to dry my hands. "Sure. We're a great example of 'friends'."
"People have seen you not being bullied by them."
"You're not bullying me right now, Carmen. Are you suddenly my friend?"
"People have seen you smiling with them."
"It was probably a grimace. You can easily confuse the two."
"People have seen you laughing with them."
"Probably by force. They like it when I laugh with my pain. They're sadists like that."
For the first time, she looked away from the mirror and glared at me. "You have an answer for everything."
"I'm a nerd, aren't I? It's part of the job."
She smirked to herself then turned her attention back to the mirror. "Well, it doesn't matter anymore. It's not like I'll ever have a chance, especially with those traitors." She muttered something in Spanish that I would rather not repeat.
Suspicion grew in me. The transfers were traitors? Why would she call them that? "Traitors?" I asked, regretting the word when it left my mouth.
Carmen rolled her eyes. "Yeah, traitors. Rachel, Alyssa, and Trisha. Las Ratas."
"I thought you guys were friends."
Carmen suddenly burst out laughing, making me flinch in surprise by the sharp contrast of how quiet the restroom was.
"Don't make me laugh so hard, Lorraine. I'll ruin my mascara," she said, looking back at her reflection to lightly wipe the bottom of her eye with a finger. "It was more of a... temporary alliance. They have always been the witches three." Feel free to replace the 'w' with a 'b'. "But we all knew that it was better if we were allies than enemies."
I frowned to myself. That didn't make sense. Sure, Carmen joined their clique late but they seemed to have similar enough personalities and interests to be friends with each other.
"I know, it probably doesn't make sense to you," Carmen said with a sigh. "Think of it as... the Cold War. Mutually assured destruction on either side."
"But now you're the odd one out," I said slowly.
"Yeah, I know," Carmen said dryly, rolling her eyes. "But then again. We both are." She looked at me, giving me a once over, and smirked. "Never knew we would be on the same side for once," she said with an abrupt zip of her backpack.
I narrowed my eyes at her. "We will never be on the same side."
"But we already are."
Carmen began walking away but sidestepped when someone rushed in. She raised an eyebrow, stared at the person then gave a halfhearted shrug before walking out of the restroom.
That someone was Erinma. I was too speechless to be able to say something at first. When I saw her earlier today, she wore her afro curly hair that was tied into a ponytail freed into a wave at the end. But now, she was drenched with water, from head to toe, a trail of water followed behind her and was now pooling under her feet. Even though she was crying, I knew that couldn't possibly be the source of her soaked state.
"Erinma, what happened?" I asked, placing a hand on her shoulder before pulling it away. I looked down at my hand. It wasn't just wet, it was.. sudsy.
Erinma looked at the mirror then choked back a sob. "They-" She struggled to find the words. "They pulled my hair, saying it was a weave. Then... then they dumped this- this soap water on me. They said they were doing me a favor."
I fought back the tears that dared to well up in my eyes. She doesn't need someone crying with her. She needs someone to help her. All I wanted to do was hug her but...
"Let's take you to the nurse's office," I told her, my voice steady and calm. "We have some towels there. This has happened to me before so I know what to do. Then we can-"
I stopped when Erinma suddenly went into a stall and slammed the door.
"I just want to be alone right now," Erinma said quietly.
I knew the feeling. All too well. There were days when the bullying became too overwhelming that my mind couldn't even process what had happened. Rather than cleaning up the mess or fixing myself up, I just wallowed in my self-pity not wanting to do a thing. But it suddenly becomes different when it's someone else instead of you.
"Erinma you can't just stay here. Let's go to the nurse's office together and then we can report the people who did this to you."
She forced out a chuckle. "We both know that won't do anything," she told me. "They'll either deny it or, if they get punished, will get their revenge."
I couldn't say anything because I knew I was a hypocrite. I took everything terrible that has happened to me and never reported it because I knew of the consequences. But the one time I see someone suffer, I want them to report it even though I knew it'll blow back up in our faces somehow, some way.
"Erinma... You know I'm here for you. I'll stay here until you're ready and-"
"No," she said harshly before her voice became soft. "I don't want you here, Naomi. You have to go."
"You don't have to face this alone, Erinma," I told her. "I understand and I can-"
"You know why," Erinma said, now between sobs. "You know why this is happening to me."
The steady drip of water coming off of Erinma's clothes was drowned out by her stifled crying. I took a hesitant step back. I felt lost, not knowing what to do.
I know why this is happening to her. The hierarchy, the balance, the bullying. If I wasn't going to be bullied by the entire school anymore, that bullying had to go somewhere, and apparently, it was going to spread out to other people.
It was all my fault.
-
Have you ever faced anything that worked too well? Things such as being so good at something you're expected to always do it or maybe BookFace's "people you may know" feature. Well, that happened to be the case for Operation This Was a Bad Idea.
I can't believe that we actually had fun with this plan when it first began.
~
"Ow, ow, ow," I muttered to myself, nursing my knees and elbows from the abrupt shove to the ground from behind.
"Merde!" Jordan rushed over, kneeling beside me and placing a hand on my shoulder. "Oh God, I'm so sorry," Jordan whispered in a panic. "I said on a count of three."
I looked up and shot him a glare. "Well, we clearly didn't agree if it was on three or after three," I snapped in a harsh whisper.
"We can work on our timing next time," Jordan assured me before giving me an apologetic look. "Act two begins. Ready?"
I let out a short sigh. "I'll brace myself."
"Stand back up, Lorraine," Jordan said loudly with a laugh. "I know you belong on the ground but that doesn't mean you should stay there just for me." He paused and frowned to himself. "Nah, that wasn't a good line. I need to be more creative."
Jordan grabbed my arm and helped me up on my feet, emphasis on help since he actually did. It was actually pretty nice of him. I wish my other bullies did that.
"Sorry for this," Jordan muttered before he grabbed hold of the front of my sweater and slammed me against the lockers from behind. I pretended to wince when actually it didn't hurt that much. I gave him a slight nod to notify him that I was alright.
Jordan glanced to the side and noticed two girls were walking by us. They blushed when he noticed them. Jordan let go of me and instead used the same hand to lean against the locker before flashing them a charming smile.
"Bonjour, mademoiselles," he greeted, tipping an imaginary hat to them. "I hope I didn't startle you with my little... pastime. Of course, cute girls such as yourselves shouldn't have to see something as awful as this. And by this, I mean Naomi." The girls giggled to themselves from that.
"You've got to be kidding me," I muttered under my breath.
"Oh, are you jealous, Lorraine?" Jordan mused. "I'm just playing into my rumor, that's all." I couldn't figure out if this was part of the script or if this was actually Jordan. It could have easily been both.
"What? Would you like me to do... this instead?" He looked back at the girls, nodded to them with a smug look on his face, and asked, "How you doin'?" The two girls sighed dreamily at him.
I say that set women back a couple of years.
That and the confirmation of a certain Supreme Court justice.
When the girls began to walk away after leaving him with flirtatious looks, Jordan pantomimed that he was on the phone with his hand and mouthed for them to call him. "Wait, they don't have my number. Oh well."
Jordan turned his attention back to me and suddenly slammed his hand against the locker just over my head. My back was still against the locker and Jordan practically trapped me in this position. He was so close, I could feel his body heat radiating out of me that it felt like I couldn't, shouldn't breathe. With his other hand, he jutted my chin up so that I would look at him. His green eyes were now a shade darker as he looked at me with an unreadable gaze.
I raised an eyebrow, unamused and unfazed by his antics. "A kabedon? Seriously?"
A kabedon is a seducing trope, popularized by Japanese animations, where one person would trap their love interest between themself and a wall. The paragraph above is an example of this.
Jordan's eyes brightened up so much it practically sparkled. I wouldn't be surprised if red roses suddenly appeared in the background. "A fellow weeb," he whispered excitedly. "We need to fangirl. Let's trade watch lists."
"Jordan, focus," I hissed.
He pouted. "Fine, later then." Jordan looked at the hallway and I saw a flash of recognition in his eyes. "Final act now."
Jordan then laughed haughtily. "I know you're in love with me, but why would I ever be with someone like you?" Jordan took my hand and pulled me towards him to then have his arm around my shoulders. "But since I'm such a nice guy, I can have you be my servant awaiting my beck and call. At least then you can be by my side."
"Lucky me," I muttered to myself.
Two guys, who I recognize was in the same year as us, passing by laughed. Jordan grinned at one of them and asked with a laugh, "We already had a class together. You miss me that much?"
The guy, who was either Eric or Erik because I can't remember if he's the one with a "c" or a "k", rolled his eyes in response. "Don't get too cocky, Wallace. "
The other person told Jordan in exasperation, "Oh c'mon man, almost two weeks of bullying Naomi and you still want her to stick with you? I know it's fun and all, but you shouldn't put up with her. Y'know, nerdiness is contagious." It took me a moment, but his name should be Carl.
Eric/Erik snickered. "I'm just glad to find out you've only been hanging out with the nerd just to play her in the end. That kind of reminds me of the time during Comp Sci when you-"
"-pretended I was having computer problems, but instead I was actually wasting time," Jordan finished with a laugh. "The teach was trying to make us do some activity like we were back in elementary. No way I'm doing that."
Then, to my utter amazement, the two of them did a three-step handshake that ended with an explosion.
I glared at Jordan. "In sophomore year, this guy dragged my backpack through the mud before flushing all of my stuff in the toilet. I had to help the janitors unclog it." It didn't matter if he was Eric or Erik since both of them were there anyway.
Jordan cringed at that but then smiled at Eric/Erik. "Aw man, that sounded like so much fun. I wish I transferred into this school sooner so I could've been there."
"Well it could be afterschool if you want," Carl offered.
"You know how it is," Jordan said, his tone almost apologetic. "As fun as it might be, I doubt Bennett or Declan would appreciate it. They can be pretty possessive of their things. You know with Bennett rich enough to own anything and Declan with his short temper. You're just lucky I'm here to hold the leash on those two." He was lucky that neither of them were there to kill him for that.
I would like to hold a memorial service for Bennett's and Declan's reputations. Or maybe just for Jordan after they're done with him. Either way, you're all invited.
"As for me," Jordan explained with a casual shrug, "You know I'm all just in it for the fun and games. I don't want any trouble, so you know I'm doing all I can to control those two. You should just be lucky they chose Naomi and no one else... like you."
Well then, we're officially off-script, but Jordan's quick thinking saved us to a certain extent. All Jordan's rumors got him was that he was a smooth-talking people person who enjoyed the occasional prank or girl to flirt. But for the other two, they had more power behind their rumors with Bennett having mysterious financial resources to have anything done at his bidding and Declan being a hot-tempered underground fighter who apparently killed someone. Both were ridiculous rumors but the people in this school were either idiots or just loved the gossip too much to care if it actually made sense. All Jordan could do is to use that same charisma to hold down the reigns of both Declan and Bennett against the rest of the school.
The two of them shared a look. "Yeah, you're right. I'd rather not risk it. Anyway, I was thinking of messing with this kid in my next class. He got a bad haircut and thinks wearing a beanie will do something."
"Wow, that sounds like a great time," Jordan said. "But I should go back to bullying Naomi. I got a bad score for a quiz and I feel like bullying someone because it's their fault, not mine."
Jordan squeezed my shoulder, giving me my cue. "Help me," I whispered to them, tears welling up in my eyes. "You can't let him do this to me."
Eric/Erik snorted. "You think we'd do anything for you? It's just like Ray says, you deserve it."
When the school bell rang, Jordan told them, "Saved by the bell- I mean, aw man, just when the fun was getting started. I'll be heading to class now. Follow me, servant. Au revoir!" With that, Jordan grabbed my hand and we quickly walked away.
"I can't believe I created a handshake with him," Jordan muttered to himself. "We even added an explosion in the end. An explosion!"
"Yeah, glad to know you became best buds with Eric with a 'c'," I snapped at him.
"He's Erik with a 'k'," Jordan corrected before retorting hotly. "And excuse me Naomi, but I'm a naturally friendly guy. I'm charming. I'm French. It's in my blood! And this happened before I actually met you. How was I supposed to know he was a... What's the word? Sac à merde? Eh, let's go with that. How was I supposed to know he was a sac à merde? Damn, there are probably others like him. So many handshakes wasted..."
"Anyway," Jordan said abruptly. "You're quite the actress. How were you able to start tearing up on cue?"
"It was easy. You put your arm around my shoulders." I gave him a look. "I recommend deodorant."
"What?" Jordan demanded before stopping and timidly sniffing himself. "I smell great! I'm a perfect example of good hygiene. I took a shower this morning." Jordan sniffed himself again. "Vanilla! I smell like putain de vanilla!"
"My eyes, it burns!" I cried out before bursting out laughing.
"Why you-" Jordan laughed before telling me, "Let's hug again Lorraine. Smell the putain de vanilla!"
~
I almost felt wistful at those simpler times when our fake bullying was clearly fake to me.
Chaos will always find a way to rebalance itself and the chaos of high school and our idiotic plan did just that. I was the most bullied student at school. Not the only bullied student, mind you, I'm not that special, but I was recognized to have the largest number of bullies who made my life a living hell on a daily basis.
However, now that I'm supposedly the exclusive punching bag to the transfers, students had to bully someone else, anyone else. I was too busy focusing on how no one was bullying me that I failed to see how everyone else seemed to be bullied. Jocks waited until I passed by before tripping students or shoving them down to the ground. Cheerleaders fell quiet when I glanced at them and began spreading rumors of another poor student they decided to target. But it didn't end there. I caught the glares from those very targets, the whisper of curses, even the clenched fists as they held back from getting their own revenge.
I was able to stop walking right before someone fell right in front of me. I backed up to see that a guy had shoved him to the ground. When the person looked up, I saw that it was Henry. He glared at the sight of me.
"I didn't even push you that hard, Wanbli," the guy said, grabbing Henry by his backpack and jacket sleeve and lifting him up. "Aren't Native Americans supposed to be strong or something? I mean you lasted this long in America. Or did I not learn anything in APUSH?"
Henry ignored him and continued to glare at me but didn't say anything. It was the fact that he didn't say anything that made it more threatening.
The guy noticed and hung his arm around Henry's shoulders before nodding to me. "Hey, Lorraine. You should find your transfers to bully you or else someone else will want to catch you."
At that, he pulled Henry back and walked away, still holding Henry by his shoulders.
I made it to my locker and nearly stumbled, having to press my hand against it to hold myself up. I pushed my glasses up to my forehead as I placed my hand on my face, rubbing my eyes. Are my glasses broken? Why didn't I realize the gravity of this sooner? This is going to backfire on us and it was only a matter of when.
-
The library was quiet.
Obviously.
We were holed up in the library again during lunch. Jordan was lying down on top of two chairs with an arm draped over his eyes. Bennett and Declan were in the middle of a chess game. Declan leaned back on his chair, tempting fate as he balanced it by its hind legs, waiting for Bennett's turn. Bennett absentmindedly tipped a bishop piece that he got from Declan with an index finger as he stared at the chessboard, lost in thought.
I was resting my head on my hand that had my arm propped up against the table. My attention went back to the book I was reading The Three Musketeers that I had borrowed from the school's library a few days ago.
Jordan abruptly sat up and roughly ran his fingers through his messy hair in an attempt to fix it. He let out a tired sigh.
"You happy?" Jordan asked dryly.
"Overjoyed," I responded, flipping to the next page with my thumb.
"I know you're mad but did you really have to unleash those... girls at us?" Jordan asked, massaging his forehead with his hands. "They're smart. I'll give them that. Alyssa invited me to eat at this legit dim sum with the actual carts. She knows my weakness. I can't pass up good Chinese food with those carts."
"I think they actually believe we're dating," Declan grumbled. "Trisha gave me her cheerleading schedule so I'll be there at every practice and asked me for my entire schedule. Bennett?"
Bennett didn't look up from the chessboard, his eyebrows furrowed together. "Give me a moment."
"No, I mean what did Rachel do?"
Bennett looked up. "Oh." Bennett paused then straightened himself up in his seat. He patted his jeans pockets, then his chest before slightly lifting the left side of his bomber jacket and digging out a piece of paper from an inside pocket.
Declan received a small piece of paper and unfolded it again and again and again before gravity helped unroll it into an unusually long piece of paper. Declan frowned and scanned the paper.
"Damn, I'll stop complaining now," Declan stated. "Do you want me to fold it back or..."
"No, just leave it," Bennett said before moving a chess piece. Declan awkwardly placed the paper on the table.
"I didn't unleash anyone to you," I told Jordan. "I just... stepped back and enjoyed the show with a bag of popcorn," I ended with a shrug.
"Well, we kind of deserve it," Declan said as he moved another piece before crossing his arms. "We've been fake bullying Naomi for two weeks now. We should suffer just as much by hanging out with them."
I scoffed before turning another page in my book. "Yes, like having some pretty girls hanging off of you is equivalent to being an exclusive punching bag."
Declan frowned and turned to look at me. "I never meant-" He stopped. "Naomi, if you want to end this plan, all you have to do is say so."
"I don't want to end anything," I responded. "I'm just pointing out that being bullied is worse than not being bullied."
When Declan opened his mouth to respond back, Jordan abruptly cut in with his voice level noticeably louder, "Wow, Naomi! Why are you reading that book-" he paused to look at the cover - "The Three Musketeers? Don't you have a higher reading level than that?"
Jordan gave Declan a look who frowned in response before rolling his eyes.
"Whatever you do, don't give him that book," Declan told me. "It's above his reading level. You'll hurt him."
Jordan gave him a look in disbelief. "I just tried to- You know what? I'm so glad you care about me," he said, flashing him a smile which contradicted his action to flip Declan off.
"If you must know," I said, closing the book with a snap, "sometimes I volunteer at this community center. I was trying to find a good book for the kids there to read for this 'book of the week' thing because although there is some betrayal in the plot, it has a good lesson about loyalty and friendship. Something we all can learn from," I said as I smiled at Bennett who didn't return one back.
"So like us!" Jordan said brightly.
"Yeah, sure, like us. Let's call ourselves the four musketeers."
"It's getting really hard to ignore your sarcasm, Lorraine," Jordan said dryly.
"That's the goal, Wallace," I replied with a smile.
"We need to go back to the conversation," Bennett told us.
"The birds and the bees?" Jordan questioned.
"No," Bennet said as he moved his king chess piece. "The very topic you've been trying to avoid by changing the subject."
Bennett looked up from the board and at me. "Naomi, I'm going to ask you again. Are you still okay with us bullying you like this?"
I scoffed. "What do you want me to say?" I asked him. "No, I'm not okay with being fake bullied because even though I'm not being actually bullied, this will create psychological repercussions for all of us that mere therapy won't solve?"
Bennett frowned. "Yes."
"That was rhetorical. No, I don't want to end the plan."
"What do you mean 'for all of us'?" Declan asked me.
I raised an eyebrow. "Don't tell me you actually believe you're going to get out of this unscathed?" I told him. "We're all mentally and physically drained by this and it's only been two weeks. Unless you actually enjoyed bullying me and being labeled as misogynistic and sadistic bullies, I'll give us a couple more weeks if we're lucky."
My words hung over us as we all fell silent.
"As the group's only optimist, now is my time to shine," Jordan said with a smile. "This plan has worked so far and we can make it last for a couple of more months. Anyway, we're all seniors, so it's not like it'll be forever."
"I didn't think the plan was going to work," Declan told me, completely ignoring Jordan.
Jordan threw his hands up in the air in exasperation. "Alright, thanks. Just act like I'm not here."
"Reputations control you if you let it," Declan said, sighing as he said, "It took me a while but I learned to not care about what people think about me."
"People have always been intimidated by me," Bennett said, tapping a taken bishop against the table. "So it's surprising for them to be scared of me too."
"It didn't help when people found out you're half-Italian," Declan told him. "I don't know how they found out, but because of that, some say you're rich because you're mafia."
Jordan glanced away, lightly whistling to himself.
"Mafia," Bennett repeated as if he was trying out the word for the first time.
"But like I told you before, Naomi, reputations don't mean anything," Declan continued. "And if they're already ruined, what's the point of doing anything about it? As long as the plan is somehow working because of how stupid our school is and that you're not getting actually bullied, then I don't care."
"No, you still have a chance to fix your reputations. I mean, I didn't think it would work from the beginning but I didn't know this would happen."
"Wait, from the beginning?" Jordan asked me, looking crestfallen. "But you said ding. We both said ding. 'Ding' was our 'always'."
I sighed. "You call it being a pessimist, I call it being a pragmatist. I've been bullied for years for no apparent reason. We had to act on the plan the next day without properly thinking out all of the variables or else it would have never worked. Now we're dealing with the consequences."
Declan exhaled and scratched his head in frustration. "Then why not just call this off right now?"
I hesitated. Why did I hesitate? I asked him, "Why should I? I'm not getting bullied right now. I accepted the fact that if it works, it works, if it doesn't, it doesn't. I still know that this isn't real and I'm fine with that. That or I should really consider therapy."
"That's why I'm saying that if anyone should end it, you should end it instead," I told him. "You should be caring about your reputations. You don't even know the rumors they've actually been spreading about you and Bennett. There's nothing on Jordan though, given he was practically the source of them."
"I know you're both still mad at me for ruining your reputations, but see the bright side of it." Jordan paused. "If you want a list, just give me an hour. I'll think of something."
Declan cracked his knuckles. "The only bright side of this is how hard I will punch you after this."
Taking advantage of Declan and Jordan's banter as a distraction, I sighed and put my hands up in exasperation. "Nevermind. Forget I said anything."
I decided to not press it any further. I can try bringing this up another time.
There was a tap on the chessboard, Bennett had moved the queen piece across the board. "You're not telling the whole truth, Naomi."
Apparently, another time is right now.
I scoffed, putting my hands on the table, I stood up from my seat. "You're one to talk," I told him. "You should know since you lied to me about a stupid paper."
He stood up from his chair, his eyes never leaving mine. Surrendering to the intimidation, I looked away, tsking to myself.
He held a steady tone. "We will talk about that later. Don't try to change the topic."
Through gritted teeth, I said, "I don't know what you're-"
"You're contradicting yourself, Naomi," Bennett told me.
I narrowed my eyes at him. "Contradicting myself how?"
"I also didn't believe that the plan was going to work."
"Are you kidding me?" Jordan asked in disbelief, scrubbing his face down with his hand.
"Despite that, neither of us were going to say anything because at least you weren't getting seriously hurt," Bennett explained. "You're suddenly saying all of this, but still refuse to end this plan yourself. You don't want to end the plan, you want us to."
I gave him a wry smile. "Nothing gets past you, huh, Bennett? What can I expect from my research partner?"
Jordan stood up from his seat, his hands hitting the table. "Are you serious, Naomi?" Jordan asked. "Why did you want us to call off this plan?"
"And don't say it's because of our reputations," Declan told me, "because we all know it's not just because of that."
I stood up from my seat, now pacing the floor. "You know what this plan is actually doing? It's not just ending the bullying for me. All this plan did was change its target. If I can't be bullied because of you guys, the bullies will find someone else. Other people are being bullied because of this."
Jordan sighed. "I mean, okay, I get that it kind of sucks but what did you think will happen? This is Operation Stop Naomi from Bullying, not Operation End Bullying Entirely."
I let out a laugh. "Said the self-proclaimed optimist."
"I am an optimist," Jordan argued. "I'm optimistic that the operation was going to work because we kept the goal simple."
"Besides, so what if a couple of people are being bullied?" Jordan asked. "Remember Eric with a 'c' and Erik with a 'k', the guys you said bullied you? Well, they're being messed with the baseball team. I like to call it karma with a 'k'."
"Wow, Jordan. You're right. That's amazing," I told him brightly before the brightness instantly vanished off my face. "Until innocent people are being bullied. Like Erinma!"
"This is a library!" The librarian reminded us in a harsh whisper. "Keep your voices down."
I exhaled and looked at Jordan who looked stunned at what I just threw at him. He stumbled back, now leaning against the table and scratching his head. "I... I didn't know... I didn't think that..." He faltered.
"None of us did," I told him quietly.
Declan stood up from his chair and looked at me. "Then end the plan, Naomi," Declan told me.
"No," I said defiantly despite how my voice wavered. "You end it."
I gritted my teeth. "How could I be the one to end it? We went through all this trouble. Your reputations suffered. Now other people are being bullied. What are we going to do when we just end it and suddenly start acting like the best of friends? I-" I stopped, putting my hand on my face and forcing out a laugh. "I don't know what's going to happen. I always thought I could tell what's going to happen next, but I just can't. I don't want to be the one to end this plan and find out, and I know you're all thinking the same thing."
At the looks of their faces, I knew. We dug ourselves into this hole and had no way to climb out without getting hurt or hurting someone else.
"Now that I revealed my diabolical plan, will you end this?" I demanded.
"No," the three of them said together.
"I'm glad to see we're all stubborn idiots," I said dryly.
"You're always concerned about others, but never yourself," Declan told me.
I stopped at his words. "It's funny. I'd say the exact opposite."
"And the same goes for you, Declan," I said. "Did that bruise of yours heal well? You know, the bruise you got on purpose because of some blind guilt by a simple wrist grab?"
Declan narrowed his eyes at me. "It was more than just-" He stopped himself. "You say that, but from the very beginning to now you keep telling us that we should just leave you to fend for yourself."
"And you should," I countered. "You should just... leave. Just end this and leave. Save what's left of your reputations. This would have never happened if you just left me alone like I told you to. Find another pity case to befriend."
Jordan gave me a sad smile. "Don't be like that Naomi. I know things seem really bad right now, but we'll work it out." His hand reached out to me.
A hand slapped me across my face, my skin stung.
A hand grabbed my breast and roughly squeezed.
A hand shoved me against the wall, I wince in pain.
I flinched and smacked Jordan's hand away.
We were all just standing there, not daring to even breathe out a word. My eyes flitted to Bennett and Declan who were frozen in place. Jordan slowly looked down at his hand in disbelief.
"Did... Did you just..." He looked back up at me. "I wasn't going to hurt you. I would never-" He stopped, knowing that wasn't true. "I wasn't going to hurt you."
"I know," I assured him, assured myself. "I know that. I know you weren't. I don't know why I just... I don't know why I did that."
"You sure you still don't want to end this?" Declan asked me quietly.
"This was just an accident," I argued. "This doesn't change anything."
"This changes everything, Naomi," Bennett told me.
"I-I just... I just don't want to see any more good people getting hurt for helping me."
"Any more?" Bennett asked. "For helping you?"
Why did I say that?
"I can't believe I ever helped you!" She exclaimed, her voice hoarse after crying so much for so long. "They were right about you, Naomi! You deserve it! You deserve to be bullied!"
I took a step back. "I have to go. I'm- I'm going to go." I grabbed the book off the table then walked away.
"Naomi, wait just-"
"Shh!" The librarian told him as I left the library.
-
What's wrong with me? Why did I just do that? Jordan is my friend, not my bully. I mean, yes, he's my fake bully, but we all know that it's fake. We all know.
I stopped myself when I suddenly heard the sound of arguing coming from the direction I just walked after leaving the library. Arguments aren't exactly rare in a high school and I would have ignored it if I hadn't recognized someone's voice.
"You know what will be a great idea? If we all just walk away right now," someone pressed. "C'mon man, we have to find her."
"No," another said, "I want to hear what this pendejo thinks he can say to me. Now speak."
It wasn't exactly the best group of people you want to see together. The first two lines were said by Jordan and Declan, respectively, while Bennett stood there in silence. Standing opposite of them Raymond and his small gang of goons.
Raymond smirked. "Why are you talking like that? Are you used to being talked to like a dog?"
Declan crossed his arms. "When I said speak, I meant something worth hearing, not this carajo."
"I was just waiting for a special guest to be able to learn more about you."
My backpack was yanked backward then roughly forward. I turned to see that it was some baseball player, I think his name was Raul, who was the perpetrator. I was practically dragged to the scene and then pushed towards Bennett who stopped me from falling forward by catching me in his arms. The two of us looked at each other before instantly moving away. I awkwardly patted imaginary dust off my clothes.
"I didn't know I was that special to you, Raymond," I told him with a smile.
"You should give yourself more credit," he responded back, mirroring my smile.
Suddenly, someone pushed Raymond away to stand in front of Declan. "You sure are a hypocrite, Lynch," Aiden said with a smirk.
I mean, Adrian. I really need to stop doing that. Adrian, Adrian, Adrian.
"What are you talking about?" Declan asked dryly.
"You made this big show to put me and Marco in our place when all along you wanted Naomi for yourself. You should learn how to share your toys, Lynch."
Declan narrowed his eyes at him. "You don't even know what you're talking about. I already beat you up. Don't make me do it again."
"You know what, you're wrong, Adrian," Marco told him. "This guy knows how to share... with the other transfers that is."
Declan shook his head, smiling to himself. "You sure got cojones for trying to start something again after you ran away with your tail between your legs last time. You a masochist?" He asked with a smirk.
Marco gritted his teeth. "Vai se foder!" He snapped at Declan.
"The hell you just say to me?" Declan demanded.
Marco rolled his eyes. "It's Brazilian Portuguese for you to go fu-"
Deescalate. Deescalate. Deescalate.
I let out a forced chuckle. "Oh look, the bell," I blatantly lied. "Let's all leave and-"
"The men are talking here," Adrian told me with a glare.
"Wow!" I said with a laugh, shaking my head in disbelief. "I didn't know I could time travel since I'm apparently in 1848." Since I'm here, I should go attend the Woman's Rights Convention in Seneca Falls. Hopefully, we make some progress there.
Declan glared at him. "Don't you dare talk to her like that or else-" He stopped.
"Guess Declan's paying for dinner," Jordan grumbled under his breath.
A sick smile appeared on Raymond's face. "Or else what, Lynch? Or else you're going to beat them up for being mean to your little girlfriend?"
"No," Jordan cut in while wearing a smile. "What my fellow bully here meant is that only he can say sexist stuff to Naomi." He let out a weak chuckle.
Raymond laughed to himself. "Drop the act."
We all looked at Jordan at his attempt to save what was left of the plan. "What? I tried. It's Declan's fault. I'd like you to see how you can do better."
"If you really aren't friends, then you wouldn't mind if I did this-" Raymond suddenly moved forward and snatched my book out of my hands.
"Don't worry, I'm not really physically hurting your exclusive bully victim, I'm just helping you out by softening her up for you," Raymond told them.
"I swear Myers, give that book back," I snapped at him. "It's from the school library."
"The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas," Raymond mused as he read the book's cover aloud. "I remember reading this for a book report back in I think freshman year."
"Great. We now know you can read. Now give it back."
"You know, you guys are so close, you can be the three musketeers," he said with a grin before pointing at each of the transfers one by one. "Frazier can be musketeer one since he's apparently rich enough to be that, Wallace could be two, but only because Lynch over here will be number three because it's fitting for him to be dead last."
"But if little Lorraine here was in your group, she can be the fourth musketeer like Detergent."
I stopped. "Do you mean the main protagonist D'Artagnan? Are you sure you actually read the book?"
Raymond frowned then opened the book up and roughly grabbed hold of a couple of pages.
"I take it back, I take it back," I said quickly. "Just let it go. It's innocent. It's me you want."
"Why only now did I realize I could have been using your love of books against you like this? Just imagine the library I could have ruined just to see you like this."
I gritted my teeth. "Don't you dare, Raymond. I swear I'm going to-"
Raymond didn't even give me the chance to finish. I watched in horror as he tore pages out of the book. I moved to charge forward but Jordan grabbed my arm and pulled me back. I hated that he did this but I knew that I couldn't do anything if I tried to retaliate against Raymond like that.
"You- You book murderer! Book killer!" I cried out. "That was rented! How could I ever step foot in a library again? I curse you with paper cuts in everything you touch and for you to lose your page with anything you read if you could actually read!"
Raymond burst out laughing and tossed the corpse of the book aside. I stared in utter disbelief at the paper carcass with its remains scattered on the ground.
"We started picking up what's been happening the last couple of days," Raymond explained, having moved on from the murder. "But I have to give you guys credit for the dedication. Too bad you guys are actually friends or else you wouldn't be caught being friendly with each other. I can't believe you actually pretended to be bullies just to protect her."
He looked at me. "I don't know why you did though. Little Lorraine here deserves to be bullied after all. Did you really think I was that stupid?"
"Yes," I told him with a tone questioning why I had to answer something so obvious. Raymond frowned at that.
"So what are you going to do now, Raymond?" I demanded, stepping in front of him. "You're going to bully me again? I already prepared myself. The last two weeks were great. Nothing you can do will break me especially since I just have a year left in this hell now that I know what freedom feels like."
He smiled at me. "When did my little Naomi become so conceited?" Raymond mused. "My attention isn't at you right now, but be patient and wait your turn."
I frowned. "What?"
Raymond pushed me aside and stood in front of Declan, wearing a smirk. "I told you to start counting your days. How long has it been? Twelve, thirteen days?"
Three chapters?
"So I'm getting a quarterback's attention?" Declan asked dryly. "Am I supposed to be honored or something?"
Raymond's smile didn't falter. "Let's just say that after our little disagreement at the nurse's office, I've been wanting to make you learn your place."
"What a surprise, we're learning in school. If you wanted to start something that badly, why did you wait until now, especially since you said that you figured out we've been pretending to bully Naomi this entire time?"
"That's because I was waiting for some valuable information on you," Raymond said nonchalantly.
Declan cracked a smile, not buying into a bluff. "What information?"
"Just something from a guy I know in... Marshall View High. You know, your and Wallace's old high school."
Declan dropped the smile on his face. Jordan muttered a curse under his breath.
Raymond chuckled to himself. "It was actually by chance I found out you used to go there through someone I play basketball with on the weekends. Anyway, you couldn't imagine the stuff I learned about the two of you there. Too bad I didn't learn anything about Frazier."
Jordan and Declan shared a look. Then Jordan gave Raymond a smile. "Well, I doubt you learned anything interesting enough-"
"Don't worry Wallace," Raymond assured him. "I don't have anything against you. The problem I have is with Lynch over here."
Declan said nothing.
"Declan Lynch the stain of Marshall View- everyone knows you exist but can't seem to get rid of you," Raymond said with a chuckle. "The lone wolf, good at sports but bad in temper."
"Careful Myers, that's my ego you're inflating," Declan told him in a low tone.
"I mean, it was really bad in middle school for you, wasn't it?" Raymond questioned, cocking his head to the side to study Declan. "Fights, detentions, suspensions. You scared everyone, even teachers."
He continued, "But you got better in high school, and became a different person once you transferred into Dartwell. So much so that even my friend didn't believe we were talking about the same guy. Then again, where else will you meet a Mexican named Declan."
"Wait a minute," Raymond said, thinking deeply to himself. "Your name isn't even Declan. That's why it doesn't make sense. Although, all of Dartwell knows it after your calculus class despite your little warning, Rafael."
Declan froze at the name but suddenly took a huge breath and exhaled. Then he gave Raymond a cold smile. "I know your game Myers and I'm not going to play it. I suggest a different strategy."
"You underestimate me, Declan Lynch, or should I say... Rafael Navarro-Álvarez."
Raymond didn't even give him the chance to recover when he threw out, "Quite the mouthful so I don't blame you for changing it, but why did you actually change your name? Is it because of your underground fights and how you killed someone? Are you under witness protection with all of your anger issues? No, it's neither of those things."
"It's because you're adopted."
His words hung in the air. I glanced at Bennett and Jordan and could tell from their faces that they knew. I looked back at Declan and saw his whole body was shaking. When I looked at Raymond and his gang, five in total, I didn't like the odds that we were outnumbered especially with some student-athletes.
Suddenly, I heard laughter and that laughter came from Declan. His laugh was startling, it shook you but kept you standing. His shoulders shook as he laughed before he slowly calmed down. Declan ran his fingers through his hair and gave Raymond a smile.
"Thanks for the good laugh, Myers," Declan told him and I realized that his smile didn't reach his eyes. "That's your ace up your sleeve? You're not the first guy who thinks he has something to blackmail with. You think saying my original name or bringing up my past will do anything?"
Raymond wasn't smiling anymore as Declan continued, "I set up the bait that I hate my name for a reason, for someone like you to think you can do something about it. Go ahead and spread the word, it'll only work in my favor. No one's going to want to mess with the stain of Marshall View High."
Declan gave him a cold smile and walked up to Raymond to point at his chest. "Now that your little show and tell is over, let me tell you something. I'm going to beat you and your pride up, and I will enjoy every moment of it. Once everyone finds out that I was able to put the so-called star quarterback in his place, no one will ever dare touch the four of us" he said with a smile before it vanished as he told him darkly, "So I'll see you in the parking lot, afterschool."
The weight of the atmosphere fell upon all of us at Declan's words. Raymond was taken aback, stunned that his plan to rile up Declan had failed leaving his backup to shuffle uneasily not knowing what to do.
Raymond narrowed his eyes at Declan then suddenly cracked a smile. "Why should we wait at all?" He asked before his smile dropped as he threatened, "I can beat you up before the bell even rings."
"I'd rather have all the time in the world with no one to stop me when I'm kicking your ass," Declan threw back. "As you know from stalking me, I've dealt with guys like you looking to pick a fight before. We're settling this afterschool."
Raymond gritted his teeth, but said nothing. It seemed like we would be able to part ways without any more trouble. He glanced back at the guys behind him, motioning his head to the side to signal them that they're leaving.
Declan exhaled and wore a satisfied smile. He turned to look at the three of us with his face clearly showing that everything was going to be alright. But when Declan did so, he wasn't able to see Adrian moving forward, pushing Raymond out of the way, and threw a punch and connected to Declan's jaw. Declan was stunned for a moment, but not by the weight of the punch but the action itself. He slowly turned to look at Adrian, massaging his jaw.
It's funny.
You watch those shows, see those movies, read those books, and it's true. Everything, everyone was moving in slow motion. I had half a mind to take off my glasses, clean the lens, and put them back on.
Declan grabbed the front of Adrian's shirt, yanking him forward and punching him across his face to knock him down to the ground. He wasn't able to even get the chance to breathe when Raymond grabbed him into a hold.
When I looked at the others, I saw that Marco slammed Bennett backward onto the lockers while the baseball player Raul kneed Jordan in the stomach making him double over in pain.
There were five of them. Raymond, Marco, Adrian, Raul, and one more. I can't remember his name. For some reason, the name Sam comes to mind. I'll go with Sam. I saw him backing Raymond up as he held back Declan's arms while Adrian was still recovering from the ground. Five against four, two against one.
I shouldered off my backpack and charged without thinking. I swung my backpack with whatever strength I had, using the momentum of my backpack that carried one textbook, two notebooks, a binder, a water bottle, and a pencil case onto Sam's head. It was barely enough to loosen his hold for Declan to break free and punch Sam in the stomach.
"Naomi, get away from-" Declan yelled out before being cut off when Raymond punched him.
Declan cursed Raymond in Spanish, a phrase I didn't know and didn't want to know. He held the fabric of Raymond's jacket to return a punch back. The momentum of the punch had them fall to the ground, now wrestling with each other to gain the upper hand.
I turned to see that Sam had a speedy recovery and glared at me, having found a target.
I gave him a sheepish smile. "You're really strong, Sam," I complimented, my voice wavering.
He didn't return a smile back. "It's Samuel. Only my friends call me Sam."
I chuckled weakly before abruptly throwing my backpack at his face and running away. Samuel easily knocked it away and grabbed the back of my shirt to yank me backward. The two of us tumbled onto the ground and we struggled for the upper hand. Despite him pulling at my hair, I managed to look down in disgust when I saw his hand on my chest. I yelled out before I shoved his hand away.
I felt a sharp pain at my side and figured he was able to land a hit there. However, I returned the favor and managed to elbow him in the stomach right where Declan had punched him. I flipped around and wildly kicked in his direction, my shoe landing right between his legs making him yell out a curse. I scrambled away on the floor, but Samuel managed to grab my ankle and pull me back, making me hit my chin against the ground.
Backpack.
My lovely backpack. It has done a great service to me over the years, carrying all of my stuff. We've been through so much together. I reached out but barely grazed the strap. Suddenly, Jordan kicked my backpack towards me before going back to his scuffle with Raul.
I fought to find the zipper of my backpack before yanking it open. I then threw its contents at him. A binder. Two notebooks. A textbook. A water bottle. A pencil case. Then the backpack itself.
"Leave! Me! Alone!" I yelled with each item I threw.
I learned the hard way that throwing school items don't exactly hurt a person. It just makes them angrier.
I had barely managed to stand up and braced myself when I saw Samuel charging at me. However, he was interrupted when Jordan tackled him to the ground. I looked around to see that Raul staggered forward on his feet as he nursed his face with drops of red lining down his hand.
Roll call. Jordan against Samuel. Raul was stunned. Declan on the ground with Raymond. Bennett pinning Marco against the lockers but Adrian walking towards him.
Adrian reached Bennett first, grabbing Bennett's shoulder to let Marco go. Bennett whipped around and grasped the front of Adrian's shirt and punched him, knocking him down. But just as he did, Marco recovered and managed to hold Bennett's right arm behind his back.
"Let's see if your rich boy rumors are true. Pay me to not break your arm."
I shoved past Raul, making him fall to the ground. Then I used both of my hands to grab hold of Marco's jacket and yanked him off of Bennett. Our height difference had to be acknowledged given that I'm 5'3" and he's clearly above that. This meant that I practically missed punching his face and only connected to his chin before ending at his shoulder.
I grasped my wrist tightly, looking down at my hand that was throbbing in pain. "Pucha," I hissed out.
Note to self: you're a lover, not a fighter.
Bennett looked at me in disbelief before he moved past me to get revenge on Marco. He grasped the collar of his jacket and pushed him to the ground.
Before I could recover, my hair was yanked back that I thought it was going to be ripped out of my head. I cried out, desperately trying to clasp any clumps of my hair to do some sick version of tug-of-war. I decided to move backward, stumbling as I did so because of the force on my head, and fell back onto my opponent: Adrian.
I managed to move off of him, but now we were on the ground fighting to connect a hit and stand up. He shoved my face back with his hand and I blindly kicked him at him. When I smacked his hand away, I saw that I was able to kick him square on the chest. I crawled away from him and saw one of my notebooks next to me.
"Hey, Lorraine!"
I turned around to see Adrian now standing up with a smirk on his face. He then held up something in his hand. I squinted at it.
Oh no. I squinted at it.
He dropped my glasses onto the ground and crushed it underneath his shoe.
"Try seeing now, Velma."
"My glasses, my glasses," I cried out, blindly patting the floor to find them.
When I heard him laugh, I cut him off. "I'm nearsighted, gago!" I shouted at him before hurling a notebook at his face with perfect aim.
I scrambled back to my feet and ran out of Adrian's line of sight before he recovered from my calculus notes. I looked to see that Bennett was still locked in a hold with Marco, trading blind side punches at the other. Jordan was able to push Samuel backward to have him slam against Marco, giving Bennett the upper hand to connect a hit.
There was a large bang and I saw Declan had just smashed Raymond's head against the lockers. Raymond leaned against the lockers to keep himself standing as his hand clutched the side of his head. Declan suddenly pinned Raymond's shoulder against the lockers and punched him in the stomach, making Raymond crumple to the ground. Declan wiped his bloody nose with the back of his hand and spat on the floor.
Then I saw Raul. He wiped the blood dripping off his nose with his sleeve before pulling Jordan into a chokehold while Jordan was still fighting against Samuel. I ran to Jordan and tried to grab hold of Raul's arm to loosen his grip on Jordan while simultaneously kicking at him. I yelled at Raul to let go of him when Bennett punched Raul straight in the nose, giving Jordan the chance to break free and stumble forward. Bennett knelt down to check with Jordan before Marco grabbed Bennett by his sleeve and pulled him away. Declan was on Samuel, holding him down as he punched his side.
Jordan turned to his side to hold Raul down, striking his face as Raul clawed Jordan to get off of him. Samuel moved to help Raul, but Declan put him into a half chokehold as Samuel managed to kick Declan into loosening his grip. They were locked, struggling to keep hold of each other, using their free limbs to either punch or kick.
Someone grabbed the back of my shirt and slammed me to the ground. I felt my head spinning from the impact and fought weakly as Adrian put his knee on top of my stomach, pinning me to the ground. I managed to scratch his face before he grabbed hold of my hand and pushed it against the floor while the other gripped my neck.
"I've been wanting to do this to-"
Adrian never finished his sentence when Bennett dragged him off of me. Bennett slammed Adrian into the ground just as Adrian did to me, then struck his head with his fist. Bennett looked at me, his eyes searching if I was alright. I coughed, clutching my neck. He moved towards me to check on me, but at his distraction, Marco grabbed Bennett off of Adrian ready for another fight.
I looked to see that Raymond was standing up from the ground, doubled over to nurse his stomach. I walked towards him, scooping up the corpse of my book off the ground, then began hitting Raymond with my book. With each hit, I yelled out, "This! Is! For! My! Book! You! Book! Killer!"
Raymond smacked my arm away and pushed me back. I managed to regain my balance then threw the book at his shoulder. "Knowledge hurts!" I yelled at him. He ignored my attempt to grab his attention and he charged at Declan.
I knew this was never going to end. With the four of us outnumbered, we were constantly having to switch between opponents whenever we saw someone struggling. We were stuck in an endless cycle and I knew we had to find a way to stop it.
I couldn't run off to find a teacher. Then it would be five against three and I would come back with the transfers knocked out or worse. It's not like I'm being of any real help to them, but I didn't want to take my chances.
I couldn't pull down the fire alarm either because I couldn't imagine the punishment I'll get if I disrupted the entire school for just a fight. Then I decided on the next best thing. Well, not exactly the best, but you know what I mean.
Using the random piece of information my brain decided to keep in its memory, I ran down the hall to the nearest one I could find. I scanned down the label and gritted my teeth. B, CO2, toxic. I knew that there should be another one in this hall. I ran back, grimacing at the sight of the fight scene knowing just me leaving it was a bad idea. Jordan looked up from his fight with Samuel and looked at me in confusion.
I was able to find the other one and read the label. A, water, safe. I pulled on the handle and took it out of the box and was immediately surprised by the weight of the device. Struggling with its weight and clunky size, I ran back to them and set it on the ground. As a bookworm, I hated speedreading, but I knew I had to do my best to read all of its instructions.
Fire extinguishers. As its name explains, it's a device to extinguish or control small fires. There are several types of fire extinguishers. Type B uses CO2 or a dry chemical shown as some white foam for flammable liquids such as oils or gasoline. The fumes are toxic to a person whether it's inhaled or on their skin. Type A, however, uses water to put out fires that started from things such as paper, cloth, or wood. After a final check of the label, the date of the last inspection, hazards, and instructions, I exhaled.
"This is my first and only warning!" I yelled out. "Stop fighting!"
Why did I expect a group of men to listen to a woman?
I took a couple of steps back, estimating it as a few meters. I pulled out the safety pin then aimed the nozzle at the ground. Then I squeezed the lever and instantly had to fight against the force of the water coming out of the nozzle. With a couple of presses of the lever, I adjusted to it before beginning.
What? Of course, I'm going to be cautious.
Armed with the fire extinguisher, I squeezed the lever and waved the nozzle that shot out a jet of water at all of them. Immediately they separated from each other, some even slipping backward from the wet floor. When I stopped using the extinguisher, I looked at my work. Samuel and Raul were on the ground groaning, having slipped from the water. Bennett looked down at his soaked clothes pulling the fabric of his shirt that stuck to his chest. Adrian scratched his hair with both of his hands in frustration and kicked a puddle of water. Jordan struggled to stand up from the ground, using a locker handle to help him. Marco scrubbed a hand down his face and winced at the bruise forming on his face. Declan abruptly punched a locker and muttered curses in Spanish under his breath. Raymond peeled his wet varsity jacket and threw it on the ground before glaring at me.
I pointed the nozzle at Raymond and sprayed another jet of water at him. "What's wrong with you, spasti?" He yelled at me.
"I hate you, gago!" I spat at him.
"What... What is the meaning of this?" A voice asked quietly.
We all slowly turned to see the last person we wanted to see.
Principal Larsson took slow steps in her heels with clicks tapping against the floor being the only thing filling the silence. She looked at the view. Water dripped down the lockers and puddles scattered down the hall. Eight guys drenched in water who were bloody, beaten up, or both. Then her eyes landed on me, the sole girl who was carrying a fire extinguisher. I awkwardly placed the fire extinguisher down and sidestepped away from it.
"Office," she muttered.
She looked at us and shouted out, "Did the water clog your ears? All of you! Go to my office! Right now!"
The bell rang, marking the end of lunch.
~
This was so fun to write! What did you guys think? Wow, I'm a sadist. This is amazing!
I chose the song "The Great Divide" because even though the song has "divide" it in, they also talk about this opportunity to "recombine" which I felt could represent the main four.
What did you think of the restroom scene? First Carmen then Erinma.
When I wrote that one scene with Jordan and Naomi in the library, I screamed. I was so happy that I was able to write that well. If it was like a movie, you would see these flashbacks but I didn't know how to accurately write it out and connect it to the present with good flow.
Also I'm pretty proud of the fight scene. It's been a long time since I wrote one. I did my best to keep paragraphs short so it won't be so long and winding. Fight scenes are supposed to be fast-paced.
For once, I made the chapter shorter than the past few so I'm going to drop some random behind-the-scenes or bloopers. These will also include ones I wrote on Twitter for Chapter 6.
- Chapter 6 Stuff -
(Bennett watching the teacher take out his report and show it to Naomi)
Bennett: (In his head) Cazzo
-
(Bennett playing chess with Jordan)
Bennett: (To himself) Naomi is a better opponent
-
(Bennett receiving Jordan's text telling him to head home by himself)
Bennett: (Muttering) Cazzo
-
(Jordan watching the basketball team in their practice game)
Jordan: (Thinking to himself) 5, 7, eh 4, ooh an 8
-
(Declan taking off his jacket)
(Jordan plays Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get It On" on his phone)
(Everyone bursts out laughing)
-
(Declan playing basketball but suddenly tripping)
Jordan: (Jumping up from his seat with his hands in the air, yelling) Yes! He broke his face!
-
(While Jordan and Naomi are painting together)
Jordan and Naomi: (Singing offkey) Near, far, wherever you are.
- Chapter 7 Stuff -
(After talking with Naomi)
Rachel, Alyssa, and Trisha: (To themselves) Am I bi? Naomi is a nerd and she's right a lot...
Alyssa: (To herself) That would make a lot of sense...
Meanwhile...
(Jordan being both mad and proud of Naomi after the scene)
-
(Erinma slips from the puddle of water and bursts out laughing. Naomi and Carmen rush to help her up.)
-
(Naomi hits Raymond with a book.)
Raymond: (Suddenly winces and clutches his head) Ow! Wait, wait, wait- Stop!
Naomi: (Gasps) Oh my gosh. I'm so sorry. Are you alright? I thought I was doing it lightly.
Raymond: (Looks at her and sticks out his tongue playfully) Just kidding.
(Naomi hits Raymond with a book again.)
-
(Naomi accidentally sprays water onto herself. All of the actors and crew burst out laughing.)
Director Rubix: Take it from the top! Give Naomi some new clothes, please!
Anywho, here's the character profile for Raymond Myers. Enjoy!
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Name: Raymond Andrew Myers
Birthday: April 5
Height: 5'10" (178 cm)
Personality: ESTP-T
Ethnicity: German-Austrian descent (Mother/Father)
Appearance: Wavy dark blonde hair, short hairstyle sometimes gelled back, dark brown eyes, fair skin
Wardrobe: (Athleisure/Casual) Signature green-gold letterman jacket number 89, bomber jackets, simple tight-fitting shirts, casual trousers or joggers, athletic sneakers
Likes: Football, Almonds, Camping
Dislikes: Sweets, Ocean, Road Trips
Facts:
He once watched a long documentary about the ocean and hated the idea that we know more about space than the ocean. It makes his skin crawl of all of the things still hidden in the ocean or in the sand itself leading him to turn down invitations for beach trips most of the time.
After a nauseating long road trip, he went camping with his family and loved it. He now goes camping with his friends or family on holidays and is always preparing for the next one. He even follows camping vlogs.
He's quite the dedicated student-athlete and would enroll in football summer camps at other schools since Dartwell lacks one. He is currently talking to his coach to try to set up one so Dartwell can still have a decent football team after he graduates.
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Au revoir!
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