In which Zac has His First Encounter with High School Danger
Chapter 7
In which Zac has his first encounter with high school danger
After we turn a corner, the hall is a lot emptier. I think for a moment about what just happened, and decide that it was probably better than confronting an algebra teacher with a phony slip. We managed to get Deirdre without acquiring a detention as well.
“Soo...” Deirdre says, “what kind of club is this? And where are we going?”
“We don’t know any more than you do,” Whinny replies curtly.
“Oh.” We’re all quiet for a minute, and then Deirdre says, “Y’know, your eyes are actually pretty cool. Why cover them up?”
I hesitate for a second, then give her the simple answer “None of your business.”
“You two sure are cold!” I can’t tell if she’s serious or just trying to lighten the mood. “I mean seriously, you practically let me embarrass you just to get me to come. You could at least try to talk to me. I’m not just some mindless clique zombie like the rest of them!”
“Is it really okay to talk about your friends like that?” Whinny asks, astonished.
“Oh, please, they’re not my friends. They’re more like pet chihuahuas who’ll do anything their owner tells them to do.” She notices the odd looks Whinny and I are giving her and says, “It’s the truth! They only hang around me for the publicity it gets them. Haven’t either of you... No, stupid question. You guys aren’t really the ‘popular’ type. You wouldn’t understand.”
I really don’t know what to say to that. Whinny says, “I didn’t think popular people understood that... The publicity thing, I mean. Don’t you at least want to pretend they’re friends?”
“I’m not a moron, Whinny. Ooh, speaking of names, I don’t know yours yet!” Deirdre turns toward me now.
“Zac,” I tell her, glad for a change of subjects. Girls’ social systems are too complicated.
“Hm,” she says, frowning. “Do I know you? Are you in any of my classes?”
“No, I’m just a freshman.”
“Mmhm. No wonder, Summer’s a freshman too. Whinny’s a sophomore like me, and... anyone else? You can’t be the only guy, Zac.”
“Actually, there is one other guy. His name’s Grey Martin. Heard of him?”
“Oh!” Deirdre seems to recognize the name. “Yeah, he went to my middle school. Um... is he doing okay?”
“Yeah,” I answer, more than a little confused. “Why do you ask?”
“No reason.” Well that was helpful. We continue walking down the hall, still not quite sure where we’re supposed to be going. I can tell both girls are thinking about something or another, so I don’t bother trying to start a conversation. Being quiet was fine with me.
We turn another corner and are suddenly face-to-face with five guys, all bigger (if not taller) than me. I can tell just from looking at them that they’re the “I don’t give a crap about school” kind of crowd. The kind that skip class, flunk tests, get held back, etc. Of course, they’re also the last guys you want to face alone in a hallway, because they sure don’t slack off when they cut class.
“Hey,” one says, leaning back against a locker. “Lookie here. This kid’s playin’ it up with them ladies. Hey, kid, tell us, they your bitches?” His friends laugh stupidly. “‘Cause you sure do seem a little young to get ‘em all to yourself. C’mon, kid, whaddya say? Huh?” He smirks and starts sizing me up.
I’m embarrassed out of this world. I’ve just met Whinny and Deirdre, and now we’re getting harassed by these mental cases. And there’s no way in hell I can win a scuffle against five buff guys who were raised fighting. I look down and let my hair fall over my face, starting to get really nervous.
“C’mon, kid,” the guy takes a step closer. “I asked ya a question, and I’m expectin’ a answer.”
“Shut the hell up.” It’s Whinny’s voice that saves me. It has a cold, threatening feel to it.
“Whaddya say, bitch?”
“She said,” Deirdre tells him with the same tone as Whinny’s voice, “to shut the hell up. You have no right to bully Zac. Also, we’re not his girls and there’s no way in hell we’d ever be yours, either.”
The bully’s groupies are furious at this. They start glaring at all three of us, and an uneasy silence settles over the hall. All of a sudden one of the bigger ones steps forward and takes a swing at Deirdre. Her eyes widen tremendously. What a dirty move, I think. He’ll even hit a girl. I move my hand out to greet his fist and grab it.
I look up into his piggy eyes. “Don’t you know not to hit girls? It’s against every humane law mankind has to offer.” I twist his arm. “Swear you won’t do it again.” He looks into my eyes (or at least what he can see of them) and gives me a look that could make babies cry. “I’ll take that as a ‘no’.” I twist his arm until it’s pinned to his back and then turn and knee him in the stomach. He topples over similar to the way I expect a tower would and his friends turn to glare at me.
“Zac, that was amazing and all, but what now?” Whinny asks frantically. They’re starting to close in on us.
“Run!” I whisper. We take off down the direction we came from. Although we can hear them yelling insults at us, we’re faster and smarter than them. There’s no way we’re turning around just because we’re being provoked.
After we’ve sprinted a healthy distance, we bend over and breath heavily; I think it’s more from terror than from fatigue.
“Zac,” Deirdre panted, “Thanks. That was great. Really. But don’t... do it again. Ever. You... had me... fearing for your life.”
“Still,” Whinny said, straightening up, “Zac, that was awesome. Where’d you learn how to do that?”
“Learn?” I say, puzzled. “I’ve never learned a single martial arts technique in my life. I just dodge a lot, hit the weak spots I know of, and get away.”
“Well, it was cool. Thanks.”
We all start laughing. There’s no reason to laugh, really, but it feels relieving to be out of there. We’re just laughing away our tension. Judging from today’s events, I’m in for an odd school year. Or maybe this is normal for high school, and I’m just inexperienced at this stuff. Ah, well.
In which Zac has his first encounter with high school danger
After we turn a corner, the hall is a lot emptier. I think for a moment about what just happened, and decide that it was probably better than confronting an algebra teacher with a phony slip. We managed to get Deirdre without acquiring a detention as well.
“Soo...” Deirdre says, “what kind of club is this? And where are we going?”
“We don’t know any more than you do,” Whinny replies curtly.
“Oh.” We’re all quiet for a minute, and then Deirdre says, “Y’know, your eyes are actually pretty cool. Why cover them up?”
I hesitate for a second, then give her the simple answer “None of your business.”
“You two sure are cold!” I can’t tell if she’s serious or just trying to lighten the mood. “I mean seriously, you practically let me embarrass you just to get me to come. You could at least try to talk to me. I’m not just some mindless clique zombie like the rest of them!”
“Is it really okay to talk about your friends like that?” Whinny asks, astonished.
“Oh, please, they’re not my friends. They’re more like pet chihuahuas who’ll do anything their owner tells them to do.” She notices the odd looks Whinny and I are giving her and says, “It’s the truth! They only hang around me for the publicity it gets them. Haven’t either of you... No, stupid question. You guys aren’t really the ‘popular’ type. You wouldn’t understand.”
I really don’t know what to say to that. Whinny says, “I didn’t think popular people understood that... The publicity thing, I mean. Don’t you at least want to pretend they’re friends?”
“I’m not a moron, Whinny. Ooh, speaking of names, I don’t know yours yet!” Deirdre turns toward me now.
“Zac,” I tell her, glad for a change of subjects. Girls’ social systems are too complicated.
“Hm,” she says, frowning. “Do I know you? Are you in any of my classes?”
“No, I’m just a freshman.”
“Mmhm. No wonder, Summer’s a freshman too. Whinny’s a sophomore like me, and... anyone else? You can’t be the only guy, Zac.”
“Actually, there is one other guy. His name’s Grey Martin. Heard of him?”
“Oh!” Deirdre seems to recognize the name. “Yeah, he went to my middle school. Um... is he doing okay?”
“Yeah,” I answer, more than a little confused. “Why do you ask?”
“No reason.” Well that was helpful. We continue walking down the hall, still not quite sure where we’re supposed to be going. I can tell both girls are thinking about something or another, so I don’t bother trying to start a conversation. Being quiet was fine with me.
We turn another corner and are suddenly face-to-face with five guys, all bigger (if not taller) than me. I can tell just from looking at them that they’re the “I don’t give a crap about school” kind of crowd. The kind that skip class, flunk tests, get held back, etc. Of course, they’re also the last guys you want to face alone in a hallway, because they sure don’t slack off when they cut class.
“Hey,” one says, leaning back against a locker. “Lookie here. This kid’s playin’ it up with them ladies. Hey, kid, tell us, they your bitches?” His friends laugh stupidly. “‘Cause you sure do seem a little young to get ‘em all to yourself. C’mon, kid, whaddya say? Huh?” He smirks and starts sizing me up.
I’m embarrassed out of this world. I’ve just met Whinny and Deirdre, and now we’re getting harassed by these mental cases. And there’s no way in hell I can win a scuffle against five buff guys who were raised fighting. I look down and let my hair fall over my face, starting to get really nervous.
“C’mon, kid,” the guy takes a step closer. “I asked ya a question, and I’m expectin’ a answer.”
“Shut the hell up.” It’s Whinny’s voice that saves me. It has a cold, threatening feel to it.
“Whaddya say, bitch?”
“She said,” Deirdre tells him with the same tone as Whinny’s voice, “to shut the hell up. You have no right to bully Zac. Also, we’re not his girls and there’s no way in hell we’d ever be yours, either.”
The bully’s groupies are furious at this. They start glaring at all three of us, and an uneasy silence settles over the hall. All of a sudden one of the bigger ones steps forward and takes a swing at Deirdre. Her eyes widen tremendously. What a dirty move, I think. He’ll even hit a girl. I move my hand out to greet his fist and grab it.
I look up into his piggy eyes. “Don’t you know not to hit girls? It’s against every humane law mankind has to offer.” I twist his arm. “Swear you won’t do it again.” He looks into my eyes (or at least what he can see of them) and gives me a look that could make babies cry. “I’ll take that as a ‘no’.” I twist his arm until it’s pinned to his back and then turn and knee him in the stomach. He topples over similar to the way I expect a tower would and his friends turn to glare at me.
“Zac, that was amazing and all, but what now?” Whinny asks frantically. They’re starting to close in on us.
“Run!” I whisper. We take off down the direction we came from. Although we can hear them yelling insults at us, we’re faster and smarter than them. There’s no way we’re turning around just because we’re being provoked.
After we’ve sprinted a healthy distance, we bend over and breath heavily; I think it’s more from terror than from fatigue.
“Zac,” Deirdre panted, “Thanks. That was great. Really. But don’t... do it again. Ever. You... had me... fearing for your life.”
“Still,” Whinny said, straightening up, “Zac, that was awesome. Where’d you learn how to do that?”
“Learn?” I say, puzzled. “I’ve never learned a single martial arts technique in my life. I just dodge a lot, hit the weak spots I know of, and get away.”
“Well, it was cool. Thanks.”
We all start laughing. There’s no reason to laugh, really, but it feels relieving to be out of there. We’re just laughing away our tension. Judging from today’s events, I’m in for an odd school year. Or maybe this is normal for high school, and I’m just inexperienced at this stuff. Ah, well.