The X + Y Files - Under Sasquatch Mountain

Chapter 1 - Space Boy

Xander poked his cold nose through the brittle bushes at the back of the vacant lot he'd cut through. The seventh grader had walked a full block and a half past the two-story house that he'd lived in since kindergarten. He looked down the alley both ways. A sigh of relief escaped his lips. The coast was clear. He took a big step over the ridge of ice and snow created earlier in the day by a snowplow. His house sat just two blocks from the school but lately it took him over half an hour to get home. The usual direct route had ceased to be a viable option.

As if the additional ridicule and jokes weren't enough, the bullying had also gotten worse. Mostly pushing and shoving, with lots of name calling thrown in for good measure. Last week he'd gotten his first black eye. More green and yellow than black, the eye looked more painful than it felt. Worse though, it had made his mother cry whenever she looked at it. All his former friends avoided him like the plague. Just being seen near Captain Kook, Moon Beam Bookman, or any of the hundred other creative names he'd heard, could get them labeled a freak, a nut job, or worse. When someone called him Jupider Stupider, Xander thanked his lucky stars that he and his step-dad hadn't been searching for Uranus that night. It didn't take long, of course, before Uranus jokes and names inevitably found him. He'd heard, "Hey Xander, maybe the UFO came from Uranus," at least fifty times in the last few days.

A half block to Fulton Street, then another half block down the next alley and he'd be home. Ahead a few steps, Xander spotted a big lump of snow that had tumbled off the ridge. He skipped forward and kicked it with his boot.

"G-o-a-l," he said, raising his arms in the air as the lump skidded across the smooth surface. Xander did a pirouette as he jogged over and kicked the soccer ball sized lump again.

"There he is!" The words sent a chill down his spine. Xander recognized the voice in an instant. Jason Bellamy - dumb as a post, but big and strong and athletic. Physically, he and Jason were opposites. Xander, skinny and unathletic, spent almost all of his spare time reading and playing Nintendo. A couple days earlier, during a geography exam, Jason had been caught copying answers over Xander's shoulder and somehow managed to blame Xander for that.

The twelve-year-old looked up and saw Jason and his buddy, Roger Nice, who typically did very little to live up to his last name. They stood at the end of the alley directly between him and his house. Xander's inner voice told him to turn and flee, just as he had the day before when they spotted him. His second and third instinct also told him to run, but he knew that he'd never outpace these two. Even if he'd been wearing sneakers like them, instead of the heavy rubber over-boots that his mother continued to force upon him all winter long, they'd still catch him. There would be no avoiding the trouble coming his way this time. Xander stood there and waited for the inevitable. At least he wouldn't give them the satisfaction of a chase.

An early reader with a high IQ had gotten him promoted ahead one year in school, but having been labeled a brainiac and being smaller than the rest of his classmates hadn't helped his social status very much. His father had been over six feet tall, but so far those genetics hadn't kicked in. His step-dad explained to Xander that bullies were cowards at heart, but as they drew near, neither of these boys looked afraid of him at all.

"Thanks for nothing, Spaceman!" Jason shoved Xander hard. Roger caught him and pushed the much lighter boy back in front of Bellamy. "I got an 'F', because of you."

"I didn't know..." Xander stammered. Behind him, Roger must have gotten down onto his hands and knees. Because this time when Jason shoved Xander he tripped and tumbled over the other boy, sprawling onto the hard snow. The back pack that had been slung over his shoulder skidded across the alley. As he scrambled back to his feet, Roger and Jason laughed and high fived each other.