School was boring for Glitch. He was more intelligent than people really tended to know - he didn't want to move ahead in grades and move away from his only friend - Ben. Still, he cruised through school, easily passing the tests with a decent 75% score every time. Enough that he was getting good grades, but not to the point of being suspiciously smart. He had tried teaching Ben a few times, but at this point had just accepted it as impossible.
He sat next to Ben in class, so he could hear his friend muttering something - he wasn't sure what, but he had to guess it would be about their upcoming summer holiday. Ben had a camping trip plan and Glitch was invited. He knew Ben's grandpa Max was... eccentric, to say the least, but he never minded.
Glitch himself was looking at the teacher, only vaguely aware of how Ben had thrown a paper aeroplane at her. Frankly, Glitch didn't get the point of such pranks - sure they were harmless and could be funny but... Getting caught wasn't.
"And I just want to remind you that I will be teaching summer school this year and it's not too late to sign up." their teacher said. Glitch just scoffed, shaking his head as the bell finally rang. He perked up, grinning slightly as he began packing things into his bag. This holiday with Ben was the most exciting thing he had going on.
"YES! Outta here!" Ben cheered. Glitch began to walk towards the doors.
"Everyone, have a good vacation and I hope to see you again in the fall." the teacher said, before turning to Ben, "Benjamin, could I have a word with you before you go?"
"Told you." Glitch huffed, shaking his head, "I'll wait for you inside. Don't get into too much trouble without me?"
"Of course." Ben chuckled. Glitch strolled outside, leaning against the wall as he sighed, shaking his head. This wasn't the greatest start to the summer holidays, but then again, it was on Ben for throwing the paper aeroplane at the teacher. Not that Glitch was in the position to judge - he had pranked the teacher himself a couple of times, even if he was never caught. Unlike his friend, Glitch was smart at making sure it couldn't be tracked back to him.
It didn't take long for Ben to come out, looking annoyed. He didn't say anything as he walked towards the exit. Glitch sighed and followed after his friend. Outside the school, he saw the familiar faces of Cash and JT - the school's local bullies. They were harassing Jamie again. As much as Glitch tried to avoid them, Ben liked to try to play the hero. It never worked well.
"Leave him alone!" Ben shouted.
"Ben..." Glitch groaned, already knowing well how this would go out. He backed off a bit, not really in the mood to get lumped in with Ben's actions. Again.
"Get lost, shrimp." JT scoffed.
"I said back off!" Ben yelled back, glaring into JT as he tried to look as intimidating as possible. Glitch winced as Cash and JT stormed over.
"Oh, looks like we got us a hero. Suppose we don't wanna back off?" Cash asked, scoffing.
"What are you gonna do about it, Tennyson, Grace?" JT asked. Glitch growled slightly at his dead name, storming forward.
"That's not my name!" Glitch snarled. Ben charged towards the two, and after a second, Glitch followed. It went about as Glitch imagined, with the two of them (and Jamie) hung up in their tree by the underwear. At least Glitch had punched JT hard enough to cause a nosebleed. He was pretty proud of that.
"Thanks a lot." Jamie snapped.
"I was just trying to help," Ben said.
"Next time you wanna play hero, make sure you can back it up." Jamie huffed. Glitch glared into him slightly, before turning his attention to the Rustbucket as it drove up.
