Welcome to Reefside

Standing Up To Grant

Normal POV

An hour later, Edmund finishes talking about military customs and courtesies. He sets his note cards down and looks up at the class.

"Do you have any questions?" Edmund asks.

"Why did you decide to join the Navy?" Kira asks.

"I've always loved the ocean. I also wanted to follow in my father Thomas's footsteps." Edmund answers honestly.

Grant slowly raises his hand and asks, "Are you sure that you and Tracy are related? You are so strong, confident and cool. When Tracy is weak, shy and a loser."

Tracy quickly stands up and walks over to Grant. He sees a look on Tracy's face that he hasn't seen before. Her lips are tight, and her eyebrows are raised, making her look up to her left. She stands in front of him with her shoulders back, her feet at shoulder length apart, with her arms at her sides. Another student takes out his phone and starts recording the confrontation between Grant and Tracy.

"I've been ignoring all your comments since I knew that they weren't true. Why do you bully other students anyway?" Tracy asks.

Grant stands up and makes a fist with his right hand. He uses his other hand to rip Tracy's glasses off her face. He tosses them on the table before he throws his punch. The room fills with gasps of disbelief when Tracy uses her left hand to block Grant's punch. She brings her back behind her ear like she is throwing a softball. She brings her hand forward and lets go of Grant's first. The class gasps again, seeing Grant stumble backward before he lands on his butt.

'I can't believe that Tracy is going to fight Grant,' Conner thinks.

'Tracy is about to get her butt kicked,' Zoey thinks.

Tracy picks up her glasses and puts them back on. She backs up till she is in front of the counter. She knows that Grant is going to charge at her like a mad bull once he gets to his feet. A few seconds later, Grant gets to his feet and charges at her. She steps to her left causing him to stumble into the counter. She pivots to be in a better position to defend herself. Grant does a standing push up, so he would be standing up. He turns to face her and runs up to her again. This time, Grant grabs hold of her collar. He starts to twist it to choke her.

Tracy remembers one of the moves she learned from the self-defense portion of her karate and grabs hold of his wrist and twists it. The gasps of disbelief echo again when the class sees Tracy take down the school bully and pin him to the floor. Instead of using her knee to keep him from moving, she steps down on the corner of his shirt sleeve.

"I still would like you to answer my question," Tracy says.

"I want the other students to respect me," Grant answers.

"Haven't you learned by now that respect is something you earn? You can't demand someone to respect you." Tracy says.

Grant mumbles some colorful words because he has already heard this from a teacher who was in charge of detention the first time he got in trouble for bullying a first-year student during his sophomore year. He tries to escape by rolling from side to side. His sleeve starts to inch out from underneath Tracy's foot.

'Tracy has a black belt in karate. So, why isn't she using her skills to fight him,' Conner thinks.

Tracy looks over at her friends and winks at them. She takes her foot away, .and lets go of Grant's wrist. He rolls into the table where Cassidy and Devin are sitting. The bully snarls through his teeth as he gets to his feet. Instead of gasps, the room fills with snickers and giggles, so Grant looks down at his arm. He sees Cassidy's crystal blue purse hanging off his arm.

"Sorry, Grant, but this clashes with your outfit," Cassidy says, sliding it off the bully's arm.

Grant stomps up to her. She stands sideways to the counter. Instead of grabbing her collar again, he throws several punches right after another like a madman. Tracy continues to defend herself by using a modified version of the first basic katas she learned (She decides to omit the punches and kicks.) She steps back, pivots and alternates between her left and right low and high blocks. She also switches between her left and right front stances.

"You are a coward because you know karate but won't fight back." Grant taunts as he continues to throw a few more punches.

"I'm not going to fight just because you want me to. Believe me. You don't want me to use any of my moves against you." Tracy says.

A few seconds later, Tracy feels the heel of her shoe press up against the door. She realizes that she may have to use a few of her moves to get Grant to back up enough for her to be able to get into a better position to defend herself from his punches.

'I guess I have no choice but to fight him. I know I'm going to get in trouble for this too. I also have to remember not to use my dino power as well,' Tracy thinks.

She sees Grant step back a bit. He runs up to her, turns sideways and tries to kick her in the stomach. She turns to her left and gets ready to do a side snap kick. She bends her knee towards Grant and brings her leg out. Their shoes collide, and as she puts her leg down, Grant stumbles back again.

~Welcome To Reefside~

Principal Randall decides to check in on Edmund to make sure the students are behaving as they should be. She walks up to the classroom and quickly opens the door when she hears "Fight, Fight,' being chanted by the students inside. She walks in to see Grant tackle Tracy to the floor. She hits her head hard on the floor. She, Dr. Oliver and Edmund run up to them. She pulls Grant away as Edmund helps Tracy up.

"Are you alright, Cuz?" Edmund asks.

"I think so, but since when do you have a twin?" Tracy answers as she sees a double of her cousin.

Randall looks over at the student who recorded this on his phone. She gives him a death glare. He gets up from his stool and walks over to her.

"Thank you, young man. You can come to my office at the end of the day to pick it up," Randall says.

The student nods and goes back to his seat. Meanwhile, Edmund helps Tracy over to the table closest to them. Dr. Oliver walks over to them.

"I think we should go to the doctor to make sure you that you don't have a concussion," Edmund says.

"I can't leave now. It will ruin my chance of getting the perfect attendance award." Tracy argues.

"Sorry, Cuz, but a concussion is something that you just can't ignore," Edmund says.

"Edmund is right," Dr. Oliver says.

"Yes, while I talk with Grant, I'd like you to go see a doctor right now. Don't worry about your attendance record, Miss Burlew. I'll make sure that this will go down as an excused absence in your next class. Your perfect record will still be intact." Principal Randall says.

"Thank you," Tracy says.

Conner picks her books up off the table and brings them to her.

"Thanks, Conner," Tracy says.

"No problem," Conner says.

"Dr. Oliver, if it's okay with you, I'm going to need Conner's help," Edmund says.

"Sure, just come right back after you finished helping them," Dr. Oliver says.

Conner nods. They head to Tracy's locker while Grant and Principal Randall go to her office to discuss what happened in the classroom before she walked in.