Evacuated

Nothing Crushes Us!

The next little while after that, Jess and I visited Terabithia everyday. We fought off enemies of Terabithia. "We rule Terabithia and nothing crushes us!" I yelled one day to the enemies, loud and clear. I gave Jess a strange...good strange look of approval after I had said it. He started acting all funny and changed the topic. "Nothing crushes us" became the motto of Terabithia. Because while we were there, nothing could crush us. No enemy could create a fear in us, insufficiencies were impossible to implant in us. We were unstoppable, and that alone was unstoppable in itself.

At school, Jess and I were the laughing stock of the fifth grade. Every time Scott Hoager passed Jess anywhere, he would start making beeping noises in sight of his "loser detector" which was only a dumb sound he made with his mouth. The only thing it really detected was his own stupidity. Boy, did I ever wish that kid could hear himself sometimes. Gary Fulcher threatened Jess as well and told him he was "dead meat" when Jess would even just stand there. Scott targeted me in terms of "living in a cave" and having no sense of contemporary society and modern day lifestyle. Gary Fulcher didn't bother me much. He found stability in having Jess as his only target. Scott would target anyone he could, which in my eyes, only makes him insecure. I'm betting so, anyway.

And that was just in our grade. The eighth grade girl, Janice Avery was not only my problem, but every grade under eighth's problem. She bullied anyone she could. Targeted people who did nothing but pass by her without handing her their lunch money. Jess told me that before I came here, she threw someone else's lunch at him on the bus. "Consider it a free lunch program, farmer boy" she smirked and had almost the entire bus laughing. One day while Jess and I were sitting in the bus, Janice walked by Jess and as she did, she fell onto the bus floor, the entire bus gasping her name. "Jess Aarons tripped me, on purpose!" she lied. The bus driver told him to "hit the road." "But he didn't do anything" I told. He didn't listen and Jess was forced to walk a mile all the way home. Except that wasn't the end. I sat by myself feeling a little uneasy, but I thought I was just being paranoid. Janice took someone's unused ketchup packets from their lunch that day and shot them across four rows off seats and covered me in ketchup. Her and her eighth grade girl group had the entire bus laughing at me. I couldn't wait to get off the bus. I tried not to think about it, or make any sudden movements Janice could use against me. When it came to our stop, May Belle and I jumped off the bus. I told her to just go inside and that I would be fine. She smiled and hustled her little self back to her farm. I sat down at the bus stop and waited for Jess to get back after being dropped off. "What happened to you?" Jess asked, on the verge of laughter when he finally got back. "Janice Avery is a very talented person" I told um. "She can shoot ketchup packets over four rows of seats" I explained. Jess laughed. "Can I wash up at your house? My mom sees this and she'll be all over the principal and everything and my life will be over" I claimed.

School wasn't easy for either of us. We had no other friends next to each other and so it was pretty hard. The only teacher that took a liking to either of us was Ms. Edmunds, the music teacher. Jess has this thing for her like I do for the outdoors. She was the only person he'd show his drawings to voluntarily. He really liked her and she had this thing for him as well. The way Jess acted around her made me laugh inside. Other than that, school was pretty tough. Mrs. Myers didn't like Jess specifically because his 15 and 16-year-old sisters, Brenda and Ellie had given her a hard time years before when they were in the fifth grade. You are who you are - not your parents, or your sisters. I didn't think it was fair, but hey, life's not fair.

Terabithia was an escape for both Jess and I. There were no mean fifth graders, Janice Avery's or biased teachers to tell us what to do. We were in power and anything we wanted worked out for us. We defeated enemies of Terabithia and with the giant troll on our side after saving Jess from horrible injury that could've lasted a lifetime, we had even more strength than before. Jess and I would talk about anything in Terabithia. We could do anything and say anything. We trusted each other with anything that came either of our way. We were inseparable.

We went to Terabithia everyday. Everyday was a new one where we'd discover more hidden secrets about the magical kingdom. And the best part is, it was all ours. Everyday after school, Jess'd pass his bag off to May Belle, who'd take it home for him. I'd drop mine in front of the trees surrounding the gates of my house and we'd be off. Everyday. That's how it was everyday. Nothing changed and that is what made it so special. Because nothing crushes us. And nothing ever would.