How to Kill a Man in Thirty Seconds

Chapter 4: A Day in the Life of a High schooler

PRESENT

I trudged down the school hallway, feeling weightless and contented. It was Friday morning and with the knowledge that the weekend was just within my reach, there was a slight skip in my step. Weekends brought forth evenings in the park with Lily and a few idle hours to bury myself in a good book. There was absolutely nothing that could dampen my mood.

"Charley!" I jerked my head on hearing the cheerful voice, just in time to spot my Brian bolting down the corridor towards me, a wide grin lighting up his face. "You are coming tonight, right?" he asked as soon as he reached me, panting.

"Huh?" my brows furrowed in confusion as I grinned apologetically at him, "For what?"

"Of course. You forgot," my other best friend Oliver stated jovially with a playful roll of his eyes as he swung his arm over Brian's shoulder.

Oliver towered over the both of us, his tousled blonde hair carefully styled as usual and his grey eyes crinkling at the corners as he grinned boyishly. Oliver was good looking, and he knew it. Unfortunately, as much as I adored his carefree personality, I knew much too well of his shallow idiosyncrasies and hormonal fantasies to ever see him as a man. Of course, Oliver knew that too and never failed to remind me how "relieved" he was to know that.

"Why am I not even surprised, Charley?" Oliver continued, "The party, remember?"

"Ooh!" I clamped my hand over my forehead, "Yeah, I'm so sorry, guys. I can't make it." I flashed them an apologetic grin. It wasn't my intent to be a mood killer but a pointless party in some douchebag's mansion wasn't exactly my cup of tea. If I had it my way, a pan of pizza and an entire season of Game of Thrones did the job much better.

"Ugh, you can be such a geek," Brian shook his head disapprovingly as he chuckled, "Class president. Captain of the football and debating team. Head of a whole frigging charity organization... you put the S in smartass, don't you, Charley?"

"Shut up Brian," I muttered as we began making our way to class. He only grinned, while Oliver winked at me, clearly entertained.

However, as the sounds of cheering amidst disgruntled yelling reached my ears, I stopped short. The uproar was coming from the left corridor and unable to suppress our curiosity, we veered off course, heading in search of the source of the din.

A large group of kids had formed a circle at the end of corridor, all of them staring- some in avid fascination while others in grim horror- at something or someone at the center of the clearing. My curiosity got the better of me and I veered past the mass of bodies before me to the front of the gathering, Brian and Oliver following my every move.

They were two boys.

They were currently engaged in a heated fight and I watched in disapproval as they threw punches furiously. They were brutal. One slammed the other against the lockers, and I could swear the entire row vibrated with the sheer brunt of the force. And yet, they advanced, their faces bruised, and their jaws clenched in what I assumed was testosterone driven fury. One of two, a boy I recognized as Luke Oakfield- a kid who was generally well behaved- had crimson blood seeping out of his busted lip but didn't even seem to have noticed.

By now, the crowd had turned silent as they stared in horror at what unfolded before their eyes.

"Woah, this is bad," Oliver muttered in horror next to me.

"You're dead, you worthless piece of shit!" Lucas roared as he brandished his fists at the other boy, his eyes mad with fury.

Dayuuum. Takes me back to the days of WWE. Caught up in the drama and too shocked myself to move, I turned my gaze to his opponent, awaiting his reaction. To my surprise, the boy raised his head and let out a hearty laugh. It was loud, almost hysterical and the sound of it sent a chill down my spine.