#Schooled

Chapter 5

Jack stepped inside the locker room, listening to the buzz of voices. A strong smell hit his nose, one of rubber, sweat, and too much spray-on deodorant. His nose wrinkled.

"I know, right?" Kristoff said, "Usually this place doesn't start to stink until at least two weeks into the school year, but for some reason it's day two and it's just... Sour"

"It wouldn't be so bad if Hans and his friends weren't here. They're probably why it smells so bad." Jack told him, reaching for the lock on his locker so he could put in the combination.

He felt someone come up behind him, grabbing him by the shoulder with an iron grip.

"What was that?" Han's voice said lowly.

At first, Jack was stunned; only seconds ago he had been talking to Kristoff and now he was face to face with cold grey eyes. He recovered quickly, though, and set his jaw. His fists clenched.

"You heard me." Jack said. "By the way, nice trick you pulled yesterday. And by that, I mean cowardly. You'd think that a big, strong guy like you wouldn't force one of his buddies to take me out 'cause you're scared of confrontation."

The room went silent, except for Kristoff, who let out a low whistle.

"Have something to say?" Hans snarled, giving Kristoff a shove.

"Get off of him." Jack snapped, anger surging through him as he knocked Han's hand away from his friend. "He's a person, not a puppet you get to push around."

Han's scowl faded, and he laughed out loud. He was soon joined by his friends, who all chuckled in the background. Kristoff lowered his gaze to the ground.

"You must be foreign if you think that's true. Everyone in this dump of a school is a puppet, Frost. And I'm in charge." Hans leaned forward, his eyes narrowing. "Got that?"

"You're the stupid one if you think I'm going to buy into any of that bull."

"You'd better. Or else you'll be buying my fist down your throat, which is ten times worse."

Jack drew himself up to his full height, frustration boiling in his chest. Hans looked surprised at the lack of submission, but then he, too, became tense and hardened.

If there was going to be a fight, Jack knew he would loose. Without his staff, he was just a skinny teenage kid with pale skin and hair. But at least he would go down fighting for what he thought was right... Right?

"What's going on here?" A sharp male voice cut through the tense atmosphere.

Jack looked up and saw the P.E. teacher standing there, clipboard in hand.

"Nothing, Mr. Bryant." Hans said, standing down. He gave a winning smile and folded his hands behind his back. Suddenly, he became less intimidating and more the golden boy all the teachers seemed to see in him. "Jack here just forget the combination to his locker. Right, Jack?"

Um, absolutely not.

"Yeah." Jack answered, trying to look sheepish. 

"Hurry up and get out there," snapped the teacher.

After that everyone shut up and put on their gym clothes. Hans bumped into Jack roughly on his way out, making his back slam against the wall with a thud. Kristoff glared at the taller boy's back. 

"He's such an asshole," said Kristoff. "You good?"

"Fine." Jack said, rubbing his shoulder. 

That day they were playing dodge ball. Jack was actually quite good; he had a good aim and good arm, plus he was good at avoiding the attacks of other people. For a while he and Kristoff had each other's backs and hadn't even been hit once.