Social Menace [boyxboy]

Social Menace {22}

                Icing my ankle through the night helped. The three cups of coffee I drank before leaving the house helped.

                Uncle Brian's offhand comment of "Even this neighborhood isn't safe anymore" as he watched the morning news didn't help.

                Nyssa and Talon were waiting for me when I got to school, and Nyssa carefully wrapped my ankle for me. I still had a slight limp, but I could pass it off easily enough.

                The assembly that morning was different than the others. This one had a smug Mallory and a tired Corr. Corr informed the students that they knew there were at least two suspects, and they were most likely working with more people. He said that they were most likely students.

                Mallory only said that he was aiding the police in narrowing down a list of suspects. He said there'd be more questioning in the following days. Principal Devin wrapped up the meeting with the usual advice and warnings.

                The school day was stressful, partially because I was exhausted and partially because all anyone was talking about was last night. Word had gotten around fast that the suspects had nearly been caught at their latest victim's house.

                By the end of the day, I was ready to just go home and hide under my blankets. A few people had noticed my limp, but I'd passed it off as just being sore from tripping up the stairs while trying to carry laundry up to my room.

                I entered the Social Action room and dropped into my chair. The twins looked over at me, Nyssa eyeing my ankle.

                "Did the wrap help?" she asked.

                "Yes, thank you," I said gratefully. "It feels a lot better."

                "I'll wrap it as long as you need. Just text me in the mornings to let me know," Nyssa said.

                "I once twisted my ankle during a rugby game and Nys wrapped it so well I played the rest of the game with only the slightest limp," Talon said.

                "That was probably a mix of the wrap, the adrenaline, and your pure stupidity," Nyssa said.

                "Fair enough," Talon said with a nod.

                Connor came into the room and sat down. He pulled Jonesy out of his bag and let the dog curl up in his lap, stroking his fur.

                "You can't take him out in the school. Bishopp is going to kill you," Nyssa said.

                "Last night stressed him out!" Connor said, putting an arm around his dog protectively. "He was worried."

                The door opened and in came Tyson, Farren, and Bishopp. Bishopp shut the door and spun to face us.

                "Are you all okay?" he asked in concern. "I heard on the news this morning that you were almost caught."

                "No, Tyson and Nolan were almost caught," Nyssa said. "Connor told us they were in trouble, Tal and I made a distraction, and then we hid just outside the house until they were out."

                Tyson sat down and I eyed his face nervously. There was a light bruise on his nose, but it was only visible from the right angle. Otherwise, it just looked like a bit of dirt.

                "How did it happen?" Bishopp asked.

                "They jumped Tyson from his blindside," I said. "But they didn't know they were jumping his blindside. I think they just got lucky."