Partnership of Adversity (Hold)

Chapter 3: The Power Squad "Updated"

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My attention had been drawn to a group of jocks and cheerleaders. They were by their cars listening to music near the entrance of the gate that led into the school. I'd noticed two of the larger football players on the team surrounding some unfortunate freshman boys.

The poor kids were scared shitless and clasping each other, offering each other some semblance of protection they believed they could offer each other. Which was none really, considering their scrawny little bodies. The muscle-head jocks each picked up a freshman and carried them over their shoulders like sacks of potatoes and proceeded to walk over to the dumpsters that were stationed in the lot.

The tiny pleas from the freshmen that begged the assholes for release seemed to only incite a perverse satisfaction in them as their smiles grew all the more. The other jocks along with their leader,  Nick, laughed and continued to watch as they neared the dumpsters with freshmen in hand.

The cheerleaders decided to put on a show by cheering the jocks on, thus drawing attention from other passing students. "Be aggressive! Be, be aggressive!" They chanted in their peppy and most irritating voices. It was cruel and all too barbaric, yet no one stopped it and many joined in the show by cheering the knuckleheads on.

As they'd simultaneously lifted the freshmen above their heads the gathered crowd roared. As though in slow motion, I watched as the jocks threw the freshmen into the dumpsters. The freshmens' arms  flailed in the air as though somehow they would miraculously fly away. Of course, that would never happen and they fell in with a loud thud. The jocks had turned around and faced the cheers of the audience with their arms raised up as though they were victorious warriors worthy of praise.

I heard the wails of the freshmen from the dumpsters as they echoed from within. It was a terribly sad tune to hear. As soon as the show was over the crowd had dissipated instantly. The jocks walked back to their group and the freshmen remained inside the dumpsters.

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Claire and Sam appeared soon after. "I see you were not kidding after all. It is totally pimpin'!" Claire squealed.

"Pimpin'?" I turned and asked Sam questioningly.

"It's Claire's new slang word." Sam responded. I'd understood immediately what Sam meant. Claire unfortunately, had been intrigued by modern slang words and every week for the past month she'd try to incorporate a word into her conversations. Last week it was 'chill' as in calm down or let's meet. It'd been enjoyable at first but she tended to overuse these slang terms. Eventually it became irritating.

"Gosh it's lovely! Your mom is amazing. You're driving us out afterschool right? Ooooooh we should go to Lakeside Diner." Claire stated.

"No way!" Sam and I shouted simultaneously. "Not Lakeside Diner." I argued.

"Why not?" Claire whined.

"You know why not! Seriously Claire." I responded exasperated. Lakeside Diner was the place all of Millerton's student body hung out afterschool. The jocks and cheerleaders could always be found there in the patio. It was their 'turf' as Claire would put it in slang terms. In other words, it was where they spent their time in the afternoon and evening.

"Claire, give it up. What if we run into 'The Power Squad'? It might lead to trouble." Sam stated.

'Power Squad' was the label we had assigned to Nick, short for Nicholas, and Chloe along with their goons. Nick was the school's bad-boy, hunk, quarterback, and self-proclaimed womanizer. If I had to describe Nick I would describe him with the words all the females tended to use, tall and handsome with a lean and toned body, i.e. 'Hot'. Bleh, I thought. He was said to be charming and well versed, thus able to woo all those females. He had short chocolate brown hair that was tousled and purposely not styled, giving him a rugged look. He had gray blue eyes, 'kissable' lips and an amazing smile that flaunted his perfect white teeth. He was liked by both sexes. The females wished to sleep with him and the males hoped to be him. 

Chloe was your stereotypical platinum blond with deep brown eyes. She had a nose job and probably had chin and cheek implants. I'm guessing her lips were also fixed. The only real thing about her were her boobs, which by the way were huge. She was captain of the cheerleading squad and long time friend with benefits to Nick. It was pathetic honestly. He would sleep around and she would scare off the girl when she found out, using some crazy tactics. Nick only kept Chloe around because she was useful in getting rid of girls who after having sex with him latched on, like leeches, thinking they were different from all the others, special in some way. It was disgusting and in truth he's just an arrogant, narcissistic, and self-absorbed prick who dealt his cards well and thus tricked everyone into liking him. Honestly, people could be so ignorant and gullible. He was the devil in disguise deceiving everyone without a second thought. Did I mention both of them were also filthy rich and spoiled? No? Well, they were.

"Then we'll avoid them or ignore them. Please?" She pouted and begged. Crap! Sam and I had never been able to deny her when she pulled that stunt on us. "Plus I hear they're hiring and we can apply. Since we need money to spend for senior year," she emphasized.

"Fine." I conceded. The warning bell had rung to indicate that school would start soon after. We'd begun to head towards the buildings with the other students when I remembered the freshmen were still in the dumpsters. "Hold on a minute." I told Claire and Sam. I jogged towards the dumpsters at an average pace.

"Hurry!" Claire shouted from behind.

"What are you doing?" Sam asked, confused by my actions as I reached the dumpsters.

"Hey, are you guys still in there?" I'd asked peering into the dumpster.

"Yeah." One of the freshmen responded meekly.

"Okay, well everyone is mostly gone now, it's safe to come out already. I'll help you. You guys better hurry or we'll be late to class." I told them. The first guy to stand up was a small redhead with freckles and was wearing oversized glasses.

"Thanks. I'm Theodor Stilt by the way." He introduced himself and stretched out his hands in order to be pulled up.

"Amelia Dawn." I introduced myself and helped him out. The other freshman with a Captain America t-shirt and long hair had stood up and pulled himself out.

"Kyle Wilton." He introduced stiffly.

"Hey." I replied. Understanding his hesitation completely, since he'd been through a lot in a short period of time. "Wow you guys stink." I said, regretting the words as soon as they'd left my mouth, as I watched as the two boys shrink back in shame. "Sorry." I said uncomfortably. "I didn't mean to insult you. But here's some advice. Head to the lost and found, there you will find clothes. Then head to the guys locker rooms and wash off in the showers. I'm sure the hand soap will rid you of the dumpster smell."

"Thank you. I'll do just that." Theodor responded.

"Yeah, thanks a lot for the helpful advice." Kyle chimed in.

"No problem." I responded. "I'll see you guys around. Bye." I hurried away from them to Sam and Claire. As I looked up a pair of blue eyes staring at me from across the lot caught my attention. Nick had watched me the entire time as I helped the two freshmen. I was startled but refused to show him, all I could do was stare back, challenging him to make a move or say something. I waited but all he did was smirk at me mischievously before he turned and walked away.

I was stunned and confused by what had occurred but Claire's and Sam's incessant shouting brought me back to attention. "What in the world was that Amelia?" Claire asked.

"Nick was blatantly staring at you. May I add that Chloe is definitely glaring at you?" Sam informed smugly.

I turned towards the cheerleaders and confirmed that she was throwing me the stink eye. " I seriously don't know and I couldn't care less." I responded adamantly. "C'mon lets go or we'll be late." I insisted and began to walk toward the buildings but slowed my pace to let Claire and Sam catch up to me.

Soon Sam and Claire caught up and matched my pace. "Geez Amelia. Why are you so upset? Also, what happened to those guys? Why were they in the dumpster?" Claire asked intrigued. I decided to relay them the story of the poor freshmen as we walked toward the senior building where our lockers and classes would be located, at the center of Millerton High.

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