The Hate Game

6 | James

I know you.

I know you...

I know you... also...

Oh yeah, you, too.

I know you...

And you...

Oh yeah, I know you, too.

Wow! I know everyone here! And guess what? You-Know-Who isn't in this class! Hooray....

Oh, snizzle snaps.

James' squinty brown eyes fell onto a figure just a few feet in front of him. Instantly he felt himself slouching in depression as he realized Lyle Burgess was here. The Lyle Burgess. Oh, you haven't heard of him? Shame on you. Lyle Burgess, the one student who made James' life a flush down the toilet everytime they met. Or talked. Or interacted. Or were in within three feet of each other. Lyle Burgess was the person who stole the first place state spelling bee away from James. Lyle Burgess was the person who also stole the first place chess tournament regions competition award away from James. Lyle Burgess was also the person who was always top of the class, next to James. And somehow, Lyle Burgess would always end up top of the class and kick James back down to second.

Lyle wasn't even Asian.

James, obviously, was. Which was why it made no sense to him that some scrawny little white boy was always one step above him. Sure, the teachers adored Lyle, just as they admired (see the difference?! Adored and admired are way far apart) James. But somehow, with all the teachers James had, they seemed to appreciate Lyle better.

This one time, in eigth grade, James happened to be in the same gym class as Lyle. They were practicing basketball layups. James loved layups. He loved basketball. And yes, Lyle happened to love basketball and layups also.

"I need a nice, fine young man to demonstrate a proper layup for me," Ms. Lee said. She was a young, energetic and pretty teacher who also happened to be Asian and had strict rules when it came to physical fitness. "Anyone care to demonstrate?"

As usual, James' hand shot up into the air like a rocket.

And Lyle's hand shot up into the air like a firework.

Rockets and fireworks. Which one would appear more to you?

Well, Ms. Lee's squinty brown eyes went for Rocket Boy's hand. "Ah, yes, Lyle. Why don't you show the class how to do it?"

Lyle did it, all right. He did it pretty good. Except the ball didn't even go through the net.

As everyone applauded, Ms. Lee said, "Very good, Lyle. Are you on the school team?"

Lyle shook his head modestly. "No, Ms. Lee. I want to dedicate my academics to education, not sports. I don't want to get caught up in measly exercise when I can be studying for my future."

She beamed at her student. "Very nice, Lyle! You are such a great student." she clapped her hands together and said, "Everyone, take example after Lyle. He's going to go very far in his future." James watched her eyes drift over his for a moment, a look of remorse or sympathy as she quickly began to explain the next exercise.

Back in the present, however, James stared at Lyle's back. As the next period was about to start, he was eyeing out his classmates to see if he saw anyone he didn't know. He knew plenty of people, all right. And hated it even more that Lyle was here.

Lyle was rubbing his head, and scowling down at his lap. James noticed a lot of people pointing and whispering at him, like he had just grown a foot on top of his head.

"Did you hear what happened to Golden Boy?" a girl whispered to James' right.

Golden Boy. The nickname that so belonged to James.

"No, what?" James replied, eager to listen.

"Apparently he got into some fight with this freshman in gym class. And now he's suspended for a week!" she giggled, and scowled at Lyle. "Sucks, right? I expected so much from him."

"Well, serves him right," James snorted, feeling proud. Golden Boy suspended for a week? Nope, that would not look good on his college application. Golden Boy should just kiss Harvard goodbye and hand it over to him, instead. Now James actually had a shot of being number one for once, and Lyle wouldn't be able to... "Wait a second..." James said. "If Lyle is suspended for a week, what is he doing here?"

She shrugged. "Beats me. I hear he's too scared to go home so he begged the administrators to let him stay. Or his suspension doesn't start until tomorrow."

Tomorrow, huh? Maybe James had a chance of showing Lyle who was the real number one here.

James was deep into plotting his revenge when someone poked him in the shoulder with a pencil. it was that girl.

"You're... James, right?" she asked.

"Yeah."

She threw her hair to the side and looked him over. "I think I have Psychology with you, right?"

James mentally tried to remember her face in the swarm of students from his first period. "Yeah, I think you do. Natalie, right?"

She grinned. "Yeah! You remembered my name?"

He tried to hide his blush, something that still needed work. "Well, you're pretty hard to forget." A cheesy pickup line that every girl knew, but it was the first thing that came out of his mouth. She was probably going to slap him and tell him he wasn't worth her time.

Natalie blushed and looked at her desk. "Aw, thanks! That's the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me today! Well, except for Lyle."

"What?" James asked, his mental ears perking at the sound of his arch enemy.

"Yeah, I was talking to Lyle today and he said that he was glad he had some classes with me, since he enjoyed my company last year. Yeah, we have a lot of classes together this year. Just like last year." she looked over at Lyle. "He's such a sweetie."

So Golden Boy was even hitting on girls? Especially girls that James was making moves on?

Tough, man, tough.

But Golden Boy wasn't going to take away the spotlight and the girl from squinty Asian James. Not this time.

Not this time.