Here & Now

Chapter Sixteen

Biology class felt like it was taking three times longer than normal. It was my own fault though, I had been having a staring competition with the clock for the last 15 minutes and the clock was definitely winning. The other factor that was making time move backwards was an awkward pit that was growing in my stomach. Nervousness gripped at me, though I wasn't sure why. I had seen Aya only a few days ago. Nothing had changed since then, except the knowledge that Aya had a thing for Walter. It was silly that I was dwelling on this – Aya had given me no indication that she was interested in me, and here I was creating this fantasy in my head. A fantasy that involved us singing to each other under the moonlight and sharing our first kiss. What a joke that was. Suddenly I wasn't as excited to see her as I once was, and thought of maybe finding someone else to sing. No, she had stuff riding on this as well.

The sound of the bell indicating the end of class snapped me out of my imaginary world. With hesitation PJ and I began looking for Aya. We started with the obvious – the music room. Not there. We walked out toward the back ovals— maybe she was playing sports, not there either. We even quickly checked the library again, much to the dismay of the head librarian. Nope, not there either. I had started to grow concerned. We didn't exactly have an abundance of time at lunch.

We walked back into the main building and started down the hall. From the corner of my eye I glimpsed PJ falling forward and before I could do anything, he had crashed face first on the ground. Quickly, I kneeled down to help him back up.

'Oh my god! Dude, are you okay?' I put his arm around my shoulder to help him back up.

'Ah, um, I'm okay,' PJ stuttered. But he wasn't okay. His glasses were missing, and drops of blood were trickling down his nose.

'Let me find your glasses for you, PJ. Just don't move.' I tried to be as reassuring as I could. Quickly, I scanned the floor around us until I located his glasses. The frame was still intact but the lenses were cracked. While I stood back up I noticed a gridiron ball had appeared on the ground near us. I picked it up and looked beyond PJ to see Wayne making a throwing motion with his arm. Him and his two cronies were holding onto each other and laughing at the bloodied-up PJ.

My own blood begun to boil and I could feel waves of anger course through me. What the fuck was this guy's problem? He had everything! Looks, women, sporting prowess — but he still felt the need to pick on people like PJ. I'd had enough of this guy.

I walked back to PJ, handing him the glasses.

'Just wait here,' I placed my hand on PJ's shoulder.

'Where are you going?' PJ whispered, the hurt audible in his voice.

'Getting some revenge,' I hissed back.

I walked toward the three with their ball in my hand. I tried to maintain my calm and keep my composure. With every step they grew in size. What the hell did these guys eat? They looked like 20 year old's! The shortest of them was still two heads taller than me but made up for his size with the start of some thick facial hair. The other guy on Wayne's right was taller than him but not as muscular.

Just as I reached them they noticed me and stood up straight.

'Hey guys,' I said casually. 'That was a sick shot! Who threw it?'

They took a moment before Wayne responded, his expression growing more serious. He was no longer smiling.

'I threw it, you little emo cunt,' he spat. 'What are you going to do about it?'

My heartbeat became faster, and my throat felt as dry as a desert.

'Nothing, man. I'm not suicidal. Look at the three of you! I just came to return your ball!' I smiled.

Wayne's brows furrowed for a moment, then his posture grew more relaxed. Perfect, I thought.

'Oh, well. Give it here then.' He said, looking at his friends smiling.

'Here you go.' I lobbed up, just enough that Wayne would have to jump a bit. As he was airborne, I took one step forward and brought my other foot back. As he started to fall back down, I kicked forward with all my strength.

I kicked him square in the nuts just as he landed on the ground. The look of horror on his face was priceless, but I'd have to enjoy the small victory another time. As he fell to the ground in slow motion, grabbing his crotch area, he managed to gasp, 'Get him!' to his offsiders.

Not needing to be told twice, I turned and bolted. I passed PJ first, the look on surprise on his face making me smile. Sprinting through the hall, I approached a large group of students blocking my path. Ducking and swerving, I managed to move through them—being short had its upsides. A chorus of 'Hey's!' and 'What the!' left in my wake.

'Move! Get out of the way!' Turning to see what was happening behind me, I could see the two offsiders pushing other students out of the way. They were definitely faster than me, but luckily they found it harder to navigate in the school corridors. I kept moving forward, as fast as I could, as the adrenaline coursed freely throughout my body. The approaching corridor lead to the left so I'd be forced to make a sharp turn. Looking to the top right of the ceiling I could see a mirror that allowed me to see down the corridor, and I noticed a group of girls had congregated around their lockers. An idea formed in my mind. Quickly looking behind me, I realised they would be upon me soon.

As I turned the corner I made an extra tight turn and slipped my way into the group of girls. Suddenly I was surrounded by a group of the popular girls in my year. My face went bright red just as they began to react to my being there. Before they started, I hushed them as best I could. For a moment I actually thought that being beaten up would have been better than being so close to so many attractive girls. But my plan worked, as I saw the two brutes round the corner and continue down the hall. As soon as they were a good distance away I burst out of the group of girls, apologising as best as I could.

Turning back down the corner I let out a sigh of relief. That was a close one! I thought to myself. My relief, however, was short lived. Wayne's head was weaving in and out a group of students in my direction. How did he recover so fast? Quickly assessing my options, I knew I could go back around the corner, but the two nimrods would surely be on their way back by now. Just in front of me to the right was a door to a classroom. If it was locked I was done for, but it was my only option. Ducking down I moved forward and wrapped my hand around the cold metal door knob turned it. Leaping in, I disappeared behind the door and closed it. Standing on my tiptoes, I peeked outside of the window in the door to see Wayne walk past. Relief flooded through me again. I was safe, for the time being anyway.

'Aiden?' a familiar voice questioned.

I turned, my heart barely having time to stop racing. 'Aya?!'

Waddup fam. Thanks for managing to get this far. The gap between my chapters being released are wider and wider LOL.

But seriously, I can't thank you enough for making it this far. Seeing the positive comments and the votes are really want make me want to write the story.

Thanks again!

Love B