Predicamental Upperclassmen || Luis Mendoza

Chapter 15

Another week later, I was back in school. The ducks had missed me while was gone. While some patted me on the back for beating that girl in the fight, others said it maybe wasn't a good idea. I didn't care. It served that bitch right.

For schoolwork, I had a lot to catch up on. From missed tests and quizzes to extra homework, it was a mess. With math, I struggled especially because it took me a long time to figure out how new material went. Luis was there to help me at home, but I still got frustrated here and there. Other classes were more simpler. For English, it was understanding 'theme and conflict' while for chemistry we were understanding reactions. Music however, was where I really missed out. My solo part that I had gotten had the option to go to someone else since I was not in class to practice it with the choir some more. I told Ms. Ferra that I was still available to have it for the assembly that following month. It was nearing the end of September, so the date was pretty close. Plus, I still wanted to impress people.

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In history class one day, the rest of the class was watching a video learning about the French Revolution while I was out in the hallway, finishing up what I could about the last topic. It was quiet and lonely. No one was in sight throughout the whole corridor.

I was completing one of my last few worksheets when I began to doze off. Over my suspension, I had done gotten used to staying up all night and around this class, sleepiness would catch up to me. My sleep immediately got a little deeper as I began to dream. I had a little mini dream about how things got better for both me and Luis. We had recovered from whatever trouble we both got into and our school life was simpler.

Just then, I felt tapping on my arm and woke up with a jolt. I open my eyes to find Ms. Myers standing above me. Once I awoke, she squatted down next to me.

"I wouldn't be sleeping if I were you, miss Kallie", she whispered, "you missed two weeks worth of classwork, so I would stay focused and get busy."

"Yes, ma'am, I'm sorry", I said yawning. She walked back into the classroom as I continued working.

At lunch, the girls who had formerly gave me looks were now sitting somewhere more far away from my table. I had reckoned they now wanted to avoid me after how I completed tarnished their friend. They no longer gossiped about me either.

"Your fight was something half of the entire school talked about", said Adam, "they mostly wouldn't shut up about you choking her. They say that you got her pretty good. She still has red marks around her neck."

I gave a calm look as he talked, "Well, she should've learned not to fuck with me. As the saying goes: "you keep hitting at a dog and then eventually, they'll bite your ass back."

"And you LITERALLY bit at her", said Ken Wu with a laugh, "you bit her hard. I heard that she almost bled from your teeth marks. You must bite pretty hard. It left me to wonder if you were half wild animal in a way."

I looked at him with a comical expression, "Really? You think the most weirdest things, Wu. She had some body spray on her arm though and when I bit her, that shit was nasty in my mouth."

"But shucks, Kallie", said Dwayne, "I never knew you could fight like that. I always looked at you as the shy and quiet type. I might want to start thinking differently."

"Well really, I never saw myself as that tough. I think what made me become so savage at that moment were the times where I would feel energy to punch walls or throw things whenever I got REAL pissed."

The boys laughed in surprise while Connie just stared at me with raised eyebrows, showing a look of worry, "Wow, that sounds kinda bad. You shouldn't need to be so reckless like that, you know."

"I know I shouldn't, but hey, I'm still trying to control it. Again, not an easy thing."

"You will eventually. There are some good anger management clubs out here to join", insisted Connie, "they can help with things like that."

I shook my head in agreement, "I talked to my mom about it and she says she'll think about it. Until then, I'll just have to manage on my own."

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After school, I wait in the parking lot for Luis. I received glances from kids here and there. Some looked at me with smirks while others with scared faces. They still were not forgetting about what happened. I just ignored them. Before long, Luis made his way out the doors and was heading over to me.

"I uh-....probably won't get to see you Friday or Monday", he stuttered scratching the back of his head.

"Why?", I asked him with a look of confusion.

"I- Uh-......I got ISS."

"What?! Why?"

"I pulled this harmless prank on a cheerleader where I put a fake spider in her chair and she freaked out. I did it to some other students we knew, too. But security cameras caught me and I was called to the office."

"So, little Mr. Baddie came back in you to cause trouble, didn't he?"

"I guess he did", he shrugged, letting out a little chortle.

"You know what this will do to your hockey career, right? So, you might wanna cut that class clown bullshit, speedster."

"It won't hurt", he said, "it's ISS, so it'll be during school. It won't be like staying after school. So I can still make it to practice."

"No, that's not what I mean", I said, "I mean that your behavior will make your coach start pondering whether to let you stay or not. I mean you wanna participate in more games, don't you?"

"Of course, but like, I'm not gonna be TOO bad. It's not my fault I nearly forgot we had cameras in the cafeteria. The cheerleader and other people laughed along with me about it."

"Just.....be careful", I warned him, "acting stupid and skipping has already gotten you into predicaments twice and now your stunts at lunch has left you with one worse. Just don't do anything else, please."

"I won't, I won't. This will be my last punishment", he engulfed me in a hug getting ready to take off.

"You sure? This can't go on for any longer."

"Yes, babe. I promise."

We say our goodbyes and he leaves.

On my way home, my anxiety made me concerned again. I should once again be used to this since Luis has gotten into trouble before last year, but only once. Now, it was occurring more than once which wasn't good. Eden Hall wasn't so much of a place to be a goofus like him, but as Mr. Tucker told me, it wasn't a good place to be an aggressive person either. My hands gripped the steering wheel as I hoped once more that Luis wouldn't get into anymore mischief.