The next day dawned cold, but that didn't stop the students of Lincoln High School from standing out in the parking lot, gawking as a black 1995 Lincoln town car limousine beamed in the bright morning sun, pulling up at the school's entrance.
Among the gaggle of teenage onlookers was Virgil, a greasy slick, hard-edged 17 year-old delinquent in black jacket and matching geled-back hair, and Maroney, his burly sidekick, who at 6-4 stood nearly half a head taller than any other student, gang tattoos peeking out from the cuffs of his thin winter jacket.
"The Hell is he?" Maroney growled, trying to get a look inside along with all the other gawkers.
Morgan, also amongst the crowd, cast a look at the pair of thugs, then promptly rolled her eyes, irritated by their very presence. She didn't know who they were, but they looked like trouble. That much was certain. She shook off the thought and returning her attention to the car. Her imagination ran wild. How nice would it be to ride in that thing? Imagine actually owning it?
A luxury she'd never have, she admitted to herself, turning from the $90,000 dollar car. If this sad reality had struck her like a lightning bolt, it wouldn't have landed any harder than what was about to hit her, literally...
WHAM!
Something... no... Someone. Slamming smack into her.
George Hornsby! At 110 pounds, Morgan might have weighed more than rail-thin George. But George had a running start and both of them were now on the ground. "Dammit, George!" she yelled after him as he picked himself off the ground and he sped past her without so much as an "excuse me." "Open your eyes!"
For his part, George didn't stick around for
the tongue-lashing, running off fast, his face a mask of fear. Morgan brushed herself off. If this was an indication as to how things would go, today was going to suck.
***
So many days were like this for George. When he wasn't sitting in class, struggling to stay awake, he was slithering through the halls like an eel in hopes of non-discovery. This was the life of the bullied.
He knew it was only a matter of time until Virgil and Maroney caught him, but he still found himself saddled with the hopeful delusion that maybe, just maybe, they'd forget about him altogether.
Jingle Bell Rock permeated the hallways of Lincoln High as the bell rang, signaling the end of classes for the day. George knew this music by heart. Wasn't it odd that he'd always equate Christmas music with being beaten...over and over?
Teens burst from their classrooms and quickly set about clogging the halls as George made his way to his locker, eager to make a quick exit.
On his way there, something on the wall caught his eye. A large poster near the bathroom: Lincoln High Winter Formal 1995, the poster read, with hand-cut snowflakes, snowmen, and Christmas trees decorating the blank space.
He stared at the poster for a minute, dreamy-eyed, before shaking his head abruptly, as if snapping out of a trance. Another student, Edward, stood nearby. He glanced to Morgan at the end of the hallway, then tapped George on the shoulder.
"You know, I think Morgan likes ya, George," Edward said with a half-smile as he gestured to the girl. "Why don't you ask her out to the formal?"
George gulped, stunned by the declaration. He peered down the hallway at Morgan, who was coming his way. His gripped tightened on his books and he blurted out her name. "Morgan!"
She stopped dead in her tracks and spun around, lifting an expectant eyebrow at him.
Suddenly, George realized this wasn't quite how he'd planned it. He didn't actually mean to say it. At least, not out loud. Rather, not that loud. Now, everyone in the whole damned hallway was staring at this four-eyed, scrawny toothpick standing there, gaping at the most beautiful girl in school.
