Jay Ess: An Unordinary Hero

Chapter 12

Chapter 12

I awoke the next morning at six, which was my usual time on a school day. I got dressed and brushed my teeth and ate my breakfast, all the while realizing that my watcher was not actually watching me. I was tired enough that my young body probably would not have awoken even if a herd of elephants had run through my room during the night, so I could not even begin to suss out a reason why Calla was missing.

I made an attempt to reach out in the nearby vicinity, but could not locate her mind. Doing my best to quell the panic that tried to rise within me, I finished my morning routines and made my way outside in time to meet Brayden as he walked to the bus stop at the end of our road. He greeted me with his usual smile and we had some kind of discussion about our favorite cartoon featuring robots that hid amongst us as cars.

I was only partially engaged until the bus pulled up and we go into it. My mind went instantly at ease as I saw Calla sitting in her usual spot. Over the course of the last few days I had forgotten that a part of her disguise was to get on the bus several stops away. She smiled at me as we made eye contact.

Brayden and I took our usual seat, almost exactly in the middle of the bus. Social norms dictated that the youngest kids sat in the foremost seats, but we did not like to cave to what society expected of us. As a result I had attracted a bully. His name was Mike Ashline, and he was in sixth grade.

Mike lived two streets over and until this year had claimed where we sat as his spot. I clearly remember the first day of school and our altercation. Mile climbed the steps and saw us in his feat, a look of feral anger played across his face. Mike was tall for his age, similar to me, at almost six feet tall already. He was all lean muscle because he was a jock. His head was topped with a mop of black hair that never looked washed or brushed and the same could be said for his teeth. One thing was undeniable about Mike, he was a bully.

Mike strode up to us with great purpose, shoving past as smaller kid. When he was in the aisle next to us he grabbed me by my shirt and pulled me from the seat. "You're in my seat," he spat at me. Either by luck or by the fact that his voice was so loud, the driver heard him and shouted at him to unhand me. Mike did as instructed but not before promising to make my life miserable if he found me in that seat on the way home.

Luckily Swanton schools were set up oddly back then. Kindergarten through fourth grade went to the elementary school, which was the first stop for drop off and also for pick up. Fifth and sixth grades were taught at what was known as Swanton Central school, while seventh through twelfth went to Missisquoi Valley Union High. Mike was in a different school and could not bother me there, however I was abundantly aware of exactly how much misery he could visit upon me during the ride to school. Still, I knew that I would not cave to his wishes just as I did not want to conform to how society thought we should segregate ourselves according to grade.

This day looked to be no different that all those that came before it. As Mike got on the bus and saw me sitting in his spot, he got that same feral look on his face. Ever since that first day, his response was to walk past me and slam a text book into the back of my head with all he had. Mike did not know though that I had gone through an awakening and today would in fact be different.

Mike pulled out his history book as he approached, never making eye contact with me. I do not know if he thought this would trick me into thinking that today I would get a reprieve from my torture, but it did not. As he stepped past me I spun and caught the book a mere inch from my face. I gave a good yank and liberated the book from his hands, a look of shock taking the place of the feral one he was just wearing.

The bus started on its way and the driver yelled at Mike to take a seat, so he walked away unwillingly to an empty seat a few rows back. Turning back around I could sense the disbelief emanating from Brayden. I looked at him and shrugged and he let out a loud whoop and patted me on the back.