Ninsei Chapter 7
Well, yesterday i just about made my word goal, so i was rather satisfied with that. Getting close to making today's word goal. Still about a day or two behind where I would like to be, but i have hopes that i can catch back up with some hard work this weekend.
Current word total: 19377
Things really get moving in this chapter
*EDITED* (6/30/2006)
(new word count: 20,460)
Chapter 7: Perfect
I went back to school on Monday. My energy was starting to get back to normal, though my hunger was still really high. I dozed off in two classes and got caught snacking in another. I took a couple hour nap as soon as I got home after school.
As the week went on, I needed less sleep and I wasn’t eating everything in sight, so it seemed like I was recovering pretty well.
That was of course, until I woke up suddenly out of a sound sleep in the middle of the night to find the familiar figure of the stranger in my room.
I knew I was awake and that I wasn’t just dreaming about the stranger. For the first time in my life, I wished I had a baseball bat in my room. What was this crazy guy doing in my room? That weird bit before, about him being an angel-that had just been a crazy dream from being sick, hadn’t it?
“What are you doing here?” I tried to sound threatening, but my voice cracked.
“You have not frequented the grove of trees by your institution of learning for several days, as such I have been unable to make contact with you during the daytime.”
Under the pear tree blossoms…that had just been a dream!
“You seem sufficiently recovered.”
There was no way that could have been real!
“Therefore, it is paramount to continue instruction. There is much still to be learned.”
“That was just a crazy dream! It wasn’t real! It couldn’t have been real! What the hell are you doing in my room you crazy freak?!”
The stranger seemed startled by my outburst, but that startlement quickly turned to very clear annoyance. “Must I be required to prove myself upon our every meeting?”
I said nothing but just glared at him.
He sighed irritably. “I see that I must repeat myself yet again before you understand.”
The air grew tight and then it snapped. And then there standing before me yet again, was an angel.
“I cannot keep entering the physical realm to satisfy your whims. This shall be for the last time.”
It seemed like he was going to go on scolding me, but I interrupted and asked what he meant about the physical realm.
“The physical plane is the most basic. It is where humanity resides,” he answered impatiently.
“So the reason you have your wings right now is because you are in the physical realm?”
“That is correct.”
“Then where do you normally ‘reside’?”
“I am residing in the Astral Plane. Though you possess the ability to see me in the lowest Astral level, you are unable to sense my wings. This is why you must develop your awareness.” He shimmered, and with another snap, his wings were gone, signaling his return to the Astral plane.
“However, the most relevant matter for your mission relates to awareness of energy, and as such I shall instruct you on developing your awareness for negative and positive energy.”
“Um, hey. If we’re going to keep talking about this tonight, do you mind if I went downstairs and made myself a sandwich real quick? I’m starving again.”
He looked at me slightly aghast. Then he sighed. “Very well, but I shall continue as you eat.”
Avoiding all the boards that I knew squeaked, I carefully tiptoed down the stairs. The Angel seemed to glide behind me; his steps were so light. It was so obvious to me now that he wasn’t really part of this world that I had no idea how I could have not noticed it before.
I made myself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich as the Angel continued his lecture.
“Negative energy is colder and darker, while positive energy is warm and light, though that is only the most superficial of the difference between the energy.”
He continued on, in great detail describing both positive and negative energy, though he concentrated the most on the description of the negative energy as that was what I was going to collect. He followed me as I made my way back to my room, still talking the entire time. He was pretty long-winded, and I think he really could have said things more simply and clearly and it would have made a lot more sense. Still, I started to get a handle on the idea of energy and what I was supposed to do.
I must have dozed off shortly after I got back to my room. The next thing I knew, my alarm was going off. I immediately hit the snooze button, but it had woken me up enough that I didn’t fall immediately back to sleep.
I stared up at the ceiling my mind still deep in thought. It had been real, hadn’t it? Or had I gone crazy? I didn’t feel crazy. But would I really know if I was?
There was a soft knock on my door. “Duncan, are you up?”
I grunted.
Mother peered into my room. “Still in bed?” She came into my room and opened the blinds. Sunlight streamed in. I pulled my blanket up to block out the light. “Come on, sleepy-head. Time to wake up.”
I continued to ignore her. I had been up too late. I just needed a few more minutes of sleep.
“What’s this?” Mother bend down and picked something off my floor.
That question instantly made my mind more alert, and I ran through the list of things I knew was on my floor and compared it to the list of things I wouldn’t want Mom to see and where I usually kept them plus about when I last used them. Even after cross-referencing those lists, I wasn’t coming up with anything I needed to be worried about her finding.
Even so, I cracked open an eye to see what she was looking at. In her hand was something that was shimmery and white. It took me a moment to realize it was a feather.
“How beautiful!” She held a white feather, a little longer than the length of her hand. “I’ve never seen a feather like this before. It’s the whitest I’ve ever seen! What is it from?”
An angel, I didn’t say. Instead, I told her I didn’t know.
“It’s very pretty,” She said again. She looked at the feather another moment, then set it gently on my desk. She walked back over and kissed me lightly on the top of my head. “Well, it’s time to rise and shine now. You’ll be late if you don’t hurry.”
As soon as she left my room, I sat straight up. The feather on my desk shimmered. It was like no feather I had ever seen before. I wasn’t crazy. It wasn’t a dream. That familiar, crazy stranger was really an angel, and I was really some ‘chosen one’.
I was the Chosen One. I wasn’t just some loser, but the Chosen One.
Things were going to be different in my life it.
I was practically skipping on my way to school. All around me, I could feel the energy. All I had to do was pull a little into myself and I could run faster than I had ever run before. And I didn’t get exhausted in the slightest.
I wasn’t some loser; I was the Chosen One, and I had magical powers. I kept repeating that to myself.
“You seem to be in a good mood, worm,” Jim started to say as classes ended.
“Shove it,” I said as I brushed past him. I saw Kelly chatting with some of her girl friends in the hall and immediately approached her. After all, I wasn’t just a loser anymore. I was the Chosen One. I could talk to the goddess of the school if I wanted to.
“Hey, Kelly,” I called over to her, casually.
She turned at my call, looking rather surprised. “Oh, hi Duncan.”
There was an awkward pause. Then she asked, “Do you need something?”
I realized I had just been standing stupidly next to her, so of course she had to think I was weird! I had to think of something to say to her, I realized in a panic. “Um, I was wondering if I could borrow your science notebook, to copy the notes I missed in class when I was out sick?” I asked her in a rushed voice.
“Oh, sure. I don’t have my notebook with me right now, but I’ll lend it to you a little later, ok?”
“Yeah, sure. That’s fine. Um, thanks.”
I couldn’t think of anything else to say, and I could hear the whispers from everyone standing around us. Defeated, I thanked her again and told her I would see her later. Things were supposed to be different now. I was the Chosen One after all!
Well, I would just have to act cooler when I talked with her the next time. I had to remember that I wasn’t just some loser anymore.
Kelly approached me after science class and handed me her notebook. “Here you go,” she said as she handed me the notebook. “Do you think you can give this back to me by tomorrow?”
“I have study hall after lunch. I should be able to give this back to you after school today.”
She smiled brilliantly. “That would be great. Would you meet me over at my locker after school then?”
“Sure. You’re the only person in this class who I trust to take good notes, so thanks again for this.” It was hard, but I tried to keep my tone light and casual. I could feel my heart in my throat, but I couldn’t let myself be loser like I had been that morning.
“It’s no problem at all. I’m just glad you’re talking to me again.”
“Eh?”
“You’re no longer mad about our project grade? We didn’t get a really good grade on our project, even though we put in so much effort!”
“Oh. That, right. No, it wasn’t like that. I just got, um, really busy. And was feeling a bit down. But that’s over. Now,” I said, stumbling a bit over my words.
“Well, I’m glad. Anyway, I’ll see you after school.”
“Right. See you then.”
I couldn’t believe how easy it had been, how I could just talk with Kelly Stephenson and act casually towards her like a friend. .
I couldn’t wait for school to get out, and when at last the final bell rang, I all but flew to Kelly’s locker.
She smiled as she saw me coming towards her.
“Here you go,” I said as I handed her back her notebook. “It was a great help. Thank you.”
“I’m glad it could help.”
“Are you busy this weekend?” I blurted out.
“Oh, do you want to study together for the test on Monday?”
“Yes.” As soon as I said that, I mentally kicked myself. I should have said something real smooth, like ‘no, I want to properly thank you for your help by taking you out to dinner’ or something like that.
After all, it wasn’t like it would do much good studying; Dornstein hated me and graded me really harshly. I bet if I had the same exact answer as Kelly, he would still find a way to subtract extra points from me. But studying for the exam was still an excuse to spend some more time with Kelly.
“I could really use a bit more help,” I continued.
“I’m sorry but I’m going away this weekend,” she said regretfully. “In fact, I’m going to be missing a couple days of school.”
“That’s ok…” Why did she make the offer if she was just going to turn me down? Or maybe she hadn’t been offering? I had no idea, but I did know that even though I hadn’t really cared about studying before, suddenly I was horribly disappointed.
“But I’m free now if you want to go to the library for a bit.”
Did she just say what I thought she just said? I brightened instantly and agreed readily.
I spent quite a bit of time the next few days hanging around Kelly. We’d chat a little before school, or just say hi when we passed by in the hallways.
I knew it was only a matter of time, therefore, before they approached me again. After the threats they made the last time I got close to Kelly, I knew that they had to. That was fine by me; it was what I wanted them to do. I could just wait and let them come to me.
Freddy and Jim and all the other brutish fools would bring themselves to my revenge.
Freddy and his gang cornered me after school. If they were surprised by how willing I was to follow them to an empty classroom, they didn’t show it. Maybe they thought I was too intimidated by them to try to get away, but if that was the case then they were completely stupid because I didn’t think I could possibly have looked the slightest bit intimidated. Considering how eager I was to get back at these fools, I had to have looked positively gleeful.
I calmly waited as Freddy ranted at me. “You’re acting really full of yourself again lately. It seems like you haven’t learned your lesson yet.”
I just couldn’t help myself; I burst out laughing. They honestly thought I was the same loser I was before. They honestly thought that they stood a chance against me.
Freddy grew even more enraged at my laughter. That made me laugh even harder.
“That’s it freak!” Freddy shouted and lunged at me.
I could ‘see’ the little splotch of inky darkness in his heart. It was so clear to me now. And all I had to do was ‘pull’ and that energy flowed into me. Freddy faltered as the energy left him.
Using some of the energy in me, I enhanced my punch, and slammed my fist into Freddy’s stomach. The air was pushed out of him with a loud ‘oaff!’ and he was thrown heavily into a cluster of desks.
“The fuck…?” one of the other boys said as they looked from me to Freddy, stunned.
Part of me was surprised this actually worked. I mean, I had been practicing a little over the past week absorbing energy and using it to make myself move faster and stronger, so this had been my plan for dealing with Freddy and the like. But I still had this doubt that I could use my abilities successfully. I doubted I would actually be able to fight anyone, since I had never been able to fight before. And yet it had really worked.
“Just a lucky punch,” another replied. “He can’t get lucky against all of us. Come on!”
The three boys in Freddy’s gang other than Keith rushed towards me. It was such a simple matter to remove that little piece of negative energy in their hearts. It slowed them down and boosted my strength.
One swung his arm out for a punch, but I dodged his fist and shoved him roughly into another cluster of desks. The second went to grab me from behind, but I threw him onto the third guy.
Freddy was still pretty winded, but the other guy I shoved into the desks was picking himself up. The other two boys took a moment longer to untangle themselves. Keith continued to cower in the corner.
They didn’t understand that I was above them now. It was time to demonstrate my strength. It was time to make them pay.
I slammed the first guy against the wall. He slumped down unconscious. The second guy I punched a couple times before sending him flying into Keith. Freddy was next.
I pounded on him. At first he tried to get a hit in on me, or even to just block my punches. But I was relentless and there was no way he could stop me.
The other guy tried to grab me and pull me off Freddy. “Cut it out! You’ll kill him!” But Freddy had made my life hell and I wasn’t ready to stop. I elbowed the guy behind me to shove him off me. I heard the crack as my arm connected loudly with his nose.
I punched Freddy a final time and let him slump to the ground.
I then turned to the final guy in the room. My former friend who shoved me aside for the chance of popularity. The traitor.
Keith was standing against the wall, drained of color. At the sight of him shaking in terror, I felt my hatred turn to disgust.
“Keith, for the sake of our one-time friendship, I will spare you. But get out of my sight. I don’t want to ever see you again.”
Keith didn’t need another warning; he was gone in a flash, tearing off down the hallway as fast as he could away from me.
Turning back, I watched as the guys I beat up pick themselves up. The guy I only punched a bit was helping stop the bleeding on the guy I elbowed and broke his nose. The third guy was still unconscious, slumped against the wall.
Freddy moaned from the floor. I knelt down beside him. His eyes fluttered open and when his eyes focused on me, he flinched and pulled back.
“Remember this, Freddy,” I whispered dangerously in his ear. “I just wanted to be left alone. I tried to keep to myself. But you and Jim kept bothering me. Well, I have grown tired of these insults and torments. This was just a warning. I do not want to be bothered anymore. Have I made my point, or do I need to have a repeat demonstration?”
“You…made…your point,” Freddy mumbled.
“I really do not like having to repeat myself. Therefore, I would like you to make certain that my message is spread. You’re a popular guy, Freddy. I’m sure you can tell lots of people.”
I pulled Freddy up and stared him intently in the eye. “If I am bothered again, then I’ll know you didn’t do a very good job in telling people not to bother me anymore.” He broke eye contact, looking away with a whimper. I dropped him back to the floor and turned around.
“That would make me angry, Freddy.” I grinned maliciously. He whimpered again. “And you wouldn’t like me when I’m angry.”
Seeing them shaking behind me, I had to laugh. The first part of my revenge was complete. Now to deal with Jim.
Current word total: 19377
Things really get moving in this chapter
*EDITED* (6/30/2006)
(new word count: 20,460)
Chapter 7: Perfect
I went back to school on Monday. My energy was starting to get back to normal, though my hunger was still really high. I dozed off in two classes and got caught snacking in another. I took a couple hour nap as soon as I got home after school.
As the week went on, I needed less sleep and I wasn’t eating everything in sight, so it seemed like I was recovering pretty well.
That was of course, until I woke up suddenly out of a sound sleep in the middle of the night to find the familiar figure of the stranger in my room.
I knew I was awake and that I wasn’t just dreaming about the stranger. For the first time in my life, I wished I had a baseball bat in my room. What was this crazy guy doing in my room? That weird bit before, about him being an angel-that had just been a crazy dream from being sick, hadn’t it?
“What are you doing here?” I tried to sound threatening, but my voice cracked.
“You have not frequented the grove of trees by your institution of learning for several days, as such I have been unable to make contact with you during the daytime.”
Under the pear tree blossoms…that had just been a dream!
“You seem sufficiently recovered.”
There was no way that could have been real!
“Therefore, it is paramount to continue instruction. There is much still to be learned.”
“That was just a crazy dream! It wasn’t real! It couldn’t have been real! What the hell are you doing in my room you crazy freak?!”
The stranger seemed startled by my outburst, but that startlement quickly turned to very clear annoyance. “Must I be required to prove myself upon our every meeting?”
I said nothing but just glared at him.
He sighed irritably. “I see that I must repeat myself yet again before you understand.”
The air grew tight and then it snapped. And then there standing before me yet again, was an angel.
“I cannot keep entering the physical realm to satisfy your whims. This shall be for the last time.”
It seemed like he was going to go on scolding me, but I interrupted and asked what he meant about the physical realm.
“The physical plane is the most basic. It is where humanity resides,” he answered impatiently.
“So the reason you have your wings right now is because you are in the physical realm?”
“That is correct.”
“Then where do you normally ‘reside’?”
“I am residing in the Astral Plane. Though you possess the ability to see me in the lowest Astral level, you are unable to sense my wings. This is why you must develop your awareness.” He shimmered, and with another snap, his wings were gone, signaling his return to the Astral plane.
“However, the most relevant matter for your mission relates to awareness of energy, and as such I shall instruct you on developing your awareness for negative and positive energy.”
“Um, hey. If we’re going to keep talking about this tonight, do you mind if I went downstairs and made myself a sandwich real quick? I’m starving again.”
He looked at me slightly aghast. Then he sighed. “Very well, but I shall continue as you eat.”
Avoiding all the boards that I knew squeaked, I carefully tiptoed down the stairs. The Angel seemed to glide behind me; his steps were so light. It was so obvious to me now that he wasn’t really part of this world that I had no idea how I could have not noticed it before.
I made myself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich as the Angel continued his lecture.
“Negative energy is colder and darker, while positive energy is warm and light, though that is only the most superficial of the difference between the energy.”
He continued on, in great detail describing both positive and negative energy, though he concentrated the most on the description of the negative energy as that was what I was going to collect. He followed me as I made my way back to my room, still talking the entire time. He was pretty long-winded, and I think he really could have said things more simply and clearly and it would have made a lot more sense. Still, I started to get a handle on the idea of energy and what I was supposed to do.
I must have dozed off shortly after I got back to my room. The next thing I knew, my alarm was going off. I immediately hit the snooze button, but it had woken me up enough that I didn’t fall immediately back to sleep.
I stared up at the ceiling my mind still deep in thought. It had been real, hadn’t it? Or had I gone crazy? I didn’t feel crazy. But would I really know if I was?
There was a soft knock on my door. “Duncan, are you up?”
I grunted.
Mother peered into my room. “Still in bed?” She came into my room and opened the blinds. Sunlight streamed in. I pulled my blanket up to block out the light. “Come on, sleepy-head. Time to wake up.”
I continued to ignore her. I had been up too late. I just needed a few more minutes of sleep.
“What’s this?” Mother bend down and picked something off my floor.
That question instantly made my mind more alert, and I ran through the list of things I knew was on my floor and compared it to the list of things I wouldn’t want Mom to see and where I usually kept them plus about when I last used them. Even after cross-referencing those lists, I wasn’t coming up with anything I needed to be worried about her finding.
Even so, I cracked open an eye to see what she was looking at. In her hand was something that was shimmery and white. It took me a moment to realize it was a feather.
“How beautiful!” She held a white feather, a little longer than the length of her hand. “I’ve never seen a feather like this before. It’s the whitest I’ve ever seen! What is it from?”
An angel, I didn’t say. Instead, I told her I didn’t know.
“It’s very pretty,” She said again. She looked at the feather another moment, then set it gently on my desk. She walked back over and kissed me lightly on the top of my head. “Well, it’s time to rise and shine now. You’ll be late if you don’t hurry.”
As soon as she left my room, I sat straight up. The feather on my desk shimmered. It was like no feather I had ever seen before. I wasn’t crazy. It wasn’t a dream. That familiar, crazy stranger was really an angel, and I was really some ‘chosen one’.
I was the Chosen One. I wasn’t just some loser, but the Chosen One.
Things were going to be different in my life it.
I was practically skipping on my way to school. All around me, I could feel the energy. All I had to do was pull a little into myself and I could run faster than I had ever run before. And I didn’t get exhausted in the slightest.
I wasn’t some loser; I was the Chosen One, and I had magical powers. I kept repeating that to myself.
“You seem to be in a good mood, worm,” Jim started to say as classes ended.
“Shove it,” I said as I brushed past him. I saw Kelly chatting with some of her girl friends in the hall and immediately approached her. After all, I wasn’t just a loser anymore. I was the Chosen One. I could talk to the goddess of the school if I wanted to.
“Hey, Kelly,” I called over to her, casually.
She turned at my call, looking rather surprised. “Oh, hi Duncan.”
There was an awkward pause. Then she asked, “Do you need something?”
I realized I had just been standing stupidly next to her, so of course she had to think I was weird! I had to think of something to say to her, I realized in a panic. “Um, I was wondering if I could borrow your science notebook, to copy the notes I missed in class when I was out sick?” I asked her in a rushed voice.
“Oh, sure. I don’t have my notebook with me right now, but I’ll lend it to you a little later, ok?”
“Yeah, sure. That’s fine. Um, thanks.”
I couldn’t think of anything else to say, and I could hear the whispers from everyone standing around us. Defeated, I thanked her again and told her I would see her later. Things were supposed to be different now. I was the Chosen One after all!
Well, I would just have to act cooler when I talked with her the next time. I had to remember that I wasn’t just some loser anymore.
Kelly approached me after science class and handed me her notebook. “Here you go,” she said as she handed me the notebook. “Do you think you can give this back to me by tomorrow?”
“I have study hall after lunch. I should be able to give this back to you after school today.”
She smiled brilliantly. “That would be great. Would you meet me over at my locker after school then?”
“Sure. You’re the only person in this class who I trust to take good notes, so thanks again for this.” It was hard, but I tried to keep my tone light and casual. I could feel my heart in my throat, but I couldn’t let myself be loser like I had been that morning.
“It’s no problem at all. I’m just glad you’re talking to me again.”
“Eh?”
“You’re no longer mad about our project grade? We didn’t get a really good grade on our project, even though we put in so much effort!”
“Oh. That, right. No, it wasn’t like that. I just got, um, really busy. And was feeling a bit down. But that’s over. Now,” I said, stumbling a bit over my words.
“Well, I’m glad. Anyway, I’ll see you after school.”
“Right. See you then.”
I couldn’t believe how easy it had been, how I could just talk with Kelly Stephenson and act casually towards her like a friend. .
I couldn’t wait for school to get out, and when at last the final bell rang, I all but flew to Kelly’s locker.
She smiled as she saw me coming towards her.
“Here you go,” I said as I handed her back her notebook. “It was a great help. Thank you.”
“I’m glad it could help.”
“Are you busy this weekend?” I blurted out.
“Oh, do you want to study together for the test on Monday?”
“Yes.” As soon as I said that, I mentally kicked myself. I should have said something real smooth, like ‘no, I want to properly thank you for your help by taking you out to dinner’ or something like that.
After all, it wasn’t like it would do much good studying; Dornstein hated me and graded me really harshly. I bet if I had the same exact answer as Kelly, he would still find a way to subtract extra points from me. But studying for the exam was still an excuse to spend some more time with Kelly.
“I could really use a bit more help,” I continued.
“I’m sorry but I’m going away this weekend,” she said regretfully. “In fact, I’m going to be missing a couple days of school.”
“That’s ok…” Why did she make the offer if she was just going to turn me down? Or maybe she hadn’t been offering? I had no idea, but I did know that even though I hadn’t really cared about studying before, suddenly I was horribly disappointed.
“But I’m free now if you want to go to the library for a bit.”
Did she just say what I thought she just said? I brightened instantly and agreed readily.
I spent quite a bit of time the next few days hanging around Kelly. We’d chat a little before school, or just say hi when we passed by in the hallways.
I knew it was only a matter of time, therefore, before they approached me again. After the threats they made the last time I got close to Kelly, I knew that they had to. That was fine by me; it was what I wanted them to do. I could just wait and let them come to me.
Freddy and Jim and all the other brutish fools would bring themselves to my revenge.
Freddy and his gang cornered me after school. If they were surprised by how willing I was to follow them to an empty classroom, they didn’t show it. Maybe they thought I was too intimidated by them to try to get away, but if that was the case then they were completely stupid because I didn’t think I could possibly have looked the slightest bit intimidated. Considering how eager I was to get back at these fools, I had to have looked positively gleeful.
I calmly waited as Freddy ranted at me. “You’re acting really full of yourself again lately. It seems like you haven’t learned your lesson yet.”
I just couldn’t help myself; I burst out laughing. They honestly thought I was the same loser I was before. They honestly thought that they stood a chance against me.
Freddy grew even more enraged at my laughter. That made me laugh even harder.
“That’s it freak!” Freddy shouted and lunged at me.
I could ‘see’ the little splotch of inky darkness in his heart. It was so clear to me now. And all I had to do was ‘pull’ and that energy flowed into me. Freddy faltered as the energy left him.
Using some of the energy in me, I enhanced my punch, and slammed my fist into Freddy’s stomach. The air was pushed out of him with a loud ‘oaff!’ and he was thrown heavily into a cluster of desks.
“The fuck…?” one of the other boys said as they looked from me to Freddy, stunned.
Part of me was surprised this actually worked. I mean, I had been practicing a little over the past week absorbing energy and using it to make myself move faster and stronger, so this had been my plan for dealing with Freddy and the like. But I still had this doubt that I could use my abilities successfully. I doubted I would actually be able to fight anyone, since I had never been able to fight before. And yet it had really worked.
“Just a lucky punch,” another replied. “He can’t get lucky against all of us. Come on!”
The three boys in Freddy’s gang other than Keith rushed towards me. It was such a simple matter to remove that little piece of negative energy in their hearts. It slowed them down and boosted my strength.
One swung his arm out for a punch, but I dodged his fist and shoved him roughly into another cluster of desks. The second went to grab me from behind, but I threw him onto the third guy.
Freddy was still pretty winded, but the other guy I shoved into the desks was picking himself up. The other two boys took a moment longer to untangle themselves. Keith continued to cower in the corner.
They didn’t understand that I was above them now. It was time to demonstrate my strength. It was time to make them pay.
I slammed the first guy against the wall. He slumped down unconscious. The second guy I punched a couple times before sending him flying into Keith. Freddy was next.
I pounded on him. At first he tried to get a hit in on me, or even to just block my punches. But I was relentless and there was no way he could stop me.
The other guy tried to grab me and pull me off Freddy. “Cut it out! You’ll kill him!” But Freddy had made my life hell and I wasn’t ready to stop. I elbowed the guy behind me to shove him off me. I heard the crack as my arm connected loudly with his nose.
I punched Freddy a final time and let him slump to the ground.
I then turned to the final guy in the room. My former friend who shoved me aside for the chance of popularity. The traitor.
Keith was standing against the wall, drained of color. At the sight of him shaking in terror, I felt my hatred turn to disgust.
“Keith, for the sake of our one-time friendship, I will spare you. But get out of my sight. I don’t want to ever see you again.”
Keith didn’t need another warning; he was gone in a flash, tearing off down the hallway as fast as he could away from me.
Turning back, I watched as the guys I beat up pick themselves up. The guy I only punched a bit was helping stop the bleeding on the guy I elbowed and broke his nose. The third guy was still unconscious, slumped against the wall.
Freddy moaned from the floor. I knelt down beside him. His eyes fluttered open and when his eyes focused on me, he flinched and pulled back.
“Remember this, Freddy,” I whispered dangerously in his ear. “I just wanted to be left alone. I tried to keep to myself. But you and Jim kept bothering me. Well, I have grown tired of these insults and torments. This was just a warning. I do not want to be bothered anymore. Have I made my point, or do I need to have a repeat demonstration?”
“You…made…your point,” Freddy mumbled.
“I really do not like having to repeat myself. Therefore, I would like you to make certain that my message is spread. You’re a popular guy, Freddy. I’m sure you can tell lots of people.”
I pulled Freddy up and stared him intently in the eye. “If I am bothered again, then I’ll know you didn’t do a very good job in telling people not to bother me anymore.” He broke eye contact, looking away with a whimper. I dropped him back to the floor and turned around.
“That would make me angry, Freddy.” I grinned maliciously. He whimpered again. “And you wouldn’t like me when I’m angry.”
Seeing them shaking behind me, I had to laugh. The first part of my revenge was complete. Now to deal with Jim.