*

A few weeks had pa.s.sed since I made that promise to Bonnie, and to my knowledge, she had kept her word and went to school. But like everyone else, she spent a lot of time alone, or with Mia, during lunchtimes and free periods.

I had gained a greater insight into my flatmates from other kids I met in the cla.s.s. The overall opinion ranged from neutral to pity to just getting weirded out by them.

"I've never had a conversation with them," Erin confessed at lunchtime, "But ignore the fact we're in different years, they're just so hard to approach."

"I don't have much to do with them. They kind of…" Nathan made a strange gesture with his hands, "Clump together, you know? It's tough to get in on any of that."

"I feel more bad for them than anything. They have such a stigma around them, and I feel like they feed into it," Scarlett said.

"I tried talking to them once. But I've only ever had luck with Estelle and one of the twins. The other ones just keep to themselves," one of the year-nine girls said.

"That Ava girl always seems standoffish," another remarked, "Like… her friend Robyn recently became friends with a popular group in our year, and I have never seen someone more jealous."

"None of them are in any clubs or sports as far as I know," Raj stated, "So unless they're in the cricket team or my science cla.s.ses I don't have anything to do with them."

There were minimal comments on Alexis when I asked around, and the ones I could find all sang her praises as delightful or quirky. Teachers had a similar opinion of the girls, and none of them seemed aware that Amada was a boy, or at the very least ignored it or were naïve to it.

For the most part, the only significant complaints I got were from the more profound students I spoke to, who thought every one of them had something off about them, notably Mia.

I quickly got used to the atmosphere of White Winter Prep, and the different groups of students that inhabited it. There was a vast range of interests, cultures and values amongst the student community and faculty.

At lunchtime, I usually sat with some friends from the soccer team, but on my way to the tables, I saw Ava seated on a table in a fidgety state, pulling at her thumbs and shaking her leg. Bonnie, Mia and the twins were sitting around her in a calmer state as I approached.

"Hey girls and Amada," I greeted.

I was given a collective chorus of h.e.l.los as I placed my lunchbox on the table, Ava hadn't even acknowledged me, she was too focused on something across the yard. I shuffled next to her and followed her eye line, seeing she was staring at a group of kids sitting on the gra.s.s. Amongst the faces I saw Robyn, sitting on the edge of the circle and watching people speak. Now and then one of the girls would turn their words towards Robyn, but often continued talking to the collective group, as if it was just an obligation to make eye contact with her.

"How is she talking to anyone?" I asked.

"She's not…" Ava replied she was biting her fingernails to the nub.

"Ava has been watching them all lunchtime," one of the twins said.

"She doesn't like the kids Robyn's hanging with," the other added.

"Plain jealousy if you ask me," Bonnie chimed as she took a bite from her sandwich.

Ava punched her on the shoulder, her eyes still locked on the group. "I'm not jealous."

Mia slipped off her chair and walked around to me, taking me by the hand to ensure I sat down next to her at the table.

"You've done nothing but stare at them for the past few days," Bonnie informed with a mouthful of bread, "You're getting all insecure because Robyn somehow made friends."

Ava ripped her eyes away from the group to glare at Bonnie. "You know about that group, am I wrong?" She sat down on the chair. "Robyn is great, but how the h.e.l.l would they know anything about her? It's weird."

Bonnie scoffed, "You're starting to sound like my parents." She picked up some juice and stabbed the straw through the hole.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ava asked folding her arms.

Bonnie had really mellowed out in the weeks since I confronted her about her school-skipping. Despite this, she somehow always managed to get under people's skin.

She held her hands up in surrender as she gulped her mouthful of juice. "Nothing offensive, Ava. I'm just saying you're putting Robyn on a real short leash," she explained, "And I should know. My parents are the definition of helicopter parents."

Mia pulled out a jar of pickles and struggled to open its red lid. She stuck her tongue out as her hand strained on the top. I was momentarily mesmerised by her determination before taking the jar from her and popping the lid open with slight ease. She raised an eyebrow at me, making me smile, "You loosened it," I a.s.sured handing it back.

Ava grumbled, crossing her arms as she pouted. "I'm not a helicopter parent."

"Of course not," Bonnie dramatically placed the juice on the table, "You're a green-eyed friend who doesn't know how to share."

Ava's face remained stiff, but she started laughing, agreeing between chuckles as she counter-insulted Bonnie. "Like you're one to talk, you're such a bipolar with Mia."

Bonnie overexaggerated an angry reaction as she wrapped her arms around Mia. "Oh Mia, oh darling! Never leave me, my friend, or I shall forever be alone!" Everyone started chuckling at Mia's surprised reaction, having not paid attention to the conversation. Bonnie pinched Mia's cheek.

I laughed along with them but found my eyes resting on Ava's tight-fisted hands, a strange contrast to her relaxed, happy face.

*

I must've been a girl magnet in the afternoon because without fail I always had one of my dorm friends walk home with me.

At first, Ava was the only one who had found me, and we walked towards the gate together, each complaining about our cla.s.ses and the workload. When we got to the entrance from the gardening shed, Robyn and that group of popular kids I had seen at lunchtime were walking a few yards in front of us. Robyn was trailing behind the group as they laughed and chatted.

"You still don't like them?" I asked gesturing to the group.

One of the girls lingered behind and grabbed Robyn's arm, tugging her forwards and wrapping an arm around her as they continued chatting, even going to far as to pinch her cheeks like they were friends.

"She seems happy…" Ava sounded saddened by it. "Have I been jealous about this?" she asked looking at me, "Like… does Bonnie have a point?"

I hummed in thought, "A little bit. But completely understandable," I a.s.sured, "You had every right to be suspicious of that group. But I mean… look at that." Robyn seemed happy, beaming smiles at everyone as they spoke to her. "I mean, maybe they do understand her. She seems happy."

Ava stopped walking, and I nearly dropped my bike when I tried to roll back towards her. "Yeah…" Ava rubbed her arms, staring at the ground as she sucked in her lips, "What do you think I should do, Landon?"

My eyes widened at the request. "I don't know," I replied looking back over the group, "Maybe tell Robyn that you'll try and be friends with them? That you accept them maybe?" I shrugged, "I mean, you don't have to love them or whatever, but I'd imagine Robyn would feel better if you accepted them."

Ava puffed out her cheeks, and said, without much conviction, "You're right. I don't trust them but… I'll accept them, for Robyn." She sighed through her nose, "Excuse me." She jogged towards Robyn, calling out for the group to wait. Some of the group looked before Robyn did, some raising an eyebrow as Ava got closer and started talking. She used her sign language as she spoke, and, slowly, Robyn stepped away from the group, who had started slowly walking down the road, eventually waiting outside the school gates.

I didn't approach the conversation and tried my best not to eavesdrop on their silent conversation. From exposure alone, I had learnt quite a bit of sign language, but I couldn't quite understand sentences yet.

Ava placed her books on the ground and started speaking verbally, offering her gestures as she spoke. Robyn replied every now and then, her eyes drawn into a quizzical look as she responded.

After a while, I saw the sign, 'I'm sorry,' and they embraced, the biggest smile on Robyn's face as they rocked side to side in their hug. Then, grabbing her hand, Robyn urged her to follow her back to the group. Ava seemed apprehensive at first, and pointed at me, likely using me as an excuse.

Robyn gave me a small wave.

I awkwardly waved back.

Robyn persisted, tugging on Ava by the arm, and closing her eyes when Ava attempted to object. She eventually gave in, grabbing her books from the ground and following. When they made it to the gate, Ava turned to me and offered a one-handed, 'Shake Away.' I raised my eyebrow in confusion before understanding what she meant; Shake Away was a fast food restaurant in town.

I waved goodbye as they ran to the group, the other kids seemingly accepting or not caring about Ava's presence as they continued down the road.

"I guess I'm walking home alone," I said aloud dropping my hand.

"You wish." Estelle double-punched my arm as she twirled around me.

"Do you follow me in the afternoons or something?" I asked.

"No. While you slept I installed a tracking device in your nose." She took out her phone and shook it in front of my face. "You can't even sneeze without my knowing."

She said that with such conviction I couldn't tell if she was joking. Sensing this, she laughed, "I'm kidding!" she announced as she started tapping on the screen of her phone, "I put it in your ear. That's why it's always itchy." With that, she turned around and headed for the gate.

I knew she was joking, but my ear suddenly felt itchy.

I rolled my eyes as I walked to Estelle, the moment I got there she lifted her head and waved to someone behind me. "Sup, Mario and Luigi?"

I turned to see the twins walking towards us, one of them running up to me with a big smile. "Hi Landon!" they greeted. I a.s.sumed it was Amia.

"What? Am I just a sideshow?" Estelle exaggerated.

"No. We just don't have a crush on you," Amada informed when he caught up. At first, I didn't know how to process that and only managed a nervous chuckle, while Amia turned beet red. It earned him a swift punch from his sister.

In my moment of thought, someone latched onto my hip, and I nearly dropped my bike. Mia had run up to me and hugged me. "Oh! Hi!" I greeted resting a hand on her back. Bonnie rolled promptly after, two school bags resting on her lap. "How come you two haven't gone yet?"

"Its hard to roll my chair through crowds," Bonnie informed, "I'd rather wait for people to catch the buses."

When we started walking, I observed the different ways the girls walked, or in one case rolled. Estelle had a very lively pace, often being too quick and having to circle back, and when she spoke to someone, she would often walk backwards to face them. Amia and Amada mirrored each other at first, taking small steps side by side, but Amia started copying Estelle's walk, Amada soon opting to mimic mine. Even Bonnie had an interesting stride, throwing her hands forwards every push of her wheels with a flick of the wrist, each drive allowed her role for several meters before she had to start again. Mia had a small walk, very solitary one where she crossed her arms over her books and kept her eyes down, only looking up when Estelle pa.s.sed her.

The six of us made it a few hundred meters down the dirt path when we noticed a group of people ahead of us, they weren't walking towards or away from the school, and altogether there seemed to be six of them. When we got closer, we saw they were all boys from our school, five had circled around one scrawny, younger boy, and seemed to be hara.s.sing him.

However, that wasn't the first thing I noticed.

The boys were tall, lean, toned, had some form of bandage or patch on their skin, be it wrapped around their knuckles, pasted to their foreheads or running up their s.h.i.+n, and had a weapon on them.

A weapon may have been extreme, but the way they held them was intimidating. One rested a baseball bat on his shoulders, simultaneously showing off his size, another rolled a tennis racket in his hands, one leaned heavily on a golf club while another showed off the gleam in his rapier. Even from our distance, the glare from the metal blinded me.

The one who appeared to be doing the hara.s.sing, a tall boy with dyed black hair, didn't have a weapon on him.

"Should I be concerned?" I asked watching on in worry.

At the sight of them, even Estelle's bubbly walk turned to quick steps. "Don't look at them," she instructed keeping her head down, "Those are the Delinquents."

I raised an eyebrow at the t.i.tle. "The what?" Bonnie asked. I was glad I wasn't the only one who didn't know who they were.

"The Delinquents. They're a bunch of good-for-nothing criminals in our school," Estelle hissed, "When they bother to show up all they do is keep to themselves or hara.s.s people. They're creepy."

"They've been here for years," Amia added, rocking on her heels.

"Probably because their leader's repeated year ten who knows how many times," Estelle scoffed with an eye roll.

"Dylan usually waits outside the gates after school," Amada feebly added, "He likes to rough up juniors." I didn't like the tone in Amada's voice when he said that.

I looked back over to them, watching one of them bat the boy's folder on the ground and proceed to start smacking it and hitting it around with the baseball bat. When the kid tried to intervene, one of the boys held him back by the collar of his s.h.i.+rt, a simple act that made the junior go back like a slingshot. All the folder's contents be it paper, a pencil case, a textbook, got sprawled on the road as two of the Delinquents kicked it around.

It made me angry to see them torture this boy as they finally let him go. He stumbled to the ground and tried to pick up his belongings hastily, all while they laughed at him and loomed over him as he trembled.

Estelle grabbed my arm and tugged me forwards, "Come on, Landon, let's go."

I pa.s.sed her by bike, "Just one second." I made my way towards the commotion, the hushed warnings and calls from the girls following me.

The five Delinquents were like meerkats, once one noticed me the others lifted their heads and glared at me when I approached. The one who had started the confrontation, one I a.s.sumed to be Dylan, faced me with a wide smirk on his face, the baseball bat from his friend still in hand.

"Fresh meat, huh?" he announced when I approached.

I ignored his statement, addressing them as a group, "Don't you think this kid has had enough?" I asked. The junior still kneeled on the ground, unable to lift his eyes or move his stiff hands. Behind his gla.s.ses, he looked close to crying.

"Aww, don't be a spoilsport," Dylan whined as he reached the baseball bat down to the junior and lifted his chin with the rounded edge, making him look at him, "We're just having a bit of a tease."

I crossed my arms, "Well I think you're done."

There was always a slight gleam in people's eyes when they smelt a fight. I didn't want to fight, but one by one I watched them arch their heads in curiosity, an instinctive scent t.i.tillating them, as they either gripped their weapons or adopted a subtly intimidating pose. I felt like I was surrounded by agitated cobras.

"Big talk coming from a newbie," Dylan said leaning heavily on the baseball bat. The way he handled it was almost playful, or in this context s.a.d.i.s.tic. "Clearly you don't know how things are done around here. Since you're the new cripple of the Disability Ward, I'll give you a pa.s.s on this one." When he said that, he looked over my shoulder at my dormmates across the road and offered a gentle wave to them. None of them returned it. "Ooo, harsh," he clicked, prompting the smirk from his friends. "But let me lay down; I guess a silent law of White Winter Prep." As he spoke he continued to swipe at the kid's papers on the ground, taking no regard to it as he stood on it and nearly whacked the junior in the shoulder, "We do what we want, when we want, and don't have to listen to the likes of wannabe good Samaritans like yourself. Now, why don't you go on back to the members of your Harem over there, and leave us to our little friend here?" I watched as he stood by the junior, who was still too petrified to get up and run away, and tapped the bat on the ground, startling the boy.

Dylan lifted his gaze back to me, "Unless you want us to go say hi to them while you console this little wimp here." This time the whole group took a glance at the girls. "After all, it is nice to share."

I took in everything Dylan had just said, replaying specific lines of his monologue and silent jabs at my friends. He was trying to get a rise out of me, to s.h.i.+ft my focus from what was going on. I withheld a snort of amus.e.m.e.nt, amazed by Dylan's attempt at being intimidating, as I chose to brush him off and start picking up some of the papers by my feet.

I could feel the stare of the other boys on me, an indistinct murmur between two of them, as I gathered up the last paper and picked up the textbook. The folder had been ripped apart, but the doc.u.ments were still intact. I approached the junior, putting me in the centre of their circle of doom, and nudged him with my foot. "Just go home, kid," I instructed, helping him stand and handing him the papers and textbook.

He shakily took his work, looked back at Dylan who offered a tilt of the head and sly half-smile and ran without a word.

I watched him go, waiting for him to get just out of sight before I pocketed my hands and went to return to the girls.

But Dylan wasn't done with me. "Hang on, new kid." He blocked my way baseball bat first as he followed, standing in front of me and pointing the bat at me like he did the junior. I felt a spike of worry spread through my chest, but I suppressed it. "Not cool. What're we supposed to do for fun now?"

I pushed the bat off my chest and shrugged, "I dunno, go home?" I tried to walk around him, but he physically pushed me back. My chest tingled where his hand was. I was beginning to lose my patience with this guy. "Okay, your turn to listen now, all of you," I announced, "You are not scary, you are cringy, you think you look intimidating, but you actually all look silly." The boys all looked to one another when I said this, some even dropping their intimidating stances upon my acknowledgement. "And whatever monologue you just pulled out of your a.r.s.e needs to be rewritten, because you are way too wordy to be a bully." I sighed as I went to walk past Dylan again, only for him to try and shove me back again. In a spout of anger, I grabbed his baseball bat, twisted it from his hands and in one smooth motion kicked his leg out from under him and pushed him back, sending him to the dirt. I held the baseball bat at his face, "Since I'm the new kid at this school, I'm gonna give you a pa.s.s on this one," I paraphrased, "But if you ever threaten me again, or my friends over there, a shove is the least of your worries. Watch it." I threw the bat next to Dylan, the impact making hollowed sound and went to return to my friends, but in a moment of searing pain, something struck me in the leg, and I stumbled over next to Dylan.

The boy with the tennis racket hit my leg.

The other boys helped Dylan up, the bat making a sc.r.a.ping sound against the ground when he grabbed the handle. He laughed, "Well someone is feeling brave, aren't they?" My leg was hot with pain as I gritted my teeth and grabbed a fistful of dirt, determined not to give them the satisfaction of a noise. "Mighty c.o.c.ky of you, newbie," he commented gripping the baseball bat, "I'd say we're all a bit shocked that you put me on my a.r.s.e, aren't we?" They all shared a collective chuckle. "But maybe the lesson isn't sinking in. Maybe it'd be better to bash it in."

The pain in my leg started to dull. I heard the hollow sound of the bat impacting his hand. I rolled onto my back, hands ready, as Dylan brought down the bat. I had timed it perfectly. I grabbed the bat, one hand on the end and one in the middle, and made a hard twist, severing it from his hands a second time. I struck him in the side of the leg, and he collapsed, bracing himself with his knees.

I jumped to my feet, all but one of the boys raised their weapons.

I sighed, "Good grief…"

I dodged one after the other, narrowly escaping all of them in time to climb a tree and be out of their reach. All but one of them pursued me with waving fists and choice words.

Dylan swore at me, having to support himself with one of his friends. "Get down you coward!"

I straddled a branch, scoffing at him. "It's one against five, how the h.e.l.l am I the coward?"

The other boys mellowed out quicker then Dylan had, some even stopping and attempting to calm their friend down. "This isn't fun anymore," one of them commented.

"Let's just leave, dude," another chimed in.

"He's not worth it."

Dylan told them all to shut up and to help him get me down, with a few extra colourful words thrown in.

"Mia!" Bonnie yelled.

I was blocked by the branches, and couldn't see what the girls were doing, but Dylan was struck on the back of the head by something; a stone.

In a fit of anger, he turned around and growled, "You little…" I ducked under the twigs and saw Mia, standing in the middle of the road with rocks in her hands. Dylan was approaching her quickly, and in fright, she threw more stones at him, they either missed or hit his front and didn't affect him, and when he got to her, he grabbed a fistful of her s.h.i.+rt and lifted her off the ground.

Estelle was the first to run over, demanding he put her down as she pulled at his arm, but he was stronger than her and laughed when Bonnie yelled for him to let her go. I felt my heartbeat in my ears when he started mocking them and saw red when Mia began sobbing in fright.

I leapt down from the tree, my presence, so aggressive none of the boys attacked me when they had the chance.

"Put," I said slowly, "Her," my hands curled into fists, "Down."

Dylan's smug expression angered me more as he placed her gently back on the ground. I was beginning to turn aggressive, I wanted to fight him, I wanted to punch him in the face, drop-kick him until he cried for making Mia cry. I started stamping towards him, but before I could reach him, the boy who held the golf club cut me off, not to stop me, but to approach Dylan himself in a much calmer fas.h.i.+on.

When he reached Dylan, he dropped his club, brought back his fist and sucker punched him in the gut, sending Dylan heaving forward, supported only by his friend's fist and hand on his back. Before he could recover, the boy turned Dylan around, one arm restricted to his back, and forced him to kneel. "I suggest you apologise to Miss Banks," his friend said kneeling on Dylan's calves, so he couldn't get up, "It appears you gave her an unnecessary fright."

Dylan grimaced, but scoffed as he chimed, "I'm sorry for scaring you, Mia Banks."

Satisfied, the boy released Dylan and pulled him to his feet. "What you do that for? I was just mucking around." Dylan rested his hands on the back of his head, attempting to seem big despite the sudden blow to his stomach and the obvious pain in his arm.

His friend jeered, "Because that was stupid even for you. You'd probably get an a.s.sault charge or murdered by this guy," he gestured to me, "Whichever came first." He flicked up his golf club with his foot and caught it, resting it on his shoulder as he blew some of his hair from his eyes. He addressed me with a mono-toned, flat statement, "My apologies, Mr Landon Becks, I don't condone that kind of behaviour in my friends. I'll ensure it doesn't happen again."

Dylan scoffed as he folded his arms, "I don't hit girls…" he grumbled.

His friend sighed, "I'm leaving, this has gotten boring." He looked to the girls, each still appearing a bit rattled, "Various Missuses." He tipped an imaginary hat, offering a playful wink to Mia who wiped her nose, before heading down the road.

I was surprised to watch the other boys take on a similar demeanour, as they either put their sports equipment away or held it to be less intimidating and followed him. Even Dylan left without a word, and further down the road was getting good-humouredly punched like they were all friends.

I turned my attention to Mia, who still appeared moon-eyed. "Are you okay?" I asked holding her face in my hands. Her breathing was a regular pant, and she seemed to be looking through me. I wondered if she was going into shock.

Bonnie opened one of the bags and pulled out a plastic water bottle. When Mia got her hands on it, she started taking great gulps while almost gnawing off the mouthpiece. It seemed to calm her down.

"That was intense…" Amada gulped, he looked pale.

"I don't think I've ever seen you that mad, Landon," Amia added.

"Some Dorm Guard I am, though." I stood up, my limbs were tingling with adrenaline as I pressed a finger to my neck to monitor my heart rate, "I let that pervert touch Mia."

Estelle seemed gleefully excited. "You looked ready to murder him then dude, it was awesome," she cooed, "Nine out of ten would definitely recommend."

I smirked at her reaction, "Should I be worried about you?"

Without a second to consider, she nodded, "Most definitely."

I felt my heart's frantic beat lessen as I steadied my breathing, my chest felt slightly sore, but I knew it would pa.s.s. We made our way back to my bike, which along with my bad was lying on the ground.

"That was really brave, Landon," Amia's voice sounded small giving me that compliment, "But also incredibly stupid. Please don't try that again." The girls and Amada all agreed with Amia, asking me next time to just leave it alone.

After a round of arguments, I agreed. I was uncomfortable with the idea of just ignoring when someone was having a hard time, but I complied to make them happy. "What is that Dylan guy's problem anyway? That was intense even for a bully."

Amada tilted his head, "That wasn't Dylan," he informed.

I blinked, "It wasn't?"

He shook his head. "That was Connor. Dylan is the one who made him apologise to Mia."

Mia's water bottle made an unattractive cackle as she slurped up air when she ran out of water.

I took the water bottle from Mia and took out my own, refilling it so she wouldn't hyperventilate. "I thought you said Dylan was the one who roughed up Juniors."

"He's the one who decides who gets beaten up and who doesn't," Amia said, "He doesn't ever do anything though. He just watches and intervenes if it gets too heavy-handed."

"If you pay him when he approaches you though he'll leave you alone," Amada informed, "The whole group will."

Estelle crossed her arms and shook her head, "In a way that's even worse than what Connor does. He's a callous, manipulative tyrant." She stomped her foot and released a loud squeal. "They all use to be such nice kids too, I don't know what happened to them!"

Bonnie shrugged, "High School changes people I suppose," she commented as Mia climbed onto her lap and snuggled against her shoulder. Bonnie hugged her little sister. "But if any of them ever touch Mia again, I swear I'll…"

Estelle tilted her head, a smirk on her lips. "Go on. You'll what?"

Bonnie grumbled for a moment as I pa.s.sed Mia back her water bottle and picked up my bike.

"I'll mace him," Bonnie decided as she started rolling with us.

"You and what mace?" Estelle joked as we all started walking. The two of them had a random back and forth, while I returned my stare to Mia, who was either looking up at me with her gla.s.sy eyes or staring absently down at her water bottle, which she continued to gnaw on until we got home.