inmh

inmh @ 2008-09-01T01:00:00

2008-09-01T04:59:23Z

Woot. My current Icon is one I snagged from Trowica.
ALL-TIME FAVORITE BULLY QUOTE!

inmh @ 2008-04-14T18:52:00

2008-04-14T22:55:37Z

Edgar's picture's kind of dark... I'll see if I can find a better one. Is this good for now, though?

inmh @ 2008-02-14T21:44:00

2008-02-15T02:47:38Z

I will be orgasmically happy if this works. No joking.

inmh @ 2008-02-14T21:36:00

2008-02-15T02:38:22Z

inmh @ 2008-01-10T17:56:00

2008-01-10T22:58:21Z

For those of you that read this, feel free to ignore this: I'm putting it for my own reference...

Jerry Renault
Phone
TheUltimateChocolateWar

Namine's Clone
Phone
KHNamine

Alternate
TJLCody
Justin

siris.takingoutthetrash.algernon
Alternate
74

.... Random.

Missing notebook...

2007-12-03T02:21:05Z

AAAARGH! I'M SO PISSED! I LOST MY FRICKING BULLY NOTEBOOK! That had countless pages of musings and scenarios for Bull and Boar, and other Bully stuff I wanted to write, DAMMIT! I've torn my room apart, the computer room, my bag, the living room- just DAMMIT! It can't have just vanished into thin air! My worst fear is that I might've knocked it into the trash at one point...
I need to go write something to vent...

Continued...

2007-11-11T06:08:12Z

I get all ten chapters copied and pasted onto that last post (putting it into cut format was hell because the cursor was slow), and then it tells me that the post is too large. That's just ducky. Yeah. I get bitchy during writer's block.

I am a geek. In a fit of crossover-love and a few ABC specials, I have incorporated the character Matilda Wormwood (Copyright Roahd Dahl (sp?) into this story. Forgive me, for am tired.

“Attention all students: Whoever has programmed the scoreboard on the football field to repeat those repugnant phrases, come and undo it, or there will be a group detention session tonight!” Ms. Danvers voice snapped over the P.A system. The kids in Jimmy’s math class were laughing: many had glanced outside and saw the familiar phrases ‘JOCKS LOVE COMMUNAL SHOWERS’ and ‘JOCKS PLAY WITH THEIR BALLS’ flashing alternatively across the scoreboard.

The Nerds were laughing particularly hard, Melvin high-fiving Cornelius and Earnest. “I say we let them disarm it themselves,” Earnest said gleefully. “After all, how bad could detention be?” Just then, the P.A system crackled to life again.

“Besides,” Came Damon’s voice. “Because if it ain’t gone by seventh period, we’re gonna be tossing around you dorks for football practice until it is!”

Jimmy vaguely heard a reprimand from Ms. Davers, and the system shut off.

The students were still giggling; even the Nerds, though it sounded more nervous now. Without warning, they turned tail and dashed from the room, crashing into several desks as they did. The temporary teacher for math sighed. “They’re not coming back…” She mumbled.

A week had passed after Petey and Gary made amends. They were quietly friendly with one another, but Gary made no move to speak with Jimmy or Zoe. He was still a bit too humbled to apologize to Jimmy yet, and as long as he was on Jimmy’s bad side, he’d probably be on Zoe’s as well.

As for the Boarprice students; quiet and innocent as church mice. They didn’t pick fights (though it was obvious Callie and Katie were dying to), didn’t harass them, didn’t do anything to mark them as malevolent in the school population. Now, if Jimmy hadn’t seen and heard what he’d seen and heard on the first day, he might’ve assumed that the kids weren’t going to offer any trouble.

But he’d done that dance before- it was the same deal with the onion; you peel back one, stinking layer only to find another, so don’t assume your troubles are over just yet. Even if Zoe hadn’t been so adamant in her hate for the Boarprice students, Jimmy probably would have picked up on those vibes from them anyway. He was good at gauging people like that.

This innocence thing was probably all just an act, if he’d guessed correctly. They were like trap-door spiders, biding their time until some tasty opportunity came strolling by before jumping out of their holes and tearing it to micro-shreds.

Okay. A little hyped-up. But not entirely far from the truth.

The point being that the Boarprice kids were being good- for now. And in the time since that first day, Jimmy had analyzed a couple of other new kids.

Anthony Brakus- Constantinos’ eleven-year-old brother, for one example. He had transferred into Bullworth from public school. He was similar in both appearance and attitude to Constantinos, but not perfectly; he was a bit more likeable than his older brother, with a better sense of humor. Anthony liked comedy, Constantinos leaned more towards sadism. But who was Jimmy to split hairs?

Like Constantinos, Anthony was clique-less, and was planning on keeping it that way. He was in an odd position- nobody was the same age as him. The ‘little kids’ were all younger by at least a year, and all the older kids were older by at least a year. He was big amongst the little students, and little amongst the big students. And from what Jimmy had heard him saying to Steve, he figured it was going to be interesting.

Not a threat, but someone to keep an eye on.

Then there was little Matilda Wormwood. This girl was a Nerd in the making- big time. She was six- six- and already in Bullworth (the usual entry age being nine). She was at a fourth-grade class level, but was probably even smarter than that. The kid was a genius, plain and simple.

Apparently, gossip said, Matilda’s parents had told Ms. Danvers and Crabblesnitch that Matilda was a horribly behaved child who deserved to be locked away. This, however, was utter BS; Matilda was rivaling Amanda in being one of the most pleasant children Jimmy had ever met. He anticipated no problems with her in the future.

Yes, a flood of new wee-ones at Bullworth. That meant hunting season for the Bullies; they’d probably leave Matilda and the other girls alone, but Anthony and the other boys under thirteen (or under 120 pounds…) were open game. Steve had already mouthed off to Tom Gurney twice, and was rewarded with a shove down the stairs in one occasion, and a shove into a locker in another.

That, of course, had its repercussions; Tom had had an unfortunate accident with some grease, a wrench, three rolls of tape and a couple of hot dogs at Shop class, with Peanut and Johnny watching intently the whole time. Noticeably, they had laughed the loudest when it happened.

Just then, someone laughed loudly. Everyone turned out the window to see a new phrase running across the scoreboard:

‘CRY, DORKS, CRY!’

“GOD BLOODY DAMMIT!”

Amanda blinked owlishly and looked up from her book. “What was that, Bif?” She asked in her sweet, dreamy voice. Bif glanced towards the school-side entrance of Harrington House.

“… I think that was Derby…” He mumbled. “But I could be wrong.” At that moment, Derby Harrington burst into the room, covered from head to toe in chicken feathers and car grease. Bif, Amanda, Tad and Gord (The latter two present as well) all froze in silent shock. Bif was the one to break it.

“…Of course… I could be right, too…” He murmured, slowly taking in the sight of their illustrious leader looking like Big Bird.

“GREASERS!” Derby roared, slamming the doors shut behind him. “THOSE DISGUSTING, IMPUDENT, RUDE, PAINS IN MY-” In spite of his rant, he managed to spare Amanda a brief look- “-NECK!”

“Smooth save,” Tad noted dryly. Derby gave him an intently murderous look, and he coughed softly, backing away.

“This may seem like an unnecessary question,” Gord said quietly, biting his lip to hold back his laughter. “But… What exactly did they do?”

“YOU FIGURE IT OUT!” Derby barked.

“Be careful, Derby, you’ll go hoarse,” Amanda said softly, marking the page in her book before shutting it. “And you know what the lawn gnomes do to people when they can’t talk.” At this, all four boys turned to stare at her. Derby had known her all nine years of her life, so he shook it off fastest- Bif, Tad and Gord; not so much.

“Did you say ‘Lawn gnomes’, Amanda?” Gord asked, curiously puzzled by the child’s words. “Why, why ever would you-” He caught sight of Derby making a swift slashing motion across his throat. Don’t ask. PLEASE don’t ask. “Ah… Never mind.” He turned back to Derby. “So… Really… What did they do?”

Derby bared his teeth. “Bucket. Feathers. Grease. Doorway. You fill in the blanks.” He ripped a hunk of feathers off his forehead. “Barely two bloody weeks into the school year and they’re already pranking us!”

“Why would they prank us?” Amanda asked, tilting her head to the side.

“Because they hate us.” Tad grunted.

“Why?”

“Think of us as cats and dogs, Amanda,” Bif said, attempting to put an end to what could end up being a very long string of ‘whys’. “We’re cats, they’re dogs, and we simply don’t get along. Never have, never will.” Amanda blinked.

“Oh.” The answer wasn’t very satisfying, but it was probably the only one she was going to get for now, so she would have to live with it.

“So what do we do?” Tad asked, leaning on the back of an armchair. “Talk to them, and remind them of tradition? Or would you like to skip the formalities and egg the living daylights out of them?” Derby was tempted to take the second option, but still- decorum was there to be observed.

That was why he was so angry (Apart from being covered in grease and feathers); it wasn’t customary for pranks between cliques to start so early in the year. Bullying, maybe; but pranks like this were usually started around the end of September and beginning of October, once everyone had settled in.

“Remind them of the order. Then egg them.”

‘Remind them of the order’ could be loosely translated to ‘Yell at them, insult them, beat them up and egg them.’ And that’s pretty much what Tad, Chad, Justin, Bryce and Parker did once they’d grouped together and set off. It was a written rule- and common sense- that no Prep was to enter the auto shop area alone; a likewise rule was set for the Greasers and the Harrington House premises. It was virtual suicide.

Even with a group, however, it was perilous- if too many Greasers were present at once, the Preps attempted to remain close to an escape route, or within earshot of the shop teacher or a prefect, so they could avoid being beaten to a fine pulp. Fortunately, today found few Greasers at the auto shop; and that was including the baby-member they’d picked up this year.

Steve was the first to see the Preps approaching, having been sitting against the wall of the shop and trying to wrap his mind around a math problem. He looked up, and his eyes widened- he’d gotten a crash-course lesson on the Preps already. He knew what it meant to see Preps in Greaser territory. “Hey! Peanut! Lefty! Preps!” He yelled. The two older boys, plus Lucky and Norton, came shooting out of the shop.

“Well,” Peanut muttered, eyes narrowing particularly hard when he saw Tad (He hated Spencer just as much as Spencer hated him). “Lookie what the cats dragged in. What do you trust-fund babies want?” Tad gave a wry smirk.

“Don’t play stupid, Peanut; Oh, wait, I forgot- you don’t have to play.” Peanut’s lip curled, and Steve let out a snarl.

“Screw off, Prep!” The child snapped. The Preps all exchanged looks, and then burst into laughter.

“Look! They’ve gotten themselves an attack dog!” Justin howled.

“I wonder if he bites!” Chad giggled.

“At least our ‘attack dog’ doesn’t bite us,” Lefty snorted. “And, ah, how did you get that bandage on your arm again?”

“His own pet can’t stand him,” Lucky threw in. The Greasers snickered. “But then, who can?” The snickering got louder. Tad rolled his eyes in disgust and nodded.

“Yes, yes- quit stalling and own up, paupers- did you all do it as a group, or was it just two of you wise-asses?”

“Did we do what?”

“Don’t pull the innocent act with us,” Bryce growled. “The feathers, the car grease- you just got lucky it fell on Derby.” The Greasers weren’t snickering any more. They actually looked genuinely confused.

“What?” Peanut asked. “What are you talking about?” Tad hesitated, Peanut’s expression catching him off guard; from the sounds of it, he was honestly ignorant of the prank; the others as well. But that didn’t mean a Greaser wasn’t responsible. Tad hardened again.

“One of your boys,” He said coolly. “Put a bucket filled with car grease and chicken feathers over the entrance to Harrington House. When Derby opened the door…” He trailed off; they were smart enough to figure it out on their own.

The Greasers exchanged looks. Peanut looked at them all, and gave a little shrug: Any idea what he’s talking about? Lucky and Lefty shrugged and shook their heads. Norton blinked. “Not a clue,” He said. Peanut looked down at Steve.

“What about you, Stevie?”

“I didn’t know,” Steve shook his head. “But I sure wish I did…” Peanut snickered- he would delight in giving Johnny and the others the mental image of Derby Harrington covered in grease and feathers later. But right now, he had Preps to deal with; and he had a feeling they would be neither convinced nor happy with the answer he intended on giving them.

All the same, he shrugged. “Sorry, boys- We didn’t know about it. But Stevie makes a good point- I wish I had…” The Greasers started snickering again. The Preps’ faces darkened menacingly.

“Like we believe that,” Parker growled, taking a step forward. The snickering stopped instantly.

“You better believe it, richie,” Lucky said coldly, likewise taking a step forward. “Because we didn’t know; if we had known, don’t you think we would’ve stuck around to see Harrington look like a giant turkey?” A pause. The confidence the Preps had possessed moments ago wavered for a minute.

They hated to admit it, but the Greaser posed an excellent point: That was a type of prank you wanted to see. And it’s not like the Greasers were shy about sticking around and humiliating Preps after a prank either. “’Sides- we’re not the only ones who hate your guts. Go check the other cliques.”

There was another pause. The Preps scowled. “Fine,” Tad said quietly. “Let’s go.” To the Greasers’ surprise, Tad turned away and motioned for the others to follow. Grudgingly, the other three obliged.

“Well,” Lefty muttered. “That was surprisingly easy.” Steve turned back to his homework, and the four older boys turned to go back to work in the shop, when-

SPLAT.

… Peanut swore as something solid exploded into a sticky mess on his back. Spencer had simply not been able to pass up the opportunity to send an egg at his nemesis’ back. Immediately, the Greasers sprung into action and charged after the Preps, intending to beat on them all the way back to Harrington House. But just as they reached the Bullworth fountain-

“HEY! What are you delinquents doing?” Came Seth Kolbe’s bark from nearby. The Greasers skidded to a stop and immediately put their hands up in a placating gesture.

“We weren’t doin’ nothin’!” Norton said quickly.

“The hell you aren’t! Get back to the shop, grease-stains!”

“Right!” The Preps howled with laughter at the beginning of the path that led to Harrington House.

“THAT GOES DOUBLE FOR YOU BRATS!”

“Wow,” Petey winced. “Peanut did that?”

He and Jimmy were currently observing Gord Vendome hobbling in front of the school on crutches, a brace on his left knee. Three days after the confrontation between the Preps and Greasers, the big talk was that Peanut and Gord had had some sort of altercation in English class, gotten detention, and then gotten into another fight after school somewhere else.

At least, that’s what Gord and Peanut were reporting. Jimmy couldn’t help but think that there was something… Off about their stories. First of all- neither of them was talking about it. They either avoided the subject all together, or changed the subject when it was brought up. This was significant because when a Greaser and Prep fought, they would boast about what they’d done to anyone who’d listen.

Second of all, there was something a little iffy about how Gord’s knee had been wrenched. He said he’d fallen on it- but Jimmy was having a hard time believing that you could wrench your knee that badly just by tripping. And then, how’d he gotten to the clinic? Crawled? His knee was wrenched damn bad- not the type you could wince about, but ignore in the end if you tried to walk on it.

But whatever had happened, it was their business. Jimmy really didn’t care what happened between those two, as long as it didn’t cause any trouble for the rest of the school. After all, everyone in Bullworth had their own, secret agendas, and it’d be stupid to poke his nose into every one he found.

“So, anyway,” Jimmy said, changing the subject. “Gary been giving you any trouble?” Petey blushed a little.

“No.”

“Liar. You’re blushing. What’d he do now?”

“Nothing! Really! He’s left me alone…” Now, that wasn’t entirely true, depending on how it was interpreted. Gary and Petey talked, which obviously meant he hadn’t been leaving the smaller boy alone; but if you interpreted how Petey meant it (That Gary hadn’t been bothering him), then it was true. Gary hadn’t insulted him once. He was being good.

“Have you talked to him?” Petey shifted uneasily.

“A little.” There was a pause. Jimmy let the cogs turn while studying Petey’s expression- and it clicked.

“Pete. No. Please don’t tell me you and that nutcase are friends.”

Busted.

Petey was astonished at how Jimmy could be so blatantly oblivious to some things, and still be able to figure stuff like this out. But nevertheless, he was caught, and he quickly moved to defend himself. “I’m sorry! I just can’t hold a grudge!”

“Well, now would be a good time to learn!” Jimmy snapped. “That crazy idiot threw us both through a skylight!” Petey cringed.

“I don’t know… He looked lonely when I first saw him, and then when you and Zoe went to egg the Nerds and I went back to my room he was there and we talked…” His words became steadily faster as he progressed through the story. “And Jimmy, he really does seem a lot better, and he even said-”

Whoa. Whoops. Not supposed to tell him that.

“…That he’s back on his meds…” Petey finished lamely, trying to cover for nearly slipping about Gary’s gratefulness to Jimmy.

“Oh yeah, I’m sure; Tell that to the skylight.”

“Do you have to keep going back to that?”

“Just don’t come crying to me when you wake up with a knife between your ribs or something!” Jimmy growled.

“AAAAAAARGH!”

Both boys (not to mention everyone else in the area) jumped. “What was that?” Someone said.

“Sounds like it came from the football field!” Another yelled. Petey and Jimmy shared looks, then bounded off after the other students towards the football field.

The football field was a scene of chaos. At first, Jimmy thought that the players and cheerleaders were covered in paint- it was white, shiny and- apparently- sticky. But as they got closer (and saw Mandy and Christy’s back’s stuck together), he realized it wasn’t paint, but glue- super glue.

As in, the stuff you might need a hospital trip for if you accidentally glue your fingers together.

And the Jocks were covered in it.

Ted was currently facing off with Earnest, looking very much like he was moments away from strangling the Nerd. “What the hell, you little freak?! We haven’t done anything to you or your loser friends yet!”

“We didn’t do anything!” Earnest snarled back. He had no trouble facing off with Ted- he had his boys backing him up, while Ted’s boys were currently trying to peel themselves off the grass. “Where could we afford this much glue? It would cost months of allowance!”

“Yeah!” Melvin piped up. “And that money would be so much better spent on Dungeons and Dragons cosplay outfits!” The Nerds immediately chattered sentiments of agreement, though Earnest’s glare remained locked with Ted’s.

“All right. ALL RIGHT!” Earnest barked at them, calling for order. “Could you focus for a moment?”

“Sorry.”

“Yeah.”

“Forgot.”

“Like I really buy that crap!” Ted snapped. “Who else would want to glue the field?”

“Anyone who dislikes you meatheads?” Earnest suggested with a cocked eyebrow and crossed arms.

“You’re dead, nerd!” Kirby yelled. He went to jump at the Nerds, forgot his feet were stuck to the grass, and did a face-plant into the gluey dirt. The bystanders howled hysterically, and Trent tried to surreptitiously creep over and help his humiliated boyfriend un-stick himself from the grass.

“He might not be able to do anything, but I can,” Ted hissed, taking a menacing step forward. To Earnest and his posse’s credit, they stood their ground. However, Jimmy knew that without spud guns, bottle rockets or stink bombs, Ted would hand their asses to them on a silver platter, so he decided to step in and avert the carnage.

“Easy, Ted,” He said. “He might be telling the truth.”

“And pigs might grow wings and gills!” He fired back. “Their base is, like, twenty feet away!” He jerked his head to the observatory. “Who else could’ve glued the field and hid the evidence fast enough?”

“ANYONE!” Earnest screamed. “ANYONE WITH ABOUT TEN OTHER PEOPLE!”

“Calm down!” Jimmy snapped at the Nerd. “We can settle this real easy- Earnest, take Ted to the observatory and show him you aren’t hiding anything there.”

“Let a Jock on Nerd territory? Hell no!”

“It goes against all we stand for!”

“And bethides, he wouldn’t find anything anyway!” (Not a typo- that was Thad talking).

“Then you’ll have no problem with it!” Jimmy said, glaring at them. “Think about it- if you say no, it only makes you look guilty. It’ll just be me, Earnest and Ted- no other Nerds, no other Jocks.”

There was a pause. The Nerds were as happy about Ted going on their turf as Gary had been about going to the Happy Home, but in both situations, it couldn’t be helped. If this wasn’t resolved peacefully then and there, the Jocks would force their way into the observatory later on their own terms and bust up the place.

“Let’s go,” Earnest grumbled, motioning for Jimmy and Ted to follow him. They strode around the field, watched in silence by the other students, and made their way up the path to the observatory. “Just don’t touch anything,” The Nerd leader growled at Ted. “I don’t want it contaminated.”

“And I don’t want Nerd-germs.” Ted grunted. “Just open the damn gate.” Earnest gave him an ugly look, but pried the gates open nevertheless.

“Just a quick look around, Earnest; this won’t be an hour long project.” Jimmy assured him. Earnest nodded sullenly and went to open the door. “And you keep your paws to yourself,” Jimmy warned Ted. “He’s cooperating, so don’t make trouble.”

“Whatever.”

Perhaps now would be an appropriate time to mention something significant.

Jimmy was probably the only person in the school that was highly respected by every clique. They listened to him, considered his opinions, trusted him, and allowed him to mediate spats between them. But in spite of that, they had learned their lesson last year from Smith: One person with too much power was dangerous. Jimmy was highly respected, and his influence was strong, but he was not the king of the school.

If Ted and Earnest didn’t want to listen to him, they didn’t have to. Jimmy was offering them a chance to solve it with as little bloodshed as possible, and he made a good third party, impartial to either side. But if this ended in a fight, there was very little Jimmy could do to stop it. That’s why he was hoping that Earnest was telling the truth.

… Which is why he became very, very edgy when he heard Earnest say, “What the hell!?”

Jimmy and Ted ran up. “I KNEW IT!” Ted roared.

Inside the observatory, littered all over the floor, were many, many packages of super glue. Boxes of it. There could have been hundreds for all Jimmy knew; probably something around there, enough to have covered the football field at least. But right now, he was a bit more preoccupied with the raging Jock and the stunned Nerd.

Earnest look honestly confused at the sight of the sight of the packages. As Ted stomped around, yelling furiously, he just stared at the empty packages in shock. Then, he turned to Jimmy. “I swear,” He said quietly, not even bothering to try and convince Ted of anything. “I don’t know how these got here.”

And Jimmy believed him.

If Earnest had known these were there, he would never have agreed to bring Ted there and show him. If he’d known, and been an active member of the prank, he’d have had the other Nerds destroy the packages immediately before someone could discover them. He was too smart to leave evidence. Ted wouldn’t be able to wrap his mind around that, though, and he didn’t plan on trying.

He went stomping back off to the field, yelling about what the Nerds had done. Jimmy dashed after him, leaving Earnest to go in and examine the damning evidence on his own. “Ted! You moron! Quit yelling alre-” He stopped dead. As he’d run back onto the field, Jimmy had happened to catch sight of two people lingering near the path that led from the field to the observatory.

It was Chris and Stafford.

Jimmy hadn’t had any spats with them since he’d met them those weeks ago. He’d barely even seen them. But now, as he saw them, he remembered why it was prudent to keep an eye on your marked enemies. They were smirking- well, Chris was. Stafford’s lip was upturned a little, but it wasn’t quite a smile.

Together, they looked like those Siamese cats from the Lady and the Tramp (A movie that Jimmy wouldn’t admit to ever seeing, even under threat of torture). The cats that had just caused mischief and pawned it off on the poor, pathetic dog and got away scot free when the owners came back.

Jimmy couldn’t help but compare the two to Gary: the sociopath had been a busy little bunny behind the scenes last year when Jimmy’d had his back turned, and these two, in this instance, seemed no different. He was one-hundred and ten percent certain that they’d had something to do with this fiasco.

But the Boarprice boys would have to wait. They had caused no trouble in front of the rest of the school, so the odds of them believing Jimmy if he accused them were slim to none. For now, he needed to try and calm Ted and the other Jocks down before they could beat the Nerds into a bloody pulp.

Things only went downhill after the prank with the Jocks. The Nerds had, for their own safety, immediately following the discovery of the superglue packages, holed up in the Library. Mrs. Carvin was fond of the Nerds, who had such respect for her books; she wouldn’t allow the Jocks to harm them.

Earnest had barely made it- he had to lock up the observatory as best he could to prevent the Jocks from destroying it when they were unstuck from one another. Ted and Juri (the latter of whom had just managed to peel himself off the grass) had been right on his heels all the way to the library.

Jimmy, after giving up on trying to calm everyone down, had instantly gone looking for Stafford and Chris, fully intent on interrogating them. They, however, had been smart little bunnies and disappeared into some sort of hidey-hole once they knew Jimmy wasn’t looking, knowing he was going to come after them.

Jimmy hunted for them the rest of the day, but found nothing. There was a logical explanation as to where they’d gone; probably back to Boarprice, to hide out until they needed to come back to sleep. If they did; kids like them probably had some sort of hideout in their own territory where they could crash. For all they knew, they were going to such a place every night, and just saying that they were staying at Bullworth to placate their teachers.

Jimmy was itching to bike over to Boarprice, but knew it was a dumb idea. He knew little to nothing of the territory there, and this wasn’t the time to try feeling out the layout. Besides- from the way Zoe described these kids, they seemed like the type that wouldn’t have a qualm with jumping him and beating him senseless. He had a nasty feeling he would eventually have to move onto their turf, but for now, it was a no go.

The next day, another prank was pulled.

Someone had scattered pressure-sensitive packets of paint (essentially, weak paint-balls) in the auto-shop, and when the Greasers went in… Well, let’s just say they could have gone to art class and gotten an A for creativity. They weren’t pleased, particularly since the colors were neon and showed a ridiculous amount of resistance in being removed from clothing.

And, well- you know how nuts Greasers are about their hair?

… Yeah, they were pissed.

To make the situation even more fun: guess who they were pointing the fingers at? Anyone? Anyone?
Bingo! The Preppies!

The trust-fund babies had the tables turned, now- they were the ones being accused of a crime they didn’t commit. The Greasers claimed that they had done it in retaliation for the feathers and grease prank (“OHO! SO YOU ADMIT YOU DID IT!”), and the Preps claimed that they’d had no idea about it (“THE HELL YOU DIDN’T, YOU SNOBBY LITTLE-“)

Well, you get the idea. So the tension was starting to build between the cliques, and now it was a given that real pranks between cliques would be starting soon. Jimmy tried to perk up a little (On the inside, not the outside- he didn’t do visible perkiness); okay, so the cliques were going at it. That was normal.

After all, the pranks had been due to start soon anyway. There was only so long that the cliques could go without taking shots at one another. He just hoped that the pranks wouldn’t get too carried away, or he’d have to step in again. They probably would; the more one side denied the first prank, the angrier the others got.

What Jimmy was really concerned about now was Chris and Stafford’s motives… Recall that Zoe had predicted the pranks, saying they were normal amongst the Boarprice populace. And true to form, Jimmy, Zoe and Petey were probably the only ones that knew the dirty details about what was going on. As was mentioned before, it would go in one ear and out the other if Jimmy tried to tell this all to the clique leaders. They wouldn’t really care.

But there was something about the first two pranks that had put Jimmy on edge.

Car grease and feathers outside Harrington House; the Preps were not renowned for their sharp minds, but even they could trace car grease to the Greasers. A monkey could’ve traced it to the Greasers.

Chris and Stafford had to have predicted the outcome of that. If it had been the only prank, Jimmy might have thought that they used the car grease on a whim, without intending to implicate the Greasers. But when the glue packages appeared in the Observatory, it became clear that the Boarprice boys were completely clear on their intentions.

It made perfect sense- they covered their tracks by using established distrust between the cliques. They didn’t even need to do it with the paint packets, because they knew the Greasers would assume it was retaliation from the Preps. Jimmy, however grudgingly, had to admit that it was clever.

Still. There was something about these pranks that made him uneasy. Stafford and Chris were so cocky, so smug, so… Again, he admitted it grudgingly… smart. How far would they push this? The paint balls, the grease and feathers- those were pranks; funny, relatively harmless.

The superglue thing toed the line, though. In the end, a few members of the football team ended up at the hospital to get unstuck. The ‘toeing the line’ part came in when Casey accidentally got some of that glue in his eye. To make a long, uncomfortable and pretty painful story short, he was still wearing an eye-patch a week later. That was getting farther from ‘prank’ and closer to ‘dangerous’.

There was still Zoe’s warning to keep in mind- the Boarprice pranks to her old high school had eventually evolved to violent attacks. How long would it take for this to escalate to that? Would it escalate to that? Jimmy shard his concerns with Petey. “I think they might.” The pink-shirted boy said.

“Why?” Petey squirmed uneasily. They were sitting on the couch in the common room, talking in low voices as Trent, Ethan, Gordon, Vance and Trevor played a poker game on the table in the corner. It was a dreary Sunday afternoon, and they dreaded the approaching night, knowing there would be classes tomorrow.

“I’ve done some research; heard some rumors. None of them speak for the Boarprice kids so well.” Jimmy cocked an eyebrow, an expression that said ‘Keep going’. “Well…” He shot a brief, anxious glance at the boys involved in the poker game, and then leaned forward a little, motioning for Jimmy to do so as well. “You know how Gord Vendome was on crutches?”

“Yeah?”

“Apparently, he was in Old Bullworth Vale a while ago, and he was going pretty slowly, obviously. Anyway, small-talk amongst the Greasers and Preppies say that Stafford went flying by on a bike, and pushed Gord over.” He shook his head. “That wasn’t a prank. That was just violence.” Jimmy stared coolly.

“Gord can be a snob sometimes, but even he didn’t deserve that. That’s crossing the line.” Petey nodded quickly, momentarily worrying Jimmy that he’d give himself whiplash.

“Yeah, yeah,” Petey agreed hurriedly. “It was pretty rotten, but there’s a good part too- Stafford doesn’t look too good in the eyes of the Preps or Greasers now. At least it’s a step towards convincing them that the Boarprice kids are responsible.” Jimmy blinked.

“The Greasers? I thought they’d revel in the idea of a Prep getting hurt.” He said, crossing his arms. Petey shrugged.

“They would, but it was really the principle of it that got to them. Like I said, it was a pretty rotten thing to do, even if Gord can be a jerk sometimes. It tipped them off that Stafford isn’t a nice guy.” Jimmy nodded, able to wrap his mind around the concept. It wasn’t the fact that Stafford did it to a Prep that mattered to the Greasers, so much that he did it at all. He could just as easily done something similar to a Greaser, and that bothered them.

“Is that all you heard?” Petey shook his head.

“No. I believe what Zoe said about the Boarprice kids, but I wanted a different perspective on it, so I went to talk to the Townies.” This was surprising- usually Petey avoided the Townies. They weren’t your stereotypical bullies, but hey- they weren’t fond of Bullworth, and seeing a little shrimp like Petey would make the opportunity just a little too tempting to pass up.

“You went to talk to Edgar and his boys? And they didn’t beat you up?”

“I didn’t say that…” Petey mumbled. “They almost did. I had to tell them I was yours and Zoe’s friend before they stopped threatening me…” Jimmy rolled his eyes and lay back again.

“And you found out…?” The embarrassed expression disappeared from Petey’s face and was replaced with anxiety.

“Well…” He cast yet another nervous glance at the poker game before leaning forward a little more and lowering his voice. “Zoe wasn’t exaggerating. The pranks weren’t pranks at the end- they really just became acts of random violence.” The larger boy took in a deep breath, thinking: Do I ask?

“…I’ll regret asking…” Jimmy muttered. “But what’d they do?”

“Among other things… Look, the details were foggy, but the main gist was that there was a gun involved. Nobody got shot, but there was a huge investigation, and a Townie got expelled.” Jimmy snorted.

“No wonder they were so cheery when I met them,” He muttered acerbically. Petey gave a nervous little chuckle.

“Yeah, probably.” He frowned again. “But she was right. These guys really are no good. The other stuff was bad, but not quite as violent as the gun thing. Or, not as potentially violent since no one got hurt, maybe I should say serious-”

CRASH!

Jimmy jumped and Petey let out a little shriek. They both whipped around to see the table overturned, and Trent attempting to knock the living daylights out of Gordon, while Trevor tried to stop them and Ethan and Vance cheered them on. Petey slapped a hand over his heart, and pressed his face into the couch.

“God,” He gasped. “Of all the times…”

“You scare like a rabbit, Petey.” Petey jumped a mile again. It was Zoe- she’d crept up behind the couch when the table was knocked over. Before speaking, however, she’d pressed her hands over Jimmy’s eyes. “Guess who?”

“Lola, my love, is that you?” Jimmy asked in a mockingly romantic voice. Zoe rolled her eyes and slapped his shoulder.

“You know I’d castrate you.”

“I love you too,” Jimmy said sweetly. Petey sighed- just another day in the funhouse with Zoe and Jimmy.

“You know you’re not supposed to come in here,” He said, knowing that the statement would fall on deaf ears regardless. Zoe did what she wanted, within reason. She tended to bend the rules to her liking, but not enough to make people angry with her. “So where were you today? We haven’t seen you all day.”

“Well,” Zoe said, flopping down between Jimmy and Petey. “Last night, I realized I was a little low on cash, so I decided to moonlight it in a couple of strip-clubs in the area. After engaging in some heavy underage drinking, I cheated on Jimmy with three guys, two girls and a transsexual that couldn’t make up their mind. I scaled the wall of the girl’s dorm and slipped into bed around five AM, and passed out until just recently.” (1)

There was a pause. In that time, Gordon hobbled out of the room, supported by Trevor while Vance and Ethan congratulated Trent.

“…Is this what you spend your extra time thinking of?” Petey asked, stunned at the depth of the response. “Snappy comebacks?”

“Yes.”

---

Ugh. Awkwardly ended. I always end up with bumpy landings.

1: This is usually what I say to my friends when I miss a day of school and they ask where I was. Depending on whether I’m talking to them or emailing them, I can get really creative. I used this rant just recently, actually…

Writer's... Block....

2007-11-11T05:53:13Z

Why does God hate me? It's my second three-day weekend this month, so much time to write, and NOW I get writer's block. WHY DOES GOD HATE ME? Ah well... I'll work through it...
Okay- I can't post this on bully_bl because it lacks significant slash, but I'll post my chapters of Bull vs. Boar here...

There are no mary-sue's in this story. I cannot stress that enough. I have two female characters of my own creation, but they are rarely, if ever, touched upon, and never in great detail.
Let it also be known that I am HORRIBLE at starting stories. When I hit the action I get better, but I really suck at starting stories.

-

Bull and Boar

Rating: PG-13/T

Genre: Action/Adventure/Drama/Romance/Humor

Summary: It’s a new school year… And a new problem. The cliques are at peace, but a new threat comes from another school a few towns over. The students of Boarprice Academy are starting trouble for Bullworth students, and pranks are turning much more serious…

Author’s Note: This actually came to mind when I was planning a multi-chapter story that was much darker and more fantasy like. I’ve always loved stories about little organized wars between kids (Don’t ask why- I don’t even know), and the thought of Bullworth going at it with another school was just too good of an idea to pass up.

Disclaimer: I don’t own Bully- obviously. It belongs to Rockstar Vancouver.

---------

Nobody knew how they’d done it- bribery, begging, threatening, trickery- but Gary Smith’s parents had managed to get Crabblesnitch to allow the psychopath back into Bullworth.

“It’s understandable,” Jimmy muttered to Zoe as they watched Gary “accidentally” leave some marbles on the football field. “I mean, we only see him during the school year- his parents have lived with him for most of his life.” Zoe shuddered,

“Those poor, poor people.” She said.

However, since seeing Gary on his first day back (After getting over the initial shock and the uncontrollable urge to sock the sociopath in the gut), Jimmy had noticed that Gary wasn’t quite as… rambunctious as last year. He didn’t fire off any negative comments to anyone, though his sarcasm was still prominent. He didn’t even call Petey “Femme-boy” when he saw him.

To be realistic, however, it wasn’t quite even September. Classes hadn’t started yet, and kids were still pooling in from wherever they had spent their summer vacation (If they were lucky, it was somewhere very far away from Bullworth); Gary had had little time to show his true colors.

“He was sent to an asylum,” Petey had said that day. “I think it might have been Happy Volts. You never know, Jimmy; maybe he’s really changed.”

“Right,” Jimmy had snorted. “And maybe Lola won’t cheat on Johnny this year.” (At that point, they had turned to see Johnny chasing down one of the Preps, screaming for them to ‘Keep their friggin’ paws offa his queen’.)

But so far, as mentioned, Gary was behaving (aside from the casual prank or two). And in regards to Jimmy… Stranger by far… Gary seemed to be going out of his way to avoid the other boy. He kept his mouth shut around him. He swerved in a wide arc around him when they passed, though not in an entirely exaggerated manner.

The frustrating thing was that Jimmy couldn’t tell if Gary was intimidated by him, or just thinking that Jimmy was not worthy of his attention. None the less, Jimmy knew that it would be his job to keep an eye on Gary this year. A close one; he’d be a nervous wreck if he didn’t know where that sicko was.

After all, you know the saying; Keep your friends close, but keep your enemies closer.

Very little had changed for Jimmy over the summer; He still had the hots for Zoe, still thought Gary was an ass, still thought Petey was a dork, and- to his utter shock- still had the same stepfather. Yes- his mother had decided to stick with this one (For now, anyway…)

“I think he’s really the one, Jimmy!” She had said to him upon returning home. Jimmy had rolled his eyes, but kept his mouth shut. How many times had he heard that in his life? Five? Six? Keep in mind that she had gone through five husbands- that spoke volumes for how many boyfriends she’d had…

Another thing that had remained the same for Jimmy was the fact that this stepfather still thought he was a rude, selfish little punk. They had argued numerous times over the summer, and Jimmy’s mother did nothing to mediate the situation. She didn’t want to get involved, though Jimmy had, at one point, a slight, glimmering hope that she might defend his side for once.

Needless to say, he was let down.

And so, it was back to Bullworth at the end of August. This car ride had passed much like the first trip to Bullworth had- in a moody, tense, cold silence. Only this time, Jimmy’s mother made no attempt to get Jimmy to talk. Why make him mad? It was be the first time in years that he was actually allowed to return to a school.

His mother, at least, seemed a little sad to see him go. A little. His stepfather on the other hand barely stopped the car. “Thanks for slowing down to 20, jackass!” Jimmy called with faux cheeriness as the car sped off.

“Have fun in school, you worthless little bum!” His stepfather yelled back. And with that, Jimmy had officially returned to Bullworth, quickly becoming reacquainted with the scenery, students, and- as the last chapter sited- the idea that Gary was back.

On the official first day of classes, it passed much like his first last year- the new prefects (plus Seth and Seymour, whom hadn’t graduated last year) bossed people around, the teachers had to be reminded of everyone’s names, and people skipped class like no tomorrow.

Jimmy, however, attended each of his classes without complaint- if only to get a good look at the new populace. Each new year at Bullworth heralded new students, both of the younger and older categories. Transfers, scholarships, bumped up from the nearby elementary school; they came from everywhere.

So far, Jimmy had scoped out three prominent ones. The seemingly oldest new student was Miranda Walker, who was currently clique-less, and looking to stay that way. Tall with dark brown hair with a thin, silver streak down the back and large brown eyes, she was easily distinguishable amongst the other students. Miranda was a quiet girl, and didn’t seem to show any threat of trouble.

She was just seventeen, but already it seemed (Or from what Jimmy had gathered from Christy’s gossip) that she was working several jobs in the area- including one as a maid for Tad Spencer’s family. Sources said that she was acquainted with Max MacTavish, who was currently training as a police officer. She was lucky- as a senior, she only had one year at Bullworth.

Next was Steve Curtis. He was one of the shrimpiest nine-year-olds that Jimmy had ever seen- and that was including Pedro. Not even at school for two days, and Steve was already being mocked for having gray hair. It wasn’t like he could do much about it, since the Bullies that were doing it were about ten times his weight and strength.

Another notable thing about the bite-sized newbie was that he had been accepted into the Greasers. This was nearly unheard of, seeing as how the Greasers were rough-‘n-tough type of guys that got into fights as often as one might shower, and Steve could be of little use to them. Another bit of gossip- Steve’s father had been a Greaser in his younger years, and thusly, Johnny had seen promise in Steve.

Yeah, well, let’s just hope Russell doesn’t mistake him for a bunny and pet him too hard, Jimmy thought with a snicker. Poor kid would get crushed.

Steve did not take his acceptance into the Greasers lightly; from what Jimmy observed in just a span of a few minutes, this kid would be copying everything the older boys did to the T. He was already acting like a little tough guy, and Jimmy wondered how long it would take for that tough attitude to get his nose busted. All in all, no real threat; and he probably wouldn’t be until Jimmy was long gone from Bullworth.

Next on the list of newbies was a name that had sent shocks of dread down Jimmy’s spine: Amanda Harrington. His first thought: Oh Lord, she’s probably a mini-Derby…This’ll be a nightmare…

He couldn’t have been more wrong.

Like Steve, she was somewhat held in awe for being accepted into a clique at such a young age- even if the other Preps didn’t like it, they wouldn’t dare say that to Derby- he adored his younger sibling, which was the initial fact that had caused Jimmy to assume they’d be similar.

Upon looking at nine-year-old Amanda, it wasn’t too hard to tell that she and Derby were related. They had the same blonde hair, hazel eyes, and fair features- Not to mention the Aquaberry attire.

But upon speaking to her, you’d think that she and Derby didn’t even belong to the same planet, never mind the same family. To be blunt- she was a weirdo. Total space-case. She had a habit of staring off into space when someone was talking, and spoke in a rather dreamy tone, which only made the odd things she said sound even odder.

But all in all, she was a polite, charming little girl (“The bitch gene so prominent in Preps must’ve skipped her,” Zoe had remarked idly.) who did not seem like she would pose any sort of problem at Bullworth, provided that the “bitch-gene” did not ambush her when she hit the double-digits.

There were other new students, clique-less for now. But really, nothing else worth mentioning-

Oh wait.

There were some other new students… Not permanent ones, but students none the less.

And by the time the year was through, Jimmy was going to wish he’d never heard of them or their school…

Oh… God…”

It was lunch, the first day back. Jimmy, Petey and Zoe were plopped at a table together, carefully trying to determine which food Edna had prepared, and which food had been brought from the outside. They had already nailed the mashed potatoes (most of the hot food was prepared by Edna), and were trying to decide about the apples.

“It smells funny…” Petey mumbled, grimacing. He and Jimmy were completely oblivious to the fact that Zoe was no longer participating in the observations, and was staring at the entrance of the cafeteria, mouth open like a big-mouthed bass. “Are apples supposed to smell like that?”

Jimmy took it and sniffed. Expression contorting in disgust, he delicately placed it back on the table. “If it’s the same type the wicked stepmother sold to Snow White, then yeah, it’s supposed to smell like that.”

SPLAT.

“Ah, Zoe!” Petey yelped. Zoe had been bolding her mini-sized milk carton up as she stared, and it had just managed to slip from her grasp and smash onto the table. Being the flimsy cardboard that it was, it imploded on impact, sending milk seeping over the edges of the table.

“Shit!” Jimmy hissed, grabbing for some napkins. “Zoe, what the hell?!” Zoe, through all this, did not seem to hear him. Irritated, Jimmy gave his girlfriend a shove, which finally snapped her out of her stupor. “Wanna tell us what you’re staring at, as your milk ruins what food Edna hasn’t?”

“Wanna not shove me when you want my attention?” Zoe growled back, giving Jimmy a retaliating shove. “I am staring,” She said in a low, dangerous voice. “At those things sitting at the far table, near the door.” Petey craned his neck, looking around.

“What things?” He stopped. “You mean, those kids in the red uniforms?”

“No, the llamas tap-dancing behind them. Yes, the kids in the red uniforms.” Zoe grunted. “How about it, Petey- you’re Head Boy. Any idea why those snobby little bastards are here?” Jimmy cocked an eyebrow at her.

“’Snobby little bastards?’” He quoted. “Wow, Zoe- usually you wait until someone says a few words to you before you deem them a snobby bastard.” Zoe turned back around so that she wasn’t facing the students in question, a vein in her forehead standing out. Petey, who was never in a good situation when one of his friends was angry, became nervous.

“You… Ah… Know them, Zoe?” The red-head gave a bitter laugh.

“Know them? Oh yeah, I know them- and they have said a few words to me, as a matter of fact.” She shook her head. “Those brats are from Boarprice Academy. It’s a few towns over, and not too far from the High school where I and the other Townies went to.” Jimmy’s expression was blank, but Petey nodded.

“I’ve heard of it. We used to be rivals with them, right?”

“Yeah, used to. Until they deemed that we lowly Bullworth kids weren’t worth their time.” Zoe grumbled, stabbing at some half-frozen, half-burned chicken on her lunch tray bitterly.

“You can do that with rivals?” Jimmy asked. “Damn. Maybe I should’ve tried that last year… Hell knows it would’ve driven some of them nuts.”

“Apparently.” Zoe cast a cursory glance over her shoulder. “Their names are Christopher Barslee, Callie-Anne Winters, Stafford Jones, and Katie Parker. They’re the heads of that school, but they’ll never admit it because-” Zoe puffed herself up and scowled. “’We at Boarprice Academy have no need for cliques, and find them and social groups in general to be demeaning and detract from the learning experience.’” Jimmy stared at her, then laughed.

“Aw man, try telling that to the cliques around here…” He mumbled, glancing at the Preps in one corner and the Nerds in another. “I mean, they all just sort of… Gravitate to each other…” He, at this time, spied Gary sitting alone at the far end of the same table the four Boarprice students were sitting at.

So, does that mean Gary gravitates to weaker kids? Or maybe just the ones he thinks are losers who can’t find friends anywhere else…Jimmy slipped a subtle glance at Petey, who was now observing the Boarprice kids with interest. That would explain why he went for Petey.

Jimmy could see nothing about the Boarprice students that could label them as Zoe was implying they were- snobs. Jerks. Brats. But then, looks often proved to be deceiving- particularly in Bullworth… After all, the Preps dressed nice and kept their appearances spotless, but a bunch of them were complete jerks…

“What do you think, Petey? They look bad?” Petey didn’t answer for a moment. His gaze had switched from the Boarprice kids to Gary, and remained glued there for a moment.

“Huh? What? Oh, yeah… I mean… I dunno…” He glanced back at Gary. Jimmy blinked.

“Why’re you- Oh… Right… You still share a room with him, don’t you?” Petey nodded absently, finally turning back to Zoe and Jimmy. Both of Zoe’s eyebrows went up.

“You share with Gary? Damn. Kinda like throwing a lamb into the lion den, isn’t it?” Petey blushed.

“I… I don’t… Well… Maybe he…” He spluttered in a low voice for a few seconds.

“If he starts giving you trouble, let me know.” Jimmy muttered. “I’ll beat his ass into the ground just like last year.”

Petey said nothing. But for that moment, through the rest of lunch, and their afternoon classes, they didn’t touch upon the subject of the Boarprice students.

It wouldn’t last.

After classes, the trio strolled to the bleachers on the football field to do their homework. Or, at least, Petey would do his homework; Jimmy and Zoe (if she was as much like Jimmy as Petey thought) would hold it until the last minute, rush through it, and somehow manage to get a passing grade. How they managed it, he probably would never know.

“All right,” Jimmy said once they were seated on the top row. He pulled out his slingshot and loaded a rock into it. He stared out at the field, where the football team was practicing. “The betting pool’s open- how many rocks can I nail Constantinos with before he figures out where they’re coming from?”

Zoe smirked. “Five.”

Petey didn’t look up. ‘Two.”

Jimmy snorted. “Ye of little faith- I say at least eight.” He let a rock loose- it hit its target dead-on. Constantinos stumbled in the mascot costume. The large, red bull-head swiveled around, trying to pinpoint the source of the projectile. Jimmy snorted and pulled out his camera, pretending to be deeply interested in it.

“You can look up. He’s stopped looking.” Jimmy smirked.

“One down. Sticking by your theory, Petey?” Petey shrugged.

“Why not? Not like I have any money staked on it.” Jimmy raised the slingshot again, when-

“Well, well, well… Look who’s here…” The trio jumped and immediately looked downward. Zoe’s face contorted into a snarl. It was Callie and Katie- the two girls from Boarprice.

Callie was, by the common standard, very pretty. Straight auburn hair that went down to mid-back, cool green eyes narrowed like a malicious cat’s, and an hourglass figure that many girls would kill for. She wore a white dress shirt under a red jacket with the Boarprice crest on it, with a short red and gold skirt.

Katie was similar- an hourglass figure, green eyes and a uniform, but her hair was black. And her eyes lacked that distinct maliciousness that Callie’s had. They were cold, sneering, arrogant- but they lacked true ill-will. She was also a good inch or two shorter than Callie, though they must have been the same age.

Callie’s tone (mockingly polite) was all Jimmy needed to hear to know that they were looking for trouble… With Zoe.

So not only were these girls brats, but stupid too.

“Zoe. How lovely to see you again, dear.” Callie said, voice all sugary sweetness. “So you attend Bullworth again? How very… Convenient…” She sent a not-so-subtle glance at Jimmy. Jimmy’s eyes narrowed, and he wondered just how much this girl (he was eager to think ‘bitch’) knew about his talk with Crabblesnitch last year.

“And how horrible to see you again, you annoying little groupie gossips. Please, save me the trouble of wasting insults on you and go jump off a cliff.” Zoe easily matched the sugary-sweetness of Callie’s voice. Jimmy and Petey shared brief, troubled looks, and slowly began to edge away from Zoe. One never wanted to be too close to her when she was getting angry.

Callie struck one of the most irritating poses known to women-kind: Hands on hips, one hip thrust to the side, head cocked, smirking.

Jimmy hated that pose with the fiery passion of a thousand burning suns.

He’d met complete bitches that had stuck that pose in the norm. Mandy had been one of them, but she’d managed to prove to him that she was, at the very least, a red-blooded human with feelings.

He was getting no such vibes from Callie or Katie. Callie, more so than Katie; Katie was probably just the hunchbacked cronie of the evil, seductive, blood-sucking vampiress Callie. Most of the schools Jimmy had been to in his life had had girls like these; only one ruled the school- Never two. One dominated the other, and no matter how much power the sidekick tried to impose, she was always second to the Queen Bee.

“What do you want, Winters?” Zoe growled. It was odd- usually she went to deeper lengths to conceal her dislike for someone. A logical explanation- Callie already knew that Zoe hated her rotten guts. “What- did the Headmaster at Boarprice finally see you for the little creeps you are?”

“Not as such,” Callie said, raising a hand and rolling her eyes down to examine her nails. She glanced back up. “You see, someone thought it’d be amusing to start fires in our rooms, and it’s not safe for us to go back yet.”

“So someone finally tried to do the job your parents should have done sixteen years ago.” Zoe said flatly. Callie’s smile dropped like a dead fly. Katie’s nose wrinkled. Jimmy caught Zoe’s gaze and smirked. Point for Zoe.

“So,” Callie continued, no longer sugar-sweet. “We’re here until it’s fixed.” Her eyes narrowed sharply, and she took on that look that Jimmy recalled so well from other bitches. “You wouldn’t happen to know anything about the prank, would you, Taylor? You do fall in with that type, after all.”

“Yeah,” Katie agreed. Oh, goodie, Jimmy thought dryly. She’s one of those types that repeats whatever the boss says: completely brainless. Kind of reminds me of Damon.

Zoe moved down the bleachers faster than Jimmy had ever seen her move before. Within seconds, she was barely a few inches away from Callie. Petey shot Jimmy a panicked look, and he tensed.

Screw gender sensitivity. If one of these brats took a shot at his girl, they were going down. Hard.

“Just what are you implying, you bimbo-barbie-doll?”

“Ooh,” Petey winced. Jimmy snorted. Callie took another step forward, so that she and Zoe were nearly touching.

“Just that you and your trashy, townie friends are sewer scum, you homely little trailer-trash.”

“Egh…” Petey cringed again. “Jimmy…” Zoe looked pissed- not to mention right about ready to smack Callie into next week.

“Take that back you little-”

“Easy now, Taylor… No need to start a fight…”

“And the rest of the circus arrives,” Jimmy grumbled, slipping down the steps as easily as he could.

It was Chris and Stafford; the Boarprice boys. And boy, did the girls look triumphant. They backed a comfortable distance away from Zoe, and Jimmy settled down on the bottom bleacher behind her. Petey sighed. He had no desire to get involved in the probable fight, but didn’t feel right not backing his only friends up…

With another sigh, he climbed down behind Jimmy. He could at least make it look like he would attempt to back him up.

“Now, now, Miss Taylor…” Chris was all smoothness and honey, a disgusting smile on his face. He reminded Jimmy distinctly of a serpent. Pretty to look at, but slimy, cunning and not something you wanted to get too close to. He had slicked back chestnut hair and dark eyes that seemed to undress you as he stared.

Jimmy hoped he’d gotten slapped by a lot of girls in the past.

He seemed a lot like Derby, but based on Zoe’s reports and what he’d observed so far, Jimmy was willing to bet that these Boarprice guys could out-snob the Preps.

Stafford was blonde, green eyed and had a more stoic disposition. He looked like a flunkie, not a leader; but he also didn’t look like someone who took their time playing with their prey before killing it. He looked cold and stiff; the type of person who never smiled, and had probably popped a kid’s balloon to teach them about the hardships in life.

“There’s no need to get violent.”

“I didn’t,” Zoe said, tight-lipped. “You came too quickly.” Chris’ smirked widened a little, and his eyes rolled over to Jimmy and Petey.

“And who might you two be?” He asked coolly. By contrast, Jimmy’s scowl deepened.

“Jimmy Hopkins,” He said flatly, jerking his head at Zoe. “Her boyfriend.”

“Pete Kowalski,” Petey mumbled, raising his hand slightly in greeting. He didn’t smile, however, and that alerted Jimmy that Petey was getting the same vibes off these kids as he was.

“Charmed.”

“Undoubtedly. Now back off.”

“I see you’re as pleasant as Miss Taylor, Mr. Hopkins,” Stafford said quietly.

“Those two came up on Zoe in a way I didn’t like. Believe me- this is nice compared to how I usually tell people to screw off.” Stafford gave a brief, tight-lipped smile.

“Undoubtedly.” He said, sounding unconvinced as he threw Jimmy’s word back in his face. “In any case…” He ignored Jimmy’s scowl and turned back to Callie and Katie. “You two must behave yourselves… Unsavory schoolmates or not-” Ping went another point in Stafford’s favor for the cold-bastard category- “-We are to endure their company for the next few weeks. It would be best to be civil at least.”

“Starting with a cut-back on the insults, maybe…” Petey mumbled.

Katie pouted, displeased with Stafford’s proposal. “But Staaafffy…” Zoe snorted and slapped a hand to her mouth.

“I don’t really think I need to touch that.” She giggled, leaning against the railing. Stafford gave her a withering look.

“Why should we?” Katie continued, as though Zoe had not spoken. “We’re not gonna be here forever…” She curled her arms around Stafford’s left one coyly, like a child trying to convince a parent to buy them a toy. Stafford sighed and rolled his eyes.

“But nevertheless, Katie… Stafford makes an excellent point. We’ll need to stay here for a few weeks. We needn’t spend them fighting.” Chris said.

“Maybe he’s not so bad.” Petey whispered.

“Besides… We’re outnumbered.”

Petey sighed. “Spoke too soon.”

“All right, Zoe,” Jimmy mumbled, leaning backwards in his seat. The threesome had sought refuge from the Boarprice kids, and had retreated to an empty classroom to conference. Zoe was standing, and Jimmy and Petey were plopped in two front-row seats, before the chalkboard. “Tell us about these brats.”

“They’re evil.”

“We gathered.”

“They’re snobs.”

“We gathered.”

“They also seem to like talking about you like you’re not there…” Petey noted dully, hand propping his head up on the desk.

“You’ll get used to it.” Zoe began pacing back and forth before them as she spoke. “They will stab you in the back- or chest- as soon as look at you. They think they’re the top-shit in this state, and all the adults think they’re God’s gift to mankind.” She gave the wastebin a sharp kick. “They drive me nuts!”

“Again, we-”

“-Gathered, I know, I know-” Zoe snapped. “They made public school a living nightmare for me and the other Townies.” She turned back to them. “These kids- not just the ones you met, but damn near all of them could probably out-snob Derby Harrington and the other Preps.”

“Breathe, Zoe.” Jimmy said, tilting the chair onto its two back legs. “You look ready to explode.”

“Because I am!” She barked, finally losing her temper. Petey’s head shot up, and he backed his chair up a little. “Those little jerks are so unbelievably insufferable; once they get their claws into you, they never leave you alone!” She began pacing furiously again, arms folded behind her back. “Even when their rooms are cleaned out, it won’t be the last we’ve heard of them.”

“How far away is Boarprice?” Jimmy asked. Zoe slowed to a stop, thinking.

“A few towns over,” She reasoned. “There’s road in the Vale that leads there.” She sighed and leaned against Jimmy’s desk. “Boarprice is even more pricey than Bullworth; no pun intended. The dorms are bigger, the school itself is bigger- cleaner, too.”

“I imagine so,” Petey said. “I mean, it’s obviously a load of crock, but those kids are supposedly very well behaved- they have an insane amount of respect for the school and staff.” He fiddled with his pencil. “It’s probably why everyone thinks they’re so great; they act so sweet at school.”

“That, and they didn’t go nuts and form a huge riot last year,” Jimmy added dryly. “Stuff like that not only diminishes our image, but enhances theirs.” He tilted his neck to look up at Zoe. “What’s bugging me, though,” He said, “Is your reaction, Zoe. I’ve seen you pissed before. Angry. Vengeful. I’ve seen you take nasty comments before and not get so tense.

“I understand that these kids made your year at public school unpleasant. At least you weren’t attending the same school, or it would have been worse, because those people are everywhere.” He paused. “My question- why are you going so nuts? You’ve dealt with injustices before, and paid people back tenfold.”

“Yeah,” Petey said, chuckling. “Like what you two did with Burton. That was great- nauseating, but great.” Zoe smirked appreciatively for a moment.

“I know, wasn’t it?” She said pensively. But then the redhead was back to a scowl, steeping off the desk and pacing forward. “Look; when a person makes me angry to a certain point, I need to vent some of that anger by getting revenge on them in some way.” Zoe turned around.

“Unfortunately, payback is difficult with these guys.” Jimmy and Petey glanced at one another.

“Why?” Petey ventured.

“Simple- they prank us first.” Zoe rubbed her temples and shut her eyes, her expression contorting into one that was recalling something miserable. “I mean, it wasn’t as bad as it could have been; actually, a lot of it would be kiddie stuff by Bullworth standards. But then eventually it wasn’t pranks anymore so much as random acts of violence.”

“The Boarprice students got violent?” Petey asked, surprised. Jimmy snorted.

“Why not? This is America- if you can’t get what you want by threats or bribes, then you beat the snot outta someone.” Jimmy recalled saying something to this effect to the Townies last year before they entered the riot. Petey sighed.

“Oh, am I glad I’m too old to adapt to your ethics,” He mumbled.

“Never too late.”

“Can we focus?” Zoe snapped, opening her eyes again.

“Make a point, then!”

“My point is that the Boarprice students are sleazy, sadistic little bastards who get a nasty thrill out of seeing people suffer.” She sighed. “And since they’re here for now, they’ll probably leave the public high school alone in favor of making a little mayhem here.” Petey swallowed hard.

“Mayhem? Please don’t tell me they’ll start a riot. I can’t handle another riot. I almost got hit with four firecrackers that day, and I’m still really skittish…” He moaned.

“They might, if it serves to amuse them. But they’ll make it look like we’re the only guilty party.” Jimmy stood up.

“So, the message for today, kids, is ‘Watch out for the jerky Boarprice Brats?’” Zoe nodded, looping her arm in his.

“That sums it up nicely.” She sighed. “Let’s go egg some nerds or something, because now I feel like crap…”

“Course. I got some in my room.” Petey sighed, stood up, and slowly followed them, feeling horribly like a third wheel…

In the end, Petey hadn’t joined in on the egging of the nerds. He was the Head boy, after all- even if his friends did that type of stuff, he had to at least pretend he had a problem with it. Even when those geeky little freaks had the nerve to call him a dork, when one of their own frequently ran around with his underwear inside out, screaming “THUPER THAD! AWAY!”

In all honesty, Pete was dreading this year as Head boy. He didn’t feel he deserved the position- he was weak, quiet, and respected by precious few in the school. Hell- he wasn’t even certain Jimmy and Zoe respected him. They liked him, but respect… Not so much.

Even the little kids didn’t respect him. Perhaps it had been because he was trying to make an impression on Lucky and Lefty, who were present at the time, but when Petey had told Steve Curtis that he couldn’t have his skateboard in the school building, the nine-year-old had promptly replied “Up yours!”

Some of the sweeter children would probably listen to him. Or at least have the decency to pretend. He hoped. It would make the discipline part of his job worlds easier if someone would listen… But anyway- Petey had opted not to go with Jimmy and Zoe, and instead went back to his dorm room.

And guess who he found there.

It was mentioned earlier that Petey shared a room with Gary Smith- the psycho; the sociopath; the fascist nutcase- Gary was known (and addressed) by many names now. Petey had been so busy taking in everything else this year had brought that he’d completely forgotten his living arrangements.

Until now, anyway.

Petey froze in the doorway, upon seeing Gary plopped on his bed. He was doing nothing of importance; indeed, he was doing nothing at all, save picking carelessly at a thread on his blanket. Gary stopped, however, when he heard Petey at the doorway. There was a long, distinct silence between them.

What to say?

It was encouraging and relieving that Petey hadn’t heard an enthusiastic cry of “Femme-boy!”… And yet oddly unexpected. This was Gary, after all- Petey had been expecting some sort of smartass remark to greet him. Petey had said to Jimmy only a few days ago- “He went to an asylum. He’s probably back on his meds. Maybe he’s changed now.” He had said it- but there was no confidence behind it. Not even a little.

It was probably because Gary… Well, was Gary. When that name came to mind, Petey often associated it with displeasure and or dread. That name meant “Femme-boy!”, and cracks about him being gay. He had a prominently hard time picturing Gary without that attitude. He wasn’t completely without it (the marble incident on the field had proved that), but now he seemed almost… docile.

His hands were still. His body was relaxed. Gary showed none of the telltale signs he’d shown after going off his medication last Halloween. And his expression was one of mild surprise; honest surprise. Not mocking. Not pretend. It made Petey want to relax as well… But that could prove unwise, as it had in the past.

“Uh… Hi, Gary… How are you?”

He spit it out without really even thinking. He needed to say something, after all.

“I’m good.” Gary’s voice was quiet. Calm. Subdued, almost. In a weird way, in some undertone, he almost sounded defeated. By what? Who? And how? Not questions Petey wished or needed to delve into. Instead, he gave a small smile and sat down on his own bed, across from Gary.

What next? Why are you back? What did your parents threaten Crabblesnitch with to get you back here? Please, please, please tell me you’re going to stay on your meds this year, because if those Boarprice guys are as bad as Zoe says, we’re in for enough trouble as it is…

Gary carefully avoided Petey’s gaze, redirecting it to the blanket again. This was another thing- his mood. Gary seemed placid… But unhappy. Calm; but sad. Depressed, maybe was a more accurate term. Might be why he stopped taking the meds, Petey thought. Maybe they affect his mood in a way he doesn’t like.

“So… What’s up? Anything new?” Gary didn’t look up.

“You don’t have to talk to me if you don’t want to.”

Wow. So direct; enough to catch Petey off guard.

“What?” Gary sighed and looked up, though he focused on a point over Petey’s shoulder.

“We’re roommates. It doesn’t mean you have to talk to me- it’s kind of obvious you don’t want to.” Petey was stunned. Okay, okay- so this was the same, old, unpredictable-as-ever Gary, just unpredictable in a new way…

“I- I do,” Petey stumbled. “Just…” He suddenly, sighed, and his eyes narrowed. “You know what? If you’re going to be blunt, then so will I, Gary- you made last year a living nightmare for most of us. You went nuts on Jimmy and I, you turned everyone against him, drove the cliques to riot and then nearly got Jimmy and yourself killed. You were a complete ass, and you deserved to get expelled.”

He stopped for a moment, gouging Gary’s reaction. There was none- the other boy’s face was blank; neither agreeing nor objecting to what Petey was saying. “I, however, have a problem holding grudges, so I’m probably one of the few people that’s going to be polite to you this year after all the crap you pulled. But I’m not a saint- Part of me wants to insult you, another wants to be nice. It’s awkward, all right?”

Pause.

Petey was panting mildly. It had been a while since he’d gone off on someone like that.

Then, Gary smiled. It was a small one- really just a turning of the corner of his lip. “That’s probably the nerviest thing you’ve ever said to me. You grew a spine, Petey.” Petey blushed. It wasn’t an insult- not even intended as one, from the sound of it. Had Gary just… complemented him?

“Th… Thanks…” He mumbled, rubbing the back of his head. “You mean it?”

“Yeah. Last year you probably would’ve slunk out of the room and acted all depressed.” Gary pulled his legs onto the bed and crossed them. “So now that we’ve aired that out- go on. Ask me anything about what I did over my summer vacation.” Petey smiled softly, and it was no longer awkward.

“Well… How long did you spend at Happy Volts?”

“Two months. It was a shocking experience.” He smirked. “Literally. They gave me shock-treatment.” Petey’s eyes widened, and he had to fight to keep a stutter out of his voice. Shock therapy? That seemed kind of extreme… Even for Gary… And scary on top of it…

“Really?” Gary nodded. His eyes clouded over for a moment, and he uncrossed his legs, pulling his knees to his chest, resting his head on them.

“Really.” There was a pause, and Petey was uncertain as to whether or not he should ask something else. But then, Gary’s eyes cleared and he glanced up at the pink-shirted boy again.

“Ah… Are you back on your meds?” Gary chuckled.

“Enough to make you think I’m over-dosing.” He pulled a bag from behind him and popped it open. The bag held what must have been twelve different, orange prescription bottles. Damn- at the very least he’d get an ulcer from all that… “They want to be very sure that I’ll be completely under control.” Gary said, shutting the bag and replacing it behind him. “Part of the condition of me coming back here.”

Ah. Another good one.

“How did your parents manage to get you back here?” Petey asked, shaking his head. “I mean, considering…” Gary shook his head as well.

“I have no idea. I didn’t have the nerve to ask.” He glanced away again. “Dad wasn’t too happy with me. Mom was sympathetic, but him… Not so much.” He shrugged uneasily. “Whatever it was… It worked.”

“Yeah.”

Silence.

“You seem sad.” Gary merely shrugged again.

“This is what they do to me. That’s why I stopped taking them.” He mumbled, confirming Petey’s earlier hunch. “The ADD makes me… Think too much. Distracts me. Makes me bored really easy, and when I’m bored, I get irritated. Then I get a little wild, and I… Say and do things I wouldn’t necessarily say when I’m in control of myself.” Gary muttered that last part a little fast.

At first, Petey didn’t understand why, but then it hit him- Gary was trying to account for why he’d been so nuts last year. “I mean… I wasn’t just a jerk because of the ADD- I’m just naturally an ass a lot of the time-” (Here, Petey wasn’t certain if he was supposed to agree or disagree) “-but… So… Yeah…” Gary trailed off uneasily and glanced away again.

“What I’m trying to say is… Eh… I… I’m sorry for putting you down so much last year, Pete.”
... Was there a gas leak in the room, or had Gary Smith just apologized for being mean to Peter Kowalski?

No. No gas leak. It was real.

Not for the first time that day, Petey was shocked. Just how well did those meds work? “Thank you, Gary… I really appreciate that…” He whispered. Gary gave a little nod, seemingly a little to embarrassed to meet Petey’s gaze again.

“Actually,” He continued, head down, “You and Jimmy… You two were really the closest things I’ve had to friends since I was, like, six.” Gary smirked. “That’s when the ADD developed, and a lot of kids really didn’t like being around me.”

“Oh…” Petey mumbled. “Well… Are you still mad at Jimmy?” Now Gary looked up, blinking in surprise.

“Mad?” Petey nodded slowly. Gary seemed to process that for a moment, and then Petey saw the concept click behind his eyes, and he shook his head furiously. “No, no, I’m not… And…” He sighed. “In reality… I’m kind of…” He suddenly deadpanned. “And if you tell anyone this, I will lie like a dog.”
”I won’t.” Gary shifted uneasily on the bed.

“I’m… Kind of… Grateful that he stopped me before I did something really dumb.” He paused. “Well. Dumber.” Then his nose wrinkled. “Though, we really didn’t need to fall through the sky-light. I could have learned my lesson without falling twenty feet through glass and wood.” Petey giggled.

“That was his fault?”

“Yeah. I fired off a comment at him, he grabbed me, we both went tumbling over and through the skylight over Crabblesnitch’s office. Then he started kicking me. I got, like, four cracked ribs from that.” He smirked. Well, this was uncommon; Gary was smirking, and Petey wasn’t dreading his next words.

He and Gary continued to talk. And as they did, a sudden thought struck Petey:

I wonder how Jimmy’ll react to this…

Pause.

Oh well. He doesn’t need to know.

Testing something out...

2007-11-11T05:30:43Z

Well, this all went to hell when I first tried posting them on bully_bl, and I'd hate to embarrass myself again by constantly having the thing come up with 20 of the exact same icon, so... yeah. Testing it in my journal first. After all the work I did on these, if someone uses them without credit, I will hunt you down and HURT YOU.
I'm embarrassed... They're all so blurry...

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I'll cry if this doesn't work. I'm so serious.