Night came around and it was pretty cold out, it was getting pretty close to winter, being the dawn of the November month. Vanesa had parked her car in the vacant parking lot of a community college nearby. It had no lights on around and barely any cops or campus security came by to check up on the place, so it was the safest place for her to stay overnight. She was still upset about the whole situation, having no lead whatsoever to where the headquarters could be. She was lost in the dark with no light to get out of it, the two teens she was looking after still in jeopardy. It felt like it was her responsibility to keep them safe, make sure they could see their parents again. It was like a huge weight crushing her from on top of a huge building. Her thoughts were clouded as she laid down in the backseat of her van, trying to get some sleep and recoup tomorrow. She closed her eyes and was finally drifting off to sleep, until she heard a bush rustling outside. She quickly brushed it off as a squirrel, or any other wildlife in the area. Then, the sound of tiptoeing footsteps sneaking up to her van put her on alarm, and immediately springed up from the backseat and reached for the gun in the glove department. Grabbing it and immediately aiming down the sights of it at her car window, seeing the silhouette of a man outside. She took a shot at him, the bullet shattering the glass of the van. The bullet missed as the guy ducked down behind the front door, he shot back at her. She was able to move out of the way of the gunfire, while also returning some back. The guy shuffled along the outskirts of the van, nearing the back doors, flinging them open to get a good look into the van. Vanesa responded by shooting back at him, but he was able to dive out of the way and into the van, where he slapped the gun out of her hands. He held his gun to her head and pinned her down in the back, while restraining her arms behind her back, like she was getting arrested.
“Vanesa Huffington.” The guy said as he pressed the gun barrel down thick into her skull. “Don’t worry, I’m not here to hurt you.” The guy looked to be in his mid-twenties, with long black hair that covered his eyes, wearing a light green duffle jacket with black jeans.
“Get the fuck off me!” Vanesa squirmed around as he put his body weight on her.
“I’m here to help.” He struggled trying to keep her in place.
“Bullshit!” She kicked her feet up, trying to hit him.
“Stop struggling and I’ll tell you everything.” He was finally able to fully make her stop moving. “Don’t worry, my name is David. I’m here to help you.”
245Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiXFE9vNYzW
Ned woke up and did the same routine he does every morning, shower, dress, get his backpack ready, clean up after his mom’s binge night, and then walk out the door to go to school. On his way he stops by Chris’s house and waits for him to walk out, so they can walk to school together. Like on Tuesday, Chris didn’t show up, and Ned was gonna be late for school, so he decided that Chris was probably going to show up later that day just like on Tuesday. He continued on without Chris, and barged through all the way to the front of the school, where he sat on the bench he usually does before school starts. He checked his phone for the time where he noticed that he had more time than he thought.
“Maybe all of that action yesterday messed with my perception of time.” He said to himself as he put his phone in his pocket. “Hopefully Vanesa will find another way of finding the headquarters.”
“I’m actually surprised you showed up.” A very familiar voice in the same tone he heard yesterday, Micheal. “Thought you would just cower away in the comfort of your own bed.” Ned had completely forgotten about him and the fight they had planned yesterday. At the same time, he didn’t think he was actually being serious about beating him up for some petty power complex bullshit.
“Were you actually being serious?” He asked him.
“Of course I was, do I look like a man that jokes around!?” A little bit of a crowd started to form around them.
“You do look like an asshole, so I wasn’t that far off.” When he said that, the crowd gasped a little.
“What did you say to me?”
“Oh, I said you looked like an asshole.”
“You’re gonna regret that.”
“I kinda don’t care.”
“I’ll make you.”
“Shut up.”
“Whatcha say?”
“I said shut up you failed abortion!”
“Fuck you!” Micheal drew his fist back and decked Ned right in the face, making his glasses fly off and onto the ground. He grabbed Ned’s shirt as he began to fall to the ground and just started pounding on his face, rapid-fire fists as the crowd around them grew bigger, people recording the fight with their phones. No campus guards were near the front entrance as usual, the campus guards are basically just teachers but with special privileges.
245Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5pBhYf4k5k
Chris woke up late, sleeping in a little and rushed out of bed to get ready for school. He never rushed his morning routine before, but he breezed through it. Saying goodbye to his parents as he was just barely zipping up his backpack as he rushed out of the door. He waited outside for Ned to come down the street like he usually does, but he didn’t show up at all. He texted him, but he didn’t respond. After thinking that he’ll be late to school, he hurried off to school, hoping to catch Ned there later. Turning the corner before the front entrance of the school, he sees the crowd forming with the students yelling swears, and egging on whatever was happening in that enclosed circle of wiled up teens. He was interested in the situation, usually fights on this scale don’t happen this often. Then, a realization hit him. The thing that happened with Ned and Micheal yesterday. He’d completely forgotten, and most likely Ned forgot as well. He ran over to the crowd and pushed people aside, almost getting tossed out of the way by one grueling teen. He was finally able to squeeze through the crowd and see the horrific sight that be folded in front of him. Ned gets his face pummeled by the huge fist, his face all bloody and tear filled eyes as his face gets even more beaten. Chris finally got himself into the circle of the crowd and Micheal looked over at him as he finally stopped his ruthless beating.
“Look who decided to join the fun.” He said as he let go of Ned, his head flops to the ground and bounces off of it.
Ned looks over at Chris who is standing there in shock. “Chris?” He says as he rubs his eyes.
Chris turned his head to face the ground, covering his eyes from Micheal and the crowd.
“Well, aren't you gonna save your friend?” Micheal said in his cocky tone, like he was the strongest in the world. He was the most fierce person in the school, but picking on someone just for you to get your power fantasy fulfilled, it made Chris sick to his stomach. “Or are you just gonna sit there and wallow?” Micheal got up on his feet and turned his whole body around to face Chris. “You’re no tougher than your friend here.”
Chris lowered his shoulders in some kind of defeating way, he knew he stood no chance against Micheal at all. But, he has survived even crazier shit before this, even if he didn’t have the strength, if he had the willpower, he could totally match him.
“Come on do something!” Micheal started lunging his body towards him as he just stood there. Micheal may have the strength, but he has the intellect. When he got close to him, he took off his backpack and threw it in his direction, hitting him on the chest. It didn’t hurt him, but it caught him off guard. “Is that all you got?” MIcheal taunted him, then before he could really finish the sentence. Chris found an opening, and punched him in the face, making him stumble back. He caught himself on a teen that was a part of the crowd, as they were stunned in shock that he was able to get a hit on him.
“Come on, tough guy!” Chris yelled out. “Let’s go!” MIcheal came charging at him again, this time faster than ever before. He was able to dodge the punch and leave his left leg out, where he tripped over it and fell into this friend in the crowd where he caught him.
“Get him MIcheal, don’t let him make a mockery of you!” The friend said as he pushed Micheal back in.
“I’m not letting any little punk bitch like you get to me like this!” MIcheal clenched his fists. He charged at Chris, but this time it looked like he had an actual strategy instead of just running in blindly. Chris was quick to move out of the way, but that is exactly what Micheal wanted him to do, he wasn’t gonna fall for the same trick twice. When Chis stuck out his leg, he grabbed it and forced him to the ground. He then took his foot and stomped on his chest and face, with him struggling to fight back. He put his other foot to pin down Chris’s other leg.
“That’s Micheals famous pin down!” The friend from the crowd shouted out. “Once he has you like that, there’s no coming out of it!”
“Goddammit!” Chris grunted as he struggled to get out. He was really pinned down hard, he tried grabbing Micheal’s leg off of him, but it was basically impossible. “There has to be a way outta this.” He thought to himself. “There just had to be.” One leg was being held in place by Micheal, and the other leg was being stepped on. He was still being stomped on. He was frantically trying to look for any vantage point he can peck at to get him off. But he could find a way to do that. He was basically stuck, so he came up with something dirty, but it’s the only way. He built up a spitball in his mouth and fired it off at him, splattering on his face. Micheal recoiled back in disgust and let go of Chris’s leg to get it off of him. Chris swept the legs of him, and he fell on his back, smacking his head against the concrete ground. Chris leapt off the ground and got on top of him, and started wailing on him. Throwing punch after punch in Micheals face, the same thing he was doing to Ned. The crowd looked on in horror as Micheal, in the first time they'd seen, was actually being beaten in a fight, and very violently. Chris beat him so much, Micheals face started to bleed and he was begging him to stop.
“Fucking stupid motherfucker, fuck you!” Chris kept throwing obscenities at him, not listening and in a full on rage moment. “You want to beat people up all because you want to feel strong! Well let me tell you something! You’re not stronger than me or Ned! You’re nothing but a weak child living his sick fantasy!”
“Please stop.” Micheal started crying. “Please! I’m sorry!”
Chris stopped and grabbed him by his shirt and pulled him close to his face. “What was that again!?”
“Sorry.” He said in a whimper.
“Say it louder!”
“I’m sorry!” Micheal shouted out and echoed throughout the silent crowd.
“Chris!” Ned got up and pushed him off of Micheal, and put his hands on his shoulders. “Snap out of it! You’re acting the same way as him!”
Chris finally got to his senses and looked down at his bloody fists, and the crying Micheal holding his face tightly as more blood spilled onto the ground. “Did I do this?”
“Yes, you did.” Ned responded back in a comforting tone. “But now it's over.”
Chris looked back at the crowd who were just looking and recording, he started to cry. Finally, campus security came around the corner and cleared up the crowd, and were shocked at the sight of the fight. They grabbed up Ned, Chris, and Micheal and sent them on their way to the nurse. While they were being escorted there, a huge crowd of students were yelling at them and still recording. Then, a very familiar voice caught the attention of Ned, it was Michelle.
“Ted!” She shouted. “What happened?” She only saw Ned’s bloody face, she didn’t even see the fight. “Ted!” Was the last thing he heard as he entered the nurses office.
245Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjOXfHR0w4D
Vanesa was handcuffed as she sat in the back of her van, while David was fiddling with a little journal he kept in his pocket, flipping through pages like a breeze.
“So you don’t exactly know where their HQ is?” Vanesa said. “But you can get me the information?”
“Exactly.” David said.
“How can I trust you?”
“You have no other choice.” He said as he closed the notebook. “After your whole little fiasco with that kidnapping shit, their guards are gonna be more alert than ever. You’ll never get the opportunity like that again, I’m your only hope.”
“Didn’t you used to work for them?”
“Yep, just like you.” He grabbed the keys to the van and put them in the ignition and started the bad girl to life. “And just like you, I left to fight back.”
“I still don’t believe you.” She said,
“If i was still with them I would’ve killed you instead of wasting my time here. They don’t know I’m on your side, they still think I’m just still some regular employee there. I can sneak into one of these hideouts we have and talk to the head chief over there, he definitely knows where the HQ is.” He backed out of the parking space and started towards the exit. “Though you just gotta trust me on this one, I know that's hard to do since I have you handcuffed.”
Vanesa stared at him with malice, she wanted to tear him apart. She was gonna play along, but as soon as she gets these handcuffs off, she’s gonna absolutely kill him. “So are we just going straight there?”
“Yep, once we get there, we’ll camp there until the sun rises, that's when we’ll get the information.”
She didn’t really like the plan, it seemed very sketchy and too easy. There had to be a catch, but David was right, there’s nothing she can do but just watch.
245Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSGPZR2y4BC
Ned got a checkup while he was in the nurse's office, along with the others involved in the fight. His nose wasn’t broken, but he was still pretty beat up. He had a puffed up eye and bruises all over his face. Micheal had the same injuries, with Chrisbeing the least injured in the whole fight. After they were cleared of any major injuries, they were sent to sit in the principal's office while they waited for their parents to show up for a meeting. After about thirty minutes, all parents showed up, except for Ned’s. They were all set up in the office, with the principal coming into the office after a meeting.
“Hello everyone.” He said as he took his seat in his leather chair. “I'm sure you’ve heard what happened this morning.”
Micheal’s mom, Kayla, patted her son on the shoulder. “Yes, we’ve already heard.” His dad, John, looked over at his son in some sort of disgust.
“Good.” The principal looked over at Ned and noticed he doesn’t have his parents with him. “Ned, where’s your parents?”
“She couldn’t come.” He said as he slumped back in his chair.
“OK then, that’s ok.” The principal fixed his posture in his chair. “A fight broke out in front of the school this morning, which was instigated by Micheal Lafton.”
“Should’ve known it.” John scoffed.
“Ned Ferdanaud was the main target of this fight, but then Chris Monosa joined in and beat up Micheal pretty badly.” The principal was reading off a report they had on the situation. “None of the students involved were critically injured or anything along the lines.”
“Why did you do that Chris?” Pamela asked her son.
“He was just beating up Ned and no one was doing anything to stop it! Not even any of the campus guards!” Chris said.
“Still gives you no reason to do all of that, you could’ve just pulled him off of Ned.” Bob said.
“What do you want me to do!? Just watch as my friend gets his face smashed in and go along with my business!?”
“I'm pretty sure your parents are not saying that, they just want to make sure you don’t involve yourself in something that’ll get you hurt.” The principal butted in.
“I wouldn’t have to involve myself if the campus security actually did something around here for fucking once!”
“Chris, watch your language!” Pamela scolded him. “I am so sorry sir for my son's behavior, he still probably has left over anger from the fight.”
“It’s ok, I understand.” The principal said. “It’s true that the campus security can be a little slow to the punch sometimes. But, you still need to hold the urge back to involve yourself Chris.”
“Whatever.” Chris lowered back in his seat, but Bob forced him to sit up.
“I would like to also give my apologies on behalf of my son.” Kayla said. “We’ve known of this behavior for a long time and tried to get him to work on it and-”
“As much as I appreciate you speaking up for him, I would like to hear Micheal apologize himself.” The principal cut her off.
Kayla nudged Micheal on his shoulder, he took a bit of a sigh. “I’m sorry for starting a fight and injuring Ned.”
“Now Chris?”
“Why do I have to apologize-” Bob smacked Chris on the neck to get him to shut up. He looked back at him then at the principal and sighed deeply. “I’m sorry for beating up Micheal.”
“Good, this is a great place to start.” The principal pulled out a little sheet and a pen and started writing on it. “Now, for the part you're really here for.” He stopped writing and slid the little sheet to Micheal and Chris. “I hereby suspend you both for a month.”
Chris expected to be suspended, hell he thought he might even be expelled, so it was honestly a relief and a pain to hear that.
“Ned, you can go home for the day.” The principal capped off as he passed on paperwork for all the parents in the room to sign. “You can all leave now, thank you for your time.”
Once all the parents signed the paperwork they left the office, along with Ned and the others. Their parents went outside to the parking lot and started talking to each other, exchanging condolences and apologizing for their son's behavior, having a little conversation, hoping their sons could make up in the future. Micheal sat in the car waiting for his parents to just end it, while Ned and Chris were sitting on a curb in the parking lot.
“You ok Ned?” Chris asked.
“Yeah, my nose no longer hurts.” Ned responded. “I’m kinda worried about you.”
“Me?”
“Yeah, the way you acted back there, I’ve never seen you like that.”
“Well, I just wanted to protect you.”
“You did all right.” He chuckled. “Just glad you didn’t get too hurt.”
“You too.” He said with a smile.
“What’s gonna happen with the girl points situation now that you’re suspended.”
“Don’t know, but I’m sure we’ll figure it out.”
“Chris!” Bob shouted out. “We’re leaving, let's go!”
“Coming!” Chris shouted back. “See you later Ned.”
“See ya whenever.” Ned said back. “Just text me or call me whenever you can.”
“Got it.” Chris ran over to his parents car, got inside it, and they drove off. Ned sat there, all by himself as the school day continued on.
“Should’ve asked them for a ride.” He said to himself as he got up from the curb, and started to walk back home. “I’ll tell my mom what happened when I get home, not that she’ll listen to me anyways.” He took a little bit of a pause as he reached a stoplight, looked up at the sky and let out a big smile. “I really do have an amazing friend huh? He was willing to beat up that guy to pulp for me, and to be honest, I’ll do the same for him.” Ned walked all the way back home with that thought in the forefront of his mind245Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnEjjAoRjdI
