Broken Half

III. School Loser

"Detention! Detention on the first day of school!"

"It could be worse," I said.

"Worse?"

"I could be in the back of a motorcycle with the school bad boy." I pose with my forefinger and thumb spread below my chin, "Lucio Luciano!'

As you can see, Lucio's parents thought real deep about his name.

Mom smacks me with the table cloth, "Lucio is a nice boy who doesn't skip school and gives his grandma foot massages every day. Don't you call him names." She smacks me again, "He never got detention on the first day before!"

I cover my face from the dirty cloth. "If he doesn't want people to misunderstand, why is he always wearing a leather jacket and driving a motorcycle to school? That's sending the wrong message!"

"Who taught you to judge a book by its cover!" Mom continues to smack me, "Tell me! Who?!"

I ran around the kitchen. "That's dirty! Stop hitting me with it! Dad!"

Dad leans against the fridge with his hand covering his face. He's probably re-evaluating his life right now. Such as: Where did things go wrong?

"I'm going to call Child Protective Services!"

"You're almost eighteen! Get out of my house!"

I gasp, "And pay the awful rent?" The living expenses are really high nowadays. My parents are lucky if they can get rid of me by the time I'm thirty. "I'm staying here! Dad's man cave will be my home!"

Dad groaned.

"I'll take care of you two!"

Mom threw the towel at my face. "Don't think I don't know what you're doing! Trying to distract us from punishing you?"

"Damn," I mumbled underneath my breath.

"Damn indeed. Your punishment?"

I narrow my eyes. What's the worst that can happen? Being grounded? Take away the cell phone? Make me cut the grass?

"You're going to get a job."

I gasp loudly as the last word echoes inside my mind.

Job.

Job.

Job!

I sip dramatically on the cherry Slurpee.

"A job, huh," Brenda says.

Since I didn't get grounded, I went to the mall with Brenda, Eric, and Brian. Eric and Brian are in the games room. Brenda and I are at the food court with cherry Slurpees and leftover fries.

I chew on the straw dramatically, "I don't understand why they're pushing me away."

Brenda looks at me and raises a brow.

"I told them I wanted to spend more time with them, and they do this to me."

"Now, tell me exactly how your parents reacted when you said you wanted to spend more time at home."

"They laughed."

Brenda nods, "That's what I thought. So, are you going to get a job?"

"Mom says she'll cut off my phone line if I don't find one this month."

"What are you thinking?"

"I guess I can scoop ice cream."

"You really thought this through."

I shrug, "I'll try my best."

Brian rushed towards the table, "Brenda! Brenda! Brenda!"

"What? What? What?"

"Gimme money."

Brenda's face turns ugly, "Give you money? What am I? A saint? I'll loan you some money."

"Okay. Fine. Lemme borrow some money."

"Why do you need more money? Mom gave us each fifty before we left."

"I used it all."

Brenda looks at her watch, "We've been here for twenty minutes."

"I'm borrowing your money. You're acting as if you'll never see it again."

Brenda rolls her eyes before she digs into her purse for a twenty. Brian snatched it from her hand and ran away. "I promise! I'll win all our money back!"

"Don't run!"

Brian was long gone.

"What are the two of them doing in the game room?" Brenda stood up, and so did I. Together, we headed towards the game room.

"You know you'll never see that twenty again," I said.

"Yeah."

Brenda isn't a pushover, but she does have a soft spot for the people she loves. The spot is even more delicate for her younger twin brother.

Anyone who looks outside may think it's simply an older sibling's job - despite her being only a few minutes older - to take care of their younger siblings.

That's still true.

But, from what I observe, other than love, Brenda feels guilt. The guilt of being a hunter. Brenda's genes snapped when she was eight. Everyone kept waiting for Brian's gene to switch on too.

They say most likely; if one twin has it, the other will too.

Brian's gene never switches on.

And the worst part of the journey?

When they were younger, Brenda and Brian thought it was a good idea for Brian to get into a dangerous situation for his gene to switch on.

Brian has a large wound on his left leg.

He may walk normally, but if you look closer, you can notice the limp. If he moves too long, it'll get painful. The pain increases on cold days, so we would see less of him during winter.

They say even if his gene does switch on, it's worthless.

Brian can never be an official hunter.

Brian and Eric were playing dance dance revolution. We watch until the winner is revealed.

Eric won.

"f**k!" Brian hit the curvy metal behind him.

Eric lays out a hand, "Hand it over."

Brian gave him five dollars.

"Best four out of five."

"Deal!" Eric says.

"No deal!" Brenda intervenes. "This is how you lost all your money?" She turns toward Eric, "You're conning my brother out of his money?"

"Conning? He knows what he's getting into."

She turns towards Brian, "Eric has been practicing dance dance revolution at Natalie Jones's house."

Brian gasps, "Give me my money back!"

"I can't hear you over the music!" Eric unnecessarily screams. "Let me go somewhere else!"

He tries to walk away, but Brenda grabs him by the collar. "Give us our money back."

I look around for a place to sit while the trio bicker. When I found a small single step, I sat down and rested my cheeks against my palms. I'm surprised an employee hasn't come and broken them apart.

I notice a group of other students in the corner of my eyes. They were laughing and talking to one another as they passed the arcade. At the center of the group, there was a girl. She had her head hung low and large glasses covering her face. With her style, she doesn't look like she belongs in that group.

She seems familiar, but I can't put my finger on it.

I release a low breath and turn my sight away.

When the three stop bickering, we sign up for laser tag. Inside the small dark room filled with neon lights were three teams - red, blue, and yellow. We were the red team.

Eric releases an exaggerated scream when a small boy shoots him.

We're losing.

He clutched the red light on his suit and dramatically fell on his knees. Other children happily ran towards him and continued shooting him. Finally, he drops to the ground.

He's dead.

I turn towards Brenda, "The children tonight are extra vicious."

"Brendy! Julia! Where are you?!" A random child screams.

Clearly, not our first time here.

We have played laser tag here at least three times a month since elementary school. Initially, it started as a way to train our senses. Now, we play it for kicks.

Brenda and I exchanged a nod before we went to the main battlefield.

It was empty.

We're trapped.

"Get them!"

Everyone had their lasers pin at us. We look at each other, "Uh oh."

The red team is dead.

The four of us walk out of the darkroom with our heads hung low. The group of kids ran out cheering. Then, they tackle us with loads of sweaty hugs. "Will you come back here next week?"

When I finally adjusted my eyes, I noticed it was Rubi. Rubi has been playing laser tag with us for the last three years. She's entering fifth grade this year.

"I'll bring my younger brother!" Rubi says.

Great. An increase in children again.

"Mommy says he's finally big enough to play with all of us! He's really excited! So, when are you all coming back?"

The parents of these children only bring them here when we're here. We would make an appointment to book out the whole darkroom for two to four hours and go crazy inside.

The four of us check our schedule as the kids try to climb or talk about questionable topics to us. We set the next date with the parents.

Rubi's mom sneakily tries to hand me a twenty.

I push it away, "Oh no. Valery. We agreed that last time was the last time." Sometimes, the parents try to give us money.

"I know, but look how happy Rubi is. And you all purposely suggested a meeting date on her birthday. How can I not be thankful?"

"You all paid for the games."

"And you four need to start charging families for dropping their kids off here and then leave."

Families noticed this was an opportunity for free babysitting. Sometimes, they would come here, pitch in a few dollars for the booking, and then leave.

We would charge them. But, we get a free game at the arcade, free pizza, or any other meal afterward, and sometimes they give us gift cards. Plus, the owner of the arcade let us play around for free.

Before I can put in another word, Rubi's mom shoves the twenty in my pocket then runs away.

"You four always manage to make my heart increase in size." I turn my head to see Kelvin, the owner.

"Your heart or your wallet?" I handed him the schedule for next month.

"Three book laser tag sessions and two birthday parties. Not bad." Kelvin hands me four unlimited game cards.

After the arcade and pizza, we sat inside the car. We place the money in the center of the car.

"Two hundred dollars?" I question. "Danny's dad is feeling extra generous this time."

"His dad subtly hints that Danny's birthday is coming up in two months."

"Danny likes Toy Story, right?" Brenda question. "Let's tell Kelvin that."

Sometimes, we would give hints to Kelvin about what the kid likes, so he has time to look for discounted items in advance. He would tell the parents he had the things in advance and charge them extra. Generally, parents agree and pay extra, so they don't have to bother with the decoration.

It's all business.

After splitting the money, we all sat in our chairs and counted it. We all exhale softly at the scent of money.

"I can get that perfume I want," Brenda says. She sat up straight, "Let's go home." Brenda switched on the light and drove us out of the mall.

One day after another passed, and everything was the same. School. Trying to find a job. Homework. Hanging out with friends.

Same old thing.

At lunch, Eric tries to throw a grape into Brian's mouth. He succeeds.

Brenda and I look at them with the same facial feature - disgust.

"Hey, Bren-" Natalie's voice trails off when Eric and Brian imitate monkeys. It's tough to believe they'll be adults this year. "Anyways, will you four be coming to my house party?"

"House party?" Brenda question.

"Yeah. I'm having a small gathering." Small means large in Natalie's book.

"Sure. We'll drop by," Eric says.

"Cool." She looks around, "Lucio!"

Lucio turns around. Ah, leather jacket. I wonder if he ever washes that. Or maybe, he has a closet full of them.

"Coming to my party?"

"Beer?"

"We're in high school!"

"I'll come!"

She nods once before making her way towards another group with her crew.

"Aren't you and Natalie together?" Brenda asks.

"Us? Huh?" Eric's face twisted. "No, we aren't together. We only f**k around a few times. Geez."

"Ew," I said.

Eric points his plastic fork at me, "Didn't you and Lucio f**k around a few times?"

I silence him, "It was one time, and he seduced me!"

"Seduce you? He told me you were the one who seduced him. Broke his heart and everything."

Brenda turns her head, "And why is it that I've never heard of this?"

"Because-"

"She doesn't want to be known as someone who humps and dumps," Brian input.

"Because-" I said again, "It wasn't a big deal." I shrug, "We weren't compatible."

Eric grinned, "Just say it. He sucks in bed, isn't he?"

I didn't respond.

It's true.

From an outsider's viewpoint, you would think Lucio is great in bed. The leather jacket. The motorcycle. The bad boy fights. He gets buckets of girls.

But, sadly, he could only satisfy virgins.

As in a girl who doesn't know what she wants.

Someone who thinks that's what he does in bed is mind-blowing s*x.

Throw someone with experience in, and he's utterly lost. After five minutes of oral, he cummed and barely tried to prep my oven.

"Holy crap," Brian says. "Look at your face! It must be true!"

I hid my face behind my hands.

I don't want to relive the experience with Lucio. After that, I ran away from him whenever I saw him. He took that as a hint to leave me alone. The next few days, I saw another girl in his arms, and that was it.

That was my romantic high school love with a bad boy.

Now, we're friends.

No hard feelings.

It is what it is.

But I do feel bad for all the girls he broke. No matter how many people warned them about Lucio, they would dive right in. Of course, they would think they could change him, notably after seeing how he treats his grandma.

I eat a small tomato.

I wonder if Lucio is better in bed now.

When people see me, they wouldn't think I'm someone who had s*x before. There's nothing wrong with what I'm doing. I like s*x, so I do it. Of course, I wouldn't sleep with anyone with a d**k, but I wouldn't try to be Virgin Mary either.

"Oh, there she is," Brenda says.

I look up from my plate to see Lana Moon.

Dark hair.

Miserable face.

Raggedy clothes.

Welcome, our school loser.