Decisions and Mayhem

Chapter Two

"Ouch!" I yelled when I felt my forehead connect with the locker in front of me. I stepped away from it, briefly making out the figure of Jay and that of his two friends who were walking away and laughing. I sighed, rubbing my forehead with the base of my palm as I waited for my sight to return to normal.

"He's really, really, pushing it," I heard David say beside me, making me turn to look at the redhead. I sighed again, shrugging as I changed my books. He was right. Jay was trying to do everything but kill me at this point. It's been a week since he'd started trying to get a reaction from me. He's been pushing me around and slamming me into the nearest things in sight. I was angry, but I was still trying to keep how I felt in check.

"Fight him!"

Juana had simply said when I'd told her about it at home as we did homework on the dining table. I'd ignored her, drawing the plans for my Building Tech assignment as she rambled on about Jay being a piece of s**t that needed a lesson.

"Yeah, I know," I muttered as I took my books out of my locker, then shutting the blue painted metal door. David removed his weight from his own locker, standing up before walking with me through the hallway as we headed for our math class. Math was fine if you excluded Alissa. Jay took business oriented subjects so I didn't see him much — thankfully.

School went by as usual, and during our free period, David and I headed to the gym to get some work done. It was a lot quieter than the crowded library, or study rooms that dotted the top floor of the three-story school building. We settled down at the top of the bleachers, taking out our notes and laptops to get to work. It was quiet. Well, until the gym door flew open to reveal Jay and his friends walk in with a struggling body.

Oh brother. I thought as I noticed Tim's head of curly hair as he struggled in Weasley's grip. The dark haired boy laughed as he watched Tim try to claw his way out of his grip, the action only making Weasley tighten the grip of his meaty arms around the base of his neck. Jay and his friends didn't seem to notice that we were sitting in the bleachers... Oh, too late, Jay just looked at us.

The expression on his face was a mixture of excitement and worry. He turned to his friends, yelling out some instructions and soon Weasley loosened his grip on Tim a bit while Stephan headed for the door, my guess being to guard it.

I frowned, wondering what on earth he was planning to do when he walked toward the bleachers and started making his way up to David and me. 

"What are you guys doing here?" He asked, standing in front of us with his hands in his jean pockets. 

We could ask you the same thing. I thought, feeling the words on my tongue threatening to spill out. I rarely hated people — dislike, sure, but hated? Not too often, but I was sure I hated Jay. I hated him a lot, to be honest.

"We usually come here to study since the library is always full," David answered, nudging me a little with his thigh. 

"Ah," Jay said, smiling lightly before he turned back to his friends, and then back at us. "We'll be taking care of Tim here, don't bother us," he said in a firm tone before walking down the stairs and back to Weasley who was still holding Tim in a semi chokehold by the basket stand of the court. 

I watched them, unable to tear my eyes from the scene playing out in front of me. Jay made Weasley move his hold from Tim's neck to his shoulders. I winced when his fist connected with Tim's jaw. I could hear a small groan amongst the laughter from Jay and his goons. Tim had his head bent low, and he was biting his lip, trying to keep shut as Jay made to deliver blows to his side. 

"I don't think you should be watching," I heard David say as his hand touched mine that had turned into a fist on my left thigh. I turned to look at his worried expression, trying to calm myself, but the loud scream I suddenly heard made me turn my head back to the scene. Weasley had let go of Tim, and now the lanky brown haired boy was lying curled up on the gym floor. 

I tried to calm down, but when I saw Jay put his converse on Tim's head my mouth parted in disbelief, and when Jay tried to climb on top of him, I lost it. 

"What the hell are you doing?' I yelled, getting up suddenly, pushing David aside, and only half caring about the laptop that had slipped out of my right thigh to the side of the stair I'd been sitting on. Jay turned to look over at me, frowning a bit as he watched me march over to him. 

"What the f**k Ant? Sit down," Jay said, his dirty converse still on Tim's head. I shook my head, heading over to them and surprising Jay be pushing him aside before I squatted down by Tim. I frowned, noticing that Jay had now made to step on his shoulder.

"Take your feet off him."

"Make m—"

Jay didn't get to finish his sentence because I'd clamped his leg before forcing him to back away. He staggered a bit, falling down onto the gym floor. 

"Are you okay?" I asked Tim, a little unconcerned about Jay and his goons that had headed to help him get up. Tim gave me a small smile, nodding lightly before winching, probably from pain.

"You f*****g piece of s**t!" Jay's angry voice made me tear my eyes away from Tim and move them towards Jay who was being held back by Weasley. I looked away and then back down at Tim. I grimaced, noticing that a bluish bruise was forming on his lip. "Leave, I can take care of this."

He gave me an odd look as I helped him up. "Leave, I'm serious I can handle this," I said again, watching him hesitate a bit before he made a run for the gym's entrance. When he'd left I'd turned back to find Jay right in front of me. His jaw was set in an angry scowl as he tried to toss a fist at me. I caught it, making my way away from him, prompting Weasley and Stepan to come towards me. 

Shit. I thought as I dodged one of their blows. How am I supposed to handle this without inflicting damage?

*

Long story short — I did inflict damage. Jay was now sitting next to me by the vice principal's desk with a bad bruise forming by his eye. I didn't have any wounds, my knuckles were sore from the bad punches, but overall I was fine. 

"Antonio," The principal said, adjusting her green-rimmed glasses. "Why did you hit Jay?"

"He was being a d**k," I scoffed, watching as the lady sat up in her seat, seemingly shocked by my language. "He hit Tim. You know, the guy that came to make the report that we were fighting in the first place."

She looked from me to Jay, sighing lightly as she took out two pieces of paper from her side drawer before scribbling something on it. "I'll have to call your parents — the both of you."

I rolled my eyes, knowing Jay's parents would do nothing. My mom might make a fuss, but she'd calm down a bit when she knew why I did it. I sat up on the cushioned chair as I watched the principal scribble on the paper.

"This is a note of warning," she said, sighing as she folded the pieces of paper. "I'll call your parents now."

Jay and I left the office to pack our things. School hours weren't over, but the vice principal had insisted that we head back home as punishment. The frown on my face felt painful, and it didn't leave my face even when I tried to will myself to stop. Maybe I was just pissed because I knew that they weren't going to do anything more to Jay, or maybe it was because Jay shoved me immediately we walked out of the principal's office and into the hallway — probably both. 

Either way, I was pissed. How on earth did I get the same punishment as Jay when Tim and David were both in the hall as witnesses. What about Wesley and Stephan? Is she just letting them off? I'm sure they'll start locking the gym door when no class was making use of it, meaning that David and I weren't going to have a quiet place to study in again. 

"Hey," I heard someone say, making me turn to find Tim standing to the right of me with his hands tucked into the pockets of his blue school trousers. He smiled awkwardly, taking out a hand from its pocket to stroke his hair. I smiled back, staring at the bruise forming on his cheek.

"The principal's secretary said your mum's here to get you," he muttered, smiling a bit. The frown I'd been wearing for the past hour relaxed as I nodded. 

"Okay," I said, looking from him to my open locker, and then back to him again.

"Are you okay?" I asked, looking at his bruise. His eyes widened a bit as he covered the spot with his palm. 

"Yeah..." he trailed. " Thanks for helping me back there."

"No problem," I said, taking out my textbooks before shutting my locker. I turned to find him smiling before he slipped away and blended with the crowd of students in the hallway. 

My smile dimmed a bit when I remembered that I was supposed to meet my mother right away. 

God damn it.