The Originals

Chapter 2

The hallways of Howard High are full of students, forcing me to push my way through a steady stream of people to get to my locker. I spin the dial three times and with a loud BOOM, my locker flies open and with it tons of rolls of toilet paper. I can hear laughter coming from behind me as I notice a few cell phones recording my reaction.

One kid yells out "I'm putting this online" as I lower my head and begin to clean the junk from my locker. As I reach down to grab a roll of toilet paper, a hand pushes down on my head.

"Whatup bitch."

I don't even have to guess who it is, because only one person is enough of an asshole to do something like this.

"Hey man, whatsup?" I reply as I squirm free of his grasp.

"Not much, just wanted to see if you liked the gift we got for you," he answers with a sneer on his face.

"Mike, you're so kind, you shouldn't have."

"Well, me and my boys thought it would be a good laugh...so you're welcome ya pussy!"

Doing my best to stay calm, I take a deep breath and flash him my "fade to black" smile.

"Are you mocking me?" questions Mike as he steps towards me and grips me up by my shirt.

Wait a minute, how did this situation get so hostile?

Now everyone's phones were out, and I can hear them screaming "Worldstar" in anticipation of this random brutal beatdown that's about to happen. I need a way out of this and quick before I'm the next tragedy on social media.

"Hey, Mike! The prank was pretty funny. Let him live," says a voice from the crowd.

I strain my neck to see who my savior is. Thank the heavens it's my best friend, Jack Jackson who steps from behind two people with their phones out. He drapes his arm around Mike's neck in such a smooth way that Mike can't help but to let it hang there.

"Whatup JJ!" Mike shouts. "Why do you hang out with this lame anyway?"

"This "guy" here happens to be my friend, so I'd appreciate it if you chill."

Mike clenches his jaw debating what he should do.

"Ight fam. Cuz it's you, I'ma let him live."

Mike releases his grip and cocks his head signaling to his boys that it's time to roll. They dap each other up as they walk away. The crowd quickly disperses at the sign of no blood being shed.

Jack Johnson or JJ as he's better known has this weird ability to connect with all types of people. He's athletic enough to be tight with the jocks but nerdy enough to kick it with the nerds. I never could understand how but it's always been mesmerizing to watch. I guess, some people are just born with that natural ability. Unfortunately for me, I ain't one of them.

My mind snaps back to reality. I should probably check social media later to see if anyone posted what just happened.

"Whatup, O!" JJ says to me as he kicks one of the rolls of toilet paper laying on the ground out of his way.

"Sup my guy!" I reply back as we launch into our secret handshake. It took us three weeks to come up with this thing, but boy was it worth it!

"You all good fam?" JJ says as he eyes me up.

I shake my head yes even though I'm a little shaken up.

We clean up my locker in silence and then head towards the cafeteria to grab some lunch.