The Many Fates Of Nate

3 Biting The Bullet

"Holy mother of mackerel!" Miss Dusteen, the walrus exclaimed.

She was the head of Cornelius  School and it shows by the immense bags in her eyes. Right now, it has grown an extra three. She looked like she wanted to fall out of her massive moped after staring, jaw at the floor of the utter state of the library. And that's the tip of the iceberg. It pales in comparison to the destruction Damain left in his wake.

After the rampage, Nate bailed, he and Kalab trying not to be affiliated with the incident that they were directly responsible for. And it worked. There was no coalition to be made. Zoe tattled and the rest was history. The only people who knew were his peers.

Long story short, Damain was expelled and sent to juvie, even though he tried to testify that he was innocent...that he was set up. And even so,  it's been a long time coming. For too long the Komodo dragon had been an unhinged, moronic and massive nuisance to the school inside and out, even being more rabid outside since there were fewer eyes on him. The leashes off.

Now the head had finally caught him in the act. It took the entire year, but one way or another he knew one day he'd slip up. 
And that day was today.

Meanwhile, thanks to a certain skunk, the ram had garnered immense popularity from within his year group, more so than him wearing shades to hide his hideous attire. The fame is temporal, so the ram hopes to make a healthy turnout before the end of the day.

People began to twist what had gone down, painting Nate as a fearsome force to be reckoned with, singlehandedly thrashing Damain. In reality, Nathen didn't do anything and it was Kalab who thought of the idea of the library trap and  Damian taking the bait. But Nathen is not particularly interested in setting the record straight, something that Kalab is apprehensive about with his incomprehensible squawks. He's already getting the feeling he's been used. He ain't standing for this, either.

"Quit your yapping, you big baby!" Nate snapped.
"So what It's a lie? So long it's making us twice the amount of moola, who cares?"
Kaleb glared.
"Don't look at me like that! Ugh. Fine. Here!" Nate gave the ostrich some money. But Kaleb declined the bribe. He had his back facing the ram, arms crossed and eyes shut.
"How much do I have to give to make this all go away?"

Kaleb turned his head slightly.
His dark, thick feathery fingers gestured in Nate's front. Understanding, he reluctantly placed more money down, more than he would have profusely liked. But if Nathen was going to milk this for all its worth, so was Kalab, who forced the boy for more.
Nate begrudgingly obliged.

"Happy now?" he snarled.
The large flightless bird nodded.
"You're enjoying this too much aren't you?" He interrogated.
Kaleb clapped back, still maintaining the moral high ground.
"Yeah, right. Like people are going to find out that we were lying to them."
"We will." a feminine voice said.
Nate turns to see a newt and chinchilla standing outside the concession stand.
It's extra problematic when he realises who they are: Ruby and Marty, friends of his girlfriend.

Checking if the coast was clear, he kneed down to them. "How much do you want?"
"Nothing," Martin answered. "But we'll take a signature for free."
"We need all five thousand to take the petition to city hall, who would have no choice but to keep the orphanage up," Ruby explained, hoping that the ram would agree to those negotiated terms.
"He was going to tear it down and replace it with this big pop culture centre filled with video games, merch and even an escape room."
"Fine." Nate gritted his teeth, signing it.
"But only because the local hospital is a much better alternative."

The loud and piercing sound of the final bell echoed throughout the school grounds, as students eagerly awaited their release from the confines of the classroom. For them, it was a moment of liberation from the monotonous routine of the day. The six, gruelling long hours that they had endured in the classroom, trapped in shackled chains by the education system, were finally over. Some students chose to stay behind, perhaps to complete unfinished work or to catch up with friends. But for most, the opportunity to escape into the wide-open world was too irresistible to ignore. They scattered in all directions, like ants under the vast expanse of the ocean sky and the warm. Even the sun seems to be celebrating, beaming aggressively.