Keep it a Secret (Frerard)

Chapter 3- Claws & Teeth

I used all my will power to refrain from slamming my head against the smooth, wooden desk under my arms. The quiet classroom allowed me to hear the pounding of blood in my ears. I bit my lip as I watched the clock. It felt like I had already been at school for an eternity. There was still forty five minutes left until the bell rang. My English teacher had given my class time to read The Secret Life of Bees, but I had already finished the required reading expectations for the rest of the week. Even though my grades weren’t the best, I was a pretty fast reader. Sometimes I skipped over details when I read quickly, but they weren’t usually too important, so it was ok. I tapped my desk with the tip of my pencil almost unconsciously.

The classroom phone began to ring, and the whole class looked up from their books. My English teacher brought the receiver up to her ear and remained silent for a few seconds as she stood, listening. “Excuse me,” She wrinkled her brows and swiftly left the room with a tone of urgency in her voice. The whole class erupted with noise once the authority figure was out of sight. I let out a short sigh of relief. The silence had been driving me insane. Now, the air buzzed with the eager voices of teenagers. Most people were talking about Dominique’s party, and others were talking about what they were going to do instead.

Suddenly, I felt a rough smack on my back. I squeezed my eyes shut, then opened them, only to find myself staring at the crotch of the football team’s linebacker. Two hundred pounds of muscle towered over me. I swallowed and slowly raised my eyes until they met with the eyes of the creature hovering over me.  “Yes?” I stuttered.  The bulging muscles on the giant’s arms flexed, intimidating its surroundings. The beast’s face contorted with a sick smile at the fear in my voice. “You finished the bee book, right?” It snarled. I whimpered as the words crawled under my flesh. I shook my head. I wasn’t that much of an overachiever. The smug smile disappeared on the brute’s face. Wrong response. I began to brace myself for the reaction. “You better finish, so you can write my essay for me,” The giant smirked.  Great, I can barely write my own essay. My palms were drenched with sweat, and I silently prayed the teacher would return soon.

Suddenly, a voice spoke. “No, he won’t,” It took me a second to locate the bold speaker that embodied the voice. The beast was caught off guard by this contradicting speaker. I made a startled expression. I was not aware anyone else in the room had paid any attention to my conversation with the linebacker. Apparently someone had been listening, though, and they had something to say. A quirky, boy with sandy hair was staring right at the giant. The boy’s eyes were a muddy green and held a sense of determination. He spoke once more. “He won’t write your essay, Jason,” the short, yet stocky boy proposed. What? I eyed the boy with surprise. The beast quickly recovered from its state of shock. “Oh yeah?”  The giant’s voice was now agitated from the opposition. The bold boy stood up and attempted to be face to face with the linebacker, but his height prevented him from so.

Our classmates had begun to notice this disturbance in the air. The room was now silent; everyone was waiting in anticipation. Nobody ever challenged Jason. This was a first. The situation had become so much bigger than just a jock forcing a kid to do his homework. The atmosphere was filled with the energy from the fire in the two boys’ eyes. I was still sitting in my desk, right in between both standing teens. My location was very vulnerable if the tension erupted into a full, fledged fist fight.

In a split second, it happened. Jason lunged at the smaller boy over my desk. I recoiled back, trying to avoid contact from either of them. The sandy haired boy threw an uppercut punch right into the jock’s gut and I felt the impact on his body through the wooden desk. A girl named Emily screamed, but nobody did anything to stop the snapping dogs from fighting. Boys in the back of the room encouraged the brawl. It was nothing but entertainment to them, but I was right in the middle of it. I was too weak to interfere, and there was no way I could escape my desk for the shorter creature was blocking me from leaving my desk as he continued to throw punches at the taller boy. The taller beast fought back well, but his speed was substantially less as a result of his massive size. Claws scraped skin. Teeth tore flesh. Whimpers escaped from both of the animals’ lips, but they quickly faded.