When we got there (and I was assured I would be okay), I was feeling pretty good. I was actually entering High School World! We met up with Pink, Wooderson, and.....best of all, Mitch! How releaving! A schoolmate I actually knew! Mitch seemed glad to see me to, "Hey! There you are buddy!" He gave me a big smile and pulled me into a squeeze.
I had met Wooderson and Pink only once, and it was nice to see them again. Wooderson high-fived me, "Hey, buddy. Long time, no see!" Pink playfully raised his eyebrow, "Look. At. You! You look like you grew a full foot!" I blushed, it was rare I got a compliment like that from someone like Pink.
Later found me and Mitch catching up, talking about the last baseball game of the year that he won for the team, eating apples Wooderson got us ("Cause your good little kids and I had 'em on hand."), and wondering if we could get back at O'Bannion for busting us.
We got the idea when we snuck around to the back of the building and found Carl, Tommy, and Herschfelder hiding from O'Bannion after he busted Herschfelder. We found them out of breath and looking worried while Hersch was rubbing his sore backside and wiping his face. We greeted them with smiles, "What's up guys?" Mitch asked and then narrowed his eyes at Carl, "You owe me one man! That hurt like no one's business!" Carl ducked his head with embarrassment, "Yea, they busted Herschfelder to." Hersch blushed. Tommy leaned his neck to one side, "Are you guys up at the Emporium?" he asked with astonishment. Mitch nudged me and smirked, "Yep!" Hersch crossed his arms and glared, "Hey, is that good-for-nothing jerk, O'Bannion up there?" He groaned, "Hurts like the devil!" I looked around to make sure no one was listening, "Yea, that jerk's so darn mean!" I gave a thoughtful look to Mitch who returned it and asked, "Do you guys wanna get him back?" They all gave the same answer at the exact same time, "Heck, yes!"
A few minutes later, the plan was settled: Carl would act as the bait, allow himself to get caught, keep O'Bannion's attention, then, when he least expected it, Tommy and Hersch would dump white paint on his head and then they would all get away with Pentico before he had the chance to get them. The next thing Mitch and I needed to organize was an escape plan. Mitch already found a way to get O'Bannion to come outside: Ask that sophomore, Julie, to say that Carl was getting busted.
While he did that, I asked the other guys: Pickford, Pink, Slater, Lampy, and Wooderson if they could come up with an escape plan that we could play along with. They all seemed really impressed that we even dared to try it, Slater even pointed out that a comeuppance for O'Bannion was well overdue, "Maybe next time you guys should get milkshakes, what do you say guys?" I took a big bite of my apple and nodded my head. I looked over at Mitch who was just about to give the signal: all set!
The plan unfolded after Pinoke and I came out with the guys, we did our best to keep straight faces and tried our best to look sorry for Carl, but feeling helpless. Carl was playing it well to: he looked like he was just as helpless as us and even convinced O'Bannion that he was on the verge of tears because he was scared. One of the other guys told O'Bannion that Carl didn't even put up a fight or try to get away, he just crumpled. O'Bannion got up in Carl's face and laughed, causing Carl to do a fake sniffle.
O'Bannion then turned to us and shouted (I'll fix it again to make it clean, he does cuss too much), "Did y'all hear this little freak's mommy pulled a shotgun on me this afternoon?! Such a freakin' baby like you deserves a good lickin'!" Carl must have really worked up tears because when he spoke, he sounded like he was really gonna cry, "I didn't ask her to pull a gun, she embarrassed me!" O'Bannion raised his eyebrow as fake tears started coming out of Carl's eyes, "For true? And....you haven't had any licks yet have ya?"
Carl acted like he was doing his best to hold it in, like he was feeling like if he tried to talk he would start sobbing. O'Bannion raised his eyebrows at him expectantly, "Hm?" Carl wiped his eyes, "No." O'Bannion whooped, "We got another fresh one, boys!" Carl got off the wall and gave him a glare, looking him square in the eye. O'Bannion slammed him against the wall, "Well get up against the wall! You know Burnette, you got to be the dumbest, freshman, skiny little freakin' crybaby I've ever met! You knew I was gonna find you, right?" Carl was really playing it well, he looked like he was going to be executed. Pink had even pulled a sad-looking Mitch into a hug and looked worried.
O'Bannion then turned to us and said, "I would like to dedicate this first lick...to your mother." He aimed his paddle and acted like he was gonna take a swing, but stopped short, admiring the flinch that Carl did, "Oh-ho, not yet." he said calmly, but threateningly, he repeated it and got the same reaction, "It's gettin' warmer." Carl couldn't hold it in, "Could you just please get it over with, I don't want to be here for one more minute!"
O'Bannion chuckled and, just when he was about to paddle Carl, the paint came down on his head, "What the heck?" Carl saw his chance and made a break for it. There, up on the building, was Tommy and Herschfelder, holding paint buckets, "Remember me you pig?" Tommy called from the top as he and Hersch dumped their paint on his head. Hersch went beyond and dropped the bucket on his head, "That's for busting me and being such a darn jerk, know-nothing!" he shouted angrily.
After that, O'Bannion was cussing and was furious at the others for letting Carl get away. He saw us standing side-by-side trying to hold in laughs with half-smiles on. He looked at us and gave us a suspicous eye as he came up and shoved us, "What are two smiling at?" Lampwick judged that this would be a good time to do the escape plan and asked the other guys if now was a good time to get us home. So, this was our part to play, as Pickford told us, "Yea, it's almost half past eight, think it's about time you two got some shut-eye." we acted like we were so incredibly disappointed, we couldn't get over it, Mitch crossed his arms and pouted, "Oh come on, Just a few more minutes?" I joined in, "Yea, we're not even sleepy yet!" Pink gave us a playfully suspicious look as we both yawned, "Oh really? Why are you two yawning then?"
He and Lampy put their arms around us and pulled us toward the cars, "We'll see y'all later after we get these two sleepyheads to bed." Mitch and I smiled at each other and gave the others friendly waves, "Bye!" Once we got to the cars, I hugged Mitch before getting in and we said good-by to each other, "Nice job tonight buddy! We need to do that again sometime."
Fifteen minutes down the road, my eyelids felt heavy. Finally, I layed across the seat and fell asleep. The next thing I remembered was someone picking me up, I was a little shocked since I didn't know who it was a squirmed a little. Once I heard Lampwick's familiar voice, I settled down again. He passed me to my dad who whispered his thanks and took me to bed. It was nice to be safe in bed again without having to worry about getting paddled or anything like that. I later found out from Mitch that he had a similar outcome on his way home. But, we both knew that O'Bannion wasn't gonna be messing with us anytime soon!
THE END.
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What are friends for?
FanfictionIn this story, Pinocchio is going to be entering his freshman year of high school and gets caught by the seniors from Dazed and Confused who are hazing incoming freshmen. Pinocchio manages to hide from them in an alley, but is found by them once he...
