Extra Ordinary

23.

I had nicked my Mom's old saddlebags from the garage at five in the morning, then sneaked my gaming pc downstairs, making as little noise as possible.

That was the easy part. Relatively speaking (Mom was a light sleeper).

The hardest part followed when arriving at school.

Waiting for Rolf to arrive in the dark, cold morning really gave one the oppertunity to wonder where it all went wrong, and how one winded up in this situation.

Of course I waited for nothing. Rolf said he'd be a bit earlier to avoid teachers, but I should have known he wanted an audience more than 'safety.'

By the time Rolf sauntered my way, a smug, arrogant grin plastered on his face, there were already plenty of people around.

Plenty of people who stopped walking to watch when Rolf yanked the PC out my hands.

"Thanks man," Rolf taunted me, as if I'd given it to him willingly. "I'm going to enjoy using this."

"Don't you think this is going a bit too far, Rolf?" one of the seniors I only vaguely recognised asked.

"Fuck no," her friend scoffed. "If he didn't want this to happen, he shouldn't have started that bet. It's his own fault."

There were more people with opinions. I heard murmurs, surprisingly some of them taking my side but most seemed to think I shouldn't have made the bet if I didn't want the consequences.

I didn't care about the discussion either way. I'd done what needed to be done, and now I only wanted to leave. 

Because nobody would really move for me, I pushed my way past the curious sightseeing students surrounding me and Rolf with my head down. 

Before I made it out of the circle there was yelling behind me and sounds of a struggle going on. 

 I turned back just in time to see Asa smacking Rolf across the face with the palm of his hand.  

Rolf stumbled back. "Stay out of it, Jennings. I won that PC fair and square!" he protested from a safe distance away - out of Asa's punch-zone. 

"No. That's not yours," Asa replied with a dead-calm, icy tone. 

My PC had been set down on the pavement, seemingly unharmed. Asa must've ripped it out of Rolf's hands first. 

"Yes, yes it is," Rolf dared to protest again. "Gabriel gave it to me, right Gay-briel?" 

Rolf made the mistake of slightly mispronouncing my name in front of Asa.

Judging by the sudden rage edged on Asa's face, it could well be the last mistake he'd ever make. Rolf was going to catch another punch, this time with a fist meant to do damage instead of just a palm. 

"Wait!" I called out, and surprisingly enough, both Asa and Rolf froze mid-movement and both heads whipped my direction. 

I breathed out shakily. "It is Rolf's pc now, Asa," I said. "I took that bet and now I'm keeping my word. I shot and missed, and now it's over." 

Slowly, Asa lowered his fist. There was leftover anger simmering just below the surface, but he listened to me.  

Then Asa left without a word, and I didn't see him the rest of the day. 

I didn't run into Rolf, Rolf's friends, or anyone else involved in the skirmish the rest of the day either. Sometimes I spotted them from a distance, but everyone seemed impressed enough by Asa's show to back off and give me some relative peace.