to be there as if anybody were to start beating him up, he knew there would have to be a credible witness to the fact that he didn't start it. Not seeing Felix or Becker anywhere, he assumed that they both must be eating in the cafeteria.
As soon as the bell rang, he made his way to the next class. Ian was making his way down the hall at a brisk pace when a bathroom door suddenly swung open, and a hand reached out, grabbed his arm and yanked him inside. Before he knew what had happened, Felix slammed him into the side of a stall and whacked him in the face with the back side of his hand This sent him tumbling to the ground. It was then that he noticed that somebody was guarding the door.
"Who's a loser now?" Felix came towards him again.
Ian knew his only chance would be the element of surprise. He pretended to be half-comatose. As soon as Felix was close enough, he managed to kick him hard enough in the shin to cause the 9th grader to let out a yell, and fall down on his knees. He could hardly believe he suddenly had the upper hand. Quickly looking around, he noticed his backpack lying on the floor, with the books still zipped inside. He grabbed it by one of the straps, and flailed the books at Felix's head...thrice. It was enough to knock him out…unconscious.
He now approached the other boy, brandishing his backpack in a menacing manner. "You've got one second to get away from that door, or you're going to end up like him, " Ian could hardly believe he was hearing those words coming from his own mouth.
As it turned out, the only reason the boy was still standing there was because he was paralyzed with fear. Finally, he gulped and ran out of the door. For once, Ian was in a winning but precarious situation. If Felix regains consciousness, he would be too embarrassed to mention that he'd lost a fight with the village idiot. However, if he didn't regain consciousness, the other boy was a witness to his murder...not that that meant anything. He couldn't imagine anybody taking a gangster like that seriously, assuming the guy could even talk.
Ian now decided to do what any hot blooded teenager would do under these circumstances. Get out of the school. This was something Ian had never done before, but every man has his breaking point. It's not like he will be missing the classes. He was terrible at all those subjects and everybody in those classes hated him, especially the teachers. As far as he was concerned, he was doing both them and himself a favour. Ian walked outside, unlocked his bike, and deliberately rode off in a direction he wouldn't normally be heading. At this point, he wasn't even fazed by the idea of a police manhunt for him, should Felix's condition not improve. He had no friends, no hope and no future. He was even considering pedaling up the mountainside and jumping off.
1:45 pm, The School Play Rehearsal
"Alright, I want to see all actors needed for act three, page 52, on the stage. This means you two." Mr. Adam, the Drama coach pointed at Rita and Ricky. Rita and Ricky were the two romantic leads.
"Do you think you two know your lines well enough to not ruin the play?"
"I'm pretty sure I do," said Ricky, as he made his way to the stage.
"I'm not as sure as he is, but I'll give it a try," was Rita's reply.
"O.k. Ricky, you are already in the room, and Rita is going to enter from the right," ordered the teacher. "And by the way, you two are aware that this is the scene that involves a romantic kiss. Do you two feel comfortable with that?"
Rita answered with an assured smile. "Oh, Ricky and I are old buddies. I think we can handle it." She winked at Ricky, who was now blushing.
Actually, the two had known each other for about a year, and Rita didn't quite know what to make of him. A nice kid, but a bit geeky. He was tall, way too thin and wore braces too. Although Rita wasn't grossed out about having to kiss him, she wasn't exactly excited about it either. It was all just part of the play.
The two stumbled through their lines for a couple of minutes, and then came the moment of truth. When she put her arms around him and moved her lips towards his, he clasped his lips together tightly and started to shake a little.
"Uh Ricky, what's wrong?" Rita was a bit puzzled by his behaviour. "Do I have bad breath or something?"
Once again, he began to blush. "No Rita, it's just that this is the first time I've ever kissed anyone like this."
The moment he said this, all the other students burst out laughing, causing him to blush even more.
One of the boys in the class quipped, "Hey Mr. Adam, would you like me to go up on stage and show this boy how to kiss a lady?" This brought more laughter from the gallery.
"Hey, I'll volunteer for that too," cracked another kid. Eventually, every guy in the class chimed in with similar remarks. There probably wasn't a guy in the school who wouldn't give up everything he owned to be in Ricky's shoes at this moment. Why on earth was he behaving this weird way?
"Alright everybody settles down," The teacher finally broke up all the laughter. "This is a class where people are supposed to learn how to act. Nothing more than that. The other Romeos please behave yourselves." Of course, Rita was taking this all in stride. She was so used to guys staring at her, that nothing seemed out of the ordinary...With the exception of Ricky. It's one thing to have never kissed a girl before. But to admit it out loud in front of an entire class is really too much. Much to Ricky's relief, the bell finally rang, and his humiliation was over. Before they exited the stage, he suddenly remembered that he had something to give her. "Rita..."
She turned around. "Yes?"
"I know this is short notice, but I have something I keep forgetting to give you." He handed her an envelope.
"What's this?" she asked as she opened it.
"It's an invitation to my birthday party, which is tomorrow afternoon."
Rita looked up at him, "You’re only twelve?" She was astonished.
"Yes I am. Why do you look so surprised?"
"To tell you the truth Ricky, I just assumed that you already fourteen. Man, you are tall for twelve!"
He handed her another envelope. "Would you do me a favour, and give this to Phoebe? Of course, she's invited too."
"Yeah, I can do that. I'll see you there."
"Thank you so much."
1:03pm, 15th Street
Ian found himself passing a small private school with a pretty large yard, surrounded by a chain link fence. Within that fence were about ten or eleven kids about his age, either on roller-skates, skateboards or BMX bikes like his. There were a few of wooden ramps set up. Nothing much, but everybody was making the most of them.
For a minute or two Ian just watched them all, thinking maybe he'd learn something. One kid there was especially good at steamrolling, which was a somewhat an advanced move, requiring a natural sense of coordination that Ian doubted he had. Finally, he decided to try copy what he was seeing, starting with a simple hop. Even that proved to be a big problem to him, as his bike flew out from under him. Maybe something that didn't involve leaving the ground would be less dangerous. He tried a simple spin, which sent him head first into a lampost. Luckily, he was wearing his helmet. This was definitely not going too well. Finally, Ian just attempted a simple wheelie, which sent his bike shooting forwards, while he landed hard on his behind….painfully.
Ian sat there for a moment, both frustrated and sore. He was about to get up and get his bike when he noticed that at about five of the kids had stopped what they were doing, and were now lined up behind the fence, staring at him. There was about a five second awkward moment of silence from both sides. Finally, one of the boys behind the fence spoke up. "Need any help?"
So, they were taking pity on him. That’s cool. At this juncture in his life, he could use a little sympathy.
"Yes," was his simple answer. "As a matter of fact you may help me out." Ian got up and retrieved his bike. Another kid pointed to the gate, and Ian entered the yard. "Are yo
u sure this is o.k.? I would think your teachers might be a bit suspicious of some stranger entering your school grounds?"
"You’re right," explained one boy, who appeared to be a year or so older than the others. "But it seemed that you appear to be a danger to no one but yourself." The boy extended his hand. "My name's Polo."
"My name is Ian," he shook it.
"Ian what?"
He paused, and then said with . "Just plain old Ian. So this is what's considered physical- education at this school?"
“We asked for it.”
"I might as well introduce you to everyone," said Polo. He went around introducing. They were all friendly bunch of kids. "So where are all your teachers?" asked Ian.
"Inside, probably having coffee and doughnuts," answered Polo. "Since none of them really know anything about freestyle biking, they sort of left me in charge,"
"They seem to feel he has leadership skills, though I have my doubts," interjected Sonia.
Ian immediately took a liking to her. She was slender and cute, in a tomboyish sort of way.
"So Ian, what's your story?" Polo resumed the conversation. "Shouldn't you be in school right now?"
Ian thought for a moment, and then just decided to tell part of the truth. "Well, I'm terrible at history and math, and the teachers hate my guts. I just decided that it would be mutually