them.
“Hey, are you deaf?”
Will stood his ground and stared at them.
“We said there’s nothing in here, just keep your butt moving!”
“If you know what’s good for you!”
Will almost always knew what was good for him, but he rarely followed that path, the one of least resistance. Ever since he could remember he’d more or less been forced to follow the path of most resistance. He pushed right past Thug One and Two and though they were much taller and outweighed him by a combined forty pounds, something about this New Kid told them they’d better back off or suffer.
Entering the restroom Will shook his head. Why does this always happen? he asked himself. What was it about adolescent males that compelled them to distribute cruelty like it was candy on Halloween? The nasty alphas from the bus stop, Duncan Walker and Todd Karson, had a short skinny kid by the legs and were head-dipping him in one of the toilets. Will’s voice was calm but firm.
“Put him down.”
Duncan’s head turned slowly as he kept up the torture. He eyed Will, and then barked at the two muscular gargoyle guards who had followed Will in.
“What the hell did I tell you? Man, you two are so stupid!”
“He just sort of got by us,” said Thug One. Thug Two studied a knuckle and kept his mouth shut. Duncan turned his attention back to Will as he kept dunking the hapless skinny kid’s head in the porcelain pond.
“Listen up, hero, I’m gonna let your intrusion slide because you’re the New Kid and you’re too dumb to know any better, but I’m sure as hell not gonna put ‘Roto Rudy’ down. So just turn around and march your butt outta here, pussy face.”
Will clenched his fists and breathed deeply. He knew he had to keep his anger in check. He didn’t want to hurt anyone. Check that. He wanted to hurt them, just not put them in intensive care. He breathed deeply again.
“Put him down. It’s over,” said Will evenly. Duncan’s grip tightened on little Rudy’s ankles.
“Well I can’t do that, partner. You see, my name’s ‘Duncan,’ and I’m compelled to do just that. See, I’m dunkin’ Roto Rudy!”
Duncan spat out an ugly laugh, then hissed at the thugs.
“Will you puleeeeze kick his ass now?”
The thugs looked at each other and measured which was worse, not following Duncan’s command or messing with the stranger. They chose wrong, and stepped toward Will and threw punches. Moving lightning fast, faster than any kid they’d ever seen, Will ducked the first punch and Thug One’s fist smacked into the tile wall with a sickening crunch. He’s not going to be taking notes in class anytime soon, thought Will. Thug Two swung hard and his punch glanced off Will’s shoulder. Will dropped and spun and neck-whipped the guy, then kicked his ankles out from under him. Two down, two up. He looked over at Duncan and Todd.
“You see where I’m going with this?”
“Holy crap!” said Todd, amazed at Will’s unreal display of speed and strength. He was like some super zombie mutant warrior you’d see on a video game, not a high school kid. Duncan was apparently not as impressed because he intensified his torment of poor Rudy, who by now looked like a cat who’d just crawled out of a rain barrel. He was quite a sight. His sleeves were too long and his pants were too short. Nothing about him seemed to fit. His hair looked like a soggy bird’s nest.
“Nobody listens,” said Will. He heard the sound of a jet taking off in his head and saw the red curtain drawing closed across his mind’s eye. He fought to remain calm. Can’t let anger rule my being! He closed his eyes tightly and a lone tear from his exertion escaped and slid down his cheek. Duncan’s face lit up with glee.
“Oh look, the New Kid’s crying. Oh, boo hoo—”
When Will opened his eyes again they harbored such fury that Duncan paused, releasing Rudy, who squirmed sideways as he hit the floor. In a flash Will was across the room. His blinding speed took the bullies totally by surprise. He buckled Todd’s knee with a thrust kick and then kidney-punched Duncan. Then as they swung at him he used their own momentum to duck and twist and bang their heads together. Then he stuffed their heads in the toilet one at a time then shook them like wet rats, and shoved them on their butts. Totally stunned, Rudy found himself liberated, and skittered sideways like a crab until he reached the door.
“Hey, what the hell?!” Duncan yelled as he felt the lump already swelling on the back of his head where he’d slammed against the wall. The toilet had jammed and was gushing disgusting skanky water and the floor of the boys’ room was now flooded. Rudy stood on shaky legs and stared at the New Kid. Will turned on his heels and exited, Thugs One and Two, who were still nursing their injuries, giving him a wide berth.
Out in the hallway Will walked back toward the chemistry classroom. Maybe with a little luck he’d actually make it to his first class. After an altercation such as the one he’d just experienced he always felt an odd mixture of shame and exhilaration. What kind of a person was he that he could so easily see the red and unleash his violent side? He was afraid of it and didn’t like letting it out. Okay, that was a lie he was telling himself, he loved letting it out. It just felt wrong.
Rudy caught up to Will and skipped alongside him. The little guy was totally in awe of the New Kid. With a sideways glance Will got a good look at Rudy, who had the usual teen pimples and hair so ragged it looked like he was wearing a mop. Right away he could tell that Rudy was amongst the walking virgins, dorky guys who’d never have a chance in hell of scoring with a girl. But right now Rudy wasn’t thinking about girls, he was still pumped up over being rescued and he bobbed up and down as he walked like he heard some silent funk.
“Hey, you’re the New Kid, right?”
“You’re pretty quick,” said Will as he kept on walking.
“Very funny, New Kid. You got a name?
“Will.”
“I’m Rudy.”
“I heard.”
“Anyway, hey, thanks. I mean, in the long run it’s probably not gonna do much good—I’m like perpetual cannon fodder for those jerks—but thanks anyway. I do think you’re going to regret throwing yourself under the bus for me, though.”
Will stopped and looked at him. “And why is that?”
“Well, Duncan’s the über-alpha male in this school and he’s got like his own skanky army of commando drones who do whatever he says.”
“So?”
“So, my guess is that he’s going to spread the word to have your head on a stake before lunch,” said Rudy.
“I can take care of myself.”
“Yeah, I scoped that out, but you don’t know what you’re dealing with.”
“Neither does he,” said Will.
Rudy smiled broadly, totally impressed. “Man, you got some big
