High Marks

            by Sterling Weaver

 

            “Give me your lunch.”

            “No, its mine. Mom already packed you one.” Will shoved his little brothers hand out of his face.

            “She gave me the end pieces. I hate the pieces. Now give me your sandwich before I make your nose bleed again.” Will had no choice, it was like the mafia collecting back owed debt.

            “Okay, but this is the last time. I don’t like the end pieces as much as you.” Will reached into his Aquaman lunch pail and retrieved the slightly smashed sandwich.

            “Thanks nerd.” Andy said as Will handed him the sandwich as they arrived at school.

            Will hopped out the car, anxiously searching his friends. The Van Buren High School was huge, and thanks to funding by the district, was remodeled and certainly did not fit in the suburban neighborhood.

            Looking over the crowd of hormonal teenagers he spotted the band of nerds sitting in front of the stairs, grasping their AP Physics book firmly. Although they were seniors, the group of nerds were still treated like freshmen, but this was the year that Will, Eric, Martin, and Earl, were going to leave their mark.

            Eric, was not only the youngest, but the shortest of the group. Although his face was free of blemishes, his sandy brown hair, thick glasses and shiny brace distracted many people from it. Martin was like the muscle of the group. He was about six three, but  really skinny. Unlike Eric, his face was full of pimples and dried skin. Earl was sort of a mixture between the two. He was average in size, but was very shy. He was the only one in the group who didn’t have braces, his parents felt that they were “unnecessary luxuries”. Although they looked upon as outcasts, they were like Will’s second Family.

            “Will, get over here!” Eric called out over the combined conversations of the other students. Will ran over the stairs where they were sitting, and joined them.

            “Will, I tried to call you last night. Dixie had babies!” Eric let out a brief sigh of joy as the other three looked at him. Dixie was Eric’s pet rat.

            “Eric you’re never going to get laid if keep telling people that.” Will said, as he stuffed his lunchbox back into his backpack. At that moment, Earl began his routine morning rant.

            “I hate it how the jocks and the cheerleaders think they rule world. It’s just as much our school as it is theirs.”

            “Because…they do, that’s just the way it was intended to be. We’re at the bottom of the chain of command.” Martin responded.

            “Well the fact of the matter still remains, we are not respected. How are we going to solve that problem?” replieda very annoyed Will.

            “How about we bring take some the money we won from the young inventors contest, and buy a page in the yearbook for the chess team?” Eric announced as they headed toward their Physics class.

            “That has got to be the dumbest idea ever Eric. You’re really never going to get any action.”

            “I don’t need to get laid. Jesus!” Eric exclaimed as they reached the door of very cramped classroom.

            Throughout the day, Will continued to think about how he would make a name for himself. Ideas flowed in and out his head, like running water flowing through a faucet, and down the drain. Before he knew it, class was over. This cycle continued throughout the day, but finally came to a halt when lunch began.

            The boys sat in the far right corner of the cafeteria, away from the drama, away from the gossip, and away from the jocks who taunted him daily. Eric and Will sat down at the fairly cramped table, and were later joined by Martin and Earl. They ate in silence until Earl finally decided he could not take it any longer.

            “This is ridiculous. We eat over here everyday, away from everyone. Why? Why don’t we venture into the unknown?”

            “Venture where?!? To the popular table. You wouldn’t last two seconds there!” Said Martin attempting to convince the boys that it wasn’t possible.

            “Well today will be the day that I am going to prove your hypotheses wrong my fellow colleague.” At that moment, Earl picked up his lunch tray, and marched over to the table which he knew was off limits.

            Earl finally arrived at the table. He looked around and tried to find space. None. Not even a small opening for him to squeeze his scrawny legs into. Everyone at the table looked up and stared at Earl. Finally, he broke the awkward silence.

            “Hey guys, mind if I pop a squat?” they looked at him, only this time their eyes pierced through his skin.

            “What the hell do you want?” said Shawn, the star football player and well-known bully of VBHS.

            “I just wanted to sit down and talk with my fellow alum.”

            “Dude, just leave.” Shawn replied sharply. Will and the others looked on as one of their own was torn apart, like a dead rat being picked at by hungry vultures. Earl put his head down, and began the long, painful walk back to the table in the corner, only to be abruptly halted by warning calls from Will.

            “Earl, look out!” yelled Will. Just as Earl turned around, a cup of vanilla pudding plowed into his face. The force made him stumble and fall, which caused him to fall flat on his back, and his food to land even harder onto his chest. Will, Eric and Martin all rushed over to help their fallen comrade.

            As they arrived, they saw that the whole cafeteria was in an uproar, laughing at the amusing site of Earl covered in vanilla pudding, and spaghetti sauce. They helped Earl up slowly and walked to the bathroom to clean him off. Eric, still confused about the situation, tried to help ease the embarrassment.

            “What did you say? Shawn wouldn’t throw pudding at you for no reason. You had to have done something.”

            “I didn’t do anything. I asked if I could join the table, they told me to get lost, and so I did. Next thing I know, I’m staring at the ceiling, smelling like meat sauce.” said Earl.

            “Well it didn’t stain. Lets go get our backpacks before they throw them on the roof again.” replied Will, as he tried to end the conversation, and further embarrassment of  Earl. The four amigos left the bathroom, single file as always. Only to be stopped by Maya, waiting on the other side of the door. 

            “Is your friend alright? I’m sorry for what Shawn did, he can be such a jerk sometimes.” Maya wasn’t always popular. She too used to be a nerd. But as most people do in high school she changed. Her acne began to clear, her glasses were soon replaced by contacts, and she outgrew her training bra.

             Will, being at the head of the line, acted as the ambassador for the others, seeing as this was the first time many of them have ever been that close to a girl that wasn’t inflatable.

            “Yeah, he’s cool. Thanks for apologizing. That means a lot.” said Will attempting not to blush.

            “Come with me to my locker, and I can give you one of Shawn’s old shirt to wear.” They stared at Maya in disbelief.

            “No, its okay. I like spaghetti…and pudding!” Earl said.

            “You can’t walk around like that all day.” Maya replied.

            “Earl just take the damn shirt and shut up.” said Martin.

            “Alright lets go.” said Maya. They followed her upstairs to the third floor. Maya opened her locker and took out a wrinkled white t-shirt.

            “Here. Keep it.” Earl quickly changed shirts and put the other one in his backpack.

            “Thanks for the shirt Maya. That was really nice of you.” Will said.

            “No problem. I felt really bad, and besides that shirt has been in my locker forever.” Just as Maya finished her sentence, Shawn followed by the rest of the football team came up the stairs. They stopped and stared.

            “Dude he’s hella hitting on your girl.” said one of the teammates  to Shawn.

            “No shit! What should I do?” said Shawn puzzled by the situation.

            “I think you should like, kick his ass!” replied someone else.

            “Okay…and then what?” said Shawn still puzzled.

            “And then…um…lets roof their backpacks again!” That idea was soon agreed upon by the rest of jocks.

            At that point Shawn stormed over to Will, grabbed him by his shirt and held him up against the lockers.

            “What are you doing talking to my girl, loser.”

            “I was just thanking her for giving Earl another t-shirt to wear.” Will said. Shawn turned and looked Earl, and then to Maya.

            “You gave him my shirt?! That was shirt I wore the night I scored 3 touchdowns. It was a gift to you.” Shawn looked as if he was about to cry.

            “His shirt was dirty, and that would be hella embarrassing to walk around like that.” Maya said as she defended her decision. Shawn looked away from her, and back at Will.

            “You were scamming on my chick, weren’t you?” Shawn asked.

            “No. I mean, she is cute, but-” Will was interrupted by Shawn.

            “Now your hitting on her?!” He dropped Will to ground and raised his fist attempting to strike him. Maya grabbed his arm, and kissed him on the cheek.

            “Come on babe, lets go to class.” Said Maya as she pulled him arm. They both began walked away, leaving Will on the ground.

            “We’ll finish this later dip shit.” he yelled as they walked down the hall toward the stairs.

            Will sat in silence for a moment. Thinking about the situation, and what just happened. Once again, Earl broak the silence.

            “He’s so going to kick your ass.”

            “Shut up! This is all your fault. If you hadn’t gone over their and disturbed their habitat, I wouldn’t be in this mess.” said Will.

            “Well the fact of the matter is that Shawn is going to kick your ass.” said Martin finally speaking up.

            “I can’t think of anything else, but to just take it like a man.” replied Will.

            He got up, brushed his pants off and grabbed his backpack just as the bell rang.

            “I’ll see you guys later.” Will walked off down the hall, leaving the other three behind.

            Will sat in class, and tried to think of ways to get out of the situation. Nothing came to mind. The day breezed by, but Will still hadn’t though of anything. Before he knew it, the day was over.

Will now faced the dilemma of getting to his moms Volvo safely.

            As he walked down the hall, two people grabbed him by the arm, and lifted him off his feet. Taking him in the opposite direction out the double doors at the end of the hallway, followed by a crowd of students anxious to see what was happening.

            They exited the building toward the back of the school, where the school buses did their pick up. The two jocks dropped him to the ground. He got back up quickly only to be knocked back down, and then picked up again by Shawn.

            “So, you think your gonna just hit on my girlfriend in front of me and not be punished?”

            “No. I wasn’t hitting her at all. I just said she was cute.” Will looked around at the crowd, who by that time had doubled in size.

            “That’s it! Say goodnight nerd.” Shawn threw Will to ground, near the curb. Will stood back up, and saw Shawn running toward him.  Will then swung, and hit Shawn in the lip. The force was enough to stop  Shawn in his tracks. Everyone gasped.

            “You just hit me in the face.” Shawn said, and a drop of blood ran down his lip, onto his chin. Shawn raised his fist again, only this time Maya was not there to stop him. He wound back and punched Will in the stomach, making him stumble off the curb and into the street just as the bus came. The bus driver slammed on his brakes, but it was to late. The impact of the bus sent Will flying about fifteen feet backward, before landing on the ground. Everyone was silent. Will lay there in street as the student rushed to help. All he could hear was voices saying to call 9-1-1 as he closed his eyes.

            After weeks of media attention and school board meeting on school safety, life at Van Buren high returned to normal. So did life for Will. Amazingly he survived the accident with only a few broken ribs, a sprained ankle, and seven stitches in his in head. Shawn was tried and convicted in juvenile court for aggravated assault, and spent the next 2 months in a juvenile detention center. Maya, due to the attention she received at school for starting the fight moved out of state with her aunt and uncle in Texas.

            “Will you’re back!” shouted Earl, as Will go out the car on crutches and hobbled toward his group of friends, minus Martin. Who was some reason not there.

            “Yeah, The finally doctor said I could back to school.” said Will, as he took a seat on the bench.

            “I never got a chance to tell you, but, thanks for standing up for me, Will.” Earl told Will as they all sat on the bench, once again grasping their AP Physics books. At that moment Martin comes running down the stairs holding a copy of the school.

            “Dude, Will your famous! Look!” Martin handed Will the paper. On the front page was a five by seven picture of Will. The headline read “VBHS STUDENT HONORED BY FRIENDS WITH YEARBOOK PAGE” During his time of absence, Eric, Earl, and Martin convinced the editor of the Yearbook to donate a page, to honor Will for sticking up for Earl.    

            Will looked up from the paper, and smiled at his three friends.

            “You guys are the best.” Will got up and attempted to hug the three, but fell to ground, seeing as how he forgot to use his crutches. They all laugh and helped him back up. They all laughed, grabbed their books, and headed off to class.