< -- six -- >

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Somehow without putting my finger on a single soul I found myself staring at Principle Howard and his terrible comb over. His suit jacket was already off as if he had been through a hard days work when the bell for first period rang only forty minutes ago. A few stacks of manilla folders sat on one side of his desk and a small pink box of donuts sat on the other. A pencil cup that held thirteen writing utensils, ten black ink pens and three blue pens sat in his silver number one principle cup.

"When I walked into school on this sunny Friday morning the thought of a breakfast fight never crossed my mind." He exhaled loudly through his nose. "I thought we had an understanding Mr. Crawford. No more fighting."

If I could just punch Principle Howard in his face a few good times I would swear to never fight again. "I didn't put my hands on anyone except to help Mike to the nurse's office."

"And I have a few students that say otherwise."

"Like who? Derrick, Dru, and Eric?"

The way that Principle Howard eyes widened for a moment before lowering I knew that it was them maybe even more. "No matter who came to me Mr. Crawford. All of their stores match up and I spoke to them separately."

"Are you asking for my side of the story or what? Did you ask Mike why he was shaking so hard? Where Ethan got a busted lip or Neema?"

Principle Howard sat up in his chair. "Neema Marshall witnessed what happened?"

"As well as the guys that got beat up." I deadpanned annoyed that he wasn't even considering them.

Picking up the phone he asked his assistant to call Neema Marshall to his office immediately. Hanging up he turned back to me, "Now go ahead and tell me what happened."

Explaining to Principle Howard what happened when I walked in seemed useless but I did it anyway so I could get the hell out of his office. I was tired of looking at his face feeling a headache forming from how thick his glasses were.

Once I told my side he told me to never step foot in his office for the rest of the year or he would have a long discussion with my baseball coach which I still didn't care about in the least. I needed to talk to my coach as well to let him know that I quit.

"And make sure to remove your hoodie before returning to class Mr. Crawford. It's not apart of our school uniform."

"Sure thing." I lied closing his office door behind me.

Taking my pass from the assistant I headed back to the nurse's office to check and see if Ethan was still there or not and if Mike was doing okay.

"Lars! Lars!" Turning around Neema hurried over to me, her pass to the principal's office in hand. Stopping in front of me she looked me over as if I had been injured. "Hey." She grabbed my normal hand looking at my knuckles. "Good. You didn't go after them."

"What do you mean good?" I pulled away from her.

"When Ethan came back without you I was worried that you went after them."

"I plan to."

"Lars -"

"Ethan is my friend Neema and I will stand up for him when he can't stand for himself."

Turning away heading for my locker I figured I wouldn't hunt for Derrick's asshole friends yet. I would wait to make sure Ethan was good with my own eyes before kicking their asses.

"PRUNES!" A high pitched voice yelled behind me.

Stopping in my tracks I turned my head to the side. Neema's chest rose and fell so fast I was worried that she might have asthma. "Prunes?"

"Y-Yeah prunes. It's," she looked around moistening her lips for a second. "it's our word. Our word to . . . stop and listen. You can't take another step. You have to come back and listen whether you want to or not . . . You have to."

I turned around to fully face her still confused at her odd word choice. "Prunes?"

She nodded.

"Prunes?" I repeated trying not to smirk at her for successfully stopping me.

"It's the first thing that came to mind."

"You couldn't have said something better like -"

"Avocado?"

"No -"

"Petunias?"

"No -"

"Raisin Brand?"

"No - would you stop? Just," I tried not to laugh, feeling the anger subside. "stop for a second." Walking back over to where she stood I pulled her into my chest resting my chin on top of her head. Feeling the rapid beating of her heart I put her arm around my waist making sure she was holding me tight. "Why is your heart racing so fast Neema?"

"Um, v-visualizing you fighting upsets me." Pulling back she let go of me giving a small smile putting out her hand. "Lars, will you be my," she leaned forward and whispered, "fake boyfriend?"

I stood there for a few seconds puzzled that she was asking me right now. How I managed to go from me being mad and ready to fight to being her boyfriend, well fake boyfriend.

"Before our first date. Damn girl, you move fast." She laughed rolling her eyes. "Come here." Pulling at her outstretched hand wrapping my arms around her again I lifted her up swinging her small body from side to side.

"Put me down!" She giggled trapped in my hold. "Lars!"

Placing her down I leaned against the school spirit sign. "I finally have a girlfriend. My brother would be proud." Realizing what I said out loud I tried to quickly cover it up. "I mean fake girlfriend - anyways, you should head in to see the principal."

Smiling sweetly she began walking backwards. "Come find me before lunch. I'll meet you at my locker!" Waving goodbye she turned around hurrying into the office to tell Principle Howard the same story I did.

Prunes, I shook my head.

Walking into class I handed Mr. Dex my pass heading straight for the empty seat in the back. "Mr. Crawford, your pass was given to you almost twenty minutes ago. Where have you been?"

Sliding into my seat I opened my notebook ready for next period to end so then I could meet up with Neema for lunch. "I was taking a dump. Apologies for my untimely bowel movements."

A few of the students snickered while others made faces. Some whispered that I should have just stayed quiet and a few understood the lie I was telling.

"You have a seven minute passing period to handle your . . . personal business."

"Next time I'll be sure to squeeze my asshole so I can make it on time to your class."

"Language Mr. Crawford."

"Apologies."

Handing out the assignment for the day I did the class work giving it to Mr. Dex as the dismissal bell rang. I knew Mr. Dex was trying to treat me like any other troublesome kid coming through but I already had one of the highest grade in his class. I usually kept quiet in the back but today took a different turn.

Walking the halls with the rest of the students moving to their next class I spotted Ethan running in between students at full speed jumping through the small gaps as they took their time. Just as I was about to move forward seeing that Ethan was in class Kelsey appeared out of nowhere smiling brightly.

"Hey Lars!"

"Heeey . . . Kelsey." Turning around I kept my pace to my locker in no mood to talk.

"So I was thinking that since you and your friend -"

"Ethan."

"Right - Ethan, are coming to the pool party, you should come over before Saturday so we can hangout. You know, just you and I. I can show you around my place and you can get familiar with the pool and stuff."

"Can't." I opened my locker putting away my old textbooks grabbing my Spanish book and folder.

"Why not?" She whined reminding me of Eloise.

"Don't think my girlfriend would appreciate you being a third wheel." Slamming my locker shut I lifted her chin with my knuckles before walking away.

"Girlfriend? Since when?" I heard her yell from behind me.

Not caring to answer I made my way to class hoping that the time would pass quickly. Taking my seat in the third row instead of the last I actually paid attention to the lesson only zoning out twice instead of the normal thirty times.

Being one of nine students not asleep in class Mrs. Rivera capped her red marker grabbing a small stack of papers placing them on the desk of everyone asleep or hiding their headphones. Walking past the girl next to me texting on her phone Mrs. Rivera took her cell placing the quiz down when she started to complain.

Asking those who didn't get a quiz to raise their hands she handed out a pink colored sheet to the rest of us. Flipping the test over it had a few simple questions asking what the lesson today was about. Five minutes before the bell rang Mrs. Rivera collected our quizzes with a smile on her face.

The next few classes passed with little to no teaching. Next week was our last week of school and no one wanted to do anything but sleep. Teachers sat at their desk trying to get our grades in order giving us time to study for our finals on Monday.

Thirty minutes before the lunch bell rang, someone knocked on the classroom door before walking in earning the class' attention.

Feeling the corner of my mouth rise I slouched in my scoliosis prone chair from the third row enjoying the way Neema walked with her head held high making her way over to my teacher. Tugging at my left piercing I watched a few heads follow her every step.

"Thank you." Mr. LaPlace kindly smiled with a nod. Neema replied with a quiet you're welcome turning for the door. Scanning the room as she did our eyes met pausing her for a moment before she left the room. "Lars."

Moving my eyes from the door my fake girlfriend just exited I looked back to Mr. LaPlace. "Yeah?"

"You're wanted in Coach Henson's office." He said waving the slip never moving his eyes from the computer screen as he typed with one hand.

The irritation began to boil at the back of my eye sockets. Fighting the urge to roll them the grinding of my molars sufficed as I moved my prosthetic hand in my pocket.

Flipping the textbook close with my notes inside I left them on the desk not caring if someone decided to take them. I already knew what Coach Henson wanted.

To talk

He would cover it up and begin with wanting to see what plans I had over the summer. Then he would ask if I was going to finish out the school year at Colonial as if I had a choice. After the obvious answer was given he would ask if I had tossed a ball recently and if I was still committed to being a pitcher next year. The answer would be hell no. Fuck no. A million times no.

I was over playing baseball. I wanted to chill and finish out my last year being a normal student. I was done with the looks and sad faces. I was done with parents not so quietly whispering about the kid with one arm and how advanced my prosthetic was.

Walking out of class with the pass in hand I stood in front of the door deciding if I should actually go see Coach Henson or just wander the halls until lunch.

"How's my boyfriend's day going?" Looking to my right Neema rose from her leaning position against the wall. "Seems like you've got something on your mind. Do you want to talk?" Her amber eyes softened like a concerned friend or girlfriend would.

Did I have something on my mind? All the damn time.

Things that would keep anyone up at night. Things that would give someone as sweet as her nightmares every time she closed her beautiful eyes to blink.

"I'm fine." Tilting her head to the side like the way a puppy would she asked if I was sure. Not wanting to talk about my demons I changed the subject leading us down the hall away from both the front office and Coach Henson's office. "So you work in the office?"

"Yep." She replied popping the p. "We usually don't have much to do so there's a lot of sitting around."

Keeping the questions light I half listened while trying to think of the previous school years and summer vacations. We knew each other, but from where?

Why wouldn't she tell me?

"Lars?"

"Hm?" Looking to her light brown eyes she nodded to the double doors.

"Are you trying to persuade me into skipping school?"

Unintentionally I had lead us to one of the school's exits. An exit that I took a few times to skip out when I needed a breather.

Rolling my teeth over my bottom lip Neema's eyes watched my lips rings. "Would you leave with me if I asked?" Caught up in the metal piercings her attention remained on my mouth. Smirking a little I took a small step closer, "Neema?"

Blinking several times remembering where she was she took a step back. "What - um, what did you - I'm sorry." She took another step back putting more space between us than I would like. Touching the top of her head she laughed nervously looking down the hall where we had came from. "My mind must have went somewhere else. What were you saying?"

Moving towards her again I placed my normal hand on her small waist bringing her closer. "I was asking if you would come with me."

"Come where?"

"It's a surprise." I replied as if I knew where we would go.

I had no clue where I would take her or how we would get there since my dad still held my keys hostage. Wherever we went would be a surprise to her as much as it would be to me. Maybe I could take her to get some ice-cream. Everyone loves ice-cream.

"I-I can't. I've never skipped school before. What if we got caught?" She pulled away walking back to the rest of our boring school day. "Then we'll get detention again! I can't get detention again! My mom will kill me - oh no!" she gasped covering her mouth, "I'm supposed to be in the Principal's office right now."

"Neema wait."

"No, I can't." She continued to walk backwards. Away from the small moment I was trying to create. "I have to go. I'm sorry."

Turning her back on me she quickly walked away heading to where she was supposed to be like the perfect student she was unlike me. The kid with one hand in his pocket hiding a fake arm debating if he should skip school or not.

I was so pathetic.

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