It was Monday morning and I stood in the gym with the rest of my class. We were starting a new P.E. unit and we were all eager to find out what it was. Mr. Holland walked into the gym clip board in hand and stood at center court calling out attendance, his voice bouncing off the walls. The thing about Mr. Holland was he seemed rough and tough on the outside when he was really a nice guy who cared about his students. It was funny when the freshman saw him in the halls. Most of them had figured out that he wasn't as much of a macho man as he seemed, but there were a select few that were terrified of him.

"All right guys listen up! Most of you know we're starting a new unit today. I decided to pick something that most high schoolers enjoy. It will test your accuracy and power as well as your agility and team orientation. Folks today we start...baseball." A huge roar of approval went up from the class and a few high fives were exchanged as people tried to plan their teams. "All right who wants to be team captain?"

Five hands shot in the air three girls and two boys. Mr. Holland put a finger to his chin seeming to ponder his decision. "All right Drew, Alice, Micah, and Livia."

Dog stepped forward with a few people cheering him on and the boy Micah made his way through the crowd saying Somme smart joke to Mr. Holland who provided a bark of a laugh. Next was Livia and Alice both of which were talking earnestly to each other, from the looks of it something to do with strategy. Micah stood next to Dog small in comparison. He had a goofy demeanor about him curly black hair and a lopsided smile, his Brown eyes seeming mischievous. Livia was shorter than Alice by two inches but she had the build of an athlete to compensate for it.

"Alright the reigning champ will pick first." Coach gestured to Dog who selected one of his ugly group mates. The guy was tall and muscular and looked like a foot ball player. Figures. Micah picked next. He selected a guy who looked unimpressive but by the way he walked with power you could tell he was extremely agile. As the picking ensued I noticed the group dwindling and I was one of the few left.

"Ricardo."

"Jim."

"Alexis."

"Nat."

"Daniel."

"Macy."

I was the last one on the line and only one person could have me. Dog smirked and said something to his buddies and they laughed. I swallowed not sure what to do. Micah was giving me a contemplating look like he was considering me as an option. Livia's team was already planning. I sighed looking at the teams again.

"Dog had picked the strongest looking guys and a few girls only because they were dating his friends but for the most part they were stacked. Micah had picked mostly shorter people an interesting strategy. Livia had picked a mix of boys and girls no pattern behind who she picked. Alice had picked almost an even split of boys and girls some of them tall others average but binary short. They were also all skinny with little muscle. She differed most from what everyone else had picked.

"I'll take him Mr.Holland." Mr. Holland looked at who had spoken as did I. Alice and Jeremy were standing at the front of there group. "We'll,take him."

Mr. Holland nodded to my new team and I earned a few shockers as I jogged over. Jeremy patted my shoulder and we began the heated discussion of deciding a team name. In the end we settle with The Resistance . Coach wrote down all four teams and constructed a bracket. The tournament would last all month. The first week would be warm up games after that it was the real deal. He called us up first to go against Not In The Face. Micah's team obviously.

We stood on the line at the opposite end of the court. Mr.Holland blew the whistle and five of our nine players sprang into action. They tossed what they could grab back to us and it resulted in US having the majority of the balls to throw. We fired first and took a kid out. Almost immediately they retaliated Alice and Micah clearly aiming for each other captain versus captain. Jeremy headed forward mid court calling out to Daniel who had been picked by the other team.

"Hey Danny, want to come out and play?" Daniel flashed a devilish smile and the two of them started firing away. In moments the room was full of shouts and laughter with projectiles flying through the air. Jeremy got pegged right in the nuts by Daniel and dropped to the ground groaning earning a bout of laughter from everyone watching including Mr. Holland. At one point a ball came flying in my direction and shifted so that it just missed my right side. I had been so absorbed in my own little world that I had forgotten I was supposed to be playing. Picking up the ball I had just dodged I rested it in my right hand and locked on to a target I nudged the kid next to me and we threw at the same time. The person one the turning end dodged one but got hit by the ball I had thrown.

Out of my peripheral vision I saw someone release a ball that was aimed right for me I dropped to the ground on my stomach and rolled to prevent from being hit by someone else. Scrambling to my feet I grabbed a ball and hurled it towards a kid the Sat in the back barely noticeable and who had been picking off people on our team one by one. Before I knew it it was me and Alice left while Micah and four of his team mates watched our every move.

Alice jogged backwards ball in hand looking over her shoulder at me. " back up the farther away we are the more accurate they'll have to be." I followed her orders and backed up as well scooping up a ball on the way.

"Toss your ball up and over the line but do it lightly, see if you can bait someone to catch it." I nodded letting her know I understood. Taking a few steps forward I gave weak throw and sure enough a girl from Micah's team made an attempt to catch it. The next bit happened in the blink of an eye. A ball hit her hard in the leg and she tripped. I looked over my shoulder at Alice who had an intense look on her face. Eyebrows pulled together jaw set and eyes alert.

"Wow." I breathed.

"Just tactics." She said dodging a ball with ease despite the speed at which it was thrown. " Speaking of which. Here's the plan. We take out everyone but Micah. We let him hit us but don't make it obvious that you let him."

"Why?" I,asked frowning. "Don't we want to win."

She flashed a wicked smile. " That's the thing. We do want to win."

I turned in time to miss being hit by a ball and picked it up. I dodged another and picked it up as well. I brought my right hand forward like I was going to throw but dropped the ball and launched the one in my left hand. The boy had shifted to dodge my fake throw and though the ball was slow, for I threw it with my non-dominate hand it hit him square in the chest.

"Tactics. Okay, yeah." I bounced on the balls of my feet ready for anything when I realized Alice had hit the last two players. Only Micah was left. He wore a concentrated expression and threw one ball towards me. I pretended to try and get Alice's attention. She caught on and gave me a quizzical expression. I turned just in time to notice the ball and 'panic'. She was hit next and Mr. Holland called the game. I hung my head walking flunky off the court. Alice stormed away flashing me an angry look and I was confused for a second before I realized she had to do that. The rest of the team wore looks of frustration but as I entered the group I earned a wink or two. It looked like they were in on the plan.

"What's up with the purpose losing?" I asked Jeremy. He smiled pointing a thumb over his shoulder at Alice who still looked angry.

" The master mind back there hatched a nice plan. We make a decent effort against Coach's team but we lose and Micah takes out Alice. It makes Micah look like a threat because he took our best player out and we also look like we suck. We do this for the next week win an occasional game but it causes the other teams to underestimate us. Then we come out guns blazing and eliminate them. We almost won last year with her as captain and the year before that but Dog cheated." Figures. Dog of all people would cheat to win a friendly dodge ball tournament.

We watched the next game which was also close but Dog's team won with a few lucky plays. Afterwards we changed in the locker room and headed to class. I walked down the hall to my locker replaying the brilliance plan Jeremy had told me. It made perfect sense.

"How does it feel to be picked last Sanders?" I looked up at dog who was leaning on a locker surrounded by his friends with a girl tucked under his arm. Since when was he capable of attracting girls? I rolled my eyes walking away quickly when my foot caught on something. I stumbled but kept my cool and kept walking, from the laughter behind me it was enough to know that one of them had tripped me.

I entered math class a little later than I usually did and earned a questioning look from Mr.Renolds. I gave him a heading nod and took my seat. I situated my stuff and rubbed my eyes before focusing on the learning objective.

"Blake, think fast!" I spun around in my seat to see a water bottle flying at me. I caught it with my left hand since my right held my pencil. He gave an approving whistle. "One handed nice." Alice entered class next at a brisk pace and smacked Jeremy on the back of the head.

"Water" She ordered holding out a hand.

"I'll never tell you." He said with a dramatic flare.

"I have my ways." She said cocking an eyebrow and he swallowed. She placed both of her hands at the base of his neck, at first it looked like she was going to choke him until he dropped to the ground. She knelt down too and I watched as Jeremy's face turned red from laughing so hard.

"How-Blake....give...her....hahaha...water." I tossed the bottle at him and he grabbed it off the floor and held it out to her. She took it and stood heading to her seat.

"Ms.Jameson we try not to kill other students." Mr. Renolds gave her a dissaproving look. She leaned back in her chair completely unaware of his warning tone. Gasping Jeremy stumbled to his seat. " All right class who wants to do the bell work?"

Micah raised his hand. Mr. Renolds pointed at him and Micah smiled. " Knock knock."

"Who's there?" Mr. Renolds asked seeming un-amused.

"Sir, you're Bell is broken would you like me to work on it?" Micah cracked a smile and he was rewarded with a few snickers.

"Mr. Levesque that was not appropriate nor funny." Mr. Renolds chastised.

"Ever heard of a joke?" Micah asked.

"Ever heard of detention?" Mr. Renolds warned.

"Been there, done that. It's quite nice." Micah said in a pleasant tone. Mr. Renolds rubbed his temple and sat at his desk. The rest of math passed as usual and I found myself smiling. It felt like I was finally finding my rhythm and school didn't seem so daunting, at least currently.

I sat at the lunch table I now referred to as my own with Jeremy, Daniel, and Alice. I picked at the cafeteria food along with Jeremy who also wore a non-impressed expression, his nose wrinkled and the corners of his mouth curling up in disgust. Daniel however seemed to be completely oblivious to the unnatural texture of the food and walked his down before starting on Jeremy's left overs. Alice sat a few feet away with her nose buried in a book, eating absent mindedly. Jeremy's stomach growled and he frowned looking longingly at Alice.

"Remind me to pack my lunch from now on." I laughed in response pushing my tray to Daniel who was still eating without hesitation. I pushed a napkin towards him and he peeked up breaking his focus from eating and cocked a questioning eyebrow. I pointed to my cheek as inconspicuously as possible and he seemed to take the hint. Shaking my head I turned back to Jeremy who looked at Daniel trying to surpress a slightly disgusted look.

"Haven't you been going here for a while? You should know better than I do how the food tastes." He sighed.

"Yeah, been here since freshman year. The thing is I'm lazy." He gave a small smile and we watched Daniel continue to eat. We weren't the only ones who noticed as Alice peeked up from her book and raised an eyebrow rolling her eyes and looking back down at her current page. "Daniel...could you you know...use your manners?" Jeremy said hesitating but using a reproachful tone.

"Don't tell me how to live my life!" Daniel teased back at him making his voice take on an impressive Scottish accent. I sudden idea occurred to me and the image played out in front of me like a movie. Daniel was a little kid being rambunctious and annoying. Jeremy was the unlisted parent trying desperate to keep Daniel from making a mess and clearly frustrated at his poor table manners. Alice was the annoyed teenager wanting nothing to do with her family. Micah who was sitting behind Daniel joined in on the jokes and Jeremy face palmed. Micah was easily the other annoying kid and I was the innocent by Sanders, maybe a family friend. Trying not to laugh or get involved.

The thought was enough to make me smile all the way through science class but that came to a crashing halt in history. I was sitting at my desk scribbling notes as Mrs. Lance spoke in her usual bubbly tone. Mrs. Lance was easily the opposite of Mr. Renolds. She was shorter than the average woman but not by much, he was relatively tall. He was thick in the fatter sense, while she seemed to be rather agile, partly because over the summer she coached soccer teams. He had almost no hair and it was graying, she had straight brown hair that rested an inch or two past her shoulders with different layers. He was old and grumpy, she was young and very pleasant to be around. As a result the class was usually in tune to what she was saying and made an effort to behave, though she wasn't one to get particularly mad if we didn't.

Overall it was my second favorite class of the day besides having Ms. Greene. Oh, and another thing about her that made me laugh was that she always walked around with a yard stick in her hand spinning it and flipping it every now and then. She said it was because she was ADHD, which became a class joke, and needed something to do with her hands because who knew what she would do if she didn't? So as she talked about this weeks upcoming events the last announcement made the whole class groan.

"I know guys believe me, I,think projects are stupid too, and I wouldn't give them to you except that I'm being paid to. They say it's because of something called a job." She put air quotations when she said job and the class seemed to brighten a bit, there was less disappointment. " I want each of you to pick a topic that applies specifically to your interests about early history. Such as the Egyptians or Romance, and you can pick any culture as well. I want to see you all give it your best it's worth a big grade and please use some of the research skills I've taught you, and no Wikipedia."

She looked directly at Dog who gave a seeming innocent shrug. Not long after the end of class announcements the bell rang. The rest of the day kind of blurred together my attention span being pushed to its max. I walked out into the parking lot and hopped into my car carefully pulling out of my spot. I passed Daniel on the way out and stopped to talk to him. He was in the middle of pestering Jeremy about something.

" Are we going over or not? I wasn't sure if there was practice and I was told you would know and I was wondering if you did, and if you did are we going seperatly or together?" Jeremy looked utterly confused and paused to consider Daniel's words before answering.

"Yeeeeessss...there is practice I believe." With that Daniel looked up and waved in my direction, he bounded over towards me resting his arms on the window frame.

"Sup Sanders?"

"Nothing I was just wondering what you guys were picking for the project." Jeremy nodded resting a finger in his chin.

" I think I'm going to pick the Romans they had very,interesting, if you will, ideas on what entertainment was and what they considered was good food. Also they were great with utilizing their military. I guess I've always thought they were cool." He finished with a shrug and looked to Daniel who had been eagerly waiting and seemed that if he waited any longer he would explode.

"Dude, I am totally going with the Vikings! They were brutal and athletic in a way, and had cool ships! I think I might dress up for my presentation!" He said statically.

"No costume needed I can assure you." Cut in a certain someone. Adam strode into view and clapped them on the back. "Time to go weirdos. Nice seeing you Sanders."

With that they turned and laughed talking with enthusiasm and using exaggerated hand gestures. I shook my head laughing quietly to myself, I had a strange group of friends that was for sure. When I arrived home I practically ripped the door off of its hinges, today had been great, I was one of the last standing in baseball, I had a great time with my friends, and I had an idea on what I would do for my project. I rounded the corner into the kitchen and opened the fridge digging around for a snack. I turned around and paused gently shutting the door to the fridge and peeked over the counter. There in the hallway Dad was standing off against Mom. She had a fierce glare on her face her eyes burning with an intensity I wasn't used to. They both stood straight as ram rods muscles coiled.I turned on my heel creeping quietly towards the door when my Mom called out to me.

" Home already?" I looked over my shoulder and saw Dad skirt around her uncomfortably before heading to his room where not a single beam of light was aloud to enter. I stood there awkwardly for a second rubbing the back of my neck before taking a bite of my Apple.

"Yeah." She nodded but I could see something was bothering her, I wasn't sure what it was but I didn't care. Stepping forward I wrapped my arms around her in a hug, before saying one of the few things that my heart fully believed. " Love you Mom."

"I love you to sweetheart." She gave me a sad smile and ruffled my hair before sending me off to do my homework and from the way she avoided my gaze and shifted her feet I could tell she wanted to be alone and I didn't have the heart to tell her I didn't have a lot of homework to do. Instead I grabbed my bag and told her I was heading to the library and she replied with telling me I had to be home for dinner in a few hours.

Upon scouring the surrounding area I finally found the library and upon arriving waited impatiently for one of the computers to be free. When a young girl stood from her seat and logged off I felt a surge of relief flood through me, I had been waiting for what felt like ages. Once seated I quickly browsed the web before opening up Microsoft Word and setting to work. I copied and pasted quotes as well as pictures while setting up my presentation. It took a few hours to complete but at least I got the project done. Now it was one less thing in my not so perfect life to worry about. I glanced at the clock on the computer screen and quickly grabbed my stuff before heading out of the library and beginning my journey home.

I stepped into the living room to the faint clink of eating utensils. Rounding the corner I walked hesitantly to my place at the table sitting in the middle. Mom was avoiding all eye contact staring at the table or her plate. Dad was staring at me his eyes slightly twitchy and red. I quickly turned away our eyes locked and picked up my fork and eating slowly and quietly. The tension was heavy and thick, it seemed like at any moment it would explode and the world was just holding its breath to see what happened. I cleared my throat and took a sip of my water looking from my Mother to my Father.

"I finished my History project today." I offered breaking the silence. When there was no response I continued. " We had to pick a topic that we enjoyed and do a report and a presentation."

Again nothing happening and I took a bite of my food chewing slowly and feeling utterly finish. Here I was practically talking to myself and was about to do it again. "Jeremy is doing something on the Romans and Daniel wants to do Vikings. He says he's going to dress up for his presentation, he wants to look like a Viking."

This time Mom provided a quiet laugh and I felt a little bit better. " yeah while I was at the library I did a little research on them and to be honest I have no idea what he's going to do. Alice and I think it'll be pretty scary."

This seemed to spark both of their attention Dad letting out an angered grunt and Mom cocking an eyebrow. I tried to sink back into my seat but of course it didn't work. I bore the full heat of their gazes and swallowed shifting in my seat uncomfortably.

"Alice?" My Mom asked eyeing me skeptically.

"You have friends?" My father growled. What had I gotten myself into.

"Y-yeah." I stammered. He leaned forward his brow pulling together and his jaw twitching.

"Who have you been talking to?" He questioned his tone warning me.

"Kids from school." I said, thinking my response through.

"What have you told them?" I could see the message clearly though he tried to hide it with the way he phrased his sentence. What he really meant was if you ever mention what happens here ,your life will be even more of a living hell.

"Nothing." He gripped the edge of the table his knuckles turning white. This was getting dangerous and quickly. What I had thought was a safe topic, school and my friends, had suddenly turned into a mine field where I was standing in the center. Anywhere I turned I was stuck.

"What did you tell them?" He yelled. I hid my shaking hands under the table looking away from him and staring at my plate.

"Nothing." I mumbled. Suddenly he snatched up his glass and threw it hard at the spot of the table just in front of me sending glass everywhere. I jumped in surprise falling backwards and out of my chair and hard onto the floor. It sprinkled down on me kissing my skin lightly.

" If he said he didn't say anything he didn't." Mom insisted now standing up her hands placed firmly on the table

"We don't know that." He hissed looking at me vehemently.

"You don't know that." Mom said glancing at me her look telling me that I needed to leave, now. Scrambling to my feet and rushing by him as fast as I could but not fast enough. He snatched me by the arm and placing a firm hand around my neck squeezing tightly. He stared deep into my eyes with his cold ones like he was trying to search deep into my soul.

"If I ever find out that you lied to me, if you ever say something, your life will end." He shook me and squeezed tighter each time he emphasized a word and each time I tried desperately to breath. Spots started to fill the scene in front of me and finally after an eternity, he let go. I collapsed to the ground sucking in quick and painful breaths, the air that should have been sweet burning on the way down. " Clean this up." He said gesturing to the glass that littered the floor and table.

I watched as he clicked out of the room and down the hall before slamming his door shut. The rest of the evening I helped mom pick up the broken glass both of us cutting our fingers multiple times seeing as how we didn't own cleaning gloves. Later as I lay in my bed I pulled out my journal rubbing my fingers lightly over the pages trying to find some comfort in the memories. Finally I placed it back into its hidden place and leaned back against my pillow closing my eyes. I thought of my journal hidden under the floorboards surrounded in the pressing shadows. The perfect epitome of something I had observed over my few years of life, something that most people never realized but was plain to me the day I saw a small cat hiding in the shadows of an ally.

I had been walking to school when I heard a loud clang come from one of the allies. I had been terrified and immediately ducked behind a dumpster remembering everything Mom had taught me about stranger danger and just danger in general. I stayed like that for what felt like forever my mind coming up with horrible scenarios from being kid napped to being eaten alive by some horrifying monster. When nothing had happened I hesitantly peeked around the corner of the dumpster and crept quietly deeper into the ally. I could hear my blood pounding in my ears my pulse becoming eradicated. When I turned the last corner I was presently surprised, there sitting right in front of me was a black cat tucked away in the shadow of the dumpster not a speck of light touching it.

My young eyes observed the scene and it took me a long time to realize that the cat was also observing something. Sitting in front of the cat was a small mouse nibbling away on something it had probably scrounged up from the dumpster. The cat just sat there patiently for the mouse to finish and I remembered the silly jokes and cartoons of the cat always trying to eat the mouse.

"You're not going to eat him are you?" I had asked. The cat paying no mind to my words watched the mouse finish and as soon as the mouse was done it scampered up the cat's body before resting leisurely on its head. The cat looked up at the mouse's tail hanging in its face. I had felt a surge of relief flood through my body. I then stood politely saying good bye and then rushed to school.

That was the first time I had seen a predator not devour its pray. And I had seen it few times since whether it was people or animals. Only it always happened int the quiet corners of the world where nobody would notice except for those looking for it. The time I saw a bully apologize to the kid he had tormented in a shaded corner of the playground, or the time a man protected the dog that often ravaged his yard from a pack of strays the only building left on his block, or the time a little boy gave a little girl his ice cream cone, the two sitting on a bench in the park away from the eyes of others. One of the few things I had learned that comforted me enough to fall asleep; the most beautiful things hide in the darkest and loneliest places. I was one of them.