See Tommy Run

The air was heavy with the stench of wet earth, like a grave left open in the rain. The previous class’ clay bowls dried in the kiln. Tommy’s eyes dart from the door, to his desk, to the door again. His hand tracing far from complete as his attention was constantly drawn to the hall. He leans over to his right as Mr. Beckmeyer’s surprising sharp eyes turn around to the board.

“They’re out there. They’re waiting for me,” his glasses slide down his nose.

Ethan’s face twists in bewilderment. He looks over to Cole and Jake for clarification.

“Dude, you didn’t hear?” Jake whispered. “Tommy got into a fight with Amanda during science. It was the craziest thing I’ve ever seen. We were taking Mrs. Keller’s quiz and Amanda kept talking to what’s his face. You know, new guy, his head looks like something from Easter Island.”

“Greg?” Cole asked.

“That’s it, Greg,” That Easter Island headed fuck. Anyway…”

Mrs. Keller handed out her weekly vocab pop quiz. This one was over measuring devices and their respective units. Tommy and Jake sat on opposite sides of the room thanks to the seating chart Keller created halfway through the year.

Tommy blankly stared at his quiz. Unsure of the answers and struggling to remember them. He had been going to tutors after school to help turn his grades around so he wouldn’t join the next batch of Fifth Year Seniors, like the two sitting behind him.

At the table in back, near the door, Amanda and Greg flirted and one-upped each other on how crazy they were and what substances they enjoyed. Shaking his head, Tommy turned and gave them a shush. The way a person might at a movie theater.

“Turn around before you get hurt, little boy,” Amanda threatened.

Tommy went back to his quiz, his face tense. Every time his pencil attempted to move across the page, the chatter picked up. Tommy’s head shot up and he whirled around. Before he completed his rotation, his eyes caught Jake’s, who was watching his mounting frustration. Tommy’s eyes pleaded for help and asked what he should do. Jake just shook his head and tried to impart that he should just ignore them and focus on his work. The message came across, and Tommy turned back to his work.

It wasn’t two minutes before the backrow shenanigans started again. Tommy chewed his lower lip and adjusted his glasses.

“Would you two kindly shut the Hell up?”

“Language,” Mrs. Keller called from her game of solitaire.

“Little boy, you need to mind your business before I put you in your place,” Amanda called.

Jake sat back and glared at his friend. He told him as hard as he could without getting into trouble that Tommy should ignore the comment and get back to work, but Tommy’s motor was already running.

“I’m trying to take my test, but I can’t hear my own thoughts over your stupid, bitch mouth.”

Amanda was up in an instant and Tommy squared up. Keller shouted to regain order from her seat. The combatants exchanged words threats, all while the class whispered bets and the teacher continued to shout. As tensions died down, Tommy turned his back on her, and the viper struck.

Amanda snapped a headlock from behind. He bucked like a bronco, sending tables, books, and chairs scattering in every direction. Hooking his arm behind her leg, Tommy was able to lift her off the ground. Rotating his shoulders, he tossed her like a bag of dog food. Amanda slammed into a table and wrapped around its heavy wooden leg.

Jake stood up and eyed Greg who showed his true colors by hiding from the teacher behind some other kids. Amanda stood up, her cheeks blood red and tear stained.

“You’re dead, little boy. You’re fucking dead,” and she stormed out of the room.

As she left, Tommy and the other students took their seats and a collective inhale relaxed the room. It was then that Keller left her desk and ordered Tommy to the principal’s office. He argued his case to deaf eyes, collected his things, and left.

“Wait, you got into a fight with a girl?” Cole chuckled.

“To be fair, he won a fight against a girl. You should have seen the way she wrapped around the table. It looked like she was cut in half,” Jake laughed. “Awesome.”

“So who’s out there?” Ethan spied the door.

Through the window, four Fifth Years glared at Tommy, mouthing threats and curses like “I’m going to kill you.”

“This is bad? Right?” Cole glanced back to the group.

“Yep, this is bad,” Ethan confirmed.

Tommy’s face paled. Seniors look like full adults in the eyes of Freshmen anyway, but a Fifth Year looked like a creature fresh off of Skull Island, and now four of them were hungry for Tommy.

“Mr. Beckmeyer,” Tommy raised his hand, “There are some guys in the hallway, threatening to beat me up.” His friends glanced at each other, somewhat taken back by their friends reliance of the teacher.

Mr. Beckmeyer went over and popped his head into the hall. All the friends could hear was his voice.

“Can I help you gentlemen? Go to class now. Go on, shoo. Shoo,” and then he returned to his lecture.

“That’s not going to do anything,” Jake remarked to their teacher’s handling of the situation.

“Sorry, Tommy. You’re super dead,” Ethan nodded somberly.

Five minutes passed quietly before the wolves returned. All four friends watched the door as different hulking figures filled the window. Each one taunting their prey with teeth bared and murder in their eyes.

“Guys, I have an idea, but no one’s going to like it,” Jake whispered.

“And…” Cole drummed his fingers impatiently.

“There’s four of them, and four of us. We fight them.”

“You can’t be serious!” Ethan shouted.

“Quiet please,” Mr. Beckmeyer interjected.

“You can’t be serious,” Ethan reiterated more quietly.

“I said you wouldn’t like it.”

“How does this help me?” Tommy’s face scrunched up like he smelled something sour.

“Yeah,” Cole agreed, “there’s no way we can take them.”

“I didn’t say we beat them. I said we fight them. He’s our friend,” Jake pointed at Tommy. “We can’t let him get murdered by four dudes. We’re going to get our asses kicked, but at least we do it together.”

The other three sat quietly for several minutes. Each one pretended to trace their hands without looking. They sat, rolling the plan around in their minds, as if they sat in isolated cells, waiting for the executioner.

“I’m in… Fuck it. Friends gotta friend,” Cole made eye contact with each one.

“Alright, I’m in,” Ethan begrudgingly agreed.

“Then it’s settled. The bell rings in ten minutes, we all go out in the hall, pick our guy, and we do our best,” Jake confirmed.

They shared a look of resigned acceptance of what was going to happen, and each put a metaphoric hand in. However, they didn’t notice how silent Tommy was.

As the bell rung, they took their time gathering their bags. They waited for the rest of class to clear out. With a deep breath, they headed for the door. In the hall, the four goons waited. Like a gang from a movie set in the 50’s, they leaned against the wall, arms crossed. The four friends stood shoulder to shoulder and held their ground. The goons squared up. Each one towering over the Freshmen, boasting a x2 or x3 size difference.

Fists clenched and prayers said, the friends nodded and met the enemy eye to eye. It was then that the drumming in the hall overtook the pounding in their ears. Ethan looked over to Cole, Cole to Jake, and Jake to Tommy, but Tommy wasn’t there. They turned their heads in time to see the back of their missing friend’s shirt round the corner at the far end of the hall. Confusion set it on the remaining friends. Looking up at the goons, they shared their expressions.

After a couple beats of dumbfounded silence, the friends parted way and gave the goons the hall. The Fifth Years tore off down the hall, trying to catch their prey.

“What the fuck?” Jake exclaimed.

“He left us,” Cole’s words sounded like he was still trying to comprehend what happened.

“That’s messed up,” Ethan shook his head.

The three friends gathered their things and headed for the buses. They didn’t have anything to say to one another. The next day, they moved on like the encounter never happened. Even though they did their best to move past it, their relationship with Tommy was never same, and grew further apart over time.