Thursday March 21st, 2016

Mina looked up as the crowd began to form at the far side of the cafeteria. She put away her book, and threw away the rest of the sandwich while walking towards the fight. Fights were always fun to watch, as long as she wasn't part of them.

The Signing Boy and The Signing Girl were standing by Largent, the known bully of the school. When The Signing Girl fought back, a mix of a shriek and a gasp escaped out of her. She slapped a hand across her mouth. Thankfully, only a few people around her noticed. Suddenly, there was a flashback to the time Mina's mother passed away.

She had been walking into her house, when she saw her mom driving down the road, about to turn into the driveway. The driver of the truck, later known as texting while driving, rammed his vehicle into Mina's mom's, and Mom had taken full impact. She died instantly, as Mina was told in the hospital an hour later. Mina was the one who called 911, for she had a phone at that time.

Somehow, Mina found herself pushing through the crowd to make sure Largent was okay. Yes, it had been wrong for him to pick on Richard and Sophia, but that still didn't mean Largent should die. At this point, Mina didn't care what other people thought.

"Are you okay??"

---

---

"It's only stupid if it doesn't work. Plus, Largent's a tank. It's about time someone put him in his place, and I know you wouldn't be keen on scraping guts off the floor."
"Just because you wouldn't wanna get dirty doesn't mean I'm not going to. No one likes Largent, people will be on my side. Right?"

Alden returned a smile at Hal's smirk, and with a shrug
"I really dislike people who aren't even willing to save themselves." Alden growled through his smile, "It's pathetic. Alden continued, walking back to his lunch. Before he could open place the spoon into his mouth, a large 'ooh' from the crowd erupted through the silence.

Alden glanced back with one eye, and Largent had now picked up Richard. It was going to be a severe beatdown, and Alden would have intervened had it not for Mrs. Silence practically entering survival mode and beating Largent almost near-death. There were a few cheap shots, like one to the 'precious' area, and even blocking his lungs airways.

"Yeesh." Alden unintentionally said, glancing at the now fallen boy. "Sure did a number to him." Alden continued, glancing up and down Largent.

Mina seemed to push through the crowd, a worried expression clouding her normally blank face,
"Are you okay??"
seems like Mrs. Snow herself wasn't that bad.

"Yeah. I got it." Alden called out from behind her, flaring her a smile before he walked up to Largent and slunk his right arm over Alden's shoulder. Mina was right after all, no one really deserves death or anything like that. He even thinks Sophia might have gone a bit overboard.

---

Whilst walking through the hallway, whispers seem to gather as the tall Largent is leaning over the shorter Alden. He was getting his shirt all crinkled at this point, and with a rolling eyes he sighed deeply, looking forwards.

"H- Huh?"
"Why.. Where are we going, perfect?"

Seems like the princess was finally awake, his head looking around and then glaring through Alden's skull
"To the nurse's office, you got your ass handed to you by a girl, a short girl in fact." Alden replied, "It's close."

"Fuck you."

"You're welcome."

Those words were what Largent could muster before slinking his head down and silently walking once more. The only sounds being the whispers, the footsteps and the deafening silence between them.

The pair arrived at the nurse, and Alden plopped Largent on a chair, waving his hand once before leaving the nurse. Alden's damned food is probably colder than Mina at this point.

Micky sat there in the awe that was the aftermath of "The Mute's" bully beat down. He felt compelled to do a double triple take of the silent girl leaving Largent in pain as she helped her fiend, the boy who caused this scuffle. He was dumbfounded, how can such a small girl have so much confidence as to take on Largent, of all people. What if her attacks didn't phase Largent, did she even think that far? Micky wouldn't put it past Largent to hurt a girl half his size, that just made the scene that just unfolded all the more baffling.

Micky watched as they left the cafeteria. As he watched the two leave, he was about to look at Largent, but before he turned his head he watch Alden carry him out. There was a trail of blood that followed the three, presumably from Largent's nose.

"This is a crazy day..." Micky said a he looked up and down the blood trail. He watched as the students started to back about their business, continuing with their hum and drum. Micky wasn't feeling lunch anymore, so he went to look for the boy who started it who bumped into Largent. Micky left the cafeteria and moved through the halls, finally spotting the boy and the silent girl.

He knelt down in front of them both and began to speak.

"Man, you took a serious punch! Are you gonna be okay?" Micky said, genuinely concerned

Thursday March 21st, 2016

Richard let out a pained laugh at Micky's question. "Pretty sure I'll live," he groaned and slowly pushed himself to his feet, turning to help Sophia up with him. "Come on, we should get to the nurse."

He arched an eyebrow in Micky's direction as he got on Sophias other side and hooked her arm over his shoulders, but he didn't say anything, grateful for the help. Together the two of them started down the hall, half carrying Sophia between them in the direction of the nurses office.

"You realize we're going to have to have a discussion about that incident, right?"

Richard stopped, startled at the sudden voice and looked up to find Om blocking the hallway in front of them, his arms crossed over his broad chest. With his blazer removed, and the sleeves of his dark blue dress shirt rolled up Richard realized just how built the man was. The sleeves of his shirt practically strained around his arms and the material was stretched tightly across his chest. His blue eyes were like chips of ice as he stared them down and Richard had to force himself not to flinch.

The guy was scary. Om crooked a finger in their direction and turned, leading the way down the hall in the direction of the nurses office. "Come on, we'll get you guys looked at, and your parents are going to be called as well."

__________

Om walked into the nurses office to find Alden, Mina, and Largent already present.

"Good to see the three of you here," he said. He'd set aside his blazer and his light blue shirt was open at the collar, sleeves down and buttoned securely at his wrists. "We're going to have to have a discussion," he said, ignoring the way Largent glared at him. "And lucky for you guys, the principal has given me permission to mete out punishment and lessons in this incident as I see fit."

The door opened behind him and Richard, Sophia, and Micky walked in. Ricard jumped, jarring Sophia when he saw Om standing in the center of the room staring Largent down. He turned, a bewildered expression on his face as he looked out into the hall.

"Is something wrong, Richard?" Om asked without turning around or looking away from Largent.

"Huh?" He turned back, eyes wide, to look at Om standing in the center of the room. "Wha-... N-no I just..." He looked out in the hall again. "I just, I could have sworn you were behind us when we came in here."

"You must have been mistaken," Om said as the nurse came in and started looking Largent over. He pointed to his left at a bed and snapped his fingers. "Sit yer butt down, both of you. Mick, you stay too. I'll be back in a minute." His tone was curt, sharp, entirely unlike the calm and polite way he'd spoken to them in the hall. Without another word he turned and walked out of the nurses office, leaving Richard and Largent glaring daggers at each other across the room, an elderly nurse the only authority figure between them.

__________

With the vast majority of the excitement apparently finished, most of the students went back to their meals, chattering excitedly over the short lived fight, one might say beat down, that had been dished out by the diminutive Sophia. Blake shrugged and started back to his table to finish his lunch when that Chemistry teacher, Om, stepped in front of him. Hal stood at the mans elbow looking as bewildered as Hal felt.

"Blake, I'm going to need you to accompany us to the nurses office." He turned and walked away before Blake could say anything and Hal just shrugged helplessly, following along behind the substitute.

With the boys following along behind him like a pair of baby ducks Om made his way through the halls to the nurses office, going over what he was going to say in his head.

He pushed open the door and lead the two boys inside. Largent, Richard, and Sophia had all been seen by the nurse. None of them was permanently injured and the boys sat in their respective beds with the arms crossed sullenly over their chests. The gesture looked far less petulant on Largent than it did on Richard.

"Everyone take a seat," Om said and following his own advice, pulled a chair away from the wall and took off his blazer, setting the jacket across the back of the chair. He turned the chair around, and straddled it, arms crossed across the back, white dress shirt practically gleaming in the light streaming in through the office blinds. He waited until all eight students were sitting in various spots around the room and looked them all over thoughtfully.

"Something needs to be done about what happened today," he started. "Largent, you were in the wrong. Richard, you should have been paying attention. Sophia... impressive as that may have been, it was definitely overkill and you shouldn't have done it. Charges could be pressed. Police could, some say should, get involved. I, and the principal would rather avoid that. So, he's given me permission to involve all of you, as well as a few other students he's had to see today, in a little exercise."

"Largent, Richard, and Sophia. You three are in the worst trouble. So you'll be meeting me a Sea Side park tonight at 8 o'clock. We'll be doing a bit of a clean up effort. Hal, don't think no one noticed you pick up that lunch tray. That makes that a weapon, and that's a little more dangerous than what Sophia did." Largent's head whipped around and he glared at Hal, unaware of what the other boy had attempted until then.

"Blake, Mina, Alden, and Micky. You guys tried to help out without resorting to violence or attacking anyone. But you didn't go find a teacher the moment things started getting out of control. Like the rest of your generation of sheep you just watched and did nothing. This isn't a huge thing, but I think you guys could do better. So the four of you will be joining your four other friends here at Sea Side Park tonight at eight o'clock. Your parents have all already been informed of the situation and they all agreed."

He stood, ignoring the assorted dumbfounded looks directed in his direction, and grabbed his blazer, slipping it on with a smooth, practiced motion. "I'll see you all tonight," he said, and walked out of the room.

-

Blake couldn’t believe the sight he saw when he turned back to check on Largent. Damn! He didn’t realize Sophia had that much of a kick to her! He guessed that was the reason why you don’t mess with the quiet ones. He was apparently so dazed by it that he didn’t notice Richard and Sophia had already left. So much for that. Blake’s brother came up to him with a grimace as the crowd dispersed, expressing his worry over how much uglier it could have gotten. Blake just tried reassuring him with the old “it’s over” excuse, but Al wasn’t one to shake the uneasiness in his gut easily. It was gonna make lunch a little hard for him, but he could handle it.

At least until Om told him Blake to come with him. Both Blake and Al looked at each other with a look on their face that matched Hal’s confusion. What did he or Hal do wrong??? Neither of them made any swings! Blake just groaned and went along with Om, leaving his brother with the rest of their friends to eat lunch with. He took an uneasy seat in the nurse’s office when they got there, but learning that they would get punished as well as just threw him for a giant loop. So much so that, again, by the time it all sunk in the person he was focused on was already gone.

”That’s a total load!” Blake loudly complained. He then shot up from his seat and angrily pointed out the door, ”Where’s he get off calling us “sheep” and “not doing anything,” huh?? He was watching that, right? I mean, it sucks that you guys got busted,” he motioned at Richard, Sophia, and Largent, ”But we literally couldn’t do anything about it! It’s like it happened in a flash!” Blake was mad about this partly because the sub was totally looking down on them, but mostly at the accusation that they purposefully did nothing. If there was one thing he hated, it was inaction.

Thursday March 21st, 2016

My parents... A lump quickly formed in her throat, and she desperately tried to make it go away. This wasn't a good time to cry.

"Was my brother informed?" Mina asked. She wanted him to know that she was safe, and had a reason to not be at dinner. She wouldn't want him to freak out. We've already been through that way too much.

Since Mina wanted to stay on the good side of the teachers, she started to get mad at herself for it. What if this affects my university? I never should have lost control of myself like that! She really agreed with Blake. Really, what have I done? Sure, I enjoy watching fights, but so does the rest of the school. Why don't they get punished? Oh well... Bad luck I guess.

Micky let out a disappointed sigh when he heard what Om had to say. On one hand, Micky understood why he was getting in trouble and it seemed reasonable enough. On the other hand, it wasn't Micky who was fighting in the cafeteria. There wasn't much time to think about things, if Micky still wanted a lunch he'd just have to accept the punishment and go about his day.

He tried not to protest too much, but he couldn't help but add his two cents, like most of the other students. Micky spoke up as he watched the Sub walk out of the room, "But, I have plans at 8!" His words falling on deaf ears. Micky sulked in his chair while he looked around the room at the others. How in hell did I get clumped together with these guys... He thought to himself. He noticed Alden shifting in his chair, a sign that he's been here for some time now. I guess their not all that bad.

Micky let out another sigh a few moments after Om left the room. "I guess it can't be helped." Micky said to the others, trying sound more zen than what he was feeling.

Hal could only shrug and chuckle to himself. It wasn't the first time he'd dealt with administration, and sure as heck it wouldn't be the last. This sort of punishment was..... unusual, if not cruel. It didn't bother Hal though. He spent most of his time at home drawing anyway, it's not like there was some huge party to go to. Hal was surprised, however, that Om noticed the tray. He didn't remember seeing Om anywhere near the fight. But who knows? Om was weird on a level Hal only wished he could attain.

Retaliating, Sophia had to admit, was not the smartest decision that she had made that day.

She didn't regret it for a second, of course. Teachers tended to do jacksquat when it came to punishing people like Lardo, mostly because whatever punishments they might dole out he likely wouldn't care about. Plus, he had treated an accident like it had been a personal attack. She might have overcompensated, but she had been defending her friend. She refused to feel bad about that. Lardo was the one who had overreacted, and she had to get the message across that that was unequivocally unacceptable. Justice was served, albeit a little over-zealously.

No, the only thing she regretted at all was the fact that her knee now hurt like a bitch, though the paper towel-wrapped icepack did help a little. Who knew Lardo's skull was that thick? She just hoped that she would still be able to walk properly soon, otherwise Coach M would give her a real tongue-lashing. With spit.

As far as she was concerned, Tic-Tac's little after-school field trip was acceptable. Practice would be well over by then, and while she did find it a little odd that the others would be joining them, she didn't think about it too much. Tic-tac was weird, that was well established for her by now.

What did bother her was how the hell he had managed to go from walking behind them to waiting for them in the nurse's office. The only way to get there was through that hallway, and she was sure that he hadn't passed them. The only way it was possible was if he was invisible or teleported, both of which were impossible.

She was in the middle of turning the puzzle over in her mind, when her phone buzzed in her pocket. Repeatedly. Oh joyful family. This is going to be a fun conversation, she thought as she glanced down at the screen.

M: WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING YOU DON'T JUST GO AND ATTACK ANOTHER STUDENT I TAUGHT YOU TO BE BETTER THAN THAT ARE YOU OKAY????????X(

A: I am very disappointed in you Sophia. I know that you were just trying to protect your friend but still, it was the wrong thing to do.

U: Did you at least win?

Sophia smirked. Of course that was what her uncle would focus on.

S: I'm okay. My knee hurts like hell, but I still look better than the other guy.

M: WHOOOOOO THAT'S MY GIRL! XP XP XP XP XP

U: Good job Lady.

A: Joseph and Madeline Callahan, do NOT encourage her.

Giggling to herself, Sophia leaned over and rested her head on Richard's shoulder, closing her eyes. Things were going to be fine.

Largent growled dangerously at the room as a whole and shoved his way out the door as quickly as he could reasonably manage it. Richard tensed when the larger boy passed him but Largent made no move to try to attack and he relaxed, letting out an explosive sigh as the door slammed shut behind Largent.

"Tonight's going to suck, isn't it?" he muttered to no one in particular.

By the end of the day Richard was feeling a lot better, even though he'd been forced to sit through the rest of his classes despite the abdominal bruising that he'd suffered under Largent's fist. When the final bell rang he made his way home, barely conscious of Sophia walking along beside him. Waving goodbye to her he stumbled inside and after enduring an obligatory round of grilling and disappointment from the parental units, he stumbled upstairs and into bed, passing out almost before his head hit the pillow.

__________

"Richard?" Richard groaned and rolled over in his bed. "Richard!" the voice came more sharply that time, and with a decidedly irritated tone. "You need to get up. It's a quarter past seven and i will not have you being late for this detention." His eyes opened and he sighed, rolling over onto his back to stare at his mother.

"It wasn't my fault, mom. I didn't mean to bump into the guy and he attacked me, I was just defending myself."

"Which I understand entirely. And I will be having a word with your schools principal about punishing a child for self defense. But in the meantime you have a detention, so we're going to deal with it, and move on." She walked out of the room, calling back over her shoulder. "Downstairs in ten minutes Richard, don't make me come back up here."

He sighed again and stared at the shadowed ceiling of his room, his bedside lamp doing little to illuminate the far corners of the vaulted ceiling, and thought over the events that had led him to this situation.

After a few minutes of silent contemplation he got up and changed his clothes, dressing in some ratty older garments that he could get dirty. All Om had said about their detention was that it was involving cleanup of some kind, and they were going to be at a park... he figured it was likely that he was going to get dirty. Within ten minutes he was dressed and downstairs. Richard wanted to ride his bike to the park with Sophia but his mother insisted on driving him, apparently not convinced that he would actually go if left to his own devices. He sat in the front seat, sulking the entire ride and she ignored his sullen teen attitude with equal parts resignation and exasperation.

When Richard got to the park and closed the car door behind him it was with a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. A glance at his watch showed that it was only 7:45 and he figured he would be the first one there. Largent had already arrived. Richard turned to find his mothers car already turning a corner down the street and he turned back to find Largent glaring at him across a small, circular space at the main entrance leading into the park. Off to the side a few other students from his school stood, hands shoved into their pockets and angry scowls on their faces. Cassidy, Carter, Hall. Cassidy was a slender black girl that might have been pretty if she was always scowling at everyone. Carter was a short but highly volatile kid with the worst temper Richard had ever seen and Hall was just scary. In a quiet, makes you wonder if he'll show up to school one day with a home made bomb vest and a duffle bag filled with guns, kind of scary.

"You know we're gonna have to finish that fight sometime soon, right, Midget?" Largent growled, cigarette dangling from his lips. His eyes were narrowed to slits, fixed angrily on Richard who suddenly felt like a deer caught in the proverbial headlights.

He didn't say anything. Just walked as far away from the other four students and leaned against a fence, arms crossed over his chest as they waited for everyone else to show up.

Thursday March 21st, 2016
7:58 PM

Mina ran as fast as she could from her house, then slowed down when the park was in her sight. She had been able to have dinner with her brother, which she was grateful for, but it was extremely hard for her to ignore Max's disappointed stare. At least she wasn't late.

When she arrived, she had caught her breath and could walk as if she was enjoying a walk in the park. There were already a few kids there, including The Fighting Boy and The Signing Boy, but not The Signing Girl.

"When are we starting?" she asked to no one in particular, hoping that someone would reply. If no one did, she would feel very stupid, and she would probably have to move to Alaska. Is this what I get for actually talking?

She joined the kids at the fence, and pulled out her book from the messenger bag. Even if there were two minutes left until 'detention' started, reading was top priority. Plus, she had to finish the book so she could start another one.

Mina read on until 'detention' started.

Sweat dripped down Micky's shirt as he jogged down the block of his neighborhood. This was a routine of his that he promised himself a while back, he promised himself he'd get in shape and stay in shape. Now, after every day of school Micky runs for 20 minutes, takes a short walk for about 10 minutes, then runs back home. Every day it is a different exercise that works out a different series of muscles, since it's thursday, Micky is doing aerobic exercises.

On an average day Micky would jog away from his house and then back, but with this detention at Sea Side Park, Micky is going to make his home-stretch towards the park. Micky's routine was coming to an end just as the park came into view, he decided to walk the last block and try to catch his breathe in meantime. The way he looked, no one would expect him to be dressed for what the students had in store for them. He wore a under-armor shirt that was slightly to small for him, forcing his gut to push out the bottom of it. the sweat underneath his armpits and on his chest darkened the light green shirt into a swampy colour. His hair sticking to the sides of his face from the sweat.

Micky was well aware he looked like shit, but he didn't really care. He had a hoodie in his travel back-pack that would cover up his unsightly body, and a hat as well. This spare clothing hid his features from others and made him sweat, which is a good way to loose a bunch of water-weight. He figured if he sweated all day than came home to a cool shower, he can prepare himself for the most relaxing time. But until then, he had to put up with this punishment.

Micky slipped the grey hoodie out of his back-pack and stuffed himself inside just moments before he came into earshot distance from the other students. It was clear he still had a few minutes before everybody was at the park, so he took this time to relax his body in a more proper manner. He started to do stretches, before he ultimately sat down and looked up at the trees that hung over his head. Micky never thought about coming to the park after his runs, but he never before realized how serene it was. This may just be the perfect spot to cool off after a run.

Hal showed up in the park, dressed in a dark sweatshirt and some old jeans. Unlike his de-facto partners in crime, Hal hadn't gotten chewed out when he got home. His father was soft, not really the kind to dole out punishment. He simply told Hal not to do it again, but, "Between you and me," he was kind of proud that his son had planned to defend the downed Richard. It wasn't exactly "heroic", as his father put it, but it was good enough for Hal. What worried him was the thought of what his mother would say. She was a lawyer, after all. Punishment was her specialty. Typically, she avoided it, but when it came to her son, the dogs of war were quite..... loose. He hoped that he'd have enough of a story to tell after this special detention to make her lay off, but... one can never be too sure.

He approached stealthily, hoping to see Om before Om could see him. Since Hal couldn't see Om, he'd either already lost, or beat him here.

Hal didn't like either of those outcomes.

When Mina asked when this whole charade was getting started, Hal took the opportunity for social activity, anything to get his mind off his mother.
"No clue, Ice Queen. I assume whenever ol' Om gets here. Hope it isn't too long."

---

---

Apparently they were all getting punished, Alden could only smirk at the situation he's about to get into. It was a ridiculous one atleast. He thought these thoughts as he looked at himself in the mirror, getting ready for the labour disguised as 'detention'. He also put a small rucksack around his neck, the bag having some extra clothes and food.

---

Alden took his time in arriving to the park, he identified as much constellations as he could before arriving at the meeting place. Although something has been bugging Alden, a shadow seems to be slipping out of his view quickly, was it just his imagination. Well unless Alden is hallucinating the sound then it should be real, probably. Whatever the thing was it darted to and fro the darkness quickly, and Alden tried to ignore it as much as he could.

Before he knew it he arrived alongside the other detentionee's, thankfully whatever was darting around the darkness and following him was gone.

"Hello fellow inmates, how fares the night?" Alden called out to all of them with his usual smirk, particularly gazing at Mina.

After their last class, Blake and Al had an uneasy bike ride home. They were quite sure it would be more than a little uncomfortable to have to explain what really went down at lunch and why Blake wound up pulled into it. True enough, the atmosphere was a bit heavy when their parents got home. The first thing they did was sit the boys down to give them the whole truth of the matter- which they did do, but filled with reassurances that neither of them did anything to make it worse. The Reyes knew they didn’t raise liars, so they bought into it rather well, if a little angrily. What good was it in calling out the people who seriously couldn’t do a thing? What kind of teacher calls their students sheep?! And what kind of a detention occurs that late at night on a Thursday?

The family pulled a collective shrug. Mr. Reyes called the teacher who assigned it an asshole.

However, just because they didn’t agree with the punishment didn’t mean it gave Blake a free pass to skimp out on it. Unfortunate as it was, he still had to attend it. Despite his heavy groaning about it, his parents ordered he finish his homework early so he could just get this over with.

And so he did…

At around 7 PM, Blake biked away from his home in the same old clothes, but with an old, yellow hoodie swapped out for his button-up shirt. Mostly by his dad’s nagging and his insistence of always arriving somewhere with half an hour to spare. Blake never made it a priority to actually follow that creed, but if his dad was around to enforce it he didn’t have much of a choice. His dad also usually insisted the boys not go out alone around night time, but just this once he decided to test the waters and let Blake go by himself instead of just driving him there or making his brother accompany him.

When Blake arrived, however, he found himself half-wishing Al was here with him. He couldn’t help but feel somebody was watching him as he locked up his bike. It didn’t help matters at all when he saw something dart just out of sight when he turned to check on it. There was a growing sense of discomfort in the pit of Blake’s stomach after seeing that… Was somebody stalking the park? Or was somebody just being a sneaky little sunuvagun? He wasn’t sure he’d enjoy the outcome either way. To try and settle down, he just pat his face and started making his way to where he thought the meet-up location was. Surely it was just nothing… Surely.

Thursday March 21st, 2016

Ice Queen. How did that happen? Mina used to be a very friendly person, a person that everyone could easily become friends with. But after the accident happened, she started to block everyone out, not wanting to get close to anyone.

Mina tried not to remember, and shook everything off.

When Alden arrived, Mina looked up. Since everyone, except The Signing Girl, seemed to be here, she put away her book. As soon as she noticed him looking at her, she stared back. Mina took everything as a competition, and this one was going to be a challenge. After standing there stupidly for about a minute, she looked away first. Damn it! Mina could feel her heart beating, and she desperately tried to slow it down. Detention was going to start soon, after all.

Sophia stood in the center of her living room, three sets of eyes gazing at her. Since getting home almost half an hour ago, she had spent the better part of that time being chastised by her aunt, while her mother and uncle simply sat by with very serious expressions. And boy did it suck, especially since she kept her pinned with her “I’m very disappointed with you” look. Tic-tac’s evil eye had been pretty impressive, but nobody could make you feel like you just got caught kicking a puppy like her Aunt Kailey. Honestly, facing a courtroom judge couldn’t have been any worse.

It didn’t help that Kailey was an actual lawyer, so she actually could become a judge if she wanted.

So there she stood, head down, with Kailey standing in front of her with her arms folded. “I mean, do you even know the kind of damage that you could have done to that boy? You struck him in the throat, and then put your knee into his head! What if you had given him a concussion? What if he had stopped breathing?”

Sophia remained unresponsive. She’d already had her chance to argue her case, now this was just facing the music. Kailey looked like she was ready to go on for another half-hour, when Joseph leaned forward from his seat on the sofa. “Kay, I think she gets the point.” He smiled as his wife gave him a look, miffed at having been cut off mid-rant, then turned back to his niece. “Look, Lady, we’re not mad that you fought back. Ricky’s a good kid, and it’s good to stick up for your friends. It’s why I gave you my old punching bag to practice on, you’re always going to be the first and last one to rely on when things get ugly. And I’m definitely going to be having a little chat with my old buddy about this Largent boy. If just getting bumped into gets him this riled up, then there’s something wrong there.”

Madeline glanced at him. “To be fair, he did get a plate full of spaghetti on him. I mean, when Jessica Andrews dumped her slurpee over my head in high school, I slapped her so hard you could still see the handprint the next day.”

The corner of Joseph’s mouth quirked, but otherwise his stoic expression didn’t break. “The difference is what Ricky did was an accident. Jessica Andrews dumped her slurpee on you because you stole her underwear and taped it to the ceiling of the boys locker-room during gym class. With a sign saying ‘Please get in me.’” Ignoring his sister’s ‘good point’ look, he continued on. “What we’re upset with, Lady, is that you went too far with it. I’m all for protecting yourself, but you don’t want to do worse than what he was already doing. And unfortunately, we live in a world where sometimes the good guys get punished for being good. It sucks, but that’s the way of the world. So!”

He stood up, looking down at Sophia with an imperious expression. “To make sure you’ve learned your lesson, you will wear pants for the rest of the week. INCLUDING the weekend.”

Sophia’s jaw dropped, and her face paled. The rest of the week! But… but… She looked to her mother and aunt, but the former was pointedly looking away, while the latter simply glared at her, daring her to protest. After a moment, she hung her head again. Yes Uncle.

Joseph gave a single nod, and pointed towards the stairs. “Good. Now march, Lady.” He waited until the tiny girl disappeared down the stairs before sitting down, whereupon both he and his sister burst out in a fit of chuckles and giggles.

Holding her stomach, Madeline looked at him. “Pants for the rest of the week? Really?”

Grinning, Joseph leaned back in the sofa. “Hey, I’m not going to punish the girl for doing the right thing. Somebody hits you or your friends, you go on the defense. Besides, you know how much she hates wearing them.” His grin faded for a moment. “I am going to have to talk to Charlie about this though. This kid can’t just go around hitting people for every little thing.”

A steady thumping sound announced Sophia’s return, and she bounded into the living room, wearing black sweatpants, black backpack and a black hoodie. Giving a twirl, she smiled brightly. So, how do I look? Am I a proper delinquent? She pulled her hood up, tucking her hair into her collar, and gave a very unconvincing glower.

Her mother and uncle both broke out in chuckles again, and Madeline gave her a thumbs up. Even Kailey broke a grin at her niece’s antics. “Very dark and roguish. You’ll be falling in with the wrong crowd in no time.”

Sophia immediately beamed, and tackled her aunt with a hug before dancing towards the front door. Thanks Aunty. See ya later! She immediately came up short as Kailey grabbed the handle of her backpack. “Wait, wait wait. Where are you off to?”

Sea Side Park for my detention.

Madeline glanced at the clock, frowning. “Already? It’s only six o’clock, I thought you didn’t need to be there until eight.”

Rocking on her feet, Sophia tilted her head and shrugged. That’s right.

“Okay, so. It’s forty-five minutes to walk there. Probably less for you. What exactly are you going to do until then?”

Digging her toes into the carpet and looking up at the ceiling with her hands clasped behind her back, Sophia was the picture of perfect innocence. You know. Stuff. She gave an impish grin, then spun around and dashed for the door, leaving the three adults staring in her wake.

After a moment, Joseph shook his head and chuckled, looking at his sister. “You know she gets this from you, right?”

Madeline glared at him and smacked his arm. “Uh, excuse me? Whose idea was it to stash Jessica’s underwear in the boys locker-room? Because it wasn’t mine.”

Joseph frowned. “What? Yeah it was, that has ‘Madeline Callahan’ written all over it.”

“Nooo, YOU came up with that idea. I wanted to string them up on the flag pole.”

Rolling her eyes as the siblings began arguing back and forth, Kailey made her way into her bedroom and grabbed a book from her bookshelf. “30 years old and they’re still children.” Taking out her bookmark, she settled down on her bed, then made a small smile. “Shouldn’t have stolen my boyfriend, Jess.”

---

A single figure perched on a shadowed branch, distance rendering them invisible to the other kids. One of the taller trees in the park, it offered a perfect vantage point from which to observe nearly everything.

Lowering her binoculars, Sophia grinned, then grimaced and tugged at her pants. She’d been wandering around the park for nearly an hour and a half, learning the lay of the land, and she could feel her thighs crying out for fresh air. If it didn’t drive her insane by the end of the week, it would be a miracle.

She turned her attention back to the little gathering at the entrance of the park, her grin slowly coming back as she peered through her binoculars. It wasn’t ideal, a lot of open space, but she was nothing if not resourceful. Not her night of glory by a long shot, but a good exercise of her talents. A backpack full of goodies and unsuspecting victims, the perfect combination. Their division would be their weakness, their uncertainty her boon. They would know fear. Tonight, The Spectre would make her triumphant return. Let the games begin.

Stuffing her binoculars into her backpack, she dropped to the ground and darted deeper into the park, grumbling to herself as she tugged again at her pants. Stupid… fabric… leg tubes…

Micky could feel a slight breeze run up his back from under his shirt, the sweat that soaked his shirt underneath his sweater became ice when the air touched in. It was just one of the many things he was going to have to put up with today, and just like the breeze, discontent for this detention was inevitable. Micky let out a deep sigh, before giving the other students a glance. Half of them seemed like they were feeling the same way Micky was, bored and waiting for their torture to begin. By the looks of the park Micky figure they'd be doing a community service type thing, picking up garbage and generally cleaning the area. The best way to throw away the day, seeing as if this were the case, the park would be just as dirty in about a week or so.

"So, Does anybody really know what we're doing here? Like, you know?" Micky said, he realized he might have said it a bit quietly. He coughed once to clear his throat and sat up, "Anybody know what we're going to be doing here?" His voice was projected perfectly in his opinion. He continued to look at everyone in case they were planning on answering, he thought if he could be engaged in a conversation time would fly faster and it wouldn't be as boring as it is now.

Micky looked out at the park and started to wonder; How long will we be here for? Micky was sure if Om had said it or not, it was completely slipping his memory. If we're here to clean up garbage and sutff, we might actually be here for hours... A worried expression plastered his face as he looked down at his watch. Oh no... I might miss the new episode... Micky let out another, this one wasn't out of discontent but rather disappointment. He whispered to himself, "Damn."

Thursday, March 21st, 2016.

Richard sighed and looked down at his watch.

8:17

Really? he thought. I get attacked, get detention, then the damn tool bag giving the detention doesn't even show up on time? And where the hell is Sophia? She had better not be hiding in a tree or something.

"What the fuck is wrong with this asshole?" Largent growled around another cigarette. His already short temper was growing shorter and it wouldn't be long before he either did something stupid, or simply left. Cassidy, Carter, and Hall looked to be in some level of agreement with him and Richard winced when Largent glared at him through a thin haze of smoke that hung in the air between them.

"Probably didn't want to spend some time around your sparkling personality," Richard muttered under his breath and turned away, looking around for Sophia. A moment later a hand grabbed his shoulder and pulled, hard, spinning him around until he was eye to adams apple once again with the still smoking thug.

"What was that, you little shit?" Largent snarled. "I'm sick and tired of putting up with crap from you. You really need to learn your place in this schools pecking order." As he spoke Cassidy, Hall, and Carter came up to stand around him, flanking the bigger bully like faithful soldiers falling into line with their general.

Richard screwed his eyes shut and waited for the punch he was sure was coming when a voice boomed out and interrupted them.

"You really don't want to do that, Jack."

Largent let go of Richards shoulder and they all turned to see Om striding toward them. Gone was the shirt and tie from earlier in the day. Instead, he was wearing a pair of jeans, steel toed work boots, and a tightly fitting compression shirt that just enhanced the fact that he could probably break Largent in half with his bare hands if the bully stepped out of line. "I have no problem smacking you upside the head in someone else's defense, if I need to," He growled, stopping only inches away from largent and his new cronies. "I wouldn't even get in any trouble either. It is entirely within to law for me to attack you if I'm simply defending someone, so give me a reason, jack ass. I'd be happy to show you a thing or two."

Largent stared into the taller mans eyes for a moment before he shrugged and stepped back, an uneasy grin playing around the stub of a cigarette still protruding from his mouth.

"S'not worth it," he grunted and turned away.

After a minute where no one else moved Om finally nodded once, as if deciding on something, and turned to face them as a group. "Alright, ladies and gentlemen," he said. "We're going to be working on a little project here tonight. So make yourselves comfortable, we might be here for a while."