2: The Locker Incident

The Locker Incident

It was a Friday.

There was a ton of students on the way to school, walking with their friends and excitedly rambling among one another. A lot of them were freshmen, kids just now beginning to grow up and learn about life.

This school was the only one around here that distributed lanyards to new students, which was a way to identify the grade someone was in without having to question them about it. Personally, I always thought it was a bit much, considering the fact that a bunch of kids were very likely to lose it and require another one to be given to them.

It just seemed like more work than it was worth.

The colors for each grade from lowest to highest is blue, yellow, green, and purple.

My purple lanyard swayed in the wind, dangling from my neck as I entered the main school building. I stood out like a sore thumb, due to my appearance, which attracted a lot of the female variety.

Standing at a height of 6'1, I had a head full of brown hair that was complimented by a pair of hazel eyes, which sat on a body of well defined muscles.

It wasn't helping my case when the white t-shirt that I was wearing hugged my upper body, not leaving much to the imagination as I proceeded to go towards the first class on my new schedule.

History.

The excitement was slowly beginning to die down as everyone went to their respective classes, while others stuck around in the halls to skip instead. The school intercom turned on all of a sudden and an unfamiliar woman spoke through the speakers, a welcoming tone held within her relaxing voice.

"Good morning, students of Rowan High School. As some of you know, the previous principal has retired, which presented the opportunity for a new one to step in. I hope that I can prove myself as a suitable replacement." The woman explained.

Well, I wasn't aware of this.

"Today is the first day back to school, so I hope most of you didn't stay up too late..." She paused, letting her words sink into the people's heads.

With the way that some of the kids were yawning and rubbing their heavy-lidded eyes, I was beginning to think that they didn't follow what the woman said.

She cleared her throat, continuing once again. "I'm excited for the new year and hope to see more bright-minded students populate the school. That'll be all."

The intercom shut off and students resumed what they were doing, some of them talking with their friends about the new principal. I decided to ignore all of it, instead gently twisting the doorknob to my first class, which opened up to reveal a few other people picking a desk to sit at.

The teacher, a man who looked to be in his early thirties, occupied a table at the front of the class. Short blonde hair rested at the top of his head, followed by a pair of gray eyes that were accentuated with red reading glasses.

His name was written on the whiteboard behind him, which said Mr. Yasuko.

The man nodded to me before returning to the textbook that he was perusing, most likely waiting for all of his students to come in before saying anything. I saw a desk in one of the back corners, which also sat next to a window providing a view of the track and football field.

I chose that one.

Getting comfortable in the chair, I pulled out a sketchbook and used my time to draw whatever came to mind.

It would be a while before the rest of the students found their way here.

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Eventually, it was my time for lunch, and it didn't have to tell me twice as I nearly bolted out of the fourth class I've attended today. I really tried my best to pay attention but it just became so monotonous after so long of hearing it.

I was one of the first people to enter the cafeteria, so there wasn't a long line of students waiting to grab something. Once I was done filling up my tray of food and proceeded to sit down, I pulled my phone out and began to scroll through social media.

Tapping the app, Linkwire, one of the first things that popped up was a live video that seemed like it was being recorded from a damaged camera. The footage started off with a young kid who had tears running down his face, along with one of his hands struggling to hold a door closed as the sound of other voices yelled in the background.

A frown marred my face as I stopped eating, anger beginning to bubble up inside me when I noticed something in the ongoing video.

The kid had a blue lanyard hanging from his neck.

I walked out of the cafeteria, leaving a comment under the live video asking for his location. After a while, I was beginning to doubt that he would notice it in the bombardment of other ones that were flowing in, most of them wondering what was happening.

Thankfully, the kid seemed to take notice, whispering that he was inside of a locker room within Rowan High School. The comments quickly changed to reactions of surprise and shock, but I wasn't paying it any attention.

Slipping my phone back into my pocket, I hurried my way over to the gymnasium area of the campus, barging through doors until I found myself hearing the same mixture of voices that were in the live video.

My anger had increased since I was in the cafeteria but it was kept behind a mask of stoicism. One last door was in my way, which didn't last for very long once I placed a well-aimed swift kick right above the lever handle.

The door snapped off it's hinges with ease and flew across the locker room, which I was too distracted to think about when a group of seniors came into view. They were all frozen in place, some of them with their hands still held onto a locker door that probably contained the crying freshman I was trying to help.

It had gone quiet for a couple seconds before one of the senior students grew enough confidence to question my reason for being here.

"Hey! Who the hell do you think you are to come in here like that?" The idiot provoked, an ugly snarl on his face.

Conversing with these type of people after what I learned they were doing to that poor kid was pretty much off the table. The beatdown that occurred shortly after was quite liberating to say the least, and I took great pleasure in throwing them around like ragdolls.

My unique physical therapy should at least teach them a thing or two, if they even have a brain to begin with. I'm not sure they actually do if this is how their time is spent.

I hate bullies.

A noise was made to my left and I turned in that direction to see what it was, which revealed itself to be the freshman, who was still nervously recording while staring at me. I didn't give it any thought.

"What's your name, kid?" I asked in a calm tone of voice, which reassured him that I wasn't here with bad intentions. Hopefully, the fight that just occurred would've cemented it, but you can never be too sure.

"U-Uh, Anthony Olsen..." The boy murmured. He seems like the type to be easily intimidated.

"Are you injured? Don't be afraid to tell me, I'm not going to make fun of you for it." He shook his head, but it would be best if I still took him to the nurses office, just in case.

My eyes spotted the phone in his hand again. "Please stop recording me. Let's get you to the principal."

His eyes widened and he looked down at his phone, quickly ending the live video and tucking the phone away in his pocket. "S-Sorry."

I guess the kid's mind was on other things and he forgot the video was still going. That's understandable, considering what he just went through.

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Stepping into the office with Anthony, my eyes landed on an extremely attractive woman who I was beginning to hope was the principal. A pair of blue eyes and long brown hair caught my attention, along with that body of hers hidden underneath a white collared top and tight black skirt.

The professional looking woman welcomed us in with a quaint smile, hands placed within her lap as she sat down behind her desk.

"Hello, I'm the new principal. Is there something I can help you with?"

Taking a glance around the room, I noticed a name plate sitting at her desk. It said her name was Ms. Rivera.

"Well, I found this kid being bullied by a group of seniors in the locker room. I think it was around seven of them."

For whatever reason, the principal watched me intently as I explained my part of the story. I wasn't complaining though, it was kind of hot with the way she was looking at me.

Once I was done, Anthony told his side of the occurrence, which left Ms. Rivera somewhat speechless afterwards.

"Now, you said he found out about you from a live video?" She asked Anthony while pointing at me. She was being quite thorough with all of this, but I guess that's a good thing.

The boy nodded, agreeing with her question.

"Is it possible that you still have the video?"

I raised an eyebrow, confused as to why she would want to see it, but I decided that it would be best if my thought wasn't voiced. I'll just see where this goes.

Pulling out his phone and passing it over to her, Ms. Rivera watched the entire thing in silence, but I did notice a couple of times where her eyes widened or narrowed. They would always go back to normal pretty quickly, which felt odd.

Eventually, the video was over and she returned the phone to Anthony, now leaning back and crossing her arms under her bountiful chest. I couldn't help but glance at them every now and again, which I think she noticed. She didn't say anything about it though.

The woman had a quick talk with Anthony which ultimately ended in him getting permission to leave school early. He profusely thanked me before exiting the room.

"At first, I was thinking about finding some kind of punishment for you because of how you never even thought of finding a staff member or coming to my office to let me know the situation, but..."1

She paused, bringing her eyes up to meet mine before continuing.

"Your intentions were noble to say the least. Without even thinking, you went off on your own to help someone that was in need. If this was a story about a superhero, I feel like you'd probably be the main protagonist." She said playfully, shooting a wink in my direction.

A small smile crawled onto my face, her words making a weird feeling course through my chest. I don't know why hearing that made me feel good but I accepted it nonetheless.

Clearing my throat, I shifted in my seat. "... So?"

Ms. Rivera let out a small giggle, reaching into one of the drawers in her desk. It took a second for her to find whatever she was searching for, eventually pulling out a red lanyard that I had never seen before in all of my years at attending this school.

She tossed it to me and I caught it with ease, but that didn't stop me from looking towards her in a questioning manner. The sly grin on her face didn't help at all.

What was she planning?

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