Most teenagers disliked going to school and only did so because their parents told them to. Every holiday was a joy since it meant one day of not having to go to that dreaded place, so the concept of 'punishing' someone by making them not go to school, had always seemed rather bizarre.
For a troublemaker, being excluded essentially meant they got a free week to do whatever they wished. However, now that Gary was suddenly faced with that situation, he began to realise the real horror of it.
'What the hell do I tell Mum?'
Their high school had a relatively good reputation in Slough. Getting suspended for a week was rather unheard of. In fact, any more than that and it would have meant expulsion.
Was this Mrs Young's way of telling him how close he had come to being…expelled?
Suddenly, Gary started to consider the consequences about what would happen if that had happened. He would have to change schools, probably forcing his family to move apartments to another area. It might mean his mother would have to find new jobs.
Essentially, it would ruin the lives of the entire Dem family.
On top of that, with nothing to do but to stay at home on his own, he was worried that he might go mad… or worse, do something extremely stupid like go out and look for Billy.
"As someone who's now excluded, you won't participate in any more lessons. For the time being, you're to stay here. Feel free to start on that apology letter and I will have my secretary bring you some other school work later." Headmistress Young explained. "Honestly, I would have just sent you home immediately, but there is a reason why I'm keeping you here."
"By now the whole school is aware about what has occured, including the teachers. One teacher in particular has strongly insisted for you to be let off."
Gary was baffled to hear this. He wasn't particularly friendly with any of his teachers, nor did he excel at any subjects. His relationship with his homeroom teacher wasn't out of the ordinary either, so it was hard to pinpoint who exactly it could be.
"Never would have I thought there would come a day I would see Mr Root begging me to not expel a student like you. Unlike what your stature suggests, he claims that you're a very gifted Rugby player, one he simply can't do without."
Mr Root would have been the last person Gary would have suspected, even if he had been doing better in their training matches, was it really to the point where they needed him this much?
"I have therefore agreed to make a special exception for you. Despite being Excluded, you're allowed to attend the club lesson after school for the whole week, and that will include today. I will look forward to your performance on the weekend."
For some reason, Gary felt quite happy with the news. At the moment, playing Rugby really was the only distraction he had left. Given his performance, he was very excited to test himself in their first official game.
After giving him the sheets of work he needed to go through Mrs Young stayed in the room doing her own work.
'Mom should be at her first job, so I doubt she already knows. Mrs Young's secretary will probably notify Mom via a letter, so all I gotta do is get to it before she does. I sorta got a week off… maybe I can use this to my advantage. It gives me more time to figure things out.'
——
Class had continued without Gary, yet Tom was constantly looking over at his friend's empty seat. He was worried for him in more ways than one. When Mrs Bedford's class was over, Gary still hadn't returned, which told Tom that his best friend must be in some serious trouble. Tom had tried texting Gary during the breaks and at lunch, but he hadn't answered yet.
Eventually, it was time for Rugby practice. During his walk to the changing room, he encountered two large figures. Immediately, Tom put his head down hoping to avoid eye contact, yet it did nothing. A few moments later, two heavy arms were over his shoulders.
"Hey Tom, old buddy. Why don't we have a talk before heading to practice today?" Gil 'suggested' with a smile as he started to push the smaller boy in a certain direction..
Tom wanted to walk forward, but both of them had gripped him tightly. They were practically forcing him to come with them as they dragged him, lifting him slightly off the ground all the way to the closest toilets.
As soon as they entered, they shouted to see if anyone else was inside. Once it was clear that it was just the three of them, they locked the door behind them.
"Sooo, me and Barry went to check out the roster this afternoon and for some reason Gary's name was still there. Why is that?" Gil asked, shoving Tom's small body to the floor.
"I didn't get the chance to talk to him yet! You must have heard what happened this morning!" Tom tried to explain, quickly checking the room for any way to escape his captors.
"Grab him!" Gil ordered and Barry picked him off the ground holding his hands up so he couldn't use them to defend himself. The next second and a large slap from Gil's hand went right across Tom's face. His cheek turned bright red and he could taste iron, as the inside of his mouth had smashed against his teeth.
"You could have texted him, or talked to him over the weekend. Aren't you guys close?! No, it looks to me like you didn't take what we told you seriously." Gil then grabbed Tom by the back of his head, shoving him into one of the toilet stalls.
School toilets, although they were being cleaned regularly and this one hadn't been used today, weren't exactly the most clean places.
"Hey Gil, don't you think this is taking things a bit too far?" Barry asked, but Gil didn't seem to be listening.
The next moment, he shoved Tom's head into the toilet for a few seconds, pushing him down watching him wiggle and struggle. While doing this a smile appeared on his face. The feeling of having total control of another human life was exhilarating.
'Why? Why are they doing this to me?! What did I ever do to you?!' Tom thought as he was cursing at his life. 'I didn't even tell him what you guys did to me, because I'm trying to protect your sorry miserable lives!'
Lifting his head out of the water, Tom gasped for air. He couldn't even say anything because all he was doing was trying to breathe.
"This isn't enough." Gil declared after dunking him a couple of times.
Barry realised that his friend had lost it, yet it seemed too late to stop him and worse of all now he was apart of whatever was about to happen.
——
Out on the field, Gary had joined the club practice. He noticed that Tom wasn't out yet, but judging by the green mist he could see that he was still somewhere in school. Tom didn't care for rugby in the first place, so it didn't matter if he was on time to not and it didn't seem like the teacher did either. Which was why Gary thought it wasn't so strange.
Before the lesson started, Mr Root had pulled Gary to the side.
"Listen here, broccoli head, I don't know what exactly made you do what you did this morning, but let me tell you this. I'm used to dealing with kids who have anger problems and who have an aggressive nature. You didn't really seem the type, but you have proven me wrong more than once already. The good thing is, there is an easy fix. "
"Use that pent up anger, frustration whatever is inside you, out on the field. Use it to run faster from the others, use it to snatch the ball out of their hands, and use it to tackle them to the ground, because on the field all of that is allowed."
The practice had started, and the words that Mr Root used had spurted Gary on. In today's practice he was playing even better than before. He was sharper as if his eyes were glued to the ball. It was strange because his technique and play tactics weren't as sharp as someone like Blake, but he made up for it with his talent.
Eventually, Gil and Barry also arrived on the field. Naturally, they got a scolding from Mr Root and after running a few laps, they were allowed to join in the practice game.
Both of them tried to tackle Gary when he was in possession of the ball but they were too slow. Instead a couple of the faster, lighter students managed to get a hold of him. Still, Gary with his power was able to move forward until he passed on the ball to Blake, allowing him to score the try that won them the practice game.
Both Blake and Gary were praised as if they had won the world cup, the two of them had proven to be an unexpectedly good match as a team.
"You two!" Mr Root said. "If you can repeat what you did today on the weekend, we are going to destroy Eton High!"
Gary was enjoying the praise just like he had done on Friday, and his mood felt better than before, but he noticed something. Although Rugby practice was nearly over, Tom wasn't on the bench, his mist was still in the school. Once it was over, Tom never having appeared, instead of heading to the locker room, Gary decided to head indoors and follow the mist to his location.
'I know I'm not meant to go to school, but lessons are over anyway so it won't matter, right?' Gary thought as he was too concerned for his friend to care even if that wasn't the case.
He was surprised to find the mist leading him to the toilets, especially since they weren't too far away from the changing rooms. Just standing outside though, Gary was now even more concerned because his nose picked up a scent he had recently become overly familiar with.
'Blood!'
He quickly pushed the door open, and followed the mist to one of the stalls. Opening it, he could see Tom, lying on the ground, his front teeth shattered with blood spilling out on the toilet seat.
****
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