‘Do you want me to call your parents to come to pick you up from school?’
‘No, I’ll stay,’
‘I’d prefer you go home and put ice on your face, Magnus.’
‘Look, I’m staying, okay? If it makes you feel better, I’ll rest here for the next period until recess.’
‘Okay, well, I’ll get you an ice pack then.’
She returns a moment later and hands me the icepack; I hold it against my swollen black eye for the next hour. Then, finally, the recess bell goes. I toss the icepack onto Nurse Carla’s table and walk to the cafeteria. Students stare and whisper as I walk by them.
‘I heard he knocked Moss out and almost killed him.’
‘Well, I heard he picked Moss up with one hand and threw him halfway across the oval,’
Well, at least the whispers and rumours were to my liking. Entering the cafeteria, Claire lets out a gasp and races towards me. She cups my face.
‘Boo-boo, I heard there were rumours a fight broke out. I did not know it involved you. Oh, my poor snookums,’ she says, embracing me. I notice Nina and Moss watching Claire smother me with concern and worry. My face lowered closer to hers, and I pecked her on the lips without even thinking about my action. Nina looks away, but Moss’s steely glare intensifies.
‘Oh Boo-boo,’ Claire blushes. I place my arm over her shoulder and pull her close to my side. Josie brings a tray of lunch over for me.
‘I heard you got into a fight with Moss. You know Mum and Dad will flip beans when they see your face, right?’
‘Yeah, I know, but that’s the least of my problems,’ I say, glancing at Nina. My fist slams down onto the table as I see Nina and Moss kissing. Everyone at the table jumps.
‘Boo-boo, what’s wrong?’
Josie gives me a sympathetic, knowing look.
‘They forgot to put the cheese in my roll,’ I lie.
‘Oh, here have mine then,’ she offers and swaps them over. She has been so infatuated with me she even ordered the same lunch as me. May joins us, angrily plonks her food tray down in front of us, and bites into her ham roll as if she was biting the head off a small critter. She glares at Claire and chews loudly.
‘Gee, everyone is such a grump today,’ Paul says with a nervous laugh.
We sit there in silence for the rest of lunch. The bell goes, and I realise I have Science with Nina now. Moss walks her to science and gives her a long kiss that involves eating her face. He smiles at me and leaves to go to his next class.
Nina placed her books on the mangled table we had made together. I take my seat next to her, but we both sit silently, refusing to speak to each other.
‘Okay, today you will fill out this questionnaire with your lab partner. If you don’t know the answers, it will tell you what page you can read to find the answer in your textbooks. You have forty-five minutes.’ Mr Thomson says.
He places a questionnaire sheet on each table. Five minutes go by, and neither of us has moved.
‘The questionnaire isn’t going to fill itself out, Nina and Magnus. So get to work, or I will fail you both in science.’
We grumble and mutter under our breaths and take our pens to fill it out. We both go to take the sheet simultaneously but grab each other’s hands instead. I don’t want to let go, but Nina pulls her hand away in a flash. We both take the end of the paper. She glares at me.
‘Let go. I’ll fill it out,’
‘Let me at least fill a couple of questions out,’ I say.
The sheet of paper tears in half, and Mr Thomson walks over and slams the sticky tape down.
‘Again, you broke it, you fix it, then fill it out,’ he growls.
I hold the two strips of paper in place without speaking while Nina tapes them together.
‘I’ll fill out the first half, and you do the rest,’ she snaps.
‘Fine,’ I say and cross my arms.
Once she has answered eight questions, she angrily slides the sheet toward me. I pause and gaze at her.
‘What happened to us, Nina? We were getting along so well the other day, we almost, well, you know? and now we are worse than ever?’
‘The other day should never have happened. Besides, Moss asked me to be his girlfriend today, and I said yes.’
‘You only just met him; how could you go out with someone you don’t know. What if he is some kind of axe-wielding maniac or has bad intentions of you?’
‘Why do you care, Magnus? You have never cared for me. So I think it’s obvious to both of us that you are jealous.’
‘Jealous?’ I laugh.
‘Yes, you are jealous of Moss and feel threatened by him. Otherwise, you would not have taunted him into a fight. However, I highly doubt he is dangerous. If anything, he has been charming, loving, and caring towards me. You should be focusing on your girlfriend and go back to your old ways of pretending I don’t exist.’
‘I don’t want it to be like this,’
‘Magnus, you are the one who made it like this. So now you get to live with it.’
Sadness consumes me. I take the questionnaire and fill the rest out slowly and hold back my tears.
Mr Thomson collects our sheets as the bell rings
As I walk to English, I see Sean, the well-known school bully, has cornered pipsqueak. He is harassing her. He flicks her glasses off your face.
‘Now empty your pockets,’ he growls in her face. Scared, she does as she is told and empties her pockets of any coins.
I grab Sean’s neck and hold him two feet off the floor against the wall.
‘Got a problem with my friend here?’ I snarl in his face.
‘Oh, sorry, I didn’t know she was your friend,’ he says nervously.
Whilst holding him up, I look at Pipsqueak shaking.
‘How often has been taking your money?’ I ask her.
‘E-everyday,’ she replies in her squeaky little voice. I turn my attention back to Sean.
‘Empty your pockets,’ I tell him.
‘What?’
‘You heard me, empty your pockets, or I’ll make your face look as pretty as mine,’ I say. Sean looks over my bruised and banged-up face and quickly empties his pockets.
Releasing my grip, he falls to the ground.
‘If you ever go near Pipsqueak or any of her friends again, you will face my wrath.’
Sean scrambles to his feet and bolts down the corridor.
‘The money is yours, take it,’ I say to Pipsqueak and continue to class.
‘W-wait.’ she says, running up to me.
‘What?’
‘T-thank-you for s-stopping him, Magnus,’
‘No worries, Pipsqueak,’ I say, walking away. I notice Nina is standing with Josie waiting for their class door to be unlocked. They had both witnessed me protect one of the school nerds.
‘It’s P-Pippa… by the way.’ Her words cheerily echo down the corridor behind me.
