This Ain't a Scene; It's an Arms Race

“You’re still not taking the bus.” Mom said grabbing her car keys.

“Okay, I’ll take your car.” I smiled.

“No, I’ll drive you.” She smirked unlocking it and getting in. I sighed, but got in anyways.

“Can I at least ride with Brendon and Brent?” I whined.

“Honey.” She warned giving me a stern look. I closed my mouth and got in the car.

I called Brendon to see where they would be.

“Hey Palo Verdian. “

“Hey, where are you guys gonna be when I get there?” I asked.

“We’ll watch for you out front. Don’t worry.” He reassured.

“Okay, I’m in mom’s minivan.” I laughed.

“Oh, that’ll be easy to find.”

I rolled my eyes and sighed, “Anyways. We’ll be there in like…a few minutes.” I shrugged.

“Okay, cool.”

---

Once we got to school I did end up seeing Brendon and Brent, but had to go to the front office when they went to their next class. They gave me a schedule and told me the essentials before directing me towards some classroom. I headed in and all heads snapped upward. I walked over to the teacher and he wordlessly handed me my book.

“Scout, I’m Dr. Blackinton, not Black, not Ton, not Ryland. Class, this is-”

“Actually, I go by Evelyn.” I cut him off, “It’s my middle name.” I explained quickly.

“Class, this is Evelyn.” He said before directing me to a seat in the back.

---

“Ev!” I heard someone yell as I was opening my new locker.

“Brent!” I returned.

“Hey, you didn’t say my name.” Brendon pouted.

“Technically, I did. Bren…t. Plus it’s too difficult to say ‘Brent and Brendon’.” I shrugged.

“So, what’s your schedule, met anyone yet?” Brendon asked as Brent grabbed the paper out of my hand.

“Ouch. You have Ryland first period!” Brent commented.

“Dr. Blackinton, Mr. Wilson.” Dr. Blackinton snapped walking by and not sparing us a glance. We all looked at each other wide eyed and Brent made a horrified whimpering noise.

---

After analyzing my schedule for a good three minutes Brent figured out that I have three out of our five classes a day with at least one of them.

Apparently Dr. Blackinton is my worst teacher.

---

“How was school?” dad asked when I got home.

“Normal…safe.” I shrugged.

I fell into a semi-normal routine after that.

Weeks passed and yeah, some kids got into fights, but nothing too extreme.

It wasn’t until Dr. Blackinton’s class that my routine started getting semi…abnormal.

“Would Scout Lewis please report to the office after school. Scout Lewis, report to the office after school.” The lady on the intercom announced.

I groaned, hitting my head on the desk. Evelyn! My name is Evelyn! It’s so much prettier than Scout. I mean, what the heck.

---

“What’d you do, Ev?” Brent asked at lunch.

“Nothing.” I shrugged, “Just cause I’m going to the office doesn’t mean something bad has happened.”

“Hmm. I don’t know.” Brendon smirked. I rolled my eyes at both of them before taking a bite at the mashed potatoes on my lunch tray. I gagged a bit and decided I’d save the toxic waste for later.

---

“Hey, Mom, don’t come over and get me yet. Some, uhm, friends are hanging out after school, but we’re hanging out…at…the school.” I mumbled unsurely.

“Okay, I trust you, but text me when I can pick you up. No later than 6, alright?”

“Kaykay, sure thing, bye.” I said quickly hanging up and heading towards the office.

“Scout Lewis?” the Vice Principal questioned.

“It’s actually Evelyn, Sir. I go by Evelyn.” I corrected him.

“Right, Scout. So here’s the thing. We have another new student. They insist on taking AP English with Dr. Blackinton and I noticed that you were not doing too great in his class.”

I blushed immediately.

“But I’ll excuse that if you switch with this student.” He said almost desperately.

“What’s the catch?” I asked honestly confused.

“Well, you see.” He sighed, “The ACSI honors program has been keeping an eye on the works of the students in our English classes and offering scholarships. This young man is very good and will probably bring even more attention to our English department than bef-”

“Too much. Too much.” I mumbled holding up a hand, “Yeah, what’s my new class?” I asked.

“You’ll be having Music in room 204.”

“Okay, cool.” I shrugged.

“Okay, I’ll just transfer the records and schedules. Thank you.” He said. I looked at him confused before slowly standing up and making my way out the door.

Once in the hallway I quickly started moon walking and cabbage patching for my dear life. NO MORE RYLAND!

“I don’t have Advanced English, for my first period. No more dumb teacher. I really hate his gu-uts.” I said humming and mumbled parts of it all the way down the hall. I stopped when I
smacked into someone and looked up to see Dr. Blackinton.

Oh, crap.

---

I headed out of school, pulling out my cell phone along the way to text my mom to pick me up.

“Fuck you.” I heard a guy yell. Turning around the side of the school to investigate I saw a short, but still taller than me, black haired guy. He was taking on about 4 guys and didn’t look the least bit scared. They were winning, but he wasn’t going down easily. When his lip split deep and he started coughing a bit they pushed him to the ground. He wasn’t as fast getting up as he was in the past few minutes and they started kicking him.

“Guys, stop.” I snapped stepping into the circle.

“Listen, little girl, why don’t you go back to class before you get yourself hurt.” One of the guys smirked.

“No, what’d he do? You don’t just go beat someone up for no reason.”

“I said go back to class.” The same guy snarled. I glared at him before I swung a fist that he dodged and everyone laughed. I was about to try again when a shorter, but equally built guy grabbed me around the waist and walked in a different direction. I kicked my feet and tried to get free, but this guy had a hell of a grip.

“That was some stupid shit you pulled.” He said chuckling, “I doubt that you’ll ever do it again after today.”

I didn’t let my mind wander as I was dragged somewhere. I’m not really sure what direction we were going due to all the struggling I was doing.