Behind These Refuge Walls

"Focus, Charlie!" Gerry barked on Sunday morning.

I felt my feet close to giving up on me, but I refused to let them. Gerry's opinion was that I had not fought in too long. So why not force me into an intense practice, just for the sake of seeing me exhausted?

"Don't...you...have...some students...to bug with your...crap?" I managed to ask between breaths.

He grinned like the mad Irish man he was. "The competition's three months away, so no need to rush the poor lads and lasses. Ya know...I have a free spot for the ladies' class."

"As always, not interested."

The Irish man sighed in defeat - not that he had tried too much to convince me into going to a martial arts competition. He returned to his initial posture, watching me with calm as I fought.

After he had nagged me for half an hour, I had finally told him about the incident at the mall. He shook his head in a disapproving manner that only he could pull.

"Leave it to you to get in a fight in a coffee shop," Gerry's said.

"It wasn't a fight." Watching it from my point of view, one could say the same.

"I don't care. You need to control yer temper, kid. It's not going to do ya any good. Mark my words!"

And I did as told. I marked his words, so to speak. It wasn't the first time he would give me this advice, but as usual, I threw it somewhere at the back of my head, where it could rot in peace.

With a final hit, the punching bag moved another few good inches further down the rail. I sighed, relieved from blowing off some steam for the day.

I would be the greatest liar if I said I wasn't nervous about going back to school on Monday. Going to school meant facing Paige - and with my luck, facing Damien. I didn't know them well enough to anticipate their reactions. Being unable to see their next moves made me beyond anxious.

"It can't be that bad," Nate tried to cheer me up as we sat quietly in the back of the bus on Monday morning. "Oh, look, there's Jake."

We waved - my gesture could have rather been considered as flipping him off - in the direction of the tall boy, who - judging by the happiness radiating off him - had not found out about the incident on Friday. Somewhere in my demonic head, I began debating how to make him regret the day he decided to let me fall in Paige's claws. Adjusting his blue shirt, Jake made his way towards us in the most polite way, ignoring the various remarks he got from the angry people who stood in his way.

"How was your weekend, Charlie?"

I wasn't exactly in the mood to be friendly, but his naive smile me decide against myself and I made a mental note to make his life a living hell later.

"Peachy."

Nate snickered, but as his bus stop neared, he could no longer be a part of our conversation. High fiving Jake and I, he rushed outside.

"Check that out. McCarthy's got a younger brother," Jake said, leaning towards the window.

Having scanned the area, my eyes fell on a particular blonde haired boy around my age, leaning against a black Explorer. Ryan pulled a pair of black sunglasses over his eyes and waved shortly at some kid in the crowd.

"Nasty dude," Jake continued. I eyed him questioningly. "What?"

"And you know him just how well?"

"Whatever," he mumbled, closing the subject in a very mature way.

Our school couldn't be considered very imposing. It could have passed for a shopping center, for all that I could think. I think it was, in fact, the people in the building that really gave it a purpose or, in a lack of better words, personality. When you saw the extravaganza and fake importance that went on in the parking lot, the classrooms and even in the hallways, only then did you realize the variety of kids and characters that came here, as well as the 'importance' of this school.

Passing several shiny cars, as well as some old Chevy's, I walked by Jake's side, listening to his rant about football.

"The best part about football has to be the moment you score."

"Scoring is always the best moment," I retorted and just like that, my bad mood dissipated. I laughed with Jake, despite myself.

As we reached the school's entrance, someone called my name and a hand touched my shoulder lightly.

"Janice."

Her name was meant to come out as an exclamation, but the second I saw her, I quickly remembered the events on Friday. The look she gave me told me she had never once forgotten.

"Hi...uhm...do you want to go to class together?"

Perhaps I looked as if I had been electrocuted. The blue haired girl seemed to shy away under my weary eyes. Just as she gave the first sign of wanting to leave, I stopped her.

"That would be cool. Janice, this is Jake."

She grinned widely as her and Jake shook hands and exchanged pleasantries. Keeping a stiff composure, I walked beside them to class. Funny enough (and also rather relieving for me) the two didn't seem capable of ending their conversation. Even as the teacher walked in - a stack of DVD's and papers in his arms - the two still kept talking about bags and their countless utilities.

"Alright, kids, over the upcoming classes, we're going to watch some movies and clips and we're going to discuss them...Ah, Miss Conley, how nice of you to join us."

My head shot up in the direction of Paige as she strutted to her usual seat, blissfully ignorant to the teacher's words. Not unexpected, the second her eyes landed on me, she frowned menacingly. I figured she had declared me war, because by the end of the class, half of the students were throwing me curious glances, having been told God knows what rumors.

"Charlie, I'm really sorry about Paige."

"Bullshit, Janice. Her being a bitch has nothing to do with you, so forget about it."

During lunch break I caught sight of Paige walking from a table to another, winding her hips and smirking victoriously. And before I knew it, people were passing my table, whispering and giggling.

"You think it's true?"

"I'm willing to bet on it. She's a stuck up."

A boy from the school's football team managed to push my buttons the greatest.

"Nice lumberjack shirt, drag queen!"

His epiphany resulted in the many laughs and stares from people around us and for the first time since I moved in, I felt a certain ache in my heart. Janice caught on to it, being the amazing psychic she was - I could swear there was something off about that girl - and she suggested we should exit the cafeteria. Of course, my cowardly retreat made everyone laugh, because in their dumb heads, it meant I wasn't denying the rumors.

"This is so dumb."

"And what would you suggest we do, CJ? Go beat the fuck out of everyone?"

"Actually, Jake, now that you mention it..." I pretended to think about the idea, but Janice shot me the most demonic glare I had ever seen her give.

During another break, I caught sight of a short person with curly hair, something about the chubby guy hitting me as familiar. When I tried approaching him, though, I ran into some other student who had so gracefully planted himself in front of me.

"So, tell me, do your parents know?"

Again, people laughed at the amazing joke.

My whole day went by like that, my only comfort being in the constant presence of Jake and Janice and in the loud volume of my IPod. Throughout classes, I received amused stares, people smirked, others joked around, while during breaks, students pretended not to see me, attempted to trip me and from what I gathered, some even had some pranks prepared for me.

I couldn't wait for school to end, so when everyone rushed to their cars, I was happier than ever to run across the parking lot, completely ignoring a familiar green Camaro.

The day ended with a long hour of fighting back tears and indulging myself with calories.