Castle High's After School Horror

Bob sighs, staring longingly at everyone pouring out of the school from the fifth floor window of the detention room. He's the first one there because he was the first one to try and leave. Mr. Malone caught him, of course. What a pain.

The heat of the outside is felt in the tiny room with thirty desks crowding its floor. Mr. Malone is standing by the door, waiting for other detention students to show up. Someone better, especially that Mikey Way. No way in hell was Bob gonna be the only one who didn't skip detention on such a beautiful day.

"Hello, Elizabeth," Mr. Malone says. Bob detaches his forehead from the glass of the window and sees a tiny girl in overalls enter the room. "I was surprised to know you had detention."

The girl shrugs and takes a seat in the front of the room, putting her head down. Bob doesn't know her. His interest fades back to the window.

"Michael, hello!" says Malone. Bob looks up. None other than Mikey Way walking through the door. He sees Bob and his eye go wide. He starts to chew his gum faster.

"This is your fault," Bob says. Mikey looks down at his feet and takes his seat at the back of the class.

By ones and twos, six more students walk in. Bob doesn't know any of them very well. Gerard Way the class president, Mikey's senior brother, walks in holding hands with Mace Hart. Bonnie Hart walks in behind them. The Hart twins are as different as black and white. Mace is a quiet tomboy and Bonnie is a loud cheerleader. The only thing similar about them is their blond hair and green eyes.

Ray and Chelsea, another well-known couple in the school (all that lovey-dovey makes Bob gag), walk in shortly after. Malone closes the door after some kid with a lip piercing walks in. He sits down next to Mikey.

"Alright!" Malone exclaims. "Now that everyone's here, we can have some fun!"

Everyone groans. Malone is known for his sarcasm. He buckles down and puts on his business face. He reminds everyone that they aren't to say a word for the next two hours and that he knows they'd rather be outside but that's just too bad. They can do anything that does not require technology and is not sleeping (which isn't much). They have one 'out' pass (water, snack, bathroom). Taking longer than five minutes earns another detention. Not coming back earns a suspension.

"Got it?" Malone asks after his long-winded speech. There is a group grunt in response. "Good."

Malone sits behind a desk reading a newspaper. It doesn't take long for quiet desperation to overtake the bored teens. There is laughter coming from outside. The room, with no air conditioning, feels like the inside of an oven. Every few minutes, Malone rings a loud bell to make sure that everyone is awake. Bob is slipping in and out of consciousness. Mikey and the lip-pierced guy whisper to each other, safe from Malone's hearing range in the back of the room. Gerard's hand is doing something under his desk that makes Mace, sitting next to him, bite her lip. Bonnie is secretly using her cell phone under her desk. Chelsea is kissing Ray's neck and whispering into his ear. Beth is doing homework, which is what Malone probably wishes everyone would do.

But after a while, it gets so hot that everyone is slumping in their chairs and fanning themselves.

Bob looks up at the clock. He's sure that there are only minutes left of detention. When really, only minutes have passed. The seconds seem to be moving slower than usual. He groans and hits his head on the desk, which makes someone laugh. Malone urges them to shush. Bob smiles.

A few boring minutes later, Malone stands . "I'm gonna go to the office and get some coffee," he says. "I'll be back in two minutes." His eyes narrow and his gaze falls over everyone. "Don't."

With that, he stands and leaves.

"Holy shit, thank God," Bob says standing up and stretching. Slowly, everyone follows his example. Except for the small girl in the overalls.

Chelsea goes and opens a window. Bob sits on a desk and looks around at everyone. Everyone else wanders around.

"What are your names and what'd he get ya for?" Bob asks. He knows most of their names already.

"I'll show you mine if you show me yours," says Ray. A few people laugh.

"Bryar. Bob Bryar." Bonnie giggles. Bob grins. "The asshole Mikey Way over there made me get to class late."

"No one calls my brother an asshole," Gerard says quickly. He's at the front of the class, drawing a cartoon on the whiteboard reminiscent of the Scream movies. He looks back at Mikey, who holds an expression of hopeful desperation. "He's not an asshole, he's just weird."

Mikey slumps. The girl in the overalls looks back at him. Chelsea smiles.

"Well, I'm Ray and I'm here because Chelsea didn't listen to Beth," Ray states matter-of-factly. The girl in the overalls turns in her seat and giggles. Bob guesses she's Beth.

"Beth, you're a little bitch," says Chelsea. She's leaning against the half-open window. "Shut the fuck up."

Beth turns back around and shrinks in her seat.

"I see your girlfriend's real tame, Ray," comments the boy with the lip ring. Mikey chuckles.

"Don't make me rip that lip ring off you, fag," Ray threatens. The boy's face becomes hard.

"Okay, anyone else?" Bonnie says nervously. "Mace?"

"Mace and Bonnie Hart, skipped last period," Mace says boredly. Ray and Lip Ring Boy are staring each other down. "Gerard?"

"Called Mrs. Warner a pig for eating a cream cheese bagel first period," Gerard says with a shrug. This lightens the mood a bit. Even Ray and Lip Ring Boy laugh. "And, hey, she is a pig. You should've seen her scarfing that thing down."

"What about you, Beth?" Ray asks lightly.

All eyes are now on Beth. She looks at everyone as if she is a fish amongst a group of sharks. "I got framed for spray painting a wall," she whispers. Bob's ready to accuse her of lying when Lip Ring Boy laughs.

"I did that," he sighs contentedly. "Well, my name is Frank and I've been clean for three hours."

The room fills with laughter.

"Anyone else?" Bob says, looking around. They all shake their heads. "Cool. Now that we all know each other, who has gum?"

Bob looks immediately at Mikey, who swallows noticeably. Bob saunters over to Mikey's desk and sticks out his hand.

"Give," Bob demands.

"He's not your bitch, Bryar," Frank spits. Bob gives Frank a challenging look. Mikey looks down at his hands, nervous.

"Oh?" Everyone's watching now. Bob grabs Mikey by the shirt and throws him onto the floor. Bob gets down on one knee and bends Mikey's arm. Mikey yells. Bob reaches into his pocket and pulls out the pack of Orbit.

"Get off of him!" Frank screams, standing from his seat.

The door opens. Everyone runs back to their seats. Malone enters the room holding a mug that proclaims he is "The World's Greatest Dad" and glances around at everyone suspiciously. He sits back at his desk and looks over his newspaper with narrow eyes. Then he slowly turns his head and glances at the drawing behind his head of people running from a man in a costume holding a bloody knife.

Mikey is holding onto his arm. Frank has an arm wrapped around him. Bob stares quizzically at them.

"You're a terrible brother, Gerard," Mace says loudly. Gerard frowns.

"What did I do?" Gerard hisses.

"It's what you didn't do," Beth corrects him.

"That's a good drawing, by the way," Mikey mutters.

Mikey looks hurt. Not just because Bob bent his arm in a way that it wasn't meant to bent but also because no one stood up for him. Except Frank. Bob found this amusing and intriguing.

"You drew this?" asks Malone, pointing at the drawing behind him and staring at Gerard. Gerard swallows nervously and nods. "Well, then, that's another day of detention for you."

Gerard gives his younger brother an angry look. He mouths something that makes Mikey sigh and place his head on the table. Bob smiles.

"Anyone want gum?" Bob asks, holding the Orbit over his head. Mr. Malone shushes him. Bob tosses a piece of gum at Chelsea (the only person who raised her hand), takes one for himself, and throws a third one at Mikey's head. Malone is too busy reading his newspaper to notice.