Asked to Compromise

“You’re fucking lying,” Charlie said as soon as he hopped the fence into my backyard.

Lenore, Marcy, Adam, and Max, hopped over right behind him.

“Tell us you’re fucking lying,” Marcy whined.

They all cut through my backyard and sat with me on the patio. It was almost seven o’clock and still light out. I texted them all as soon as I walked out of Deegan’s office.

“Someone tell Deegan that he’s fucking lying,” I muttered.

“I thought he was bluffing,” Lenore said. “I was calling bullshit.”

“I can’t fucking even…” Max started. “What did he say? What did you do?”

“He said some shit about my grades and then said I either re-do last year or transfer, but my parents obviously opted for transferring me. My mom said it’ll be good for me and…fuck, I messed up,” I leaned forward, covering my face with my hands. “I flipped the fuck out and left. I’m grounded for the rest of the time until I leave.”

“I swear to God, tomorrow, we’ll fucking tear his whole office up,” Adam threatened. “You’re not going anywhere.”

“Don’t,” I said, knowing Adam could really carry his threats out. “Just leave it alone. My parents are pissed and my mom hasn’t even looked at me since this morning. I’m going to go for it and most likely fuck up more than I do here. Maybe they’ll send me back.”

“No way, dude,” Max said. “They don’t send people back. I’ve heard some crazy shit about that place. It’s supposedly like the fuckin’ ADX Florence.”

“Shut up, you’re trying to scare me,” I said. Max put his hands up in defeat.

“When are you leaving?” Marcy asked sadly.

“This Friday…” I said. “I seriously can’t believe this is happening. My parents didn’t say anything about sending me away. They act like they’ve had this planned for a while now.”

“I don’t know, I say you just play it off and do good and maybe you’ll get sent back early or something,” Max shrugged. “But they are not going to send you back otherwise.”

I sighed and leaned back in my chair. My friends were everything. They were the people who backed me up and picked me up. I couldn’t just leave like this.

“Tomorrow’s my last day at school. I have to clean my locker out and settle some shit…” I sucked on my bottom lip, mischievously.

Marcy started laughing, leaning into me. “This is why I love you.”

-

I realized the girl’s name was Megan. I caught her without hesitation in the hallway. The second she opened her mouth to talk about me getting kicked out, I already ran up to her and smacked her. I grabbed her, wrapping her hair around my hand. We spun around once before I pulled her down to the floor and kicked her a few times.

“Think before you talk about me,” I said, punching her.

I saw a flash of red hair and Marcy was in it, kicking Megan too. It wasn’t long before the security guards were running to break it up and Adam and Max were pulling me and Marcy away. Max held my arms back while I was fuming. I was still fighting against him trying to get to her.

“Walk away,” Max told me, walking me in the opposite direction with Adam and Marcy. “It’s your last day. You got her, now it’s over.”

We got outside and I took in the fresh air. I knew I had a bad temper and could sometimes overreact and take things too far. Adam and Max each lit up a cigarette.

“Promise me something,” I said to Marcy.

“Anything,” She said, smiling. She didn’t seem to be as pissed off as I was.

“While I’m gone, you better have my back and hold it down. Lenny, too. You hear something about me, I expect you to kick ass,” I said seriously.

“Got it. You know I don’t let anyone trash my friends. Why do you think I jumped in for you just now?” She laughed.

“I’m going to miss you guys,” I muttered, looking at the three of them. “I have to start packing tonight…” I realized it was Tuesday.

“Lenny and I will help you, if you want,” Marcy volunteered.

“Yeah, thanks.”