Discovery
Over Here
Jake Bishop was startled out of his reverie as the sound of the school bell rang though his ears and his head. He had dozed off during Algebra, thankfully he hadn’t been caught this time.
Jake scooped his folder off the table and navigated his way through gossiping girls and idiot boys to the front gate of the school where his mum would be waiting for him. He had successfully avoided Brad and his gang of buffoons by taking a longer route.
His phone vibrated in his pocket on he reached down for it. It was a text from his mum.
sorry sweetie, u’ll have to walk home, I’m stuck at work
-mum xo
That sucks. It’s not like it was a long walk home, Jake was just hoping for a lift today. He sent a quick reply to his mum and then started down the street.
Jake didn’t get many messages because he didn’t have many friends. He only had the phone for emergencies and to contact his mum, he used it for music sometimes but it didn’t have enough memory to hold all his songs. Still walking, he got his iPod of his bag and stuck the earphones in his ears. His iPod was one of those big buggers that had more memory then you could “poke a stick at”, as his mum would say. It was a birthday present and, also, a Christmas present, and probably part of his next birthday present as well.
Jake put all his songs on shuffle and walked around the corner as “Naïve” by The Kooks came on. He was talking a shortcut to his small two bedroom by going down an alleyway between two big office buildings.
As Jake turned into the normally empty alley he saw the outline of maybe three people slowly walking his way, the sun was behind them so he couldn’t tell if they were anyone he knew. He had a pulling feeling in his stomach but dismissed it, they were probably just normal people taking the same shortcut he was taking.
Jake kept his head down and walked past the three trespassers to his alley but as passed them they turned and shouted at him and Jake recognized the voice. It was Brad and two ape-like jocks who Jake didn’t recognize.
“Hey! Doofus!” Brad shouted at him. Jake kept walking but he could tell that the gang of three had now turned and were following him.
Jake was close to escaping the confines of the alley, maybe 100 meters from the busy street. He decided to make a run for it. He kicked off from the ground and started sprinting as fast as he could, which for a scrawny kid wasn’t very fast at all. Definitely not as fast as a group jocks who trained once a day, rain, hail or shine.
One of then grabbed Jake’s bag and pulled him back. Brad stepped in front of him and now Jake was surrounded. Walls on two sides, idiots on the others.
“Oi, fuckwit, when I talk to you, you answer me. ‘ight?” Brad spat at him. The two meat heads behind Jake grabbed both his arms and pinned them behind his back, he struggled but again he was no match for the stars of the football team.
“I reckon it’s time you teach this kid a fuckin’ lesson, Brad.”
Brad nodded in agreement with the meathead on Jake’s right. He shook his head and arms and cracked his knuckles and Jake tensed for what he knew was coming.
Brad shouted and swung but the punch didn't connect. Suddenly Jake’s arms were released from behind him and he fell forward into nothingness. The sounds of the street were replaced by utter silence, and then he smacked onto the ground, hard. Jake opened his eyes and saw only blackness.
And that’s when the alarm burst into life.
Jake scooped his folder off the table and navigated his way through gossiping girls and idiot boys to the front gate of the school where his mum would be waiting for him. He had successfully avoided Brad and his gang of buffoons by taking a longer route.
His phone vibrated in his pocket on he reached down for it. It was a text from his mum.
sorry sweetie, u’ll have to walk home, I’m stuck at work
-mum xo
That sucks. It’s not like it was a long walk home, Jake was just hoping for a lift today. He sent a quick reply to his mum and then started down the street.
Jake didn’t get many messages because he didn’t have many friends. He only had the phone for emergencies and to contact his mum, he used it for music sometimes but it didn’t have enough memory to hold all his songs. Still walking, he got his iPod of his bag and stuck the earphones in his ears. His iPod was one of those big buggers that had more memory then you could “poke a stick at”, as his mum would say. It was a birthday present and, also, a Christmas present, and probably part of his next birthday present as well.
Jake put all his songs on shuffle and walked around the corner as “Naïve” by The Kooks came on. He was talking a shortcut to his small two bedroom by going down an alleyway between two big office buildings.
As Jake turned into the normally empty alley he saw the outline of maybe three people slowly walking his way, the sun was behind them so he couldn’t tell if they were anyone he knew. He had a pulling feeling in his stomach but dismissed it, they were probably just normal people taking the same shortcut he was taking.
Jake kept his head down and walked past the three trespassers to his alley but as passed them they turned and shouted at him and Jake recognized the voice. It was Brad and two ape-like jocks who Jake didn’t recognize.
“Hey! Doofus!” Brad shouted at him. Jake kept walking but he could tell that the gang of three had now turned and were following him.
Jake was close to escaping the confines of the alley, maybe 100 meters from the busy street. He decided to make a run for it. He kicked off from the ground and started sprinting as fast as he could, which for a scrawny kid wasn’t very fast at all. Definitely not as fast as a group jocks who trained once a day, rain, hail or shine.
One of then grabbed Jake’s bag and pulled him back. Brad stepped in front of him and now Jake was surrounded. Walls on two sides, idiots on the others.
“Oi, fuckwit, when I talk to you, you answer me. ‘ight?” Brad spat at him. The two meat heads behind Jake grabbed both his arms and pinned them behind his back, he struggled but again he was no match for the stars of the football team.
“I reckon it’s time you teach this kid a fuckin’ lesson, Brad.”
Brad nodded in agreement with the meathead on Jake’s right. He shook his head and arms and cracked his knuckles and Jake tensed for what he knew was coming.
Brad shouted and swung but the punch didn't connect. Suddenly Jake’s arms were released from behind him and he fell forward into nothingness. The sounds of the street were replaced by utter silence, and then he smacked onto the ground, hard. Jake opened his eyes and saw only blackness.
And that’s when the alarm burst into life.