Different School, Same Problems
By Muscle Fan, covert.1@hotmail.com



My father is in the military so, naturally we move around. I'm talking a lot.
We never seem to be in any one place more than six-months which really suck's
as a kid. Well, I'm not really a kid, I'm seventeen, practically an adult, and
with any luck at all, I'll graduate this year. That is unless things go
horribly wrong.

A little bit about my family; while my father is in the military, he works as
an independent contractor to installations in the United States and around the
world, Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, etc. What he does exactly is classified
or secret or top secret or something. Anyway, we stay off-base which means
I've seen eight or nine high schools in the last four years.

My mother is a stay-at-home mom and a devout physical fitness addict. No
matter where we stay, she seeks out the nearest gym, Pilates or zumba class.
This is who I probably inherited my physical strength and athleticism from. It
keeps her sane and occupied while dad is at work.

I've taken to carrying my transcripts with me, so that it's easier for me to
transfer from school to school. Today I'm starting Laguna Beach High in
southern California. I love the beach and Laguna looks like a nice community,
now if the kids are cool, I won't have a problem.

"May I help you?" the woman behind the counter asked. "Yes, I'm Emily Martin,
I'd like to register," I said, and I slid my transcripts across the counter.
"Have a seat, a counselor will be with you in a minute, Emily," she said. I
sat and waited. "Emily," the woman said a few minutes later, "Miss Johnson
will see you now." I smiled and walked through a short swinging door.

Miss Johnson looked like she could be my sister except her hair was long. She
wore a pale grey pants suit and held the door for me as I entered. "Please,
have a seat," she said and took a seat behind her desk. She opened the file I
had brought. "Hmm," she said, "You've moved around a bit. Do you plan to be at
LBHS long?" "I hope to graduate from here. I took my SAT at the last school I
was at, so I want to go to college," I explained. She flipped the pages and
found what she was looking for. "You did well on the SAT test, have you chosen
a college?" she asked. "Not yet," I said, "I want to get into sports
medicine." "OK, let's see what we've got here," she said and consulted her
computer, jotting things down as she scrolled through whatever she was looking
at.

"I've got a college prep biology, English and geography class available, which
you need," she said, "which leaves you with a couple of electives." "What
about helping one of the coaches, can I get credit for that?" I asked. "Yes,
you can, but all I have left is an aide for varsity football," Miss Johnson
said, "you would have to stay after school for the practices and go to the
games, would that be OK?" "Sure," I said. "Alright, let me just print out a
schedule for you and our aide can show you to your class," she said.

Minutes later I was being escorted down the hall by a boy with acne who was a
half foot shorter than me. "What's it say for your first class," he asked for
the second time in five minutes. "Biology," I said, "Room 208." "Right, right,
got it," he said and smiled at me. 'Ugh,' I thought looking at his chipped
front teeth.

We climbed the stairs and by the time we had gotten to the top, he was sweaty
and out of breath. 'What a nerd,' I thought. "Look," I said, "I can find it
from here," taking off down the hall leaving him at the head of the stairs.

I entered room 208 and handed the teacher my paperwork. While he checked off
the box next to his class, he said, "Class, this is Emily Martin, Emily, this
is the class. Take a seat." I found a seat in the first aisle, midway back and
sat down.

At lunch I went to the cafeteria. I took a tray, but nothing really looked
that good or healthy. I got an apple a banana and carton of milk and went to
eat outside. I selected a table and bench that were a bit removed from rest. I
ate my banana and watched the rest of the students and monitors mill around.
As in past schools I've been at, students congregated by the groups they
associated with. The 'motor-heads' as I called them was primarily guys who
liked their cars. The 'jocks' occupied a couple of tables with the
cheerleaders giggling nearby. Underclassmen and a table full of 'nerds', the
'socialites' and a group of kids that looked like surfers, rounded out the
students eating lunch.

"You're on our bench," a pale looking guy in a trench coat said. Flanking him
was a girl wearing pancake make-up or she had had her blood drained and a
small guy wearing a black cape. "There's room enough," I said stealing a quick
look at the empty bench. "But this is our bench," the short guy said. "Get
lost, bitch," snarled the girl. I looked up and asked, "Bitch? Did you just
call me a bitch?" "Yeah, what are you going to do about it?" she asked.

Slowly I stood up, but 'trench coat' put his hand on my shoulder to hold me
where I was. I looked at his arm and said, "If you don't take your hand off of
me, I'm going to break it."

By now a couple of the jocks and others had started to take interest in our
little party.

The boy was about six-foot tall but skinny. His girlfriend, the one with the
mouth, had dyed black hair and wore red lipstick with heavy black eye liner.
The boy continued to hold my shoulder and I was sure he could feel my
trapezius through my sweatshirt. If he wasn't concerned by now, he was dumber
than he looked. I glanced to my right and a jock wearing a letterman's jacket
had gotten up and taken a step in our direction.

"Look," I said, "I'll ask you one more time, take you hand off of me and you
and your bride of Frankenstein can back off." The girl slapped my face, more
or less catching me off guard, but I grabbed the boy's arm that was on my
shoulder and in one fluid move, stood up and twisted him, bringing his arm
high up his back.

I whispered in his ear, "I'm going to enjoy this, you bastard, and you're
going to be in pain." With a quick jerk, I pulled up on his arm dislocating
the shoulder. I reversed direction and threw the tall boy into his shorter
companion. They both fell to the ground, the taller one writhing in pain as he
had landed on his injured shoulder.

I quickly looked at the girl who was frozen in place looking at the pair on
the ground. With a right jab, I hit her in the mouth, breaking at least one
tooth and perhaps more. Blood began to trickle from her puffy lip almost
instantly. "Now who's the bitch, bitch?" I asked.

She bent over and blood began to pool at her feet. One of the noon monitors
came running. "What happened?" he asked looking at the bleeding girl and the
two boys on the ground, the taller of the two moaning with tears running down
his cheeks.

"She hit me," the pale girl said, although it sounded like, 'Shese it mi.'
"Who are you," the man asked. "Emily Martin," I told him. "Did you hit her,
Ms. Martin," he asked. "Yes, she called me a bitch," I said. "Uh-huh," the man
said, "You'll all have to come with me." By now two women aides had shown up
and a group of students encircled us.

The three aides escorted myself, the girl and the two boys to the office.
"Wait here," the male aide said indicating the bench outside of the
principal's office. The same secretary that had helped me before said, "Seth,
Skylar and William, you three can go in now." The boy got up cradling his
dislocated arm. The girls bleeding had stopped but there was a nice gap where
she had lost two teeth. I was pleased.

Fifteen minutes passed and then twenty. Finally the door opened and the three
exited, looking at me with a sneer. "Ms. Martin," the principal said from the
doorway. I followed him in to his office. "Please, shut the door." I did.
"Have a seat, Ms. Martin," he said. Once I was seated he said, "I see this is
your first day here." "Yes, sir," I said. "It seems to me you're off to a
rocky start," he said. "Yes, sir," I said. "Now before I call your parents,
perhaps you'd like to tell me what happened," he asked.

I told him what happened and that it really started when 'trench coat' put his
hand on my shoulder and escalated when the 'pale witch' slapped me. I doubt
that the three had told him as much and for all practical purposes it was my
word against theirs.

Just then the principal's intercom buzzed. "Mr. Reus, Jason Bailey is here to
see you, it's about the fight at lunch," the secretary said. "Very well, send
him in," Mr. Reus the principal said. The guy in the letterman's jacket came
in. "Hi, Jason," Mr. Reus said, "all set for Friday night?" "Yes sir, ready as
I'll ever be," he said. "Good, good. So you wanted to add something about what
happened at lunch?" the principal said. "Well, sir, Seth put his hand on this
girls shoulder and held her down while Skylar slapped her. I think she," and
he nodded in my direction, "was just defending herself." "I see," Mr. Reus
said, "thank you, Jason, you can go to practice, tell your folks hello for
me." Dismissed, Jason left.

"So, what am I to do with you, Ms. Martin?" he asked. I didn't respond for a
minute but then said, "I'm not sure, sir," and glanced at the clock, and then
added, "I have to meet Coach Sanders in five minutes." He glanced at my
schedule. "Oh, you're the new aide for Coach Sanders," Principal Reus said,
"Good luck with that, get out of here, Sanders doesn't like anyone to be
late." "Yes, sir," I said and left.

Coach Sanders was gruff, with a loud deep voice. I liked him right away. I
carried balls to the field, filled water bottles, made sure there was ample
adhesive tape for taping fingers and ankles, etc. I made sure the football
team was hydrated and watched them run their scrimmages and plays.

The coach was talking to a group of linesmen and I ran the water bottles to
some of the other players, Jason Bailey, included. "Thank you for talking to
the principal," I told him as he took his helmet off. "That's OK," he said,
"Seth and his crew is a pain in the ass. They're misfits," he took a drink
from the water bottle; "They've been in trouble before." "I don't think
principal Reus did anything to them," I said, taking the water bottles back
from Jason and the other players. "Probably because his father is on the city
council and his mother is on the school board," Jason said. I nodded and
turned to walk away and Jason jogged after me. "Stick around until I shower
and I'll walk you home," he said. "OK," I said and headed for the sidelines.

The sun went down and soon practice was over. As the varsity squad ran off the
field, Coach Sanders said, "You did well, Martin, for your first day, are you
going to hang in there?" "Yes, coach," I said. "Good, see you tomorrow then,"
he said. I carried the equipment to the portable building that served as the
equipment storage room and was about to lock the door when I was pushed to the
ground.

Skylar, Seth and William had been hiding under the bleachers and from the
smell in the air, had been smoking pot. "You dislocated my shoulder, you
bitch," Seth said, "I had to get it re-set and it hurt like hell." I looked up
at him and smiled, then said, "Ah, poor baby, couldn't take a little pain?"
"Get her, William," Seth said. William hesitated then moved toward me and was
going to deliver a kick to my ribs, but I reached out and up, lifting him off
his one leg. He tried to catch himself on the corner of the storage shed, but
misjudged and fell, hitting his head on the way down.

"You assholes are really pathetic," I said, getting up quickly. Seth lurched
towards me and I delivered a jab to his solar plexus that doubled him over. I
turned to Skylar and said, "Ready for a little more dental work, sweet
cheeks?" clenching my fists. Through her still puffy lips she said, "Screw
you," and ran off.

Seth was still doubled over clutching his stomach. I leaned down and spoke
softly in his pierced ear, "If you come after me again, I'll break a few more
bones, Seth, do you understand?" He didn't say anything and I grabbed him by
the neck and pinned him against the storage shed and drove my knee into his
groin. He screamed and his face went red. I released my grip and he slumped to
the ground clutching his genitals. He rolled and curled into a fetal position.
I knelt beside him and said, "Remember, if you or your pals come after me
again, I'll beat you to a pulp. Got it?" This time he managed to nod, a
whimper escaping his lips. I patted his cheek and said, "Good boy," and stood
up.

I locked the storage shed and as I walked across the field, the lights went
off. 'Perfect', I thought, 'the lights went off for Seth and William a few
minutes ago'.

Jason was waiting for me outside the team's locker room. "So what do you think
of Laguna Beach?" he asked. "It's nice; I like it here," I said, "well, except
for Seth and his gang." He laughed and said, "I hope they don't cause any more
problems." "I don't think they will," I said, "They tried to hassle me over at
the equipment shed. They were smoking pot under the bleachers." He stopped and
held my arm so I would stop. "What did you do?" Jason asked. "They surprised
me and knocked me down, and then William was going to kick me when I upended
him and he hit his head," I said, "but to make a long story short, I kneed
Seth in the balls and Skylar ran off."

We began walking again, leaving the school grounds. "You should report them
tomorrow to the principal. Maybe he'll suspend them or something," Jason said.
I chuckled and said, "We'll see."

We had only gone one block and were on a street where the trees obscured the
light from the street lights. I changed the subject away from Seth and his
crew to Jason. He was going to college on a football scholarship. "So, what
about you, Emily, are you going to college in fall too?" he asked. "I want to
but we move around so much, but if I can stay in a dorm or find a roommate who
has an apartment, I may," I said.

Suddenly, Seth stepped from behind a tree blocking our way. "Well, look at the
love birds," he said. He had a length of pipe in his hands. Jason and I came
to a halt. "What do you want, Seth," Jason asked, "why don't you leave Emily
alone?" "Why don't you leave Emily alone," Seth mocked, "I'll tell you why,
because she disrespected me, she needs to be taught a lesson." "He's mad," I
said to Jason, "because a girl got the better of him," and then to Seth, I
said, "I told you back at school that if you came after me again, I'd beat you
to a pulp, apparently you didn't understand or are just too stupid."

I lifted my sweatshirt over my head and stretched. I curled one arm and my
bicep pumped into a ball. "You should have really listened to me back there,
Seth," I said. "Who do you think you are the hulk?" Seth said. I chuckled,
"Funny, bitch; I'm just some little girl that's going to beat you silly." He
stood there watching me, his smile never wavering.

"Wow," Jason said, "You really do have muscles," and just then there was a
loud thump as Jason was struck from behind and collapsed to the ground. I
turned to see William standing there smiling with a baseball bat in his hand.
Before he could raise the bat to swing it at me, I grabbed it from him and
broke it in half over my knee. I tossed the two pieces aside and grabbed his
shirt collar with one hand and his crotch with the other hand and lifted him
over my head and threw him against a tree. He moaned and was trying to reach
behind him to massage his back.

I turned to Seth. "Where's the 'Bride of Frankenstein'?" I asked, "Is she
hiding behind a tree too?" As I suspected, she was and stepped out to stand
beside Seth. She was holding a broken bottle in front of her.

"Hmm," Jason moaned lying on the ground, "what happened?" "You OK, Jason," I
asked without taking my eyes off of Seth and Skylar. "Uh-huh, but I think my
collar bone is broke," he said. "I'll be with you in a minute, but right now I
have to take care of these two wimps," I said, and Jason looked to see Seth
and Skylar standing there.

Skylar began to circle to my right while Seth stood his ground, tapping the
pipe he held against his open palm. "I'm going to cut you up, bitch," she
said. I chuckled and said, "You can try, but plan on getting cut yourself," I
said. She kept advancing and once she felt she was in range, she lunged, the
broken bottle held waist high, going for my abs. As she did, I kicked out
making contact with her wrist. She immediately let go of the bottle. Still her
forward momentum carried her forward and I cocked my arm and gave her an elbow
in face, shattering her nose. Blood gushed from the broken appendage and she
went down with a wail.

I turned back to Seth. "Your girlfriend is a pansy-ass, but so are you," I
said, flexing my arms, "Come on, I don't have all night." He was still looking
at Skylar moaning on the ground, her bloody hands clutching her broken nose. I
was sure he was weighing his options; whether to fight or run. "She wasn't
very pretty to begin with," I told Seth, "so maybe a good plastic surgeon will
help."

He apparently reached a decision and said, "You've really got a big mouth,
bitch," as he took a timid step closer. I smiled at him and said, "Yeah, but
I've delivered on everything I've told you, by the way, how are your balls?"
and I laughed. Humiliated, he began to advance in my direction, holding the
pipe in front of him, moving it from side to side.

At last he lunged, using the pipe as he would a sword. As he did, I
sidestepped and took his wrist in the crook of me arm, snapping it. He
released the pipe and it clattered to the sidewalk. I brought his arm behind
his back and it easily dislocated, again. With my free arm, I punched him
three times in the ribs, breaking several.

I let go of his wrist and turned him to face me, and then hit him square in
the nose, shattering the cartilage. Like Skylar, blood poured from his face.
He collapsed against the tree next to Skylar.

I bent and picked up the pipe and he immediately held out his arm that didn't
have the broken wrist to ward off any blow I might deliver. I chuckled and
said, "Relax, Seth, I'm not going to hit you with this," and I bent the pipe
so that each end nearly touched. I tossed it aside. "But what I am going to do
is slow you down a bit," and I brought my foot down hard across his femur
snapping it. He howled and porch lights began to come on in the nearby houses.

I grabbed my sweatshirt and put it on and helped Jason to his feet. I then
turned to the three thugs and said, "If you say a word about this, to anyone,
I'll have to get rid of you, do you understand?" Slowly they each nodded.

The closest neighbor came out on his porch and I yelled to him; "Call the
police, there's three kids who were hit by a car." The man only nodded and
darted back into his house. Turning once again to the three, I said, "That was
my good deed, you assholes had better leave Jason and I alone and forget about
tonight except for what I told you."

They nodded once again and I said to Jason, "Come on, let's get you to a
hospital, and get that shoulder looked at," and we walked off holding hands.

As I waited for Jason at the hospital, I thought, 'Different school, same
problem, but a better outcome,' and smiled to myself, 'but time, of course,
will tell.'