Wrestling Against Myself (13 page)

The group watched as Tony stood up and grabbed his tray.

“There he goes again,” Shannon said lightheartedly. “All he needs is a cape and a mask.”

“Behave,” Tony said as he walked past the football player. “I guess I'll leave you in charge. Tell Stephanie that I said hello whenever she makes it here.”

Tony walked towards the front of the cafeteria. There was a low buzz as usual, but he could only pick up only bits and pieces of words and tried to filter them out. He made his way to the table where Courtney was sitting and walked along the opposite side before putting his tray down across from her.

“Mind if I join you?” Tony said just loud enough for the girl to hear him.

Courtney looked up. “No, I don't mind.”

“Good.” Tony smiled as he lowered himself into the bench seat. “I was going to sit down anyway,” he said as a joke.

Courtney gave a faint smile and then returned to picking at her pasta.

“You must like this table,” Tony continued the conversation on his own. “You might not realize it, but this is where they put guys who get into trouble.”

Courtney raised her eye at the boy, but still didn't talk.

“At least you'll get a head start if you want to do something bad,” Tony tried to make a joke.

Courtney still didn't respond as she ate a small forkful of pasta.

“Has your day gone okay?”

“It's been fine.”

Tony smiled. “So you do talk.”

“Sometimes.
It’s just that. Never mind.”

“Come on, you can tell me. I'm a pretty nice guy, ask anyone.”

Courtney found the statement amusing.

“Hey, that looks good on you. You should smile more often. So, sometimes what?”

“Sometimes I don't like hearing my own voice. It's not like the other girls.”

“Sounds fine to me. But what do guys know, right?”

“Some girls sound almost like they're singing. I sound so blah sometimes.”

Antonio shrugged. “I couldn't tell the difference. I'm surprise us guys actually speak words and don't grunt all the time. Anyone bothering you today?”

“Not really. I mean, no one bumped into me after you talked to Henry yesterday.”

“That's good. Sometimes boys do that when they like a girl, they just don't know how to go about it.”

“I doubt Henry likes me.”

“So you know him?”

“We went to Palm Harbor Academy together.”

“I take it you two don't get along.”

Tony could sense someone walking behind him. “Hey freak,” a nasty voice said behind him.

The smile immediately left Courtney's face.

Tony shot out from under the table and turned around sharply, almost knocking the person behind him to the ground. “Excuse me,” he said before even knowing who it was. It was Roger.

“Sorry Tiny,” Roger said apologetically as he backed away. “wasn't talking to you.”

Antonio lowered his brow as he stared the guy down. In a low, even voice, he issued his warning. “I don't care if I'm around or not, you are not going to say that word again or we'll have serious issues.”

Roger gulped and simply nodded before making his escape.

Tony returned to his seat. “What is it with people?”

“You didn't have to do that.” The worry was written all over Courtney's face. “I get that all the time.”

“Get what? People calling you names?”

Courtney nodded her head yes.

“It doesn't make it right.”

Courtney shrugged. “It is what it is.”

“And it's wrong. Plain and simple. You don't deserve that. Nobody does.”

“It's not like I can stop them.” Courtney frowned as she returned to eating her meal.

'But I can,' Antonio thought to himself.

The rest of the meal, until the first warning bell rang, was eaten in silence.

Another day of school was finally over. Tony was standing at his locker, trying to figure out which books were to be kept there the rest of the year and which ones he would keep at home. Only one text book, American government, was needed at both. He wouldn't have bothered with the books, but he was wasting time, hoping that since he had extended contact with Courtney she wouldn't delay getting to her own locker.

“Tiny,” a voice called out from down the hall.

Antonio looked over and saw John Sharp making his way towards him. “What's up? Not like you to hang around after the bell.”

“Got to wait on my sister, she got detention and she's my ride home.”

“I could give you a ride if you want.”

“Nah,” John said as he leaned against the wall. “If you gave me a ride my sister would be waiting around wondering what happened to me. Then she'd tell our parents and I'll be hearing it all night.”

“Weight room is open,” Tony suggested.

“Easy, big fella,” John said with a laugh. “You might be addicted to working out, but I'll wait until coach makes us do all that preseason stuff.”

“Suit yourself. Coach wants me to cut back on the lifting, something about getting burned out.”

“You should make him cut back on the
sprints; you're almost not a heavyweight anymore.”

“This is as low as I'm going to get. I got to make sure I keep my fat percentage up. It's at ten percent now, I don't want to chance getting below seven and forfeiting the season.”

“Funny, isn't it? Last year you were worried about keeping the weight off and this year you're worried about keeping it on.”

Tony grimaced. “Yeah, real funny.”

“Saw you at lunch sitting with that girl up front. Tiny got a new girlfriend?”

“No.”

“She an old girlfriend?”

“John,” Tony said sternly.

“Want to tell me to fuck off?”

“John!”

“Sorry Tiny.” John was pleased that he got a rise out of his teammate. “I thought since you weren't sitting with the Bible thumpers you got cured.”

Antonio looked sideways at the smaller teen. “Cured of what?”

“You know, Holier Than Thouness.”

“You're too much. I don't think I've ever been the holier than thou type.”

“You've come close,” John said with a smirk. “But people love you anyway.”

“Speaking of the girl, you find out anything else? Like why people want her to drop out of school?”

“I tried talking to Peter about it at lunch, but he was pissed off.”

“He needs to relax.”

“Maybe. But, I'll find out something and let you know what the big deal is.”

“Want to walk me out to my car; maybe I'll let you drive it around the parking lot once.”

John looked up and down the hall. “Let's stay here, in the air conditioning.”

Tony checked to see what John might be looking for, but didn't see anything. “I got to get going. There's always something going on somewhere, you know how it is.”

“I guess I'll wait by detention, I just hope they don't throw me in there.”

Tony watched as his friend walked away and then went down the hall. He exited to the south and when he turned the corner he could see a group of guys standing in a circle and causing some sort of commotion. With the bell having rung fifteen minutes prior, there was no one around to intervene.

Tony took off in a sprint to see what the ruckus was about.

Peter, Roger, Jason, and Henry had circled the small girl. Each was pushing her towards the other.

“Stupid freak,” Peter called out as he shoved Courtney towards Jason.

“Yeah,” Jason yelled as he pushed her into another direction. “Can't escape us now, can you, freak.”

Roger spun the girl to face away from him and held her arms. “What do you have to say, freak?”

“Leave me alone,” Courtney cried out in a whine.

Tony made it to the group before any real damage could be done. “Hey!” he shouted.

Peter turned sharply. “Stay out of this Tiny; it's none of your business.”

“I'm making it my business.” Tony shoved Peter and Roger to the side and stood next to Courtney. “What it the world is going on?”

“That freak got me a ticket yesterday,” Peter steamed.

“Really?” Tony remained calm; he wasn't going to escalate things further. “Did she tell you to pull out of the school like that yesterday?” 

“It's still her fault, she owes me a hundred and thirty-eight dollars and I want it now.” Peter postured towards the girl but Tony stepped in front of her, blocking his view.

“No, it’s your fault. You're lucky you didn't ram into anyone when you peeled out.”

“It's none of your business Tiny. Why are you standing up for this freak?”

Tony swallowed his tongue, he wanted to correct the name calling, but the situation was already at its tipping point. “Why are you picking on her, on such a small girl?”

“That freak is...”

“Break it up, break it up,” a voice called from the direction of the administration building.

The group looked and saw the vice principal, Mr. Fenton heading their way.

“Great,” Peter said as he stepped back into a cluster with his three friends.

Antonio and Courtney stepped together away from the group and towards the wall.

“You got some explaining to do,” Mr. Fenton said as he addressed the group of four.

“We were just having a conversation,” Peter answered for the group.

Mr. Fenton did not look pleased. “I saw what was going on from my office,” he said in a low, even tone, “which is where I want all of you right now. We do not tolerate hazing on this campus.”

“But,” Peter tried to raise an objection.

“But, now!” Mr. Fenton said as he pointed towards the administration building.

Antonio and Courtney stood around, each wondering if they too were going to be sent to the office.

“Are you okay, Courtney,” Mr. Fenton said to the small girl.

Tony found it odd that the vice principal would already know the girls name; usually it took months for the administrators to know the new students.

Courtney nodded her head yes.

“Tiny, thanks for stepping in.”

“No problem,” Tony answered.

“You two run along,” Mr. Fenton dismissed them. “I'll deal with the others.”

Tony looked past Mr. Fenton and could see John Sharp watching in the distance. He made a mental note of that but wasn't going to address him at the moment. He turned and started walking away. Courtney walked right beside him.