Wrestling Against Myself (64 page)

It was Tuesday when Antonio finally returned to Dunedin High School. There was no way his mother was going to let him drive himself. Besides, his car never left the school parking lot from when he was attacked. It took several hours for him to locate his spare set of keys.

Mrs. LaMano navigated through the student parking lot. Those that recognized who was in the passenger seat stopped what they were doing and pointed it out to others. In under a minute it was as if all activity stopped and people focused on the gray sedan as it worked its way towards the school.

“There she is.” Tony pointed to his car. “None the worse for wear, but it seems people left gifts.”

“Isn't it nice to be appreciated?” Mrs. LaMano stopped her car right next to her son's Firebird.

“I would have rather not been in the hospital,” Tony tried to hide his bitterness. “But it is appreciated.”

“I know. Are you going to be okay?”

“I'll be fine.” Tony opened the door and struggled to get out. He had to pull himself to his feet, pushing against the car to get upright. He could feel he was shaky, but there was nothing he could do about it and figured the longer he rested, the longer it would take to regain his strength.

“You sure this is a good idea,” Mrs. LaMano asked as she handed her son a pair of metal crutches.

His first impulse was to be flippant, but Tony held his tongue. “I think they kept me out of school long enough, mom,” he said as he locked his eyes on hers. “Every day I stay home it feels like they've won one more time. It will be rough going this morning, but it's only going to get better.”

“If you feel you need to, don't be too proud to call me or to find a way home. I know you're brave, but don't forget you're human and you have limitations.”

Tony propped himself up with the crutches. “Believe me,” he groaned. “I know.”

“Be good.”

“I will, mom.”

“I love you,” Mrs. LaMano said as her son closed the door. In the rear view mirror she saw her son watch her leave.

Tony did his best to get around. His car wasn't the way he had left it. Around the outside of the car were signs wishing him well, stuffed animals and remnants of candles that burned all the way down. Hundred, if not thousands of small notes and cards littered the passenger seat.

The sentiment touched the teen in a way he hadn't imagined as he choked back a tear. Despite all the drama of the beginning of the school year, this was where he belonged and was where he was wanted.

After assessing the situation, Tony
realized there was no way he was going to get his books from the back seat. His immediate response was he would attend class and not take notes, hoping he could find a few kind souls to provide them when he was ready.

Tony turned around and saw a crowd had gathered around him, watching him carefully as if a long, lost soul returned to haunt the hallowed grounds of Dunedin High School. He stood still, staring at the group, wondering what everyone was doing and if he had become a carnival sideshow.

It start with a single person clapping, but soon the sentiment grew among the crowd and the rest joined in, some more enthusiastic than others.

“It's good to be back,” Tony said as he enjoyed a brief moment with the well wishers but as it came closer to the opening bell, the crowd dispersed.

“I'm glad to see you,” Carl said as he lingered behind.

“Thought you weren't talking to me,” Tony said as he navigated up the embankment that led to the school. He was surprised how hard it was to get around.

“I think we can put that on hold, don't you? I never stopped being your friend, you know that don't you?”

“You had a crummy way of showing it.”

“Maybe. But I was doing it for your own good. I never wanted anything like this to happen to you. Never in a million years.”

“I know. So I trust you kept the school in one piece as I was gone.”

“Mostly everything is the same. A lot of people were shocked and angry about what happened to you. Peter and his group are in jail, as well as Shannon.”

“One of the prosecutors told me that yesterday. Said they were denied bail, that they were still a threat.”

“Considering what they did, I would agree.”

Tony paused as he felt himself grow tired. “What about Courtney? Has everyone been leaving her alone while I was away?”

“Most people were supportive of her right after, but I don't know how she's doing.”

“What do you mean?” Tony leaned against the wall as students smiled at him as they passed.

“I'm surprised no one told you.”

Tony was growing impatient as Carl beat around the bush. “Told me what?”

“Courtney isn't the same person we've come to know.”

“That's to be expected. I'm sure this has been as hard on her as it is for me and she's probably crawled back into her shell. I'm sure once she sees I'm okay, things will return to normal.”

“That's not what I mean. It's not that she's crawled back into her shell. She isn't she anymore; he's decided to return back to normal.”

All Tony could do was to give Carl a confused look.

“He decided to quit pretending to be something he's not and returned to being Corey.”

Tony tried to put distance between him and Carl, but he could only go so fast on the crutches and the pain became unbearable.

“Sorry you had to hear it from me.” Carl tried to be sympathetic.

“I don't believe you,” Tony spat. “Why would she do something like that?”

“He had us all fooled. But Friday and yesterday he's been making a big stink about how he fooled everyone. Being quite the jerk about it, I might add, and making a lot of enemies.”

Tony shook his head. “Nonsense.”

“The least he could have done was told you himself.”

Tony didn't want to deal with things and wasn't sure if Carl was being truthful. “I better get to class,” he said as he pivoted and made his way through the crowd.

Getting through morning classes turned out to be a greater chore than Tony realized. None of the teachers scolded him for being late, but he wasn't on time for any of his classes, discovering that getting around on crutches wasn't the easiest thing to do.

From the very first class, he learned the desks were not helping his condition. It took him forever to ease his way into the seat and once there, he couldn't get comfortable no matter how hard he tried. Lucky for him, the teacher noticed his discomfort and allowed him to sit at her desk. From that class on, teachers gave Tony a different place to sit, some at their own desk, others in a regular chair that wasn't bolted to a table.

Tony was glad it was lunchtime. Since he had trouble getting around, he hadn't the opportunity to pass Courtney in the hall. There would be no getting around them meeting at lunch and Tony getting to the bottom of the rumors going around. There was a consensus that Courtney reverted back to a masculine role, usually those comments were mixed in with a lot of anger and hatred, but Tony tried to defuse the situation the best that he knew how.

Lunch was in full swing when Tony made it to the cafeteria. He was usually one of the first people to make it inside the dining hall, but when he showed, the place was crowded.

“Glad to see you back,” Mr. Fenton greeted as soon as Antonio walked in. “We set you up with a regular chair at the end of your usual table; some of your teachers mentioned you having difficulty with the desks in the classrooms.”

“Hard to get in and out. I'm sure in a few days it will be old hat.”

“Take your time, Tiny. Did you bring your own lunch or do you need a tray?”

“I'm going to need a tray.”

“Just sit down,” Mr. Fenton said as he led the student to the chair. “I'll have someone bring you something right away.”

“Thank you.”

Tony sat down at his usual table; he was surprised that not only Carl, but Tracy, Stephanie, Dave and Ted were there as well. “I was afraid I was going to eat lunch by myself.”

“Of course not. We wouldn't do that to you,” Carl said, forgetting about the recent past. “It's good to have you back.”

“Yeah, Tiny,” Tracy said as she stood up and made her way to the teen. She gave the boy a gentle hug and a peck on the cheek. “Good to have you back.”

“Makes me wish I went to the hospital,” Carl said. 

“I doubt that,” Tony replied. “What about you two,” Tony turned his attention towards Dave and Ted. “It's Tuesday, isn't it your library day.”

“Yeah,” Dave answered. “But it could wait. We put enough work into the game to last us for a while.”

“Besides,” Ted added. “We wanted to see if you became part cyborg.”

“Sorry to disappoint you, I just have crutches.”

“Not many cyborgs with crutches,” Ted said solemnly.

Carl gave Ted a stern look and the conversation came to a halt.

“Hopefully things get back to normal pretty soon,” Tony said as he lounged in the seat.

The lunchroom turned deathly silent, not even the sound of hard plastic utensils striking trays could be heard as a room full of high school students held their collective breaths.

Tony sensed something was up and instinctively knew what it was. He turned towards the entrance and saw Courtney stand in the doorway. She didn't look like Courtney though. Instead of her usual cotton dress, she wore a pair of black jeans along with a black t-shirt emblazoned with the name of a rock group that Tony never heard of. Her hair was combed straight back, with enough gel in it to make sure it wouldn't move in a typhoon. She put her hair in a tight pony tail like the skater kids normally wore.

For a moment their eyes met. Antonio stared at her in confusion and awe, but Courtney stared back in contempt. For a second they were connected once again, but that moment was destroyed when Courtney turned up her head and walked through the line.

Tony watched as Courtney reappeared with her tray. Instead of joining him at the table, she sat at the front table where he first saw her.

“I tried to warn you,” Carl said as he noticed his friend was awestruck.

“What in the world,” Tony mumbled out loud to himself.

“Looks like he realized his actions effect more than just him,” Stephanie said.

Tony glared at the girl, but held his tongue. The tension was broken when his tray of food arrived.

“We'll have a talk about things later, Tiny,” Mr. Fenton said as he placed the overloaded tray in front of the student.

Tony found a new appreciation for the phrase 'suffering through a day of school.' He did his best to pay attention in class, but between not being comfortable in a chair and worrying about Courtney suddenly changing her appearance, he hadn't learned a thing during the second half of school. The final bell rang and he hoped there would be some answers when he saw his girlfriend after school.

There was no way that Tony was going to be able to drive himself home. He knew if he tried his mom would have a fit and would take his keys to work with her for safe keeping. It was arranged for Carl to drive Tony home in the Firebird as Tracy followed behind them in Carl's car.

The final bell rang. Tony waited as the class filed out of the room. The teenager grinned when he remembered he use to allow everyone the opportunity to push and shove each other through the door as he waited and hoped that meant that his life was returning to normal.