"Fifty Seven...Fifty Eight...Fifty Nine...Sixty." Panting, Derrick wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his arm. He flipped over into a pushup position when he heard Ariana call for him downstairs.
"Derrick! You need to come down here and eat breakfast before school." Sighing, Derrick stood up and threw on a black tshirt. Slamming all of his items into his backpack, he left his ratty room and descended the stairs.
"Morning." He said as he sat down and Ariana slid a bowl towards him with eggs and stir fry in it.
Ariana had been taking over getting him to school and back while Kai and Garrett were still in the hospital. "How did you sleep?"
"I got about five hours." He mumbled as he shoveled the first bite into his mouth.
"That's pretty good for you, how's it feel?" She put her hands on the counter and smiled.
"It feels weird. Like I was static too long." He continued to fill his mouth before he started to chew.
"Well don't get too used to staying up late, summer is coming soon. You're about to flush with time to rest and play."
"I've already got my workout routine picked out too."
"Trying to impress some girls?" She asked with a grin.
"I dunno, does your mom go to my school?" He laughed as she punched him in the arm with her wide smile.
"You ass!" She laughed and tapped the counter. "Finish your food, we need to get going."
As the two packed into her car, the sun shined through the windshield as they headed to Derrick's school. Pulling up to Jefferson High, Derrick looked out the window solemnly. "You okay?" Ariana asked as she saw the sour look on his face.
"Fine I guess. Just not excited for another day." He whined.
"You've got two months until summer. Then we can plan something fun if you like." Ariana gave him a hug in the car. "Be good, okay?" Derrick waved as he stepped out of the car and crossed the paved steps leading into the massive high school. His feet echoed against the tiles as he entered the hallway, and found his best friend waiting by her locker. Three kids approached her, one tostling her hijab, while the other two knocked the items out of her hands. Approaching faster, Derrick balled his fists as he felt the anger surge inside of him. Derrick slammed his hand against the locker next to him and dented the metal with his scarred fist. "You want to do this?"
The group of boys slowly backed off and turned around to walk away. Rema picked up her backpack and started piling her books back into it. She refitted her hijab and sighed. "You shouldn't do that, you know." She said as she proudly stood to walk again with Derrick right at her side. "Violence doesn't fix anything."
"I'm a pacifist, I wasn't going to hurt them." He casually shrugged.
"Were you a pacifist when you put that jerk Theo in the hospital?" She retorted angrily.
"I was an angry pacifist." He smiled and got a small smirk from her. "Look, anyone who picks on you for your race or your faith deserves an ass kicking." He said confidently.
"Oh, are you a gentleman now, Derrick Peterson?" She smiled at him.
"I can't help myself if a pretty girl is around." He smirked back at her and opened the door to their classroom. Taking the seat next to her, he opened his math book. "This shit is killing me."
"It's not that bad. If you'd take me up on my offer to study, I'd be happy to help." She assembled her books and notes, opening a new page and marking the date.
"You know I can't do that. My family is a bunch of weirdos." He whined.
"I'm the one willing to lie to my parents for you." She struck back.
"Alright...fine. I'll text my parents." He pulled out his phone and started typing a message to Ariana.
"Are you ashamed of your family?" She penned the messages on the board quickly.
"They're...not my blood. I'm adopted." He looked away as she eyed him.
"Are they mean to you?"
"No they're just...different." He grimaced at the idea of hiding his practices from her.
"Then it shouldn't be a problem." She said with a nod. "I'll be over at a quarter to five."
Derrick had met Rema when she was being bullied, and quickly stepped in on his first week of school. She never talked about how much crap she actually got from the student body, but behind her stern demeanor was a truly gentle soul. She tapped his book and gestured to the board to encourage his note taking, and with an exaggerated sigh he picked up his pen and went to work. They shared math, English, and history before they paused for lunch, going their separate ways. Derrick sat alone like he always did, poking at his tray of food.
"Kill anyone today, freak?" A boy passed by with a nasty look.
"If you have something to say then say it." Derrick said calmly, refusing to look up as the boy turned around and stood in front of him.
"Yeah I got something to say. What was it again?" He knocked the tray from Derrick's hands and laughed. "Oops."
Derrick clenched his fists and started to do the breathing exercises Kai had taught him. "Just go away." He mumbled.
Kyle stepped closer and put his finger out as he talked. "Or what? Are you gonna smash my head in too? Everyone here knows you're some outside from an inbred family. You probably go home and sit right in Daddy's lap." He teased. Derrick stayed quiet as he breathed, trying his best to control his temper. "You hang out with that walking terrorist all day and look what it's done to you?"
Derrick stood up and lifted his hands like a boxer. Slowly the kids around them turned their heads. "Walk away Kyle." Derrick commanded.
"After school, you're fucking dead Derrick." He slid his finger across his own throat as he backed up and walked away.
Derrick sat for a few minutes as he watched the ants slowly pick up the food on the ground before he grabbed his tray and returned it to the cafeteria. Walking into one of the study labs, he set down his backpack. "Rough day?" Mr. Coleman was sitting with his back to a wall as he chewed an apple.
"Sorta." Derrick sighed. "Just assholes like usual."
Mr. Coleman got closer and sat across from Derrick at the table. "Think you wanna talk about it?"
"People keep wanting to pick fights with me. I don't wanna hurt anyone again. I hated how it made me feel last time, but it's like my blood boils and I can't control it."
"You know when I was a kid I got in a lot of fights?" Mr. Coleman nodded. "This little jerk, Kit, he hit me in the face with a rock." Tracing his finger over a scar on his forehead he looked at Derrick. "Every day after that I fought back. I got in so much trouble I got expelled from two schools."
"What did you do?" Derrick looked up at him.
"Eventually, a really good teacher of mine sat me down and talked to me, every day for a few weeks. He turned my life around." Mr. Coleman got up and set his lunch between them to share. "That's exactly what we're gonna do."
***
Derrick heard the final bell ring and gathered his things as quick as he could. He started to run for the door despite the security guard yelling after him and headed down the hill behind the school. As he turned to look behind him, a group of six kids were already running after him and gaining on him.
