Date: Thu, 5 Nov 2009 08:38:24 -0700
From: K_V D <concertoind@gmail.com>
Subject: Under My Skin - 18

This is a work of fiction. All the resemblances are completely accidental.
Don't read it if you are not supposed to. You know the drill. My e-mail is
ConcertoInD@Gmail.com if you want to tell me something (insults, praises,
and whatnot). Thanks!



				  - VI -



            The next morning Christy firmly told me and Sam that if either
one of us will say anything to anyone, she will kill herself. I knew that
she was serious and grudgingly agreed to keep my mouth shut. Sam did the
same. Christy made up some wild story about mugging and to my enormous
surprise everyone believed it, including Matt.

   On Monday morning I drove to school, thinking about calculus test and how
I was hoping that I won't fail it. I didn't like math in general. I was okay
at it but I did not like it. I got out of my car and was walking across the
parking lot when someone grabbed my shoulder. I turned around and then all
my reasoning and common sense went out of the window.

"Jake", Landon said quickly. "I really need to talk to..."

   I guess the last word of that sentence would've been "you" but I never
let him finish. I swung my arm and hit him so hard in the face that he
literally flew backwards. He sat up and shook his head slowly, blood
trickling down from his nose that was positioned at a strange angle now. I
didn't care if I would get suspended or even if I would get expelled by that
point. I just wanted to hurt him. I wanted to hurt him so bad that my entire
body was shaking violently. I threw my backpack on the ground and lunged at
him.

"What the fuck, dude..." he growled when I got closer.

   I pushed him down and sat on his chest. The irony of the situation
touched my hazed mind with a shadow of a smirk. "Well", something whispered
in my head. "You are mounting him, just like you wanted..." Yeah, except now I
wanted a different thing. I didn't want to fuck him. I wanted to kill him. I
started beating him with my fists and finally he managed to push me away. He
hit me in the stomach and it hurt so much that I couldn't breathe for a few
seconds but I didn't care.

   We started fighting and I was amazed at how much strength my hatred gave
me. I mean, I am not a tiny guy, I am fairly tall and well built. It's just
I never got into such violent fights before. I would get into a fight now
and then, especially when I was around fifteen or so, and my father would
always beat the living crap out of me when I came back home with a black eye
or a busted lip. I knew how to take care of myself when it came to fighting
but I never beat anyone before with a single thought in my head that rang
the same shrill tune: "Murder".

   Landon could hold his own pretty well also and after a while we both
looked like two rejects from *The Gladiator* show. I couldn't even feel any
pain. Every time he would hit me, it was like I was injected with something
that numbed me so much that my skin felt as if it was made out of vinyl. I
think I probably would end up messing him up enough to get expelled when
someone pulled us apart.

   I almost laughed when I realized that I was held by three guys.

"I am going to kill you!" Landon was screaming at me and my rage turned from
brilliant red into blinding white.

   I growled and tried to lunge at him again but those three guys held me
back. Landon tried to do the same but he was dragged away by our gym teacher
who used to be a heavy weights lifter. I shook my head, trying to get the
blood and my long by now hair out of my eyes.

"Let go!" I growled. "Let me go!!"

"Are you going to go on a rampage?" one of the guys asked me and I
recognized his voice.

   It was Mike Barton from my class. I shook my head again.

"No", I said in a calmer voice. "Let go of me... I've got blood in my eyes..."

   They let me go hesitantly. All three of them looked like they were ready
to grab me the minute I do something even remotely funny. I wiped my face
with a back of my hand and brushed my hair off my forehead.

"Jesus, Jake..." Mike said quietly. "What the hell happened?"

"Nothing", I muttered and winced when I saw our principal almost flying
towards me like a valkyrie. I could almost hear Wagner's music in my head.

   She looked like she was about to kill me herself.

"In my office", she hissed, her green eyes mad slits behind her glasses. "My
office, Summers!! Now!!!"



   She slammed the door of her office so hard that the pictures on the walls
shook in fear.

"Sit!" she barked and marched to her desk.

   I sat in the chair and carefully touched my cheek. Yeah, it's going to
hurt for a while now. Oh, well, was totally worth it. The principal sat in
her chair and looked at me. I could see that she was fuming.

"Summers", she said in a very dangerous voice. "What was that?!"

   I shrugged indifferently and her face became paler. Some people become
really red in the face when they are mad. Mrs. Hailey became pale. If she
got to the point when she looked paper-white, the best thing anyone could
do, was run and hide because Hailey could get vicious.

"Jake", she said evenly. "You got completely out of control. Landon did too.
What happened?!"

   I sighed. If I shrug again she'll probably hit me with her stapler. I
looked at it. It seemed really heavy.

"He..." I hesitated. I was really tempted to tell her what he did to Christy
but I knew that Chris would do something drastic if I did. "He hurt
Christy", I finally said.

"Hurt Christy?" Hailey frowned. "Physically?"

("Yes! The son of a bitch raped her on Friday night and all I want to do is
to rip his head off right now!!")

"No", I said forcefully. "She walked in on him while he was screwing Danetta
Ray..."

   Hailey's face became paler and I realized that "screwing" probably wasn't
the best word choice. She took a deep breath as if to keep herself from
doing me bodily harm.

"So you decided to kill him?" she asked and I shrugged again. "Summers... Do
you realize that I can expel you for this?"

"Yes, ma'am", I answered almost cheerfully and she closed her eyes.

("Okay, shut up, Jake! Just shut up! If she gets any paler she *will* expel
you. And then she will probably beat the crap out of you with that damn
stapler...")

"Summers", she breathed without opening her eyes. "I am going to give you a
full week suspension. And I need to see your parents."

   I coughed at that and she opened her eyes.

"I am afraid that won't be possible", I said in a very respectful tone of
voice. "I moved out of my parents' house back in September."

   She stared at me silently and I was surprised when I was able to keep my
eyes linked to hers without looking away. Finally she sighed and her cheeks
got just slightly more pink. I was relieved.

"I see", she said. "Summers, if something like this happens again..." she
leaned forward. "I *will* expel you. And the same goes for Landon. I will
tell him later. Got it?"

"Yes, ma'am", I nodded.

"Good", she said and sat up straight. "Now get the hell out of my office and
I don't want to see you until next Monday!"

   I looked at her with respect. Not many principals would talk like this
but she was always very straight forward. Sometimes I thought of her as if
she was made out of steel.

"Yes, ma'am", I said again and got up.

"Go clean your face", she said sharply. "You look like a bad horror movie
character!"

   I grinned at that and she immediately barked:

"Go!!"



****



   Christy called me as soon as the school day was over.

"Jake!" she almost screamed on the phone. "Where are you?! What the hell
happened? Everybody keeps talking about you beating the shit out of
Landon!!"

"Oh yeah?" I said with interest. "Cool."

"Cool?!" she reminded me of Hailey right now. "Where are you?"

"Home", I sighed.

"Stay put!" she barked and hung up the phone.

   She rang my door bell fifteen minutes later and when I opened the door,
her jaw literally dropped.

"Oh my God..." she said softly. "Jake! Your face!..."

"I've had worse", I grinned and stepped aside to let her in.

   Her face started to look really funny and I frowned.

"Bailey", I said with a warning. "If you start crying, I'll shove you back
in your car and you will go home, go it?"

   Christy sniffled but didn't cry.

"Come on", I laughed. "Let's go get ice cream. If someone gawks at me I'll
just tell them that you beat me up."

   That got her smile.