Junior Year Box Set

I saw Rachel stiffen up as she looked into the backyard. I turned in time to see Buster make a beeline for Precious. Oh, shit! Brit would never forgive me. I had my Bo staff next to me and picked it up. Precious hunched her back, hissed at Buster, and then yowled. The noise caused Buster to stop in his tracks. Hell, anyone would freeze if they heard that. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a brown flash as Duke tackled Buster to protect his friend.

I had never seen him so ferocious. Every time I needed protecting, he was behind me telling me to take care of it. It was as if they had planned it out as Precious jumped into the fray. Buster was a huge pit bull, and I suddenly had a vision of him killing both Duke and Precious. I never expected him to roll over on his back and surrender. As quickly as it started, it was over. I checked the combatants over, and everyone seemed to be okay.

We gathered up Duke and Buster, put them on their leashes, and began our run. I practiced with my Bo staff as we ran. I found my lower arms, wrists, and hands felt it after my morning run.

“You look like a baton twirler. Do you plan on going out for the marching band?” Rachel teased me.

“I’ll get you!” I yelled, and she broke into a sprint.

The little shit was fast. I could have caught her, but we were having way too much fun. Buster and Duke both enjoyed the chase. The only problem was Rachel was screaming as I ran after her. I’m six-four and have a big stick in my hand. She’s five-two and running for her life. We only made it five blocks before a police car pulled up. I had to laugh when Billy jumped the curb to put the squad car between my victim and me.

I think if they let him take the bullet out of his shirt pocket, he might have shot me. Billy jumped out of his car as if he thought we were on TV. I stopped and grinned at him. Rachel was of no help. She collapsed in a front yard, trying to get her breath back. I let go of Duke, and he and Buster joined Rachel on the lawn. Billy saw it was me and visibly relaxed but still had his hand on his gun.

“Are you going to shoot me?” I asked.

“I’m not sure yet. Were you trying to kill that little girl?”

“Only if I caught her, but she’s pretty fast.”

“What’s that in your hands?” he asked.

“It’s a Bo staff. I use it in my martial arts classes,” I said, handing it to him.

Billy hefted it and shook his head.

“You could really hurt someone with this.”

By now all the neighbors on the block were on their front porches to see what I was doing that would attract the police. Rachel came over and apologized to Billy. She said we were just playing. Of course, he wanted me to show him what I could do with my martial arts tool, so I demonstrated some of the flashier moves. Billy decided I wasn’t a menace, and let Rachel and me go home.

◊◊◊

In a small town, news travels fast, whether good or bad. If I ever did anything wrong, word of it would beat me home. When I got to school, Alan stopped me in the parking lot.

“I heard you got arrested this morning for trying to kill a little girl.”

“That would explain why I’m at school now,” I shot back.

“Everyone knows you can talk your way out of anything,” Alan smirked.

“Oh, yes, I’m the star football player, and the whole town covers up for me,” I said in a snarky voice. “That must have been why the cops suddenly showed up.”

“So, you did get arrested,” Alan pounced.

I rolled my eyes and lunged for him. Alan was prepared and ran into the school. I found him surrounded by, well, everybody. I ignored them all and went to class.

◊◊◊

In second period Trig, Alan was smart enough not to sit next to me. I found Zoe giving me funny looks.

“Yes, the police were called on me this morning,” I admitted.

“Really?”

“Yep. You might want to stay away from me. I sometimes raise a little hell.”

“What did you do?”

At least Zoe really wanted to understand what had happened, so I told her the whole story. She figured it was still okay to hang out with me.

◊◊◊

At lunch, we started our college test prep class. Ms. Jaroslav was teaching it, and the rest of the week we would take tests to see where we stood and what we need to work on to maximize our scores. The SAT had three parts: Critical Reading, Math, and Writing. The ACT had five sections: English, Reading, Math, Science, and an optional Writing portion. Today we were taking a test that covered both English and Reading. Before we started, Ms. Jaroslav had some test-taking tips.

“Read the instructions on the test cover and those for each test carefully. Take your time and carefully read each question. Do not get stuck on any one question. Answer the easy ones first, and then come back for the hard ones. On hard questions, eliminate any obviously wrong answers.”

Ms. Jaroslav paused to make sure she had our attention.

“Answer every question. You’re scored on the number of correct answers you give. You’re not penalized for guessing. So, if you get close to the end of the test-taking time, and you have some unanswered questions, make your best guess.