Chapter 8

Norm and Dylan tucked their noses into the books the entire night, cramming information into their overworked brains to prepare for their finals. They studied until 1:00 am before opting for sleep or suffer worse consequences tomorrow. Heeding the knight’s warning, Dylan took the first watch and alternated between peering out the window, checking outside his room and pacing. At 4:00 am, Norm relieved Dylan. Three hours was better than nothing. He bathed in the computer's glow, looking up anything and everything about magic trees or black shadow monsters.

As the dawn crept through the window, the alarm shattered the silence like an air-raid siren. Dylan sprang from his bed, rubbing the blurriness from his eyes. The clock: 7:00am. “Dude!” Norm slept reclined in the chair, unmoving, snoring like a chainsaw. Dylan whipped a pillow across the room and hit him square in the face.

“Pff! What was that for?” Norm adjusted his glasses.

“You were supposed to keep watch! How long have you been out?”

Norm squinted at the clock. “I swear, it just said 6:30. Or maybe I dreamed it. I don’t know, man. You know me when it comes to food and sleep. Sometimes I just need to do it. Sorry.”

“Yeah, well, if that thing shows up in my room, guess what? You probably won’t have to worry about food or sleep again. Now get ready. We gotta get through today. Then we can figure out what to do!”

An hour later, they exited the bus, quickly consumed by the sea of teen angst swarming the front of the school.

“This is weird.” Dylan said, entering the beige brick building. “My first day back is the last day of school.”

“Are you complaining about school being over?”

“No.” Dylan said, dodging a kid running down the hall. “I just don’t want to be here. I feel like I’m putting everyone in danger.”

“Dude, you wouldn’t be here if you didn’t have to,” Norm reassured him. “We’re probably safer here than anywhere-”

“Guys!” Clik-Clik-Clik- The telltale clatter of crutches brought the conversation to an immediate halt. “Guys!” The nasal voice pierced their eardrums. “Guys!” The entire student body parting could only announce the arrival of Ward Weir, otherwise known… as Weird. A few inches taller than Dylan, Weird had an awkwardly thin frame. Walking with the aid of forearm crutches, Weird’s jerky gait resembled an untrained marionette. Wiry bright red hair crowned an over-sized, egg-shaped head, yet failed to conceal his pastry-like ears or his or wide-set hazel eyes that appeared to be looking out the sides of his head.

“Yo, D-Max! Wildman! What up?” Weird hoisted a crutch, fist bumping his friends. He made every effort to come across as a laid back, cool kid, trying to act as if everything was normal in his world, as if he were no different from anyone else. Yet, Weird was as unique as they come.

“What’s up, Weird?” Dylan and Norm said simultaneously.

“Yo, Dylan, how you been, bro?” Weird’s eyes tweaked and rolled in different directions when he talked. “I haven’t heard from you at all. I’m sorry about your grandpa. I sent you a card.” If there was one thing to know about Weird, he was sincere.

“I got it.” Dylan nodded and smiled. “Thanks, man. I just want to get through these finals.”

“Like you gotta worry, brainiac!” Weird’s toothy smile was wider than a Cheshire cat. “Boswell said everything is from her notes and Mr. Z loves the textbook. You got it cold, man!”

“Hope so,” Dylan said, fighting off a yawn.

“What are you guys doing tonight? I hear there are some end-of-the-year parties.”

“Umm…I think we might-” Norm conjured the first excuse that came to mind, “go… camping.”

“Camping? You two?” Weird’s face contorted beyond what it normally did. Dylan tried to contain his own surprise.

Norm straightened himself. “Yeah, we had this plan to, you know, go check out nature, sleep in a tent, under the stars.” Dylan glared at Norm as he dug the hole deeper.

“Sounds romantic.” Weird said before shifting thought gears. “That’s cool. I was hoping you could vid-chat with me so I could, you know, see what’s actually happening at one of the parties.” Weird’s parents rarely, if ever, allowed him out to social functions.

“Sorry, man,” Dylan said, happy to change the subject. “I wouldn’t be able to do it, anyway. My phone got fried at the funeral.”

Weird fumbled in his pocket. “Here, take this one. Digits are on the back.”

“No, dude! I can’t take your cell,” Dylan said, even though Weird’s obsession and talent with electronics always seemed to keep him stocked with an arsenal of computers, phones and, of course, games.

“No, it’s cool. I got a new free one for setting up some cell tower security systems.” Weird held up his new royal blue phone, his head bobbing awkwardly from side to side as he handed Dylan a scuffed up black phone. “This one is my dad’s Air Force issued phone. It’s a little old, but it’s got full sat GPS, pan-camera. Pretty much everything. He gave it to me a while ago and I’m not using it, so, here. You guys could take it camping and use the cam from there… maybe.” Weird drifted into a familiar loneliness.

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Dylan looked remorsefully at the black smartphone, a significant upgrade from his. “Weird, I just don’t-”

Norm nudged Dylan. “Wait-a-minute. That’s a great idea. Weird, you’re the man! What if we got lost camping, Dylan?”

“Sure, I guess.” Dylan extended his hand, still hesitant to accept his generosity. “I mean, maybe we’ll text you from wherever we go and if we get lost, you can be the hero.”

“Cool!” Weird pressed the phone into Dylan’s palm. “Just go to the settings to get the instructions and-ow!” A hard open hand to the back of Weird’s head broke off his words.

“You’re blocking the hall, freak!” a gravelly voice boomed in his ear.

“Bakowski! Why do you have to be such a dirtbag?” Dylan said, his grip tightening around his books.

Victor Bakowski’s vicious appearance was exceeded only by his cruel demeanor. His narrow eyes, rough stubble and shaved head spread negativity through his mere presence. Victor not only looked nasty, the reek of cigarettes and his naturally foul body odor could drive a herd of cattle.

“The freakazoid needs to learn to get out of my way! Got me?” Victor challenged Dylan, standing nose to nose with him. “By the way, geek, sorry about your grandpa and your little freak out. Oh wait, that’s right—I’m not. One less loser to deal with.”

Dylan clenched his teeth, balled his fists, but knew better than to start with the likes of Victor Bakowski. Whether it was disrespecting Max, the lack of sleep, or the fact he was being hunted by a black life-sucking demon; today, Dylan had enough.

“One less loser to deal with?” Dylan glared into his foe’s surly eyes, determined to stand up for Max. “I bet that’s what your mother puts on your tombstone.”

Victor Bakowski, who was left back twice, was not used to being challenged. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Dylan grinned at the fact he actually had to explain this. “Your mother thinks you’re a loser.”

“You think that’s funny, punk?” The hallway came to a dead stop, eying the heated confrontation. The enraged teen pushed Dylan against a locker and head-butted him. Dylan absorbed the blow, surprised it didn’t hurt more than it did.

“Hey, Bakowski, if you’re looking for something?” Norm stepped up, always ready for a fight.

“I got this.” Dylan pushed Norm back. The challenge of a bully was a welcome change compared to recent occurrences.

“C’mon, emo-boy, let’s see what you got!” Bakowski backed into the center of the hallway, his fists raised.

Dylan hesitantly stepped forward when-

“Hey, Vic!” a mousy voice said before a sharp pain shot through Victors’s thigh.

“Ow!” Bakowski dropped to a knee and whipped his head around to see an unexpected assailant. “Cheap shot, Hyden.”

“No cheaper than yours!” Lucy Hyden stood fearlessly over the bully. “Who starts a fight with a guy who just got out of the hospital? A total loser!” The gathered crowd laughed. “Get out of here, Bakowski!”

“Or what?” Victor climbed to his feet, towering over the petite girl whose dark ringlets exploded from her head like fourth of July fireworks.

“Or I’ll scream and say you hit me, and you can take another grade over. Loser. Now, who do you think they’ll believe?” She folded her arms, brow furrowed, lips tightened. Dylan, Norm, and Weird stood back, knowing Lucy had a decidedly sinister side. Even though Dylan knew this was his fight, he was totally enjoying watching Lucy make a fool of Victor.

“Bunch’a wusses! You gonna let a girl fight for you?” Bakowski sneered, driving his face down into Lucy’s, bathing her in his acrid breath. “Maybe sometime, I’ll show you what a real man’s like, slut!” They stood nose to nose, frozen in the moment. Lucy cocked her head and delivered an uppercut to Victor’s Adam’s apple.

True to her word, Lucy’s nerve-rattling scream broke the silence like a jackhammer. Victor clutched his throat and reeled backward. Lucy grabbed her face, sobbing. A performance deserving of an Academy award. Teachers and students rushed around the mayhem.

“Bakowski!” the teacher hollered. “Down to the office, now!”

“But she hit me. I didn’t-”

“Tell it to the principal!” The teacher ushered the delinquent down the hall, arguing with him the whole way.

Norm shook his head in awe. “God, I love that girl.”

Weird tapped both boys on the arm. “Owned! She is truly awesome.”

Lucy assured the teachers who rushed to her aid she was okay and made her way back to the boys. “So, what are you guys doing tonight?” She bubbled as if the scene she created had never happened. “The O’Sullivans are having a party. Everybody’s going!” Lucy had been friends with the boys since kindergarten and shared her own special bond with each of them. However, the past year had brought several changes that had challenged the innocence of childhood friendships. “You wanna go with me, Dylan?” She asked with a hint of flirtation.

“Sorry, Luce. I’ve got stuff I gotta take care of,” Dylan responded half-heartedly, staring ahead toward his classroom. “Maybe Norm could go with you.”

Weird’s head bobbed with confusion. “She just saved your ass and- Hey! I thought you guys were going camping.”

“We were- we are… I mean… we don’t have to leave right away. You guys could go for a while.” Dylan covered himself, at the same time trying to set up his best friend.

“We could go, Lucy.” Norm swallowed hard. “Just for a little bit. It’ll be cool. We can-”

“Norm?” Lucy’s voice withered, eyes rolling upward. Motioning the others to keep walking, she inhaled deep before speaking. “We talked about this. I know how you feel, but I don’t feel that way.”

“But you do about Dylan.” His eyes dropped behind his glasses.

“I guess, sort of… but I told you, that’s a secret.”

“I don’t think it’s a secret.”

“Why?” She smacked him on the arm. “Did you tell him?”

“Ow. No.” Norm rubbed his stinging flesh. “But it’s kind of obvious. Besides, what kind of friend would I be if I stood in the way? You guys would make a great couple.” His shell of a smile could not hide his true feelings.

“Really?”

“Yeah.” Norm did his best to act happy for her.

“I should tell him.” She posed thoughtfully. “Today! After school! It could be a summer-”

“No, no, no. Not today!” Norm shook his head emphatically, remembering the situation at hand. “In fact, you should wait a while. He’s dealing with a lot.” Dylan and Weird looked back from the classroom, giving Norm a thumbs up as they entered their first exam.

Lucy’s temper flared, her words firing like a machine gun. “Didn’t you just tell me we’d be a great couple? I’ve held back telling him all year because I didn’t want it to mess up our friendship. Then you tell me you’re cool with it, but I shouldn’t tell him. Are you just messing with me?”

“No, Lucy, I swear.” Norm put his hands up defensively. “Since he got home from the hospital, he told me some really crazy stuff. He just needs some time.”

“So, I need your approval?” She tapped her foot, her chocolate brown eyes zeroed in.

“No. Just wait like a week, a few days even,” Norm pleaded.

Lucy coolly tilted her head. “Ok, fine. I’ll wait. Maybe I’ll tell him when you guys get back from camping. By the way, since when have you guys ever gone camping?”

Norm was again caught off guard. “uhh…”

The bell erupted through the hallway.

“Gotta run. I’ll catch up with you later, Luce” Norm sprinted down the hall, knocking another student into a locker.

Lucy shook her head and sighed. “Boys!”