Surviving Elite High

SURVIVING ELITE HIGH

Copyright © 2012 by JOHN H. AMES

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or

transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,

including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and

retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, situations

and incidents are the product of the author’s imaginations or are used

fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or

dead, is purely coincidental.

Published in Australia

Digitally by

Dare Empire eMedia Productions

ISBN: 978-0-9873287-2-4

Cover Art © 2012 Dare Empire eMedia Productions

Chapter One

My knees were shaking. I don’t really know why I was so nervous. I had walked down these same corridors before, but this was my first time here as a junior. I stood looking down the main hallway, watching as the world slowly passed me by, and feeling as if I was completely invisible to everyone. I held myself for comfort, then took my first step and froze. As my heart pounded, that stupid knot developed inside my stomach again. I hated that feeling. I looked around, trying my best to spot Madison or Kitty, but I was completely alone among all the commotion. I lowered my head and continued with my excruciating journey. Suddenly, two shadows blocked my way. I looked up and came face to face with my two tormentors: Jacob Ashmore and Matthew Ward, better known as the basketball jocks.

“Hello, little guy,” Jacob leered as he looked down at me. He stood six inches taller than me and was strong as a bull. “Did you miss me?”

I stumbled backwards.

“Where are you going, bitch?” Matthew barked as he grabbed my collar.

He pulled me in and lifted me into the air. My two feet swung from side to side.

“I…I was—”

“Shut the fuck up, fag!”

“Let's give him the welcoming,” Jacob suggested with a grin.

Oh, no, not the welcoming. Anything but the welcoming. I knew what they wanted to do. They were going to throw me inside the huge trash can behind the school.

“PUT HIM DOWN!” shouted a familiar voice.

We all turned to look. It was my best friend Kitty Scott. Her red hair was visible from a mile away, and her black eyes gave her a demonic look. I thanked God when I saw her pointing at Matthew. He looked at her with a smirk. He knew that Kitty would explode and make a big scene. Matthew unwillingly let me go, and I fell flat on my ass. I ran to Kitty's side before they changed their minds. I wrapped my arms around her and faced my attackers.

“See you soon, pussy,” Matthew added as they turned around and walked away.

I turned to Kitty. She was all steamed up. Her freckles seemed to have spread and were red hot. She turned to me with a scowl on her face.

“Why do you let those assholes treat you like that?” Kitty asked me as she placed her hands on her hips.

“Geez Kitty! They're bigger and stronger than me. Plus, they're jocks, you know.”

“I thought they stopped bullying you,” Kitty stated as she led the way through the crowd.

“So did I. Besides, two against one is an unfair fight, especially against me. Have you looked at me lately?”

Kitty stopped in front of her locker. She glanced at me and then opened the small compartment. I wasn’t small. Five feet and seven inches was a reasonable height. I was too skinny though. I didn’t have any muscles on my body and she wanted me to fight those two giants. Was Kitty insane?

“I know, but you've got to stand up to them. Madison and I can't be with you every single second of the day. They bullied you around for two years and it has to stop now!”

Kitty slammed the door closed.

“I know,” I murmured while I spotted Madison behind her. “Hello Madison!”

“Hello my two best friends in the whole wide world,” Madison answered as she stood beside us. Madison Adams had long black hair, dark eyes and porcelain skin. She quickly scanned our faces. “What happened? I thought you'd be excited to see this slut?”

That was Madison, alright. She knew how to sum things up.

“Jacob and Matthew,” Kitty mumbled as she walked down the hallway.

Madison turned to me with a smile. She embraced me and we immediately dashed to Kitty's side. As we walked, Madison turned to me.

“Are they still bullying you?”

“Ye—”

“Yes they are,” Kitty interrupted as she pulled to my right.

As usual, I was in the middle.

“I thought they stopped bothering you,” Madison murmured as she smiled at a senior.

“Yes, for summer.”

“Consider yourself lucky,” Madison replied as we walked into English class. “Who wouldn't want to get roughed up by two hot jocks?”

“Me,” I answered meekly as I sat in the first chair of the first row.

Kitty sat beside me, and Madison sat behind her. This was our usual seating arrangement for all our classes. They turned to me.

“Don't worry, just stick with one of us and you'll be fine,” Madison assured me.

“I know, but we still have gym and I have to change with them.”

“That's hot! Take some pictures for me!”

Kitty rolled her eyes.

“Sorry kiddo, we can only do so much. You've got to stand up to them.”

“I'm dead meat! Why does this school have to stress sports so much? Four years of mandatory physical education is just crazy. Why in the world would they do that?”

“Blame the Children Against Obesity Association. No more sugar in this school, as if we need to lose weight. We're perfect.”

“Yeah, soon they'll start to sell sugar like crack,” Kitty added as she high-fived Madison.

They giggled as I turned to the door. A young man stepped inside and I immediately recognized him. It was Nicholas Anthony Hawking, also known as Nick Wild Hawk, captain of the Elite Hawks. Girls nicknamed him Nick Wild Fuck because of his promiscuous nature. He was six feet tall, light tan skin, short dirty blond hair, and crystal baby blue eyes. The guy was dreamy. He was the most popular jock in school, the school's star quarterback, and athlete extraordinaire. He was as perfect as they come.

“I want to have his babies!” Madison murmured as Nick walked to the back of the class.

“Why does he always have to walk in like that? As if he's some type of god or something? He wasn't like that a few years ago,” Kitty replied as she examined Nick.

“He is a god. Look at him! The guy's hot,” Madison answered.

“And a stupid jock,” I added irritably.

“I know that you hate jocks, but Nick is F-I-N-E! Look at the package between his legs! It looks like the perfect Christmas present.”

“I agree with John. He's a jock and a huge dick.”

“Yeah I bet,” Madison answered with a smirk. Kitty and I rolled our eyes. “Don't get me wrong, all jocks are assholes, but this one is fine as hell.”

“Why don't you say that in front of his girlfriend?”

“Are they still dating?” Kitty asked us.

“Yeah, that lucky bitch,” Madison replied.

Everyone knew that Allison and Nick were a couple. They were crazy for each other or so it seemed. Allison was the head cheerleader and last year's vice president of the student body. Nick was not surprisingly last year's president. Everyone knew they won because of their tremendous popularity and extreme wealth.

“People like Nick and Allison make me sick.”

“Us too,” Kitty answered

Madison immediately nodded in agreement.

“I just hate that I have to endure two more years of mandatory physical education.”

“Stand up to those stupid pricks then,” Madison told me. “We don't want them to bully you around anymore.”

I smiled. The door opened once more. It was Mrs. Carter, our new English teacher. She walked in with a huge smile from cheek to cheek and introduced herself.

* * *

“John? Can I have a word with you?”

It was Mrs. Carter. Her class had just ended and everyone was leaving the room. I turned to my two best friends who signaled that they’d wait outside. When the door closed behind them, I knew we were all alone. I stood silently in front of her desk and admired my old Nike shoes. My heart began to pound and that stupid knot in my stomach returned. Did I do something wrong? Why does Mrs. Carter want to speak to me? Suddenly, she cleared her throat. I looked up to find her smiling warmly. Her smile immediately calmed me down.

“Yes, Mrs. Carter?”

“I heard from your last English teacher that you're quite an amazing student. You've maintained a perfect GPA and you're ahead of all your classmates.”

“I simply do my best.”

“Precisely. I also know from your school record that you owe a few tuition payments from last year. This is a private institution and we can't have a student owing more than three months—”

Oh my God! There goes my education! I had to say something.

“Mrs. Carter, my mom is doing her best to keep up with the payments, but the recession—”

“Let me finish.”

“Sorry,” I answered as I hung my head.

“I'm aware of your financial difficulties since I'm the new Financial Affairs consultant. I spoke to your mom this morning and found a solution to your problem.”

I looked up. She was smiling warmly again. I thought I was getting a scholarship. I wanted to jump and scream out of pure joy right there in front of her, but Mrs. Carter continued.

“I've enrolled you in this year's tutoring program. You're being assigned to a special student. The student's parents will pay for your monthly school fee and in return, you'll tutor their son for the entire school year.”

“Why me?” I asked her suddenly. “Um…with all due respect, Mrs. Carter, why me?”

“Well, you're the best student in your class and you do need the financial help. They want the best for their son so they graciously agreed to pay for your monthly school fee. It seemed like the perfect solution.”

“Oh, I see…”

“Meet me today at 3:45 at the Financial Affairs office to discuss the details.”

“Yes, Mrs. Carter, and thank you,” I told her with tears of gratitude threatening to escape.

“You don't have to thank me. You're a great kid and it would be a shame for you not to reach your full potential and graduate next year,” Mrs. Carter answered as she picked up her briefcase. “Remember, 3:45.”

I nodded with a smile. I quickly made my way out of the room. Outside, Kitty and Madison greeted me. They stared at me for a few seconds until Kitty spoke up.

“What happened? What did she want?”

“She wanted to talk to me about…school and this upcoming year.”

I have no idea why I lied to them. Maybe I didn’t want to tell them that my mom was late with payments again or that I was a new charity case for some rich folks. It was already humiliating enough to wear ragged clothes and get bullied around for being poor.

“Can we get to class?”

“Okay,” Kitty answered as she glanced at Madison.

* * *

“I hate this food,” Madison complained, poking at the rice biscuits. “Did you know they feed
this
to starving children in Africa?”

“I don't mind the food,” I remarked, taking several of them.

The food was free so I filled my plate with everything.

“Whatever. Can I have milk?” Madison asked the cafeteria worker, who rolled her eyes at her.

The woman faked a smile and slapped it on her tray. I, on the other hand, asked for three.

“Come on! You two take forever!” Kitty shouted.

When we reached her side, we made our way to the back of the cafeteria where our table was located. It was the best seat in the room since it had a clear view of all the other tables. We could easily blend into the background without being noticed by anyone. We sat down, facing the other students, and as always, I sat in the middle. I was starving so I began to devour my food.

“We can't even get chocolate milk!” Madison stabbed the carton of milk with her straw. “And these rice biscuits taste like shit!”

“Madison? Will you shut up and eat!” Kitty pleaded as she took a bite of her rice biscuit, which she immediately spat out. “God, Madison! You're right, this does taste like shit!”

I had already finished my biscuits. Kitty and Madison generously donated theirs to me. We continued to eat our lunch until Madison spoke up.

“Are you going to tell us what you discussed with Mrs. Carter?”

“It's nothing,” I murmured as I played with a grape.

“Come on, Johnny Boy. You can tell us anything. We're your friends and we love you,” Kitty told me.

I sighed, turning to her with teary eyes.

“My mom is late with the tuition payments again.”

“Oh, Johnny Boy,” Kitty cooed as she hugged me. Madison gently rubbed my back. “You know you could always count on me for help.”

“And me,” Madison added as she pressed her head on my back. “But you're so stubborn! Why do you refuse our help?”

I pulled away from Kitty's warm embrace and addressed them.