Wrestling Against Myself (21 page)

“Yeah, if that guy would've made that last tackle, we would've won by three,” Ted added.

Dave whispered something in Ted's ear.

“Oh,” Ted said as he watched Shannon fume. “I'll shut up now.”

“Good plan,” Carl said.

Tony watched as Courtney entered the cafeteria. “There she is,” he told the group as he motioned with his head towards the girl. “We'll find out sooner or later if she is going to join us.”

“So Tiny,” Tracy said, helping change the topic at the table. “Did you discover why everyone has a problem with this girl? It has to be something, right?”

“I'm sure it's something, whether real or imagined, but I don't know exactly what.”

“I thought you've been talking to her,” Dave said.

“I have been talking to her,” Tony replied. “I've given her rides home after school and ate lunch with her last week.”

“Did you ask?” Ted offered.

“It didn't come up in the course of our conversations,” Tony said. “There have been some hints, but she hasn't told me outright what the problem is.”

“You should just ask,” Ted continued. “Cyborgs can't lie.”

“Yes they can,” Dave countered.

“No they can't, it's in their programming.”

“Lying is not against Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics.”

“Guys!” Tony said sharply, knowing that if he allowed the conversation to continue there would be a lengthy debate on various aspects of geekery that he was unwilling to listen to.

Dave and Ted straightened up, gave each other a look, and then resumed eating.

Tony watched as Courtney re-entered the dining hall with her tray. He assumed she would join the group, but now he had his doubts. It seemed logical that she would want to eat with a group instead of by herself, but perhaps the others were right. Did her fear run so deep that she wouldn't chance eating with a group even though there was someone she was comfortable with there to protect her?

Courtney stood at the front of the cafeteria.

Tony stood up, waved his arms and got the girl's attention.

Courtney looked at Tony and nodded. She took a tentative step in his direction, but then paused. She looked back at her usual table, considered sitting down where she had been comfortable, but then took another step in Tony's direction.

Tony smiled. “Problem solved,” he said to the group. “Try to be nice,” he said while looking at Dave and Ted.

“What?” Dave asked.

“Yeah. What?” Ted echoed.

“Try not to ask any pointed questions that may be rude. You know, questions like 'why does everyone hate you?' or 'do you have any diseases we need to know about?'”

“Those are important questions though,” Dave said as a joke.

“The second one is,” Ted said seriously.

Tony cleared his throat.  “Remember, she's shy and is going to be uncomfortable.”

“We'll be good,” Dave and Ted said in unison. 

Courtney finally made her way to the table; she stood off to the side and looked at Tony.

“Hey guys, this is Courtney,” Tony introduced. “She's a freshman here and I invited her to eat lunch with us, if that's okay?”

“That's fine with us,” Tracy said, picking up on Tony's cue. “Here, sit with us girls,” she said as she made a spot between her and Stephanie, “we need to even up the odds.”

Courtney gave a strained smiled and glanced at Tony.

“It's okay. Tracy is okay and most the time Stephanie is late so you won't be as cramped.”

“Hey!” Stephanie protested.

“Only joking,” Tony said, even though he didn't take his eyes off the smaller girl.

“Thank you,” Courtney said, her voice low and mousy again. She shuffled her feet and made her way to the other side of the table, directly across from Tony.

“Let me introduce you to the group,” Tony said, trying to keep things as light as possible. “You got Tracy and Stephanie.”
 

“Tracy,” Tracy said to clarify who she was.

“I know.” Courtney's voice was low and shaky. “We talked a few times outside of home ec.”

Tracy smiled. “That's right, I thought you wouldn't remember.”

“I'm Stephanie,”
the other girl said. “If you ever need fashion advice or makeup tips or are having problems with boys, I'm the one you want to come to.”

Courtney nervously smiled. “My mom buys my clothes.”

“Mine too.” Stephanie gave a soft laugh. “Well, she gives me the money to buy it, but sooner or later you got to buy your own stuff. Right?”

“I guess.”

“Trust me, in a year or two, you'll figure out that moms know nothing about fashion. I saw a picture of my mom in high school; oh my goodness, eighty's hair. Ack!”

Courtney cracked a smile.

Stephanie gave a nod and a knowing grin towards Tony.

“This here is Carl,” Tony said as he put his arm around his friend. “He's also on the wrestling team.”

“He doesn’t look as big as you,” Courtney pointed out sheepishly.

“The school wouldn't have room for two of me,” Tony said. “Wrestling goes by weight classes, this way it is fair. Carl is one of our middle weights, I hope.”

“Hi,” Carl said. “Welcome to Dunedin High, I guess.”

Courtney gave a small wave. “Hi,” she whispered.

“Then we got Dave and Ted. They come as a pair.”

Courtney looked up at the two boys and tried to smile.

“That's Ted,” Dave said.

“That's Dave,” Ted said a beat afterward. “We usually hang together. If you like RPGs, we meet in the library on Tuesdays and Thursdays.”

“What's an RPG,” Courtney asked, which was a bold step for her.

“You forgot, she's a girl,” Dave told his buddy.

Courtney's head snapped towards Dave as she gave him a strange look that was a cross between worry and concern.

“An RPG,” Ted began to explain, “is a role playing game. We're trying to design our own and we work the bugs out when he meet in the library.”

“They roll dice and pretend to be knights or wizards,” Tony tried to offer another explanation.

“We don't have wizards,” Dave sounded offended. “We have alchemist, healers and engineers.”

“Sorry.” Tony shot the guys a look and hoped Dave and Ted realized he wanted to drop the subject.

“Sounds cool,” Courtney said nervously.

“Then we got Shannon on the end.”

Courtney moved her eyes to the large teen who was polishing off his second hamburger. “Shannon?”

Shannon rolled his eyes. “Yes, my name is Shannon. No, it's not a girl's name. I'm Irish.”

“Sorry,” Courtney mumbled and turned her eyes toward her tray.

Tony raised an eyebrow at the football player and pleaded for some help with his eyes.

“I didn't mean to come off like that,” Shannon said with a sigh. “I'm upset about something else.”

“The football team lost on Friday,” Tony offered as an explanation.

“I know,” Courtney said. “I could hear the game from my room and could see the scoreboard. Sorry you lost.”

Shannon nodded, but decided not to get into the conversation.

“Now you know the whole gang and they know you,” Tony said. “Cool, huh?”

Courtney nodded, but remained silent.

The rest of lunch, which didn't last much longer, was spent in idle chit chat. Though she hadn't uttered a word, Tony hoped Courtney would grow comfortable enough to start joining in the conversations.

The bell signaling that first lunch was over rang throughout the dining hall. The group dispersed, leaving Tony and Courtney behind.

“I'm glad you decided to join us,” Tony said as he stood up and took Courtney's tray for her.

“It wasn't as bad as I thought,” the girl said, her voice returning to normal, losing the fear and doubt that was there when she was in a group.

“They're good people. Shannon was a little grumpy, but he isn't normally like that.”

“I could tell he was mad about the game and not me.”

“He'll be better by Wednesday. You okay getting to your next class?”
 

“Yeah, why?”

Tony could see the girl's trepidation. “Nothing major, I got to meet up with someone before class.”

“I'll be okay,” Courtney said and then separated from Tony.

Tony watched as the girl made her way through the corridor. Though no one went out of their way to bump her or make a snide comment in her direction, he also noticed how nobody interacted with her either. He hoped that, with his help, that would change.

Tony headed towards the back lot where the smokers hung out. As he expected, Peter was there with his small group. “You wanted to see me,” he said while making his presence known.

Peter took a final drag of his cigarette and then flipped the butt to the ground. He turned away from Tony and exhaled. “I didn't know if you were going to show.” 

“I got your note,” Tony said, feeling his muscles tense even though he tried to stay relaxed. “It was better written than the first one.”

“Let's talk, over here.” Peter separated from his group and crossed the breezeway to the back of building B-3.

Tony followed, even though he wasn't use to taking directions from other students. “Anything you want to tell me other than to mind my business?” 

Peter leaned against the building. “I admit that I could have worded that note a little bit better, but it was for your own good.”

“You're not making it sound like any less of a threat.”

“Tiny, listen. You're a good guy, annoying at times, but good. We know you want to do the right thing and I am cool with that. Even when you break up us having a little fun, I might be pissed off, but I understand what you're trying to do. But, you're on the wrong side when it comes to the freak.”

Tony's jaw clenched. “Why do you keep calling her a
freak?”
 

“Because that's what that thing is.”

“You aren't making any sense,' Tony said through his teeth.

“I understand that you don't mind hanging out with your gay pals, but you have to draw the line somewhere.”

“What are you talking about? What gay friends?”

“That's one of your problems, Tiny. You're so blinded by your own righteousness; I think that's the word you Bible thumpers use, and wanting to believe there is good in everyone that you miss the obvious. If you don't know which of your friends are gay, I'm not going to out them. I understand how that freak flew under your radar.”

“Why do you keep calling her a freak?” Tony could feel his blood boil.

“Why do you keep calling that thing a her?”