Chapter Fifteen
Mason James stood in the hallway on the first day of senior year and nodded his head at Lee Munroe. Lee had only started playing football last year but he was a natural and they slowly became friends. Lee didn’t talk much and Mason didn’t mind. He didn't talk much anymore either.
At the lockers, Lee nudged him with his shoulder and Mason followed his gaze. “Isn’t that Kelley Alexander?”
“What the hell is an Elite doing here?” Lee shrugged at Mason’s question.
Mason and Lee started down the hallway and stopped a few feet away from Kelley Alexander. “Are you lost, pretty boy?”
There were enough students in the hallway and the sudden hush was almost eerie. Kelley Alexander turned toward them slowly and the first thing Mason noticed was the new scar around Kelley’s left eye. It made him look meaner and somehow it only added a mysterious note and took nothing away from his looks.
Kelley turned away from them, pulled his backpack over his shoulder again and started towards their homeroom without answering. Mason looked at Lee whose expression was stoic once again and followed Kelley down the hallway.
They were in the same homeroom and Mason spotted Kelley in the back immediately. He had his own presence, dominant, dangerous and somewhat arrogant. Lee sat down in the back as well and Mason joined him. Kelley sat to their left and Arlo and Stuart sat on their right. The seat next to Kelley remained open.
“Good morning, class, and welcome to Senior Year. I’m Mr John Dear. The seats you’ve chosen will be your assigned seats for the rest of the year. Fill in your details on the sheet going around. I’ll also be your teacher contact for this year so don’t hesitate to knock on my door if you need anything.”
The class was semi-quiet with hushed murmurings as Kelley filled in the sheet. He turned towards Mason and held the paper out to him. Mason regarded him coolly, almost examining him. Mason took the paper and Kelley saw a challenge flash in his eyes before he turned away.
The bell rang and Kelley walked out of the class and headed down the hall. Kelley had expected some ribbing, maybe some verbal fighting but he exhaled a breath of relief since nothing had happened. He’d mostly been worried about Mason James.
His shoulder hit the locker hard as someone pushed him from behind. Kelley remembered him as Arlo, also a football player. “Oh, I’m sorry, your elitist highness.” Arlo gave him a small bow and then laughter erupted as they walked past Kelley.
Kelley shrugged it off and he saw Mason and his friend watching him. Kelley mentally added pushing to his list of things to expect. The students at Public High were tough, quicker to fight and had no qualms about getting into your personal space.
The rest of the day saw Kelley getting pushed around a bit more but nothing that warranted him having to do anything. He was used to orderly rows when going from class to class and Public really opened his eyes.
When the final bell rang at three pm Kelley only felt relief as he headed to the parking lot and his Escalade only to find Mason James standing in front of his car. “I’m just here to finish senior year. You guys don’t want me here, I get that …”
Mason’s expression didn’t change as he looked at Kelley. “I was going to say that football practice starts next week.”
“Oh.” Kelley didn’t know what else to say because he hadn’t expected that from Mason. The rumours about Mason were that he was a hard-ass, a fighter and almost a delinquent.
“Not all of us here at Public are assholes.” Mason looked almost angry.
“I didn’t say that, but we don’t have the best history and I wasn’t actually planning on playing.”
Mason frowned slightly at that. “You should try out, you’re a good quarterback, too good for Elite. At Public, we might make you even better.”
“I would just upset the balance …”
“Yeah … are you too good to play for Public?”
Kelley sighed as Mason crossed his arms over his chest. “It’s not like that … I have a lot on my plate right now. Your team’s full and you have a good team.”
“I can imagine how hard your life is, poor little rich boy. Playing football is something you’re good at. Besides, Archie broke his ankle last day of football camp. We’re short a quarterback.”
Mason turned and left Kelley next to his car. ‘Poor little rich boy my ass,’ Kelley thought to himself as he drove away from the school and headed towards the lower district's centre.
Kelley parked his Escalade in the alley next to Jesse’s dojo and grabbed his training bag. Inside the dojo, he changed his clothes and started his workout. He spent an hour punching the boxing bag before Jesse stopped him.
“Talk to me, kid.”
“I guess it could’ve been worse.”
Jesse sighed and before Kelley knew it they were going through their normal warm-up moves, blocking and punching, some light kicks and Kelley focused on the martial arts. Right there in that dojo with Jesse, Kelley felt at home, he got closure and he knew this was what he was missing out on his whole life.
Another hour later Jesse held up his hand and they sat down on the mat, each drinking heavily from their water bottles. “What happened?”
“Arlo O’Neill. It was just some shoving into the lockers in the hallway.”
Jesse scratched his chin thoughtfully before answering. “Yeah … you wouldn’t have tried killing the punching bag if that was all that happened.”
Kelley huffed out a laugh. “During lunch, Arlo slapped my tray out of my hand. During gym, he pushed me up against the lockers and told me to watch my rich ass and during study period he threw my backpack out of the second-story window.”
“So the kid’s a bully and you just took it?”
Kelley frowned. “What was I supposed to do? I’m not a fighter, Jesse.”
Jesse laughed and wiped the sweat from his brow. “Kelley, you’re a badass. You can do combinations that took me months to master. You’re smart and you’re strong, you have the right to defend yourself.”
“I’ll get suspended and it’ll show on any college applications.” Kelley ran a hand through his hair, sweat coating his fingertips.
“Not in Public, kid. If you punch first, yeah, then it’s assault but kids in Public sort out their differences with their fists. If you want to survive senior year there you have to play the same game.”
“He hasn’t thrown a punch yet. Look, I won’t be anyone’s punching bag but I hate the rivalry that’s existed for decades between the two schools. I just want to finish out my senior year and rise to a place where I can take my father down.”
“Don’t ever be anyone’s punching bag again. Don’t ever show fear, Kelley, not to anyone.”
“I know, fear stinks like musty old socks.”
Jesse and Kelley both grinned. Jesse clasped a hand on Kelley’s shoulder and pushed himself up. “Come on, cupcake, I’ll buy you a milkshake.”
