Chapter 7 - Join Me

"You are late young man! Where- Oh my God! Simon?! What happened?!" Mrs. Sanders shouted as she saw Simon limping as he walked across their front lawn. Mr. Peterson helped Simon until they reached the door. "Im okay ma." Simon said softly as he sat down just at the front door. His mother rushed to his side and took a closer look. "I patched him up the best I could. The bleeding seemed to have stopped when I put the bandage on but you can take him to a hospital just to make sure." Mr. Peterson said as he tried to make the panicking Mrs. Sanders calm down. After making sure that Simon was alright, his mother turned to the bus driver. "Thank you so much, what happened? Was there an accident?" she asked with worry in her eyes. Mr. Peterson scratched his head "Well..." He said as he looked at Simon who shook his head at him. The driver sighed as he looked back at Mrs. Sanders "He would like to tell you that himself." he said as he started to head for his bus.

As the mother and son watched the bus until it disappeared at the corner of the street, Mrs. Sanders snapped back at Simon. "What happened?!" She yelled as she helped Simon up to enter the house.

"Nothing. I fell down at the stairs." Simon said nonchalantly as he sat down the sofa. His mother frowned as she took another look at his head. With a sigh, she pinched Simon's ear. "Ow! Ow!" Simon yelped. "Yeah? And you got your knuckles badly bruised from what? Fighting the floor?" she replied as she rummaged through the first aid kit. After retrieving a gauze, Mrs. Sanders went to treat Simon. "For God's sakes Simon. Stop getting into fights!" she added. Simon flinched as his mother cleaned a wound on his cheeks. "I'll try." Simon replied quietly. She finished treating the wound after applying the gauze over it. She looked at Simon with a bit of worry in her eyes and a long silence echoed throughout the living room. "I'm sorry." Simon said as he broke the silence. His mother smiled, reached for his cheek and caressed him. "I know. I'm sure you just protected yourself." she replied with a soft tone. With a pat on Simon's head, she started to head for the front door. "Well! I'll be heading off to work now. Oh and I cooked your favourite so eat lots okay?". Simon nodded at her as she left through the front door "You'll be hearing a lot from me when I get back!" she exclaimed from outside.

He watched as his mother rode her car into the street and into traffic. Simon then started to head for the kitchen with a little limp at every step. "Ah.. Finally. I'm starving." he thought as he saw his favourite chicken stew, simmering over low heat.

.

.

.

"Ugh" Simon grunted as the sunlight that passes through his curtains shinned unto his face and directly at his eyes. Somehow, his body feels more in pain today compared to yesterday as he felt sore throughout his body. His face was still covered in bandages specially his forehead. But the bleeding is no longer existent.

"Are you sure you can go to school?" Mrs. Sanders asked as Simon finished his breakfast.

"Yeah. I'm okay." Simon replied as he noticed the school bus pull out just infront of their house. He grabbed his bad and started heading for the door. His mother waved him goodbye as the bus door opened.

"How are you doing young man?" A familiar voice said as he got inside the bus.

"Oh. Thanks for yesterday." Simon said as he searched for a vacant seat. "Oh it's nothing, just dont get into more trouble, you hear?" Mr. Peterson said as pointed a vacant seat just behind him. "Sure.... Mr. Peterson." Simon replied as he read a name tag on the driver's chest.

.

.

The hallways were as crowded as ever. Simon wanted to blend in but the bandages and bruises made it hard to do so. He received all types of looks from the other students. There are ones who had fear in their eyes, others had compassion and sympathy, and of course, there are those who didn't seem to care. When he finally reached his room, he quickly got the attention of his colleagues who had the same expressions as the people from the hallways. Simon ignored them and continued to his seat, hoping that there wont be anyone bothering him. Much to his annoyance, Peter is already on the way to greet him.

"Good morning!" Peter said as he approached Simon from behind. Simon begrudgingly looked back at Peter who had the brightest smile.

"So, have you-" Peter stopped as he saw Simon's bandages and bruises. Suddenly, his smile faded away and was replaced with a stern and serious look. " It was Brian, wasn't it?" He asked to the apathetic Simon. With a sigh, Simon responded with a confident, diplomatic, and not at all suspicious "Maybe."

"I should have known." Peter said as he shook his head. "Ahem. So have you filled out the form yet?" He added with a smile back on his face. Simon rummaged through his bag and found the form, all crumpled up due to the carnage of yesterday. Simon tried his best to straighten the paper and filled the form. "Ugh, is this compulsory?" he asked. Peter smiled and just as he was a bout to speak, a voice from behind greeted loudly.

"Of course! It would be a total shame of you didn't join any club as it is a major part of being a high-school student in the prestigious North-side high!." the voice stated. It was Ms. Keter with a bright smile on her face as she passed the two on her way infront of the class but stopped as she saw Simon. "Are you alright? " she asked with worry in her eyes. Simon smiled, shocking Ms. Keter. "I'm fine. Thank you. " he said. The teacher felt guilty for judging the student so fast. "He was actually a nice kid" she thought. "Well, I hope you are."She said with a smile as she continued her way through the room, greeting other students on her way. Simon rolled his eyes and mumbled "Whatever". Simon is having a hard time choosing which club to join. He is neither athletic nor extremely diligent in studying. "Join the journalism club" Peter said. Simon raised an eyebrow to the idea. Hesitant, he complied for the reason he also do not know. It felt that it was rather the right thing to do. However, Simon being Simon, he never really placed to much thought into it and simply went with the flow. "Great!" Peter exclaimed as he took the form from Simon. "I'll be passing this alongside mine." he added. "Sure, do what ever you want." Simon said. As Peter was leaving, he stopped and looked back at Simon "Oh by the way, first meeting is later just after school hours. I'll have to introduce you to the rest of us." Peter said with a smile.