Masquerade of Madness: School Lesions: Part Four

"Years of training, that's how. And he used his brain. Something you seem to lack." The sarcasm was unmistakable. "Either way, you cannot defeat him."

Brandon gave Terrence a somewhat stupid look. "What kind of teacher are you, anyway?"

"The right kind," Terrence replied with confidence.

Concerned for Sue, Creed asked, "Are you all right?"

"Yeah," she replied, although unsure from her tear-stained face.

The crowd began to boo. "This fight was stupid!" someone called out. "Yeah, he's a sissy!" another announced.

Creed looked away from Sue and into the crowd. Their taunting had his attention. "Then do any of you want to fight me?" He held out his arms, motioning with his hands. "Bring it on!"

Sue grabbed Creed, pulling him back. "No, this is wrong. Don't fight anymore," she pleaded.

"Yeah," the crowd hollered, hoping for another fight, but no one stepped forward.

The gang members from the day before left quickly, knowing they didn't want a repeat with that guy. They sailed down both stairways and split up at the bottom. Two of them headed down the hall and into the bathroom, slamming the door into the wall.

Crystal finished washing her hands and glanced in the bathroom mirror, just in time to see trouble coming through the door. Panic flushed over her face, a fear that was not missed by the two assailants rushing toward her.

What luck, they thought with a vengeance. One grabbed Crystal by her arm and twisted it behind her. The other yanked her hair, pulling her head backward. They kicked open a stall and tried to force her head down a toilet, but she refused to let it go in. Holding onto the rim for dear life, she screamed, "What are you doing?"

"What does it look like?" one of them said to her menacingly.

Crystal managed to get her head up and hit the guy in the chin. She screamed as loud as she could, "Stop! Stop!"

Again they held her down, trapped for sure this time, they thought. Suddenly Terrence stood over them. He had been escorting Brandon to the nurse's office when he heard her screams. Surprised, the two assailants dropped their grip.

"Need any help?" he asked Crystal, but his eyes were on the other two.

Crystal nodded gratefully.

"Wait outside the door with Brandon. I will only be a minute." Terrence reached for the troublemakers, his red eyes shining with anger.

That's all Crystal saw before she closed the bathroom door.

Brandon threw a bewildered look to Crystal. "Remind me not to get on his bad side." The noises coming from inside were unmistakable.

"Right." Crystal smiled.

"You know, you're pretty cute when you smile," teased Brandon. He chose to ignore the outcries from the bathroom.

"Really," she replied coyly.

"Let's talk about it outside." He didn't want the fight to spoil this moment.

Crystal hushed him. "Only if you're nice to Creed and Sue, too."

"Okay, I can do that," he said with confidence. “I really like your hair.”

She blinked in disbelief. "Really?"

"Really," he answered and took her hand. She didn't know what he had just been through on the roof.

Terrence emerged from the bathroom alone. He chuckled when he saw the new couple strolling hand in hand, down the hall. He had missed something. Life works fast, he thought.

Terrence reflected on the scene he had encountered in the bathroom just minutes ago, thankful he had left the action on the roof when he did. Those two troublemakers had it coming. He gave himself a satisfied pat on the back.

Just then, a computerized voice announced several times, "Class change." With everything going on, Terrence had not noticed the empty hall, but he did now. Surely, everyone could not still be on the roof, he pondered. Alarmed, he ran back toward the staircase. He could hear the loud noises long before he reached the roof door.

Sue watched in horror as her classmates lunged for Creed, who willingly took the hit. They suddenly dog piled him. Sue screamed for them to stop and tried to peel one student at a time off of the pile. Terrence pulled her aside to take her place. He found Creed at the bottom of the pile, not injured.

Now all the students dispersed. They cleared the roof so fast, they almost seemed to disappear. It was as if nothing had happened up there today.

Sue sighed with relief and helped Creed to his feet. "You know, I don't think Dad will mind if we skip the rest of the day," she said softly as they walked away.

Creed smiled down at her. "That would be nice." Their eyes lingered momentarily.

Again Terrence found himself watching a new couple.