February 4th, 2017 09:30
The battery in the recorder has finally died. The series of altercations between Frankie and his roommate have led the young man to leave the dorm altogether. Everyone has begun holding their guard around Frankie, it seems the tiger has gracefully wandered into our gilded cage.
In class, Ray and I talk about comics or some other frivolous subject, as the teacher walks in and calls us to attention.
"Listen up class, your classmate Franklin Holstead will be staying in the infirmary pending a psychiatric evaluation."
There were a few murmured reactions from the class while Ray and I exchanged a subtle look of satisfaction.
Ava however, looked visibly distraught. I really couldn't understand why she had any feelings for this brute.
With this announcement, the day went on normally.
12:00
Ray and I amble down to the library rejoicing in our current victory. We pick up our lunches and sit at our usual table of isolation.
Tyler and Sandy soon join us.
"I'm guessing you all know Ava's little boyfriend is the outcast of the boy's dorms"
Sandy remarked quietly
Tyler looked at her "I mean he did attack his dormmate"
Ray and I exchanged a look of disbelief and asked
"He seriously attacked someone?"
"Yeah, he said the kid wouldn't stop talking in the middle of the night so he beat him up"
"I heard the kid needed a couple of stitches in his chin for how bad it was busted open"
"Sounds terrible"
I'm trying to contain myself out of respect for this guy but revenge feels too sweet...
'Welcome to the dark side, Terrence'
'Enjoy it while I'm here Terri, I don't plan to stay long.'
'You say that now'
Ray peered at them with a smug look and declared
"You know we were sorta responsible for that"
'Ray, I take back every good thing I've ever said about you...'
"What are you saying, dude?"
I jokingly punched him in the arm and tried to think of an excuse.
"Ray, are you serious? Like this isn't some sort of joke or something...?"
"That's awesome, I've always wanted to get back at that scumbag"
Tyler's eyes lit up with admiration as he stared at us from across the table.
"Wait...what? Hold on, so you want to help us?..."
"Yeah, do you know how many times he's ruined our hang time..."
Tyler looked down in shame
"He keeps calling me a queer prude..."
"And why should Tyler have to be ashamed about how he is?" Sandy announced
Ray peered at me as I tittered in my seat with excitement.
My whims and plans could finally come into fruition with their help.
But could I ask them to take on such an arduous task?
I stewed in my seat wondering and weighing the pros and cons of allowing them to assist us.
'At this point, I would take all the help I can get.'
'That's...pretty level-headed of you...surprisingly'
'More people to take the fall with'
'Precisely why I don't want to let them help'
My stewing has obviously garnered the attention of my companions.
Ray was the first to speak
"Terry, come on, I know that you're probably worried about their safety, but on the other side we could use any help we could get"
' Thanks for echoing the statements stewing in my head Ray'
"If anyone is going to help you it's going to be us" Sandy inserted
"Yeah, we're with you every step of the way," Tyler declared
I sighed and looked up at them.
"You can help, but not too much. I don't want you getting caught and blamed for my plan, got it?"
"Totally" Sandy barked enthusiastically
"You can trust me" Tyler pledged
I surveyed the area around us before drawing out my notebook and revealing my plan. Immediately their eyes lit up with excitement.
They both suddenly blurted out "I can totally help you with this"
Flustered and confused, they slowed down and explained.
"The thing with the lights and shadows, I'm going to help with that." Tyler asserted
"And I have a pretty awesome makeup arsenal behind me so I can help with this attack charade..." Sandy declared
"Told you it was a good idea to bring them on..." Ray mumbled
"Alright, Ray...you got me, that was a pretty good idea" I murmured while ruffling his hair.
12:30
Ray and I return to the classroom to find Frankie lounging in his usual seat talking with the misfits.
"Whats up dweebs? shocked to see me?"
He said as his followers cackled behind him.
"Leave us alone Frankie..." Ray replied
Frankie then rose from his seat and hassled Ray.
"Or what?...." He challenged as the misfits began surrounding us.
The classroom fell silent as our classmates stared at the standoff. The door shuttered open distracting them...
"I hope I'm not interrupting something gentlemen..." A voice said.
Frankie turned toward the source and responded "No, ma'am just a disagreement getting out of hand" He then turned on his heels and sat down.
The source of this voice was none other than Headmistress Ramsey, a low-level autocrat with a penchant for student suffering for the sake of order.
She strode into the room with an air of intensity and stood before us all.
"Students, as you can see, Mr. Holstead had returned to class but will be under close observation. Mr. Yeats, I expect you to keep your friend, Mr. Freeman controlled...understood"
I nodded as she left. Afterward, we continued with study hall.
14:30
Outside near the vending machines, Ray punched a wall in anger as I bought us some drinks.
"Jeez, it's just so infuriating, ugh..."
"Don't let it get to you, Ray..."
I handed him his drink and we sat down overlooking the fields.
"Now I get why you hate this guy so much..."
"Hate is a bit strong...I maybe loathe or despise him, but I don't hate the guy. I just hate how he is."
"Whatever bro..." He cracks the can open and sips it loudly. He looked at the can for a moment and said
"Do you remember ten can bowling?"
I chuckled for a moment recalling the memory "That summer when our parents left us alone with a whole case of lighting ade and we downed in less than two hours..."
"Yeah...that was awesome..." Ray smiled, lifting his head with closed eyes.
"Until we crashed..."
"Either way it was awesome..." He looked back toward me with a nostalgic look in his eye
"Yeah...but why bring it up now?"
"Look at your can genius..."
In my hand was the blueberry lightning ade from the same day...I laughed for a moment and said
"It's my favorite, what can I say?"
Ray just burst out laughing
"Dude...you've got to pay more attention. Sometimes it's like I'm the only one talking, me and my brick wall of a friend." He lightly punched my arm.
I returned the favor and responded "Forget it...no way I'm talking about anything more...let's just shut up and watch the sunset okay"
"Sure..." We looked out over the hill sipping our sodas in silence.
It was nice, bringing up old memories like that. After sunset, we hustled back to our dorm and plonked down into our beds.
"Now, what?" Ray queried as our faces lay buried in our pillows.
"We begin analyzing Frankie's schedule..."
"So, we know exactly where he'll be when the lights go out?"
"Precisely, once we know that, Tyler and I will work some magic on a few lights around the dorms and the rest of the school."
"Sounds like a plan then..."
Ray stands up and breaks out his drawing book. "So Frankie is class with us all the time..."
I pointed out a spot in the notebook which he wrote down the time in.
"Leaving only, lunch, before school, after school and any time he's late."
Ray looked up from the notebook and asked "So what do we bank on?"
"We use before and after school but not lunch..."
"Why not lunch...?" He inquired with a puzzled look.
"To many witnesses, easy to get caught."
"Okay, So what do we need?"
"Old light bulbs. Not sparking but flickering lights..."
"I can ask the janitor for something. I'll tell him it's for some project or something..."
"Perfect. I'll try to get some info from Tyler and Sandy, see if they know anything."
"Cool, I'll wait here..."
I stood up and left for Tyler's dorm room. I knocked on the door to hear a faint voice inviting me in. As I opened the door I was met with a waft of cold air, causing me to shiver at my surprise.
Tyler stood before clad in winter clothes while his roommate lay under his blankets asleep.
"Sorry, Terry, the A.C. is broken, and with that kid moving out of Frankie's room the academy couldn't place us anywhere else. What do you need?"
"I just wanted to ask if you knew anything about Frankie's schedule...?
Is he okay?"
"Oh, he's fine. Frankie's schedule though...well he plays for the soccer team after school, I think Sandy would know more about that."
"Great let's ask her."
He dropped his various jackets down leaving only a sweater and shirt as we walked downstairs and out toward the fields where the cheerleaders were warming up. Sandy waved enthusiastically as she saw us and rushed over quickly.
"Hey guys, what do you need? I really need to get warmed up..."
"I just wanted to know, if you knew anything about Frankie's schedule..."
"Every morning without fail, he gets up at six a.m. to take a run around the school."
"Thanks..."
She nodded and ran back to the cheerleaders while Tyler and I sat in the bleachers.
"So what do we do?" Tyler asked as we watched the cheerleaders start their practice.
"We join the soccer team..."
"What?! I can't join the team?"
"Why not? We need to keep an eye on our progress and it gives us an avenue in his life. We disturb something he loves and invite his rage to the conversation."
"But why must we join the team"
Tyler protested
"I can do this alone you know..."
"No! No...I wanted to help so I'll join you."
"Great..." I smiled widely and stood up "You coming back to the dorm with me..."
"To that cave, no thank you. I'll stay here. Enjoy the sun for a bit" Tyler kept his eye on Sandy as I walked back toward my dorm room. I entered quickly and relayed our plan to Ray
"I love it, we can keep an eye on him, and have access to the locker room. Killing two birds with one stone."
"Exactly..." I yawned softly looking up at the clock.
"I'm going to clock out, Ray, don't do anything stupid while I'm out"
"Have a little faith in me..."
He laughed as I went to sleep
The next morning, Tyler and I joined the Soccer team.
"Go Ravenettes..."