I used to think I was the most feared guy in D. W. Bell High. No one dared to mess with me. I was too tough and cool and amazing, not to mention I was crafted by the Greek Gods, have you seen my face?
But all that changed because of a damn nerd…
---
Najeem saw that I was sizing up all the weaks. They reminded me of noob freshmen, despite being seniors.
"You see that weirdo over there?" he asked, pointing to the sea of students.
My eyes locked onto a blur of red and white. I knew what I had to do.
"Hey, IcyHot!" I called to the girl doing a certain fiery ice boy's attack position. Not that I would know...
The girl dropped her hands from the weird position she was in, and everything stopped. Everyone's eyes were on me, as usual.
I immediately sang: "Somebody once told me it's your power, Todoroki!"
My bros joined in: "Your mother burned your face and she left!"
And then we all said: "It's not Endeavor's!"
Hera narrowed her eyes. "How the hell do you know so much about Todoroki? You even know his nickname, yet I'm the weeb ball?"
"Shit…" I mumbled in immediate panic. With one swift motion, I snatched her wig off and dangled it over her head to take the attention off of me and my knowledge about Todobro.
"Hey! GIVE IT BACK!" Hera screamed at a rate that pierced my ears. But I didn't waiver for one second.
"You want it back so badly, nerd? You gotta get it from me."
Every time Hera would jump high enough to try to take the wig back, I raised it high enough to make her miss.
Laughter echoed all around us as Hera stood visibly frustrated, which was mildly adorable, but I'd never admit that to her face. After her umpteenth attempt, she kneed me in the nuts, forcing me to drop the wig to the ground.
I fell to my knees in extreme pain, and as the damn nerd girl went to pick her wig up, she snapped, "That wasn't very Plus Ultra of you."
"Shut the hell up, you damn nerd girl!" I yelled in pain.
Unfortunately for me, one of the weaks had alerted the principal, or as I say, "The Devil Herself," Ms. O'Hara. I swear every time someone even whispers her name, she spawns out of thin air. And she looks pretty young too. Maybe she really is the devil.
"What the hell is going on here?!" she yelled. That made everyone shut their traps.
The entire hallway fell silent, despite Ty snickering beside me, causing me to jab him with my elbow. She had a very upset look on her face as she walked towards us.
"Oh, fuck," I thought. "Hopefully she didn't see what I did to Hera."
"She ATTACKED me!" I whimpered, immediately switching to victim mode while grimacing in obvious pain. But O'Hara saw right through me.
"I saw what you did to Hera," she told me. "Off record, you deserved it..."
Little did I know, there were security cams scattered through the hallway. I looked up, and there it was: a security cam right over us.
O'Hara took out her iPad 2 and showed me the footage feed.
"Shit," I muttered as I watched.
"Typical..." she said with a sigh, shaking her head. "Jason, Hera, my office."
Oh, God… This is bad. This is very, very, very bad! Not only did that punk weak alert our principal, but unfortunately she knows me very well…
Hera and I reluctantly walked towards O'Hara, but not quick enough for her.
"NOW!!" she yelled, making everyone except me and Hera dip. Even Najeem and Ty were scared enough to leave. Assholes...
As we entered the office, I was forcefully coaxed into one of the chairs in front of her desk.
"Sit," O'Hara said sharply.
"I'm not a dog-"
"Sit the fuck down!" she shouted, glaring at me.
I never plopped down into a chair faster. My heart was pounding, but not out of anger this time.
"Not so brave now, are you? You're a total Deku!"
"No, I'm not, you damn nerd girl! Besides, Deku is brave and heroic and-"
"See? You are a weeb ball!"
"Can the two of you just shut the hell up?!" O'Hara said, clearly pissed. Then she turned to Hera. "What the hell's even on your face?"
"It's face paint for my cosplay, Ms. O'Hara, you're just jealous you can't beat your face this well. Wait, are those wrinkles?"
O'Hara shook her head again. "Hera, this is a school, not a convention for nerds," she told her.
I snorted, trying my damnedest not to burst into laughter.
"Shut up," O'Hara promptly said.
"Hey, I'm not a nerd, Ms. O'Hara! I'm an otaku!" Hera snapped. "Get it right!"
O'Hara ignored her, disgust on her face. "Jason..." O'Hara said, pinching the bridge of her nose. "As I had mentioned before we came in here, I saw what you did, and you deserved it. You're a dick, if I'm being honest."
"You can't just say that!" I blurted. "You're the principal!"
"Tough shit," Ms. O'Hara said, high fiving Hera.
A disgusted look crossed O'Hara's face again as she looked at the face paint that now stained her hand.
"Ew," O'Hara said. "Why are you even in my sight right now?" Her eyes wandered to the ceiling. "Oh, right... I have a job to do. I don't get paid enough for this bullshit… I guess I should call your parents or something..."
I rolled my eyes at her, but in reality, my heart was pounding and my palms were profusely sweaty.
With that, she called my pops. I was silently begging him not to pick up.
And just my luck... he picked up.
"Good morning, Mr. Davis, Sr.," she said. "Apparently it's my duty to inform you that your son is in my office for harassing a classmate."
There was a brief pause before my dad said: "Why?"
"Because your son is a piece of shit- ...work! A piece of work."
I couldn't tell what my dad was saying after that, but I knew when I got home, there would be hell to pay.
"So what should I do?"
I strained my ears to hear what Dad was saying. And my heart sank to hear: "I think I have something in mind." Well fuck.
Two hours later, I was in my room, door locked, dresser against it for good measure, with a huge knot in my stomach. I knew my dad must have been very, very mad by now as I heard his footsteps pounding against the tile floor leading to my room.
Yeah, to say I was scared would be an understatement. I was just lucky it wasn't my mom… sheesh.
My dad came up and knocked real hard on my door. "Jason! Open up!" he yelled.
"No, Dad!" I snapped back, fearing for my life.
"Open up right now, boy!"
With a shaky hand, I undid my makeshift barricade and opened the door.
My dad was visibly fuming as he rushed past me. He sat on the edge of my bed. I joined him, scared out of my mind that I would get grounded.
"Junior," Dad said, "I raised you better than this."
"What a cliche, Pops," I said with a subtle eyeroll.
"Don't you roll your eyes at me! I'm not playing games!"
Then, in a seemingly calmer tone, he said: "I know you're a prick sometimes, you get it from me, Jason. But bullying? That's where I draw the line!"
I didn't like where this was going… The knot in my stomach basically became a vise.
"So, Jason," Dad said, "what we've done first is talked to your little… girlfriend, Julie and told her about everything you've done to Hera."
What?! Whoa, WHOA! How did he find Julie's number? Has he been a hacker all this time? That would explain why he's always reading books, imagine that.
Suddenly, my phone began to ring and vibrate in my back pocket.
"Speak of the devil, that must be her right now," Dad told me. "Go ahead, take the call."
I pushed the answer button on the Bluetooth I had in my ear and answered the call.
"Hello?" I nervously answered.
"JASON!" came the voice of Julie in an enraged tone.
"Woah, chill!"
"Why did you do it?" she asked. "Why did you have to bully Hera?"
"Because anime and manga SUCK, Julie!" I said with passion. What? It was true. I couldn't even name one anime character, IcyHot was just a lucky guess...
There was an uncomfortable silence.
"...babe?"
"ARE YOU THAT GOD DAMN IMMATURE? Seriously, all of that over ANIME AND MANGA? Don't you like it anyway? You're always talking about how cool and Plus Ultra Todoroki is-"
"Hey, hey. We don't talk about that."
"Whatever. We could've been a great couple, you know.. We could've leveled up to something special... But you're one mean ass bully! A nobody! A fucking pussy! ...I'm breaking up with you!"
"WHAT?!?!" I shouted in a confused panic. It's not like I was bullying her, and she was obsessed with My Little Pony, but I looked past that because I'm a nice guy!
I sat there and just listened to her rambling on. My waterworks were broken by this time. My mom and dad giggled like the heartless cows they are.
"If-if that was how you felt, then why wait for tonight to tell me?" I asked.
"Because she's my best friend, Jason. My BEST FUCKING FRIEND!" Julie screamed.
"Oh, for real?" I asked, tears pausing. "Yikes…"
"We're over, Jason! Don't ever talk to me, visit me, or Skype me ever again!"
She hung up.
I turned off the Bluetooth in complete disbelief and sadness, tears going again.
"Damn..." I said as I wept. "Damn! DAMN!!"
"Language, dumbass!" Mom said. "Anyway, now that that's settled,"
Dad cut in, "We and Ms. Nguyen are gonna go have a chat and discuss what you need to do to make this up to her. And by 'we,' I mean you."
"WHAT?!?!" I shouted.
"That's right!" Dad said with a sinister smile. "You're gonna do whatever she asks!"
"NO FUCKING WAY!" I yelled.
"Oh, yes, you are!" Mom said sternly with a dark glare. "And stop cussing!" She popped me upside the head.
After snapping back to reality, I asked, "And if I don't?"
"...did you just sass me?" Mom asked, murder in her voice.
"Marion, wait." Dad budded in, stopping her from chucking her house shoe at my handsome face. "If you don't, boy, you'll never see TV, games, or, you guessed it, anime ever again." He said with a grin.
"Shit," I thought. "I knew they'd try to go after what I love the most."
Soon after Dad shook me up with the news, he dialed the phone number of Hera's house.
I got very, very, very nervous as Dad handed me the phone. "I'll have you know, Jason, that Hera's mom is one of your mother's best friends."
"Seriously, does everyone know this girl or something? It's like I'm in a telenovela! I should've gone after Rick the Genshin Impact stan..." I thought.
"Hello?" A man, presumably her father, answered with a voice deeper than Satan's.
I nervously said: "So this is Hera's dad, Mr. Nguyen?"
"Yes, who else would it be? And it's Washington, moron. So you're Jason, the dude who's been bullying my daughter since freshman year."
"Yes, I am."
After a dramatic pause, he asked, "Why the hell would you torment my daughter? Do you want to die? Trust me, there's a special place in hell waiting just for you."
Uh oh… "This is probably gonna upset you, but it's because of her unhealthy obsession with anime. I mean, have you seen her Todoroki pose? She totally butchered it! Not that I would know..." Nailed it.
"Seriously? You've been bothering my kid because of anime? What are you, 6? No, that's an insult to 6 year olds!" Mr. Washington said in disbelief. "What the hell is wrong with you?!"
"Yeah, yeah..." I tried sounding tough but probably sounded like a whimpering puppy. God, I was turning into one of the weaks. Channel your inner Bakugou, dumbass! There we go.
"Anyways, I'm gonna give the phone to Hera now. She'll tell you what to do. Trust me, you're getting off REAL easy, bitch. If it were up to me, I'd be ripping you limb to limb right now-"
"DAD! NO!" Hera shouted, snatching the phone.
Seconds later...
"Um, is this Jason?" came a standoffish voice. Definitely Hera. Honestly, how dare she?
"Yep, how could you tell? Was it my irresistible, amazing voice?" I asked.
"Uh… sure… anyway, I already decided what you're gonna do."
"Oh, shit… I mean oh, joy! What is it? Do your homework? Cuz if so you might start failing-"
"I'm not that stupid, Jason. Now let me finish!" She took a deep breath. "You're going on a date with me."
It took a second for my brain to process the absolute bullshit that just came out of her mouth. "...What?"
"You're going on a-"
"I heard what you said, genius! Why? Why the hell would you suggest that?"
Suddenly there was a rustling on the other end. "What? Honey, don't tell me you're serious about going on a date with that… shit stick."
"Hey-"
"Shut up, dude, this isn't about you!"
"It literally is-"
"DO YOU WANT ME TO HUNT YOU DOWN?"
My mouth shut immediately. I hadn't even seen the dude but I knew he could crush me like a cracker.
"N-no, sir…"
"Then shut it!" Another pause. "Hera, are you sure? That asshole? Come on, just make him do your chores or give you all his money or something-"
"No, dad. I'm sure. I wanna do this. Now give me the phone back!" More rustling. "Ahem. I expect you to pick me up tomorrow at 8, and no later."
"What? No! I have to watch MHA- I mean, ultra manly man stuff, like NASCAR or something-"
"Oh give it up, Jason. We all know you're a weeb. The only reason you target me is because you're jealous of my cosplay abilities. And I know it was you who stole my Todoroki kawaii keychain."
"You know nothing!"
"8 o'clock or my dad's gonna hunt you down. And we also know Jacqueline is the favorite, so your parents won't mind-"
"Shut up. I'll be there okay? Look for a Ford Mustang. Black."
"You can afford a Mustang? That's shocking."
"GOODBYE!" I shouted, hanging up with manly anger. My mom and dad, and very obnoxious twin Jacqueline came sprinting into my room.
"Haha, what? A date with you? Good luck to her, she's gonna be thoroughly disappointed." She took a moment to let herself laugh again. "What, are you sad she's gonna keep you from your one true love?"
"Who, Julie? How do you know about-"
"No, Todoroki! He's literally your phone background-"
"How the hell-"
"CHILDREN!" Mom shouted.
That was enough to shut us both up.
"Mom, she started that one!" I whined. "I had nothing to do with it; that was all her!"
She sighed. "Does it look like I care? God. Anyway, since she wants you to go on a date with her so badly, you're gonna put your all into this date. And you're paying for it. The food, the gas money, and no, pizza doesn't count as a date." Dang it.
Are you telling me I have to meet her dad? God… What have I gotten myself into?