Chapter 3: Cyst
The next day, Mark found out that he and Jeannie had several other classes together, not just homeroom. She missed most of her other classes that first day because she had to finish filling out the paperwork, confirm immunization requests, and take placement tests.
Even thou it was only her second day, Jeanie was already the talk of the school. Being the new girl, Jeanie was getting lots of attention anyway, so she tried very hard to downplay her premature development with oversized sweatshirts, sweaters, and elastic sports bras, but the bounce and sway of her curves underneath were unmistakable.
Once identified, every male or female student had to be sorted and placed. Once the other students found out where Jeanie lived and that her parents were well off, she was sent to the top of the pyramid. Such was the cast society of modern high school.
And this was normally confirmed during lunches, in-between classes, Etc. But this indoctrination process also had homework assignments, for not everything could be done in school. It was not just the way you dressed or the people you chose as friends, but if you decided to try out for the cheerleading squad or if you had to work after school at the mall.
She might have been trapped, but she refused to be institutionalized. And always avoided the less civil behavior of her privileged adolescent friends. If she was forced to assimilate into an organization for her own survival, she would be a double agent.
Now, most of the school knew Mark and Jeanie were friends, as they sat next to each other in many classes, and if they didn't, Mark would arrange some way for them to find out.
One time he dropped a hundred-dollar bill on a teacher's desk to have himself moved behind Jeanie in History class because he said he couldn't hear that well. He needed to be moved closer to the front.
The teacher swept the money into the center drawer of his desk, with his attendance binder, and Mark was moved the next day. Then he would walk Jeanie home every day after school because they lived so close to the school.
Jeanie wanted to downplay their relationship and explained to Mark that she needed to make her friends apart from him. Otherwise, she may never be accepted by the other girls.
Mark just looked at her dumbfounded. Jeanie did not want to be defined solely by who she was dating. Plus, it would look very inappropriate if they announced they were already an "item" so soon after the meeting.
Mark still looked dumbfounded.
"It's a girl thing, she said.
"Oh, right, right, Mark pretended to understand.
She pretended the two of them were just "friends" at school, but secretly Jeanie agreed to be his "girlfriend." outside of it.
She would not date or see any other guy outside of it.
"But that's the opposite of how we started, he said. You were pretending to be my girlfriend at Assad's when we were just friends at the time."
Exactly, now he got it!!!
Jeanie told him that if he wanted to see her, they would have to hide the truth about their relationship from everyone because of her parents. They did not want her dating.
Mark made that nearly impossible, though sometimes he got so bad that Jeanie wouldn't even acknowledge him when she was with her girlfriends.
Sometimes she acted coolly, other times annoyed, sometimes downright rude. But it was the only way to throw off her girlfriend's suspicions. And she had to be convincing.
Of course, Jeanie would have to listen to Mark's complaint about how poorly she treated him all the way home, thru the woods in the back of the school, which was a shortcut to their subdivision.
Jeanie wouldn't say a word; she would just let him drone on and on until she felt Mark had got it all out of his system, and when she thought he might be done, she would tell him, "I'm sorry baby, I just started my period, and then kiss him on the lips, will you ever forgive me for being such a bitch?
One time she had her period every week for a month!!!
He would smack her on her shapely ass and say, "Why you're only going to do it again tomorrow."
I just need the right man to straighten me out; she'd tease.
So, you're testing me, he'd asked.
Always.
But then, on other days, when the argument was early, but her "period" was late, she would raise her voice, "That will be quite enough, Mr. Winters."
And then he would shut up. Other times he didn't even get that much, and she would warn him, Enough, Child!!!"
When he saw that gleam in her eyes, Mark kept that smart mouth of his shut; he was a fast learner but had a bad memory.
Thirteen years old was a bad age for all boys. Adolescent males who weren't even in High School yet were constantly distracted by thoughts of sex.
Boys who were physically aggressive with girls at this age always accompanied an undercurrent of sexual attraction. It was an excuse to touch the female body. Grabbing, pushing, and even play-fighting.
Jeannie, who over-developed early, was surrounded by boys who were nowhere near her sexual maturity, physically or mentally.
So, manifesting their sexual urges by becoming inappropriately physical was also a subconscious outlet. Every grade has at least one troublemaker, and the New Baltimore Jr High was no exception.
Gary Cyst was a miserable asshole since kindergarten, and before eighth grade, he usually stuck to bullying just boys.
But recently, this last year, he had been harassing some of the females as well. Sometimes he would spank the ass of an attractive female as he walked past her.
Overtimes, he would randomly snap a bra strap of a popular girl who would turn around angry but then immediately smile or laugh when she realized who it was that did it.
Some even took it as a compliment rather than an insult. Gary was a bad boy, after all, feared and respected. Always a headache for weak teachers, and it wasn't long before Gary made his move on Jeanie.
One day a few months after her move, Gary spotted Jeanie in-between classes after the bell rang. He came up behind her and shoved her against the lockers roughly.
When she was bent over, Gary rammed his hips into her, trapping her with his hands, and reached around to give each of her large breasts a firm squeeze.
Once Gary discovered Jeanie's breasts were natural and she didn't pad her bra, like the rumor that was going around, he instantly let her go surprised.
When Jeanie could turn around, she slapped his face as hard as she could. No girl had ever stood up to Gary before -not too many guys, either. He just stood there open-mouthed and then started rubbing his jaw.
Mark had always tried to meet Jeanie at her locker in-between classes, but on this day, he was late. But he did turn the corner. He was just in time to see Jeanie pinned to the wall; when he realized what was happening, he instantly dropped his backpack and ran to try and help Jeanie.
Mark had his fist cocked and blindsided Gary with a punch on the other side of his face that Jeanie had not slapped him on. The momentum of Mark's run had him crash into Gary even after his fist landed, and they both wound up on the floor.
After Mark hit Gary, they both fell to the ground; Mark, however, never stopped punching. By the time Gary started blocking, his lip was already cut and bleeding.
Once Gary got his barring's, he started wrestling Mark on the ground. The beginning of the fight had the first punch and element of surprise, so it favored Mark.
But Gary was tough and savvy, and soon he had Mark from behind, in a chokehold. Mark slipped underneath his grip and bit his wrist as hard as he could.
Gary let him go, but this time he didn't want to wrestle; he decided to slug it out instead. But the longer the fight raged on, the advantage Mark had would diminish and favor Gary, who was shorter but stronger. His skin had Mark's teeth Mark's, but no blood had been spilled because he had not been cut. Only his lip was bleeding; his skin was that tough.
Jeanie had run to the principal's office when Mark and Gary were rolling around on the ground, but the office was too far, so she decided to get one of the teachers, whose room was closer, to break up the fight instead. Mark could be seriously hurt.
Jeanie was holding her shirt together with her arms crossed to cover herself while she ran, not just to conceal her movement but in case Gary accidentally ripped it, undid any of her buttons, or tore her seams.
Mr. West, a math teacher who taught fractions, came running back with Jeanie in tow. She had a sweater tied around her waist, but now she was wearing it and straightening the sleeves.
He got in between the two boys, and while in the middle, Gary hit Mr. West in the back, pretending the shot was meant for Mark but missed.
He just wanted to hit Mr. West once because he had failed him last year and told him, "I hope you like summer school because that's where you'll going to be, instead of vacation."
Mark tried to kill that prick, but Gary did not go down despite Mark's best shots. He checked his wrist for blood instead. Gary looked worse for the wear, but it was difficult for either side to declare a clear victory.
Mark was taller, but Gary was stockier, and because Mark had fought with rage and Gary with skill, Mark took some hard shots. He pretended he wasn't hurt and tried to control his breathing like he was warming up.
But he had been in a fight; no one could deny that!!!
Truth be told, Mark was fortunate that Jeanie had found Mr. West and got him to break up the fight early. Back in the day, they did not take school fights as seriously as they do today.
Nor did they label Gary's attack on Jeanie a sexual assault or even molestation. It would be another thirty years before society even began to consider taking something this "trivial" as seriously as it was.
Everything in this almost entirely white school was handled very quietly. Gary's parents didn't have money, like Mark and Jeanie, but his family did have an attorney, so unfortunately, that saved him.
Mark got suspended for the following day, which was a Friday, which gave him an early weekend. Gary got detention for two weeks for "inappropriate roughhousing."
Gary already had numerous incidents on his record, and Mark and Jeanie had nothing. Gary even tried claiming that Jeanie backed into him and that it was her fault. He had only grabbed her by accident to avoid running into her.
Everyone else knew better, especially the teachers, but Mark and Jeanie's "relationship" status had been blown. If the rest of the school didn't know Mark and Jeanie were a couple before the fight, they certainly did afterward.
Mark was much more upset over Gary touching her than Jeanie was. Jeanie was more upset about how beat-up Mark looked.
"Mark Winters, have you lost your mind? I told you that I didn't want any negative attention. So, there you go and make a damn fool of yourself in front of the entire school, but she was beaming.
She skipped school the next day to be home with him in solidarity. Where he goes, 'Est, I follow, and everyone respected Jeanie for that.
Mark's parents knew about Jeanie calling in sick to skip, but Jeanie's parents did not. Mark was grounded for the weekend and suspended for the day, so he was not allowed to leave the house following the incident.
And that meant he could not go out after school, use the pool, or even use the phone to call Jeanie. He wasn't being punished for fighting but for getting suspended.
Handle your personal business on your own time, not at school, but don't let your grades suffer because of it. If Mark was caught, John, his father, always punished him for it, no matter the circumstances.
It had nothing to do with winning or losing or even fighting for the right reasons. He was punished for getting caught. Jeanie inspected the bruises on Mark's face and treated him with some first-aid ointment.
"Ouch, dammit, Mark complained."
"Stop moving. You're making me smear this, Jeanie said as he squirmed."
"But you're hurting me, Mark said."
"Well, I'm sorry. Jeanie said you brought this on yourself.
"Did not, Mark said."
"What you did was stupid, Jeanie scolded him."
"No, what he did was stupid; what I did was justified, Mark replied."
"It wasn't your business, Jeanie said, glowing.
"You're my business Jeanie, and one is going to touch you."
"You can put yourself on that list, Mr. Winters, Jeanie replied.
"I have Diplomatic Immunity, he said.
"You have Diplomatic what?"Jeanie asked.
"Immunity, he repeated.
"What the hell does that mean?"
"You belong to me, end of the story," Then he waved is hand through the air -like his father did- signaling he was done talking about it.
"I don't believe you just said that."
"Now go make me a sandwich!"
"I'm going to tell your mom."
"My mom," he replied, "why do you want to bring her into this?"
"I'm going to tell her what a chauvinistic pig you are when she returns from the store."
"Tell her I told you to cut the crusts off too."
"You're out of bread, idiot; that's why she went shopping."
"You have an excuse for everything, don't you?"
"Mark, don't treat me like a prize you won in a fight…"
"I was in a fight-"
"Yea, and you got your kicked."
He started choking on his drink.
I am a human being with feelings, I have a heart, a soul, and the brains to decide for myself who I want to be with and why, Jeanie finished."
"I love you, he said, looking into her eyes."
Mark was jealous, possessive, and needy, but most of all, in love, she knew how desperately he needed to hear how much she loved him back, for she had never said it once.
Jeanie melted right there, but she had to keep her mouth shut, and she looked away instead, trying not to cry.
She put another dab of ointment on his bruise, "If my parents find out I skipped school, I'm the next one whose going to be grounded."
Mark looked so sad and hurt when she refused to return the sentiment that he reminded Jeanie of a lost puppy, who couldn't cry, but only beg with its eyes.
That look haunted her so badly that when she remembered it right before she went to bed, she burst into tears and cried herself to sleep.
"By the way, my dad says your parents have a criminal case against Gary's family and a civil case against the school if you want to litigate, Mark said, changing the subject."
"No, I just want this entire thing to end, " Jeanie said."
The following Saturday, Mark and Jeanie headed off to the lake. It was ironic, but with Mark's parents' home after school, the only place that gave them any privacy was the neighborhood beach, which rarely did, even though it was supposed to be semi-public.
Semi-public meant it was only supposed to be accessed by the homeowners, but many non-homeowners crashed it, especially on the weekends.
You never knew who relatives of who were, so anybody could make up a name and say they were visiting and related to such and such.
At the end of summer, many people were boat owners themselves, and the beach, with its white sands and blue water, could be both romantic and secluded.
Even at the end of August, the water was still warm enough to swim in, and sometimes Mark and Jeanie had the entire beach to themselves.
Sometimes when it was quiet and they were alone, Mark felt like he and Jeannie were the only two people left on earth, but if she was the only other person with him, that would be fine.
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