Sweat poured down Ethan Steel's forehead, his back aching considerably as he cleaned Mrs Anderson's classroom. He was already battered and bruised and now this? He hated life.
"This is shit," he muttered, glancing back in case one of his fellow troublemakers overheard his cursing. No doubt Reggie would be looking for an opportunity to get him in further trouble.
Where was that oaf anyway? It takes two to tango. It was an equal fight ... actually, thinking back ... perhaps it wasn't so equal. Ethan stared down at his bruised fists. Who would have thought he would be pretty adept at fighting? It didn't matter what the outcome was, Reggie somehow got away with everything.
Ethan's thoughts went back to the incident that had gotten him into this mess in the first place. He had been in the canteen with his friend, David - although now he was questioning whether he should be considered a friend - when he had overheard Reggie Richards, a meddlesome boy in his year group, talking about an "autistic kid" in his class.
Of course, Reggie was someone Ethan wouldn't normally bother himself with, as his father was an Ascender; one of the most powerful in Sadis.
Ascenders were human beings who gained special abilities through manually installed chips. These "powers" could be anything from super speed to strength to pyrokinesis. Most people didn't have access to these chips because of the price, but that hadn't stopped the rich arseholes from showing off to the common folk.
To put it simply, Ethan was infuriated. He hated bullies. He especially hated bullies who picked on children who had special needs ... like his own younger brother, Ernie. Ethan was so angered by the slight against the autistic girl, Jen, so much so that he found himself sticking his leg out right as Reggie was passing his table with his lunch.
It was pandemonium. One minute, Reggie was laughing and the next he had fallen face-first onto his own pizza. Silence. All chatter ceased and students looked round to find the source of the disruption. Reggie Reynolds was covered in tomato and cheese. Ethan snickered under his breath. The tomato was not much different from the texture of his bare skin.
Reggie slowly got up, initially confused at the whole ordeal. He looked around, daring the others to make a sound. The other students didn't so much as move. Terrified, they were, at the thought of being the next target of Reggie Reynolds. The silence dragged on until Ethan, unable to stay serious in serious situations, couldn't help but laugh again. It could have been the awkward air or the dumbfounded expression on Reggie's face, but his laugh was so loud that it echoed.
"You," Reggie snarled, tomato dripping from his face.
"Yes?" Ethan said nonchalantly.
"YOU THINK IT'S FUNNY, DON'T YOU?!"
"Normally, people laugh when they're amused. I mean, what do you think, Reynolds?" Ethan looked around at his table. He caught David's eye, who was stuck between fear and amusement. "What do you think, David? Am I amused?"
David choked on his water. "Er, yes," he squeaked. "Not that ... I don't personally find it funny, but I can see you do." Then his eyes widened." Please don't hurt me, Reggie!"
Ethan looked up. Reggie was towered over their table now.
"You tripped me up!" Reggie shouted.
Ethan said, "Yeah ... why are we stating the obvious?"
"Because ... because ..." Reggie Reynolds was lost for words. He hadn't ever been challenged like that and he looked at Ethan as if he wasn't even sure who he was. Then the confusion fell away, and he opted for his usual tactic. Violence.
Scooping Ethan up by the tie and balling his hand into a fist, he swung his arm round and ...
Ethan now regretted ever getting involved. Still, he was in it now and there was no way out of it but fighting back.
**************************************
"Fighting? That's your solution?"
Ethan closed his eyes. His right eye was swollen so he had some difficulty shutting it entirely ... David had told him on the way back home that it looked like a rotten grape, and he was better off covering it. He laughed. He laughed a lot, in fact, for an offensively long time. Ethan wanted to bite back ... he wanted to know where he was. Why hadn't he jumped in when Reggie's friends had? The fight was almost going his way until they cheated.
Maybe.
Perhaps.
"I'm tempted to send you to bed with no food," Mrs Tilbert said, rolling up her sleeves. "Fighting? Tainting our good name? Coming home with nothing but bruises and torn clothes? And I suppose you expect me to mend your uniform? With what money? We're already struggling what with you and your brother ... and all the other children! I thought your brother was a handful ...."
Ethan groaned. He should never have gotten involved; he would never hear the end of this.
"We are so selfless, and kind, giving up our time and energy to make you happy, and this is how you repay us?" She emphasized the word kind, pointing at Ethan's uniform with a look of disgust.
"Yeah, sure you do." Ethan chuckled, yet there was no humor in it." Quite frankly, you might be the single most vile human I've ever met. You don't feed me; you treat me like garbage and spend more time twiddling your thumbs around instead of taking care of us." He glared at her; his hands were balled in anger even though it was bruised from his fight with Reggie, but he wouldn't let the pain stop him from ranting. He didn't wait for her to respond as he exited the care home.
He needed to clear his head.