Episode 2 Alex

    "Were you?" Mr. Dallas continued, "Julia?"

    "Alex? " Julia laid the pressure on me. 

    What was Julia's deal and why did she seem so immersed in a battle that wasn't hers in the first place? 

    "Hmm, " Mr. Dallas adjusted for comfort, "There's something we call 'The Last Card', in cases like this, where the situation seems unclear, we refrain from any form of action until our 'suspect' here isn't proven otherwise. Then we can take action. We can flip the last card. "

    "Alex? " Julia called again staring at me this time with contempt. 

    "Alex, I'll ask one more time, has Marlowe been bullying you? " the principal said. 

    "Alexander, " Mrs. Ruffalo finally spoke, "Don't ruin the chance to make it stop. Be brave and leave the rest to us. "

    My heart pounded rapidly, and with every throb, a pain in my chest. They didn't understand, no one did, what Marlowe was. 

    "No, he hasn't, " I replied the principal as my face fell to the ground. 

    "You're going to pretend none of this is true? Alex? " I could hear Julia's nagging. 

    Mrs. Ruffalo shook her head in pity than in disappointment. 

    There was a long pause with everyone staring at me, then Mr. Dallas broke the ice "Care to explain the sore chin? "

    "Oh, that? " I said stroking my chin. "Got it from an entirely unrelated circumstance. " 

    Marlowe adjusted his faded blue tie and scooped his hands in his pocket confidently.

    "So, what about Marlowe? Are we just going to let him off? " Julia flared. 

    "Fine, he could be a punk sometimes but the last card hasn't been flipped yet, besides this is the first time he's been reported for bullying, so I suppose he hasn't been in the act before now? "

    Like hell, he hasn't! Every single kid in Hancock High is terrified of him. 

   "No one has summoned the courage to do so, sir. "

    "Well, last card, remember? " he said swirling in his soft cushion chair. 

    "Last card. Got it, " she answered staring at me again. She was boiling with rage. 

    ***

    SCHOOL HALLWAY 

    'Good thing you didn't snitch. Look around, everything isn't really what it seems to be. You should be scared, ' were the words Marlowe left me with as soon as we came out of the principal's office. 

    As for Julia, she stormed off angrily after raining down some harsh words on me, I couldn't recall all she said but it was something about me being a complete coward. Part of the advantage of having a personality like mine is you don't take everyone's lashes personally. 

    Yeah, I know, Julia offered me help and I threw it right to her face, but as I said, she didn't know what Marlowe was or felt what I felt anytime he was in the same space as me. He wasn't like any bully I'd ever known, something about him seemed pretty scary like he wasn't human. The feeling also strikes me every time I looked into his eyes. The way those eyes shook me off balance. 

    "What's going on? " Joe spoke first. "Julia just walked past us with some raging strides. "

    "I wouldn't want to mess with her when she's angry, " Victor added. 

    I reinforced the grip I had on my bag and adjusted my tie slightly. "Marlowe happened. "

    "What has Marlowe got to do with this, " Victor asked, his facial expression slowly changing. 

    "Julia, she reported Marlowe to the principal for bullying. I nearly gagged. "

    "What's wrong with that? " Joe said, looking up at me. 

    "You mean, what's wrong with Marlowe cornering us and practically killing us? I mean, I'm still too young. "

    "Joe, come on. You saw what he did to that 10th grader? " I reminded. 

    "Yeah, dude kind of woke up on the wrong side of the bed, " Joe said. 

    "No Joe, " I chimed in, "He tried to stand up to you know who. "

    "But how long will Marlowe–All of this continue? " Joe asked, his face turning red now. 

    "For eternity. If we're lucky, after High school, " Victor replied. 

    Joe frowned. "Not joking dude. "

    I placed my hands in my pockets and took long strides ahead of my friends in a dramatic way, "You know, I thought I was done with his bullying shit, but maybe that's just me being over-ambitious. "

    "So what did you do? " Joe asked me, "make Julia look like a fool? "

    "Mrs. Ruffalo too, " I said feeling ashamed immediately. 

    "Great. "

    "You know what, guys?" Victor said with a feeling of indifference. "We've got hundreds of centuries ahead of us. Regardless, let's cheer up. "

    "H–Hundreds of what now? " Joe asked. 

    I turned to Victor and touched him by the temple. "How hard were you hit? "

    Just then we heard a sonorous feminine voice from behind us, yelling, "Hey! "

    We all paused and turned back to see a gorgeous damsel. It was Salene. She had her little bunny bag stacked at her back and walked hastily making her flamboyant cream hair dangle in the air.

    "Hey! " she yelled again as she walked up to us while we waited speechlessly. 

    I stuttered. "H–hey. "

    Though I wasn't expecting her to smile weirdly, holding my hands as we walk down the streets in utter stupidity but she still murdered my expectations. With a quite serious face, she stared straight into my eyes. 

    "Please, excuse us, " she said. 

    I turned to move aside with my friends but she grabbed me by the sleeve lightly. "No. Not you. "

    Beads of cold sweat started forming on my forehead. What the hell did such a beauty want with me? I asked myself. 

    Not uttering a single word, she handed me a folded piece of paper torn from what looked like a girly diary. I unfolded the paper with sheer inquisitiveness, it read;

    'Tomorrow, at closing period. Three Horns bar... be early.' 

    Was this some kind of date with Salene, the number one beauty in our class? She rarely talks, though remained one of the most discussed topics in class. We all saw and spoke highly of her. She was perfection personified. A Cinderella in a modernized world. 

    "S–sorry, wh–"

    I looked up and saw her walking at a distance, she didn't even care to explain what the paper was for, though I had my ideas but still...

    Still awed, I posed, firmly staring at the paper. I was kind of lost in it till I felt a warm hand around my nape.

    "Dude! Were you just fucking asked on a date by Salene? " Victor squealed.