Chapter Text
(John POV)
Waking up was a pain. I am so f*cking sore. Groaning I get off the bed to see the familiar square in front of my face.
[ Good morning, User! How are you this fine morning?]
“Uh... pretty good I guess.” I say kind of stunned by the casualness of this thing.
[ That’s good, very good User. I’m happy, just ecstatic to hear that. Well, let’s get this show on the road. Gambling is good for you.]
Yeah ok. Sounds good. The last sentence was a little iffy but it’s whatever. Clicking the square and watching it spin. What it landed on bewildered him a little.
[ Silverware Mastery] (Mystery Men)
[ Think about this User. You are all alone in the kitchen. Suddenly BAM!! Bad guy busts through your window. He might have been a ninja. Wait you don’t have anything to defend yourself with. Just open up your silverware drawer and you have instant access to a score of weapons. Every fork and spoon you throw will have unnatural levels of accuracy. Never leave home without them.]
I mean that sounded really stupid. Watching the square blip out of existence, I bumble downstairs. Ugh got to make breakfast. Grabbing three chocolate bars and completely devouring them while snagging a carton of eggs. While making an omelet I snatched a fork from my drawer. Looking around the room I spot a fly near the door to the living room. Flipping the fork in my hand, I quickly threw the fork so hard and fast it struck its mark. The fork imbedded itself an inch deep into the wall, decapitating the fly in the process. Alright, I change my mind that was awesome. Looking to flip my omelet, I grab a spoon this time. Throwing the spoon in such a way that bounced back into my hand. Pretty incredible. I threw that 90 mph. That would defiantly f*ck someone's day up. The omelet turned up ok. Snagging my empty schoolbag that I had I walk outside.
Turning to Taylor’s house I see her walk out her front door. “Hey Taylor! You want a ride?” I yell to her. I could see her almost jolt awake and turn to me in surprise. She walks over to me looking unsure about herself. “Um... sure. If that’s alright with you.” she says awkwardly. “Yeah, come on also sorry for scaring you. Didn’t mean to do that.” I reply sheepishly. Walking over to the truck I open the door for her as she hops in. As I get in on my side, she turns to me “It’s no problem I should stop being so jumpy.” she says.
“So how are you?” I ask as I start the truck and pull out. She tucks a lock of her black hair behind her left ear “Oh nothing much. Just not ready for school.” she says as she looks at me debating on whether or not she wants to tell me something. “So, look. Once we get to school, I don’t want you to be seen around me.” she finally says working up the courage. I look at her worryingly “Why?” I question. “I... I just don’t want you getting hurt for hanging out with someone like me.” she says with a pained expression on her face. After a look of fake thinking on my face I smile “No.”. She turns to me with shock and horror “N... No? What do you mean no?”. “Taylor, I am a pure-blooded southern boy. That means I’m polite and fiercely loyal to my friends. I already consider you a friend and I ain’t leaving you to the wayside.” I say as my southern accent grew just a little stronger. She flinches hard like what I had told her was a physical blow. She had a growing look of hope that made my smile grow even larger. She looked at me for a moment then gave a soft smile of her own. The look she gave was seriously cute. “Thank you, John.” she says gently. Smiling even wider I set myself back to the road. When we got to Winslow I grimaced. This place was the sh*thole to end all sh*tholes. Graffiti painted the entire school and I noticed what looked like a security checkpoint by the front doors. Absolutely wonderful.
Taylor noticing my face grimaced as well “Welcome to Winslow.” she simply says. I park in the parking lot while unbuckling I think about the fork and spoon I smuggled into my clothes. Hopefully those wouldn’t cause trouble. They shouldn’t but I’m not too sure about that. It’s better to be prepared with sufficient weaponry. I turn to Taylor “Hey Taylor do you mind showing me the way to the main office? I have to get my locker number and my schedule.” I ask. “Sure.” she replies as she is already taking her bag off. Turns out that I forgot stainless steel silverware was not magnetic, so I was able to sneak them in. Go me.
Following Taylor, I subtlety look around and noticed that kids were looking at her with excitement and hushed whispers. I tense up automatically and speed up so I’m walking right beside her. Something was going to go down and I wanted to be there to stop it. Feelings of preparation flowed through me. I had to remind Titan that he couldn’t come out no matter what happened. He seemed pacified by that. Taylor looked up at me with concern painting her face. I give her a look of reassurance and a winning grin. Blushing slightly, she looks forward and stops right there on the dime. A look of fright marred her pretty face. I glance forward and see what she was looking at. Three girls my age stalk forward with a look predators give to their prey.
The one in the front was a black girl with long straight hair. Clearly the athletic type and about as tall as Taylor. The girl to her right was a red headed white girl. She looked like she came from a well-off family. The girl on the other side was brunette and was a follower it looked like. I realized it when I first laid eyes on them, that these were the popular girls. All three of them had feral gins on their faces. The air of excitement tripled as students waited with baited breath for the show that they were going to watch. “Well Taylor still whoring out to anybody in the hallway again I see.” the black girl said viciously. “Yeah, what would your dear mommy say to that? Oh, I’m so sorry I nearly forgot that you cried your eyes out for two weeks when she died. How very sad.” the red head said with a cruelness in her speech. I watch as Taylor crumpled as tears were wetting her eyes. My eyes narrowed and just about when I was going to talk back the brunette took notice of me. “Hey handsome, ditch the skan* and hang with us.” she says with a sultry smile. “You shouldn’t hang around gutter trash like her, don’t you know she bathes in co*ckroaches.” the redhead quickly follows up with. I watch as a look of utter despair and complete sadness shook Taylor to her core. A look like that didn’t deserve to be on the face of someone who had an untapped well of kindness in her. She was too beautiful for all that f*cking slander. Smiles and laughter peter out through the hallways as nobody so much as twitched to help her. Utterly revolting.
I look at them with narrowed eyes “I am so terribly sorry but I’ll have to decline. You see I'm not into fake sh*t.” I finish with a wolfish grin. That seemed to knock the wind out everybody’s sails. Looks of shock spread across the hallway, none worse than the trio in front me. Taylor had a look of awe and fear on hers. “Now since their manners have escaped them, bless their hearts, Taylor...” she startles as she realizes I was talking to her “Who are...” I point to the brunette “Tweedle-Dipsh*t” I went to the redhead next “Tweedle-Dumbass” and I finally landed on the black girl “And Tweedle-f*ckface?” I finish with a look of pure glee. Taylor started gaping like a fish and it looked like she was struggling not to burst into tears or laughter. It was hard to tell. What wasn’t hard to tell was the face she was making was adorably cute. Just as it looked like she got her wits back, the black girl stormed up to me with her finger poking into my chest while the two behind her squawked with indignation.
A face of pure rage greeted my carefree one “Listen here you Kentucky fried redneck, you might be new here but there’s one thing you need to know is that you don’t f*ck with us.” she says with a fire and brimstone behind her eyes. “Oh, you poor thing. I didn’t realize I hurt your feelings so much with just my words. You did not answer my question though.” I stare back at her with a demonic confidence. “Who the f*ck are you?” each word drawn out of me with disgust painting them. She looks at me with a little bit of unease, she pauses at me and shifts her face to hatred. “I don’t have to tell you sh*t. You’ll find out soon anyway. I wouldn’t get too co*cky if I were you though, you just made our sh*tlist.”. She was going to say more but the bell rang and it jolted everyone that was there watching with frozen anticipation. She huffs and turns around “Let’s go.” she states to her cronies. The other two shot me glares of wrath and retribution. “This isn’t over yet.” the redhead said with heat. The brunette didn’t even spare me a glance. It was as if I was beneath her, as if I cared about sh*t like that.
I hear a gasp beside me, I turn and see Taylor staring at me with unshed tears. A look of horror was on her face. “Why did you do all of that? I... I’m not worth it. And now you’ll get hurt because of me.” she says as she starts to cry. Oh boy. I grab her hand and brush her tears away. “Hey now none of that. You are worth it Taylor. It goes against how I was raised to see someone like you getting bullied like that. They can’t hurt me that easily. So, it’s ok. Alright. Just breath nice and easy.” I state calmly with a gentle smile. She takes a couple of deep breathes to calm down. She still was a little flustered but, she gave that soft smile she wore in the truck. “That was so funny.” she says as she giggles a little. “Well thank my good southern charm.” I reply cheekily. She flushes at the thought of it. She looks down at the hand I was still holding and blushed. “Um, you can let go my hand now thank you.” she says. I release her hand and reply “Oh no problem. You want to continue to the front office?”. She looks grateful for the change in subject. “Yes. I’d love to.”
Continuing on our walk to the office in the now empty hallway got me thinking back. I had noticed a teacher or two in the background that didn’t so much as lift a finger to help Taylor. That meant that all three of those girls were connected to important people. This might be a little difficult. As we went inside the office the woman behind the desk had a look of pure contempt when she spotted Taylor. “What is it this time Miss Hebert? More complaints?” she says dryly. Taylor looked off balance for just a second but, steeled her expression. “No. I was escorting a new student here.” she replies. The desk woman turns to look at me with the same contempt. “Hello I’m John Steele. I’m here for my schedule and locker number.” I tell her. She sighs while digging through her desk. She produced two sheets of paper and hands them over to me. “Now Mister Steele I shouldn’t have to tell you to hang out with more reputable persons.” she states while giving Taylor the stink eye. What is with the people here? My face twitches in disgust for a fraction of a second. “Well now that’s mighty kind of you ma’am. I think I’ve got things handled for now. Thank you kindly.” I finish as I walk out with Taylor behind me.
f*ck that lady. “Hey Taylor you know where this locker is?” I say as I show her the sheet. She looks at it and then smiles. “Yeah, this is next to my locker.” she was clearly happy about that. “Alright what about my classes?” I handed her the next paper. She smiles even wider, probably the biggest smile I’ve seen on her. “You have all the same classes I have. What a coincidence” she states. Yeah, that was too big of a coincidence. Suspicious. ‘Hey Church did you change my school schedule’. ‘I thought it would help you get the girl you were chatting up with yesterday. Going to make kissy faces soon?’ Dick. I was kind of glad he went behind my back to do that though. Especially since I found out what was happening to Taylor at school. ‘Well thanks Church, I appreciate it.’ ‘Heh no thanks needed master.’
“So, Taylor who were those three?” I ask obviously curious. She looks rather thoughtful and was thinking about it. “The Leader of the trio is Sophia Hess. She’s a jock that loves to get physical. She’s hit me a couple of times.” She says as I clench my jaw at the thought. That must be the bitchy black girl. I’ll never let Taylor get hit by her again. “The popular one with the red hair is Emma Barnes. She gives the other two ammunition about me. She used to be my best friend.” she sniffs as if thinking of her time with this Emma person. Now that comment about Taylor’s mother made sense now. What a c*nt. “The last one is Madison Clements. She’s the person that comes up with their plans against me.” she finishes off twiddling her fingers looking dejectedly. I stop right in front of her looking her in the eye with determination. “I’ll try to keep them off your back while I’m here. You got that?” I say with conviction. She had so much hope in that instance that she could only blush and nod. “Well let’s go ahead and get to class Taylor.” I state. I was ready for school.
The rest of the day rushed by in a blur. For all of the classes we had together I was always near her. Sometimes I wasn’t enough to deter everything, like thrown paper balls. The teachers here were next level incompetent. Mr. Gladly was high on that list, arrogant and up his own ass. He would always see the bullying especially the trio when they would get up to sharpen their pencils and jostle and shove Taylor when they would pass by. I would always retaliate with throwing my erasers at them. I beamed Madison in the head making me chuckle lightly. That’s the one-time Mr. Gladly got on me, not them but me. He didn’t do it again because after mean mugging him while cracking my knuckles apparently intimidated him. The school day ended without any fanfare. After stopping by our lockers, we both get in the truck.
I turn to her while she puts her seat belt on “Do you want me to teach you how to fight?” She looks up at me thinking about it hard. “Yeah, I’d like that.” she nods. “Alrighty then, I’ll make dinner afterwards.” I smile slyly. She blushes while tucking her locks behind her ears. She smiles softly “What are you going to make?” She asks shyly. Hmm I had some sausage in the fridge. With onion, bell peppers, and celery. I knew exactly what to make. “You ever had Jambalaya?” I smile back “No I don’t think I have.” She replies. “Well, I make the best damn Jambalaya you’ve ever had. Best believe it now.” I excitedly state as I start the engine. Turning the radio on the first song was Naughty Naughty by John Parr. A classic indeed. Singing along I look at Taylor to see she was bobbing her head to the music. Stopping for a second “You like classic rock?” I ask. “I’m more of a Led Zepplin or Pat Benatar kind of girl you know.” She says absolutely jamming out. Oh my god. She’s my dream girl. After two more songs I pull in to my driveway.
“Ok we’ll change our clothes and meet back outside.”. She nods at that and heads inside her house to change. Trudging along I walk inside with a pep in my step. There was nothing wrong with extra training. I get dressed for the run and walk back outside to find Taylor already there waiting on me. She was dressed in a regular t-shirt and sweatpants. She looks over at me and looks a little disappointed at what I was wearing. I wonder why I was only wearing baggy sweatpants and a baggy hoodie. “You ready to get started?” I ask stretching and bouncing on the balls of my feet. She starts to stretch and after a good minute or two nods at me.
It was a thirty-minute run to the boardwalk and back. Not bad. It was about a six-mile run all round. It was around the four-mile mark when she started to tire while I’ll was still trucking along looking none the worse for wear. When we got back to the house, she was breathing heavily with her hands on her knees bent over. “Hey Taylor I’ll be right back with some water and give you a little break then we can get started on your other training.” I say as I walk inside and snag a water bottle from the fridge. I come back out to her breathing more steadily. I hand over the water bottle to her and she greedily chugs most of the water. She looks me all over and notices that I’m barely winded. “You're like a machine. You must have trained really hard.” “Yeah, I’ve been training like that since I was eight years old. Just non-stop training for years. It was very hard but, I think the results speak for themselves. Now come inside we can use by backyard to train.” I beckoned her inside and towards the backyard. She must have seen the lack of family pictures because she asked “Do you not live with your family?”. Hmm since I already know of her mother’s death, it’s only fair I tell her about mine. “My father died when I was eight and my mother dislikes me, so I live by myself.” I situate myself to get tell her what to work on when I see the look on her face. Sadness radiated out of her as she studies me. “It’s alright. I didn’t really see her as a mother even before my father was alive so I haven’t really lost anything special.” I placate her.
So, after going over some drills and describing that her best bet was jiujitsu and a little bit of judo because of her build. I was going to have to teach her Water Smashing Fist when I get better at it. All and all she did really good. She looked flustered at the end of it when I demonstrated some holds on her. After thinking about it a little bit I must have used to much of my charm on her. I wanted to get to know her before I start to date her because I was definitely interested in her. We had a lot in common. So, after that I let her go back to her house to shower while I took a quick five minute one and got started on the Jambalaya. As I got done with the prep work, I was ready to cook. Adding a chili pepper in the batch for good measure. Hearing a knock on the door I open it to share dinner with a special someone. I wasn’t so alone anymore.
Authors Note: Listening to the first Danzig album really helped with the blood flow. Terrible person but damn could he make some good sh*t.
