The guy smiled. “My name’s Simon Fisher. What’s your name and where are you from?”
It was my turn to smile. Maybe this place wasn’t going to be so bad. “My name’s Heracles Foreman, and my dad and I came from Fairbanks, Alaska.”
We shook hands and Simon laughed. “That’s a long way to travel, and to such a small town, too. Why here?”
“My parents split, but not legally divorced yet. I got stuck with my father, while my spoiled little sister is still up in Alaska with my mother; who, unfortunately, makes most of the money. So we moved here, even though we were going to go to LA.” I sighed, and remembered the conversation between my mother and me. Aphrodite is the worst sibling ever. She gets what she wants, and when she wants it; no matter what is going on. And yet, here I am with my abusive father in California, talking with a stranger. My life is getting worse, now that I am reminded of my- what’s the word . . . misfortunes.
“Man that sucks. I’ve been here all my life and I’m getting quite tired of it, too.”
“Simon, I really have to get all of these boxes inside before my dad gets home or I’m in a lot of trouble.” I pointed to the trailer full of them and Simon shrugged.
“Why don’t I help you bring them inside at least?” Jack picked up three boxes and took them into the house. I brought two and set them somewhere on the ground.
Three minutes later, all of the boxes were in the house and it was time to get all of the rooms set up. I told Simon where to put which box while I set up the kitchen. We cut the time in half that it would have taken me to get it done.
“So, Simon; now that we’re done, what do you want to know?”
“Well first off, why were you named Heracles?” Simon kicked off his boots and sat down on one of the four chairs.
“I’m somewhat named after my mother, whose name is Juno. See, Juno is the Roman counterpart of Hera, who is Zeus’ wife in Greek mythology. The real Heracles was named after Hera.” I paused to make sure Simon was following my story telling. “My sister is named Aphrodite because she was so “beautiful” when she was born.” I scoffed, and Simon laughed.
“That answers that question. My second question: What are those bruises and scars along your arms?”
Dang, I’m caught; that’s what I get for wearing a muscle shirt. I’m not telling him the whole story though. I don’t want him to worry about me.
“I used to do rugby in Alaska, and before I left I got in a fight at school.”
“Hmm, what was the fight over?” Simon had an amused smile on his face. I could tell that Simon smiled a lot, because it hardly ever left his face
“It wasn’t girls that started the whole thing, even though they were a part,” I smiled. “No, it was mainly issues that had been boiling for too long. Bullying was over with for the most part ever since I joined the rugby team. But right before I left, about two weeks or so, a stupid kid started asking me if my sister had cancer. My family never told anyone about her condition, but somehow it had gotten out there.” I sat with my elbows on my knees, my hands clasped and my head hung low. “I’m slightly ashamed for blaming him for finding out, but that comment pushed me over the edge.”
Simon had lost his smile finally. “Dude, if someone did something like that, and it was about my family, I would have smashed his face in.”
“I did, though; and so much more than just a broken nose and black eye too. I put him in the hospital for almost a week.” I smiled, and then the front door opened.
My dad set both of his bags on the little folding table. I’m certain that they carried beer; and even more certain I was going to get beaten tonight.
“Heracles, who’s this?” His tone was one to be afraid of.
“My name’s Simon Fisher, Mr. Foreman. I saw Heracles moving the boxes in and I was glad to help.” Thank goodness, Simon came to my rescue, but my victory was short lived.
“Oh, you did?” Dad fixed me with a steel look, but it faded as he turned back to Simon and shook his hand. “Call me Jason, please.”
Simon slipped his feet back into his boots, looked at his watch, and frowned. “I’m sorry, but my mother must be worried about me. I’ll be over whenever you need me, and I’ll see you at school on Monday, Heracles.” Simon left the house, which then left me alone with my dad, who now had more than enough beer to last him the weekend.
I don’t know how I survived the weekend, but come Monday morning I had to wear a long sleeve shirt and long pants. Not the best on a warm March day.
People were staring as I walked to the admin building with a backpack filled with my school stuff that I had used in Alaska. I hate going to a new school, I thought. But I have a feeling that I’m going to like it here. Probably only because it’s California; so . ...
I walked up to the front desk and the secretary smiled a bright white smile. It somewhat scared me. “You must be Heracles Foreman. Welcome to Woodville High School. Have you met anyone yet?”
I nodded, relaxing a little more. “I met Simon Fisher last Thursday afternoon while I was unpacking . . .”
“Okay, I’ll call him down here and he’ll show you around.” The Barbie secretary, Mrs. Smith, picked up the phone and set it to the intercom. “Simon Fisher, come to the office. Simon Fisher, come to the office.” She motioned me to sit down as she took her own seat and got back to work.
It was about ten minutes before the bell rang for the end of first block when Simon finally rolled in. “So, Isabelle, what am I in here for today? I hope I’m not in trouble, because my Mama told me no more trouble or my truck’s gone.”
He didn’t notice me, so I got up, grabbed my bag and winced with the pain that shot through my body. “Not really you, even though now I’m your trouble.”
Simon turned, not even bothering to stifle his big, warm smile. “Heracles, man, it’s great to see you. Why are you still here and not in class?”
Mrs. Smith piped up, finally. “Because, Mr. Fisher, you are going to show him his classes and his locker.” She handed me my schedule with her Barbie-tan hands and smiled that creepy fake smile. She sat back down and started tapping at her keyboard, obviously dismissing us.
“Come on, Herc; I’ll show you to your locker first.” Simon snatched my schedule out of my hands and tromped across the campus to the junior’s lockers. The bell rang when we reached the lockers and a girl opened the one right next to mine.
She was beautiful. Shining blonde hair with red streaks, no make-up (which was a plus- I always hated girls caked in make-up), skinny jeans and a tank top: this was perfect in my eyes. I smiled when she finally took notice of Simon and me. “Hey, Simon; who’s your friend?” She raised a perfectly shaped eyebrow.
“Noel, this is Heracles Foreman. Heracles, this is Noel Williamson.” Simon put on one of his smiles and then it fell. “Noel, do you think you can take over for me? I have Trig next and I can’t miss it.”
She shrugged. “I don’t see why not; I mean I can get a note from the office telling my teachers I was showing a new student around. I’ll do it, but what are you going to do for me Simon?”
Simon shifted on his feet. “Um . . .” he dug around in his pockets for his wallet. “Here’s a ten- knock yourself out.” Noel didn’t look pleased. “It’s all I have!”
“Whatever, but you owe me ten more later on. Let’s go Heracles.” She grabbed my hand on hers and led me away. When we got around the corner, she let go and took my schedule. Her face lit up with amusement. “You are going to have so much fun.”
I was blank. “Um . . . elaborate please.”
“I’ll tell you when we get there.” She laughed and continued walking. “Your first class is history with Mr. Cooper. He’s a good teacher, great even, but don’t ever fall asleep. It’s probably the worst idea in the history of man- and believe me, you’ll learn all about that in this class.” Noel stopped outside a door. “And now, you’re about to meet him for yourself.”
I walked in and got a lot of stares- again. Mr. Cooper, a tall, tan man with flame red hair stood at the front of the room. “Hello, Noel; who’s this?” He paused, thinking. “Don’t tell me: this is Heracles Foreman.” The class laughed, mostly at his way of saying it.
Noel nodded. “Yeah this is him. I brought him by to pick up his book and homework.” Someone coughed out an insult at the back of the room. My eyes instantly went to the loser and I glared at him. In return, he flipped me off. Mr. Cooper saw none of this exchange as he was grabbing my book and writing down the assignment. I was just about to walk back there and hit him, but Mr. Cooper dropped my stuff in my hands. “Here you go Mr. Foreman. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Outside, Noel stopped me. “Do not mess with Calvin. He will beat you down, and you will never recover from it.” She had grabbed my arm, and looked me in the eyes.
“He insulted you. You’re not going to stand up for yourself?” I almost yelled, but managed to keep my voice down.
“Because Calvin is just a big bully who thinks he can push us around. Everyone ignores him or goes along with his little games. Let’s get to your next class.” Noel instantly dropped the subject, but I could tell that she was sulking because she didn’t talk as much afterwards.
By lunchtime, Noel and I had gone through all but one of my classes, picked up my books and homework. We stopped at our locker and then went to eat with Simon.
“Hey, how was the tour?” He said as he sat next to us on the grass outside.
Noel was silent. She’s still mad at me; it just was a stupid misunderstanding. “It went great, but I met Calvin. Is he always like that? I wanted to punch him so bad.” I shook my head and took a huge bite out of my burger.
“He’s just stupid and a huge jerk. What did he do this time?”
“He said something about Noel. I’m not even going to repeat what he said it was the horrible. And Mr. Cooper didn’t even stop him.” I shook my head, setting my burger down. The food here’s better than Fairbanks, but I just don’t want to eat now.
Noel finally spoke up. “It’s not a big deal, guys. I’m fine with it, and so you can just drop the subject.” She walked away, fuming.
Simon rolled his eyes. “She’ll be fine. Give her some time to settle, and then you can talk to her.” He started reaching for my food, and then paused. He glanced at me with hunger showing in his eyes. “Can I eat this?”
“Lost my appetite- go ahead, take all of it.” I passed the tray to him, and as soon as it was in his hands, the entire burger (what was left) went in his mouth. I laughed and someone kicked a soccer ball at my face. I ducked, and as the ball went over my head I leapt up and glared at who kicked it: Calvin, flanked by his goons.
“What’s wrong, Kodiak? Scared of a ball? I thought you played soccer.” Calvin sneered and my anger flared up white-hot.
“I played rugby, and don’t ever do that again or you’ll regret it.” I balled up my hands into fists and Calvin laughed.
“Oh, this?” He grabbed a ball from one of his friends and dropkicked it at me. I caught it, and smirked. “Okay, if that’s how you want to play, then fine- I’ll play your silly little game. Let’s go to the field.” Calvin was speechless. He didn’t expect me to challenge him. Ha, it’s time someone shot down his ego.
Out on the field, we only got a goalie. Simon was mine, and one of Calvin’s thugs was his. Almost everyone was out there watching. A senior soccer player had a ball and was going to do a drop ball. “You all know the rules- no punching, tripping, minimal shoving, and no hands; go!” He dropped the ball and Calvin and I shot forward. I go to the ball first. I had speed on my side, but Calvin had brute strength. I made a goal, and I found that Connor, Calvin’s “friend”, was a terrible goalie. He kicked the ball back to the center, and the senior dropped it once again. Calvin got it this time, but I managed to take it away and spirit it down to his goal and make yet another point.
After ten minutes, the score was five to four. I was barely winning, and the crowd knew it too. The teachers, surprisingly, didn’t stop this. I wonder when this is going to end, I thought as we met in the center.
“This is the last goal is game, unless if it’s a tie.” I set my jaw right as the ball touched the ground. I ran to the ball, but this time Calvin and I got there together. I took the ball away, and I dribbled to the goal. Calvin cut me off- with his fist hitting my face. I felt something break and I bent over, letting the blood flow onto the ground. “I’ll take this,” Calvin said with smugness in his voice and I saw the ball disappear from close to my feet. I straightened up, despite the blood and pain, and ran after Calvin. He blocked my attack, and I got tired of picking at this. I slide-tackled him and he fell on his face and out-stretched arm with a yell. “Don’t mess with me- I put a kid in hospital for a week.” I said over my shoulder as I spirited the soccer ball into Calvin’s goal. The people yelled and cheered. I ran to the center and pinched my nose. I gasped and let go. “I think I win,” I said to the senior, who shook his head.
“I’m sorry, but you broke the rules. You shoved him- which is what I said was against the rules.”
“Hold up boys,” a teacher, Mrs. Jones I think, stopped us. “Heracles had the most points. Calvin punched Heracles.”
“But he tripped me!” Calvin exclaimed as he finally arrived. I rolled my eyes, but my nose hurt terribly.
“What’s fair is fair, Mr. Brown.” Mrs. Jones paused and raised her voice. “Heracles wins.” Cheers erupted around the field. I didn’t smile. Simon ran up to me and slapped my back.
“Sorry I missed those,” he looked at me with a questioning stare as I was trying to pinch my nose to stop the bleeding. I was failing. Miserably. “Your nose is broken dude- don’t try to pinch it. Let me fix it.” He placed both of his hands on either side of my nose and paused. “Get ready to stop the blood and hold back a scream.” That’s when he shifted his fingers.
Pain erupted over my face and I bit my tongue so I couldn’t scream. Blood started pouring out in bucket loads. I was getting lightheaded, and I plopped down onto the grass. Mrs. Jones kept handing Simon the towels to soak up the blood.
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