The Bullynator

THE RABBIT WHO WAS SMARTER THAN THE PANTHER Jack and Oscar had stalked him since he parked his Jeep Liberty near the gymnasium and headed towards the cafeteria. They wanted to ambush him at the cafe so that they would be seen by as much people as possible. The answer to that was simple: they wanted to beat him up to humiliate him in front of his friends as they´d seen him cry like a little girl. But they failed. The minute David Fisher walked into the cafe, he was greeted by a crowd of at least 20 cheering students. The room was instantly filled by cheering, clapping and whooping and “Happy Birthdays!” Before either of them could lay a finger on him (he did not notice, they were to attack from behind, cowards as they were), David was surrounded, leaving them out of the circle. They all sung “For He´s a Jolly Good Fellow”, even a few teachers who happened to be breakfasting along with the student body. Both Jack and Oscar took it personal when the verse “Which nobody can deny” was chanted. Oscar only wanted to get him for what he “did to him”. Deep down, he knew it was Carrie who destroyed him, but he wanted to take it out on Fisher anyway. He refused to recognize that it was his arrogance and narcissistic traits what finally made him fall in disgrace. If David had not been involved with her, then she definitely would have fallen into his arms. Are you quite sure of that Oscar?, he found himself asking. “Taken” girls have never been a problem for you. Jack, on the contrary wanted to get him for a variety of reasons. He had felt really disgruntled after all the times he had picked on him and he had acted as if nothing had happened, and worse, he usually responded with sarcasm and irony. And there was also another reason: like Lucy, he could not bare seeing him having a good time with his little club of friends, who seemed to be growing by the week (he ignored the fact that Neville was responsible of that, or he would have beaten him up as well). To him, seeing people laughing, and cheering and smiling drove him mad (he also ignored the fact that Dr. Cox knew that already and had passed that valuable information to her beautiful daughter). Two hours later, they got him. Again. David went back to his car to put his jacket back in it. He decided that his pink sweater was going to be enough if he was going to be either inside the school most of the time or in Carrie´s arms. “Happy Birthday Fish,” came the threatening voice of Oscar Parrish. No sooner than he turned to face him than they charged. Jack pinned him again from behind as Oscar was dying to have a go at him and finish what he had left unfinished at the Club. After hearing the whole school cheer at him they were not twice as enraged. This time, he was afraid, he really was. He was at their mercy as there were no teachers nearby. But still he was not going to let them see his fear. He allowed himself to be dragged by Jack, who again, felt disappointed that he still did not try to get off his grip. He kept telling himself that it was okay to be afraid. He was completely immune to verbal taunts not only because he counted with the support of more than half the school now, but because of what he learned from Carrie: that they both feared and envied him (and where unaware of it of course, nor would admit it), and that they picked on him because they saw him as a threat, and not a loser (they did not know that either). But in the end, no matter how many friends you have and how high your self-esteem is, you were still vulnerable to physical stimulations. He looked at him calmly. He considered not being sarcastic this time, but changed his mind. What the heck? They are gonna beat me up anyway. “Oh, thanks. I don´t suppose you have a birthday present for me?” Jack grabbed him tighter. Oscar approached him until their noses almost touched. He smiled dangerously. “But that´s where you are wrong, little buddy. I do have a present for you. In fact, that´s why we are here, right York?” Jack nodded and laughed darkly. Oscar grabbed him by the shirt. “How about a split skull? So you won´t have to worry about school anymore. Or maybe a pair of useless nuts? So you won´t have to worry about condoms?” Oscar kept taunting him verbally, then David had an idea. It was a long shot, but he could not think of anything else. “Okay, okay, you win! You win! All right?,” he burst. He was only half pretending as he began to shake in fear. “Its over. You can beat me up all you want. I only ask one favor. Please! Just one! Professional courtesy never hurt anybody.” Oscar released him, he seemed confused. “And what would that be?,” he asked smirking. “Whatever it is you are gonna do to me, do it NOW! Don´t waste any time with threats and insults. Lets just get this over with. Not after lunch, not after school, but now. It is a lot worse when you have to wait. You know? Like when you are gonna get a shot at the hospital and you have to wait at the nurse´s station? The waiting part is actually worse than the shot itself. Know what I mean?” Apparently it took Oscar almost a full minute to digest what David had asked, as he just stared at him. He smiled and patted David in the head. “Thanks for the tip Fisher. You just told us what you fear most.” Then he looked at Jack. “What do you say York? I think we can wait a while huh?” He agreed. He wanted to beat him up badly, but if David was gonna suffer more if they waited a while, he definitely could wait. He let go off him. “Yeah, lets let the little weep go. For now,” he added. David thought either his move was very smart or their I.Q came with negative numbers. It cost David a lot of work to pull himself together, but he managed. He wanted to cheer himself, and jump and whoop as he´d never done so before. Once again he felt deeply proud of his greatest achievement. He had fooled them! Manipulated them! He felt a genius. He did not hear Oscar telling him to expect them when he least did, but it did not matter. From now on, he was not going anywhere on his own, at least not on school grounds. He watched them leave, and when they got inside the gym, he called Carrie and told her exactly what happened.