Billy put the remote into his backpack and didn’t think about it. The next day, Friday, Billy got up like any other school day. Yawning he went down to breakfast where his mom and sisters, Kaitlin and Brittany were already eating. Mom was drinking coffee by the table; her legs crossed and she dangled one of her slippers from her foot. Brittany was already dressed in some kind of peasant blouse that showed off her shoulders and a denim mini skirt. In the back of Billy’s sleepy mind he wondered if mom was taking notice of the “change” in Brittany’s sense of fashion? Kaity was still in her sleep cloths, like Billy, an over sized T-Shirt and boxers. The only difference was that Kaity’s shirt covered her but and her boxers were way too small for her; not that Billy noticed such things.

After breakfast Billy and Brittany walked to school together; it wasn’t that far and they only really worried about the bus if the weather was bad or in winter. “What do you have going on after school?” Billy asked. Brittany was pretty social so she often had something going on in the afternoons; that was why she hadn’t been with him the day before on his way back to the house.

“I’m auditioning for the school play,” Brittany responded. “It’s a musical version of Romeo and Juliet. One of the drama kids wrote original music for it.” Brittany sounded excited.

Billy shrugged, “That sounds cool. I hope you get it.” There wasn’t much talking after that.

It was just after third period when things broke from the norm. Billy had had a free period and had been casting looks at Kelly O’Neal; a cute red-head with freckles. She was a tech nerd which put her and Billy in semi-interconnecting circles since Billy tended to be a more creative type loner. That is to say he and Kelly knew each other from various class projects. Billy once helped Kelly set up lighting in the school auditorium. Of course thoughts of anything related to school drama made Billy think of Natalie Ellis, who was the school’s resident star…and not because she could act. Natalie had a body that was built for movies and not the kind you show on the Disney channel; and as far as anyone knew it was all real. Problem was, Natalie was also a grade A bitch; Natalie and Billy had a history which Billy didn’t want to think about.

Billy was still looking at Kelly when Drew Hernandez interrupted him. “What up?” Drew sat down at the desk right in front of Billy blocking his view of Kelly. “Checking out Tech Girl. Cool, Cool. So, uh, Billy, I got this problem, you see I had some trouble with last month’s math test and now…well I can’t play in Saturday’s game if I don’t pass the next one…which is today.”

Billy had been ignoring Drew and now he gave the other boy his full attention. Drew as BIG…not like a hulk but he was the kind of fit that made him look BIGGER and everyone gave him space. Billy’s mind of thinking, Where is this going? Problem was Billy was already thinking of the answer.

“Sooo I was thinking you could slip into class and take the test for me. Its Mrs. Hendrix. The Old Fart can hardly see even with those goggles. You’re good at math right? You take the test, put my name on it and I’ll give you $100. Sound like a deal?”

“No!” Billy said. He knew it. He knew something like that was coming. Problem was, in a school like theirs where there was a very large student body with very view faculty and controls students pretty much ran around unchecked. So Drew’s plan wasn’t beyond the realm of possibility. Issue was, Billy didn’t cheat and second, he really didn’t like Drew, the guy was jock tool. There were other reasons too but Billy didn’t really need to think of them because of the first two.

Drew’s face went dark. He didn’t threaten Billy, not with words but there was a distinctive feeling in the air. The neighborhood and school was actually pretty good, so there wasn’t a big risk of violence. But just because Drew wasn’t going to hit Billy didn’t mean he couldn’t do other things. Drew snatched up Billy’s backpack and immediately opened it. It was so fast that no one would have noticed unless they were looking. Billy wasn’t that used to confrontation so it took his brain a moment to fathom that he was being Bullied, like a real TV style bullying scenario.

“What the hell it this?” Drew pulled out the remote from the day before but that wasn’t what he was interested in. Drew pulled out a box of condoms. “Think you were going to get luck with Kelly over there? Why don’t I just let her know you’re interested. I’m sure she’d be impressed with your,” Drew stopped to read and laughed, “Medium package.”

“Put those back!” Billy reached out but Drew effortlessly slapped Billy’s hand away. Billy wasn’t a wimp but neither was he a fitness buff, so Drew had the advantage of size, strength and probably training/agility. Picking up the remote in is other hand he pointed it at Billy. “Tell you what, you take my test,” the remote pointed at Billy, “and I’ll make sure I’m on mute and Kelly hears nothing about this.” Drew pointed the remote at himself and hit a button like he was hitting a mute on a TV. At the same time the Bell goes off signaling the end of the period and the start of the next.
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June 10, 2023
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