You had no idea what Jen's big idea was, her kissing you like that left you stunned and by the time you were able to think again she'd just told you that you could text her after you found Jim and Pete to get taken back to her table right as she turned and left.
The way everyone was staring at you made you instantly tense up, almost wishing that Jen stayed. But then, they all stood up and surrounded you and you couldn't help but clench your fists, as this was often the first sign that aggression would soon ensue. Much to your surprise, these guys clapped and cheered you on, making you feel the most confused you've been in years.
"Damn, it's barely half the school day and this man pulls up with a massive hottie like it ain't no thing"
"Blud showed his most insane rizz feat and thought we wouldn't notice"
"Holy shit Brian, what does the scanner say about his rizz level?"
"It's over NINE THOUSAND!"
As embarrassing as that was, it was kinda funny as you heard two guys from the 'Nerd Clique' do that joke. As you looked around, the guys looked impressed but utterly confused that it was you who'd done this.
"Man, I dunno how but you're BLESSED. Shake my hand, need me some of that luck!" You couldn't help but chuckle awkwardly as one of the guys around you reached for your hand and shook it before you could even reply. This was strange, suddenly you were a celebrity?
You now had even more questions, because you had no idea why Jen did what she did but the guys' reaction made even less logical sense. However not all reactions were positive, and more voices could be heard from behind the crowd around you.
"Wait, is that Santos? You're kidding me, right?"
"That loser?! I'm calling shenanigans!"
"How the fuck does the school reject get to pull that stunt?"
'There it is, that's how it usually goes' You thought.
Just then you saw someone stand up and walk towards you. Yep, that was Ben Osborne. Star athlete back at Mully Ullye Gue, self-proclaimed alpha guy and a narcissistic bully, also an absolute doormat to the girls, specially Chrissy.
"The hell was that, Santos?!" He said as he angrily grabbed you by the collar of your shirt, which didn't look as intimidating as he intended given that you were easily a head taller than him. Brob genetics at work.
"What kind of bullshit are you trying to pull now?!"
"You think you're better than us?!"
You heard other guys from his group already getting furious at you for apparently no reason. You wished this were a strange situation but sadly this was the everyday truth, your heinous act of merely existing elicited these kinds of reactions all the time.
"I haven't even done anything, Ben" You replied as calmly as you could get yourself to appear but you already were sensing that things were about to escalate and the last thing you wanted was to start a whole mess on the first day.
"Hah, get a load of this idiot!" Ben turned to his friends/teammates as he boasted confidently.
"That is Sir Osborne to you, filthy freak!" He then said trying to push you to make you fail but you were able to keep your balance, visibly angering him.
"Oh? Want me to call you names? Alright, 'Sir' B.O" You replied and did a mock reverential bow that made his pale skin redden like a cooked lobster as his blood boiled. The fact that several guys snickered only enraged him further.
"Aight, you motherfucking asked for it!" He then threw a heavy punch at you but fortunately he telegraphed it so much that dodging it was no trouble.
"Ben, stop. It's not really worth it. Do you really wanna get that rat's dirty blood on your hands?" Another guy said, standing up.
That was Allen Berry, Ben's second in command and also the closest thing to a voice of reason within his group. Rumor has it that he's failed at least twice and has had to repeat the school years, meaning that he's 2 years older than everyone. His aloof demeanor and cold-mindedness seem to confirm this but he's never openly admitted to it. Just as prejudiced as the rest, sadly.
"Yeah, yeah, you're right" Ben said, taking a deep breath "Besides, if Filthy Freak wants to hang out with the giant monsters they'll either crush him or eat him in no time" He chuckled and turned around.
"You say 'giant monsters' but you were staring at her big badonkers too!" Ezekiel, the guy that talked to Brian earlier, called out.
"S-Shut up, bookworm!" Ben easily angered again.
"My brother in Lustrog, Chrissy's not gonna give you the time of day even if you kissed the floor she walked on. You don't have to try so hard, it's sad, really" Brian spoke up next.
"You shut up too, four eyes!" Ben's fists were already shaking, but what was angering the most was the fact that for some reason the guys weren't uniformly shunning you as usual.
"Yo!" Hunter then waved at you "All the bitchy bickering aside, how in the world did you pull that off?"
You raised an eyebrow. You vaguely knew him and his group but as they also usually followed the norm of either treating you like trash or as if you didn't exist, you found it weird that they decided to talk to you this time. You could tell that it was also an act of defiance towards Ben though.
"You too, Hunter?! What the fuck is wrong with you guys?! Has everyone lost their goddamn mind?!" Ben yelled "Why are you even talking to this absolute disgrace?"
"Dude, we're not in Mully Ully Gue anymore. Get on with the times, man" Matt spoke up next.
"Doesn't matter. We do NOT treat the school freak like it's people or else it's gonna start believing it"
At this moment, you felt the wind shift and a faint blur moved past the corner of your eye. Right after, you found yourself immobilized as Allen caught you in a Full Nelson hold.
'Goddammit' You thought right as Ben's fist connected on your face from the left, hitting squarely on your cheek.
"Let me remind you all what we're supposed to do with freaky rejects!" Ben shouted as he threw another punch to your face, this time hitting from below, connecting with your jaw.
Thanks to your dad's boxing training, you knew to turn your head with the punch to decrease the damage somewhat so, while it hurt at least it didn't feel like it injured seriously. You noticed that Ben's hands were trembling a little, most likely because they hurt after hitting you.
Ben decided to go for body blows next, hitting you in the ribs but with each punch, his hands were hurting more and more, almost as if he were trying to punch steel. A harsh punch on your stomach knocked some air out of you and made you feel the pain surge through your body like a shockwave.
Just then, a few spitballs hit Allen in the eye and as he grabbed it by reflex, he let go of half of his full Nelson hold on you, opening up an opportunity that you seized, using your freed arm to elbow him hard in the stomach, getting him to double over and letting go of you. Using a low sweeping kick you knocked him to the floor and saw Ezekiel and Brian giving you a thumbs up, holding a straw in their other hands each.
"Shit!" Ben tried to walk away but the crowd pushed him back in.
"Weren't you gonna show us how to treat the 'freak'?"
"Fuckin' dammit" Ben clenched his teeth and turned back towards you, seeing that you kicked Allen in the ribs while he was already down just to make sure he wouldn't get up too soon.
"You think I'm afraid of you?!" He yelled as he took his jacket off and tossed it aside.
"Well Sir BO, you've never had the guts to fight me head on without help. Make of that what you will" You replied, wiping a bit of blood off the corner of your lips with one of your knuckles.
"YOU'RE DEAD!" He growled and snatched someone's food tray, made of solid metal and hit you in the head with it but other than the rather spectacular 'KLANG!' noise it made, the hit was largely empty and the tray itself got dented into uselessness.
What followed next was almost too fast and blurry to describe, feeling pumped full with adrenaline, you dodged his punches while throwing your own, feeling some connect though some of his also hit their mark. Having both you and him had endured the harsh Lilliputian military grade physical training and hand-to-hand combat lessons, this was a more serious bout than most ordinary school fights. Thankfully, the extra strength and resilience granted by your Bob heritage gave you the edge you needed.
Minutes later you noticed that Ben's movements got slower and he looked sluggish overall. You took a deep breath and dropped the fighting stance, noting that he had a bunch of nasty gashes on his face, a result from your sharp knuckles no doubt. Meanwhile you had very minor bruises that would be gone within a few hours.
"Stop it, you'll just embarrass yourself more" You said, looking at him while he struggled to catch his breath.
"This... isn't... over, freak" He said with lots of huffing and puffing. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a switchblade. Despite his sorry state, he effortlessly pressed the button and the blade appeared.
"How the hell did you get that past the metal detectors at the main gate?" You said in disbelief.
"Ceramic blade, dumbass!" Ben laughed, having a more deranged expression. He quickly switched to reverse gripping the blade, his intentions beyond clear. He raised his arm and your whole body tensed up, anticipating that you'd have to step back but there was another sudden metallic 'KLANG!' that resounded around you.
Much to your surprise, someone from among the crowd had jumped in, picked up the dented tray from earlier and smacked Ben's head from the side with enough force to make him fall on his face and drop the switchblade, which shattered upon hitting the steel floor that was the Brob-sized table you were all on.
"You guys were really gonna let this mofo stab someone right in front of you?" A guy you didn't quite recognize spoke, he then walked towards you and held his hand out.
"Joel Vinson, a pleasure to meet you"
"Huh?" You stood there for a moment, stunned at the sole idea that someone other than Jim and Pete cared enough to come to your aid and even greet you publicly. Something about his demeanor told you this guy was most likely not from Mully Ully Gue. After quickly recovering, you shook his hand back and told him your name...
