(no subject)

Fry cautiously opened his school bag. He wouldn't have been surprised if there was a rattlesnake in there, the way the twins have been carrying on. Since being declared a nemesis he's been subjected to itching powder, sneezing powder, the threat of a rude word written in his coursework (that one at least was a hoax) and one of the legs of his chair unscrewed so that he fell off.

All in all, he's been feeling pretty fed up with it, and living in fear that it'll mess up his maths exams. But he can't see the point in reporting them if they're just going to say 'you can't prove which of us it was'. And as Form Captain, he feels like he's suppose to sort these things out.

He catches something out of the corner of his eye, turns, and is hit in the face by a jet of cold water from a hose hidden in the bushes next to the bench he's sitting on. As he moves to grab the hose he is pushed hard into the bush from behind.

"Oi!" someone shouts, as the hose gets turned off. Fry tries to get out of the bush, and sees Maurice squaring up to one of the twins. This is quite surprising, since Maurice is normally quite timid.

"Mind your own business Maurice." the twin snaps. Fry mentally labels this one as Marcus, since Marcus is usually the one known for being louder. Though since they found out that the freckle they used to identify the twins was drawn on, the class have been at a loss to tell them apart for certain. Oddly enough, the other twin, presumably Jamie, looks really uncomfortable.

"N-no, I won't." Maurice says. "You have to stop doing things to Fry. If he won't report you to Mrs Carter then I will."

Marcus pushes Maurice on top of Fry and scarpers. Jamie follows, but shoots a worried glance back at the two boys in the bush.

"Thanks Maurice." Fry says, helping the other boy up. He's known Maurice nearly two years, and knows how much he would have had to pluck up courage to do that.

"I have to wash my hands." Maurice says, rushing off. Fry lets him go, trying to dry himself off as best he can, and hurries into the classroom.

As he enters, he sees Marcus smirk triumphantly as he approaches his desk. He freezes, imagining some horrible thing lurking in there. Marcus had threatened to get animal organs from the butcher's.

"Are you hassling Fry again?" Nimesh asks Marcus suddenly, looking between the two. "Because we're all on his side you know."

"And we're not speaking to either of you until you knock it off." Candy says, sticking her tongue out at Marcus.

"So now it's five against two, see how you like those odds." Nimesh says. "You can't pick on all of us."

Fry gives the two of them a grateful smile. He should have enlisted their help sooner. As Marcus is about to retaliate, Mrs Carter enters, looking intense.

"Everyone please get on with your maths from the point you are in in your text books. Fry and Marcus, come with me please."

Fry and Marcus both look startled and head towards Mrs Carter.

"You better not have sneaked." Marcus hisses menacingly to him.

"Marcus!" Mrs Carter fixes him with a ferocious look. "If that was a threat you just whispered to Fry, you should bear in mind that you're in more than enough trouble already."

"Am I in trouble?" Fry asks.

"No Fry." Mrs Carter says, more gently. "You're not in trouble, we just need to hear things from you too."

They are escorted into the headmaster's office, and come face to face with someone they didn't expect. And for once, Jamie looks unusually determined.

"Marcus, Jamie has confessed in full to the parts each of you played in bullying Fry." the head says, severely. "He also confessed to taking all of your special needs assessments so that the two of you would get the same score and not be seperated. Not only that, but your report from your previous school states that this is not the first occasion in which you two have bullied other students."

Marcus's jaw drops slightly, then he turns on Jamie.

"Idiot! What did you go and say all that for? All those years I've stuck by you!"

"Because I said I wanted to be me all the time and you wouldn't let me." Jamie says. "You always said I could never manage if we got seperated. But all the other kids here manage, lots of them even go to university! I don't want to be your shadow, Marcus. And you shouldn't be held back by me either.

Fry was dead nice to us, but he worked it out. And you started a hate campaign that I disagreed with, but you did it anyway. I couldn't do it any more. No more secrets."

Marcus looks at Jamie, then at the head, taken aback.

"What happens now?" he asks.

"This school does not tolerate bullying." the head says. "If you don't back up your twin's story, and confess to what you've done, both of you will be expelled."

"And if I do?" Marcus asks.

"Then you will have to be assessed for special needs yourself, no more pretending to be Jamie, if you want to stay." the head says. "And of course undergo punishment."

Marcus is quiet for a moment, then nods.

"Jamie is telling the truth. But I don't want to stay. To be honest... I don't really fit in here. I only left mainstream school so I could look after Jamie." He glances at Fry. "But I'm satisfied that he's safe here on his own. So long as you lot won't hold anything against him because of me."

"Fry?" Mrs Carter asks.

"I have no problem with Jamie." Fry says. "I didn't have any problem with the twins in the first place, though I had figured out that one of them was probably mimicing the other for some reason."

"You didn't think to tell us?" the head asks.

"Since I hadn't worked out the reason I thought it might not be your business." Fry says.

"Fry!" Mrs Carter says.

"Might not be your business, sir." Fry corrects, hastily. The head waves a hand, amused enough not to bother with it.

"Mrs Carter, please take Fry back to class. Tell them that Jamie will be returning tomorrow and Marcus will be leaving."

Fry heads out with his form tutor. She glances at him.

"You should have told us you were being bullied Fry." she says gently. "Even as form captain, you don't have to handle everything yourself. Come and see me at break, I'm going to get a special circumstances form filled in for your exams."

"Thanks." Fry says quietly. "Can I please ask one more favour?"

"Of course."

"Can you please check there's nothing horrible in my desk?"

"Sure."