Fry ties his school tie nervously. He quite likes the Jackson Street uniform; it's comfortable but tidy. Most of his classmates are naturally quite tidy, which is just as well. His school might be a special school, but it's also a private academy and comes with strict conduct rules.
"Alexander, get down here!"
Fry grimaces. That sounds ominous. He grabs his bag and goes down the stairs.
"Yes?"
His mum stands at the bottom of the stairs, holding Fry's bloody t-shirt.
"Alex, where did all this blood come from?"
"I had a nose bleed. I don't want to look at that."
His mother looks suspicious. For someone who never lies, Fry can be very evasive.
"I found dog muck pushed through our door this morning. Do you know anything about that?"
"No." Fry says. "I didn't do it."
"Do you know who did?"
"No."
Mum hesitates a moment, as a momentary thinking race occurs between them. There's a disadvantage of having a son with 40 more IQ points than you.
"Do you know who would want to?" she asks.
"I don't know what other people think."
"Have you upset anyone recently?"
"I don't know what other people think."
Mum's eyes narrow at him.
"All right, c'mere and we'll get you off to school."
Fry goes up to her and they go through the checklist. Homework, PE kit, inhaler, keys, looking presentable, kiss on his forehead (because hugging is impossible and kissing anywhere else on his face is gross). All these get marked on a printed out ticklist, so that if he starts getting concerned that he forgot something he doesn't have to go back to the house.
He sets off at the same time as she starts helping his siblings into the car. He doesn't mind walking, and it makes sense now that his school is in the opposite direction to the others'. He does sometimes get hassled still, but the regulars that hang around near his school have learned that Fry has quite a strong punching arm. Anything but the R word he's pretty good at ignoring anything verbal; less so if it's directed at one of his friends.
He stops off to collect Jo, who tells him the weather forecast as usual. But as they approach the road before the school, they become aware of a group of girls coming up behind them, and another group step out in front of them.
Bethany has at least eight girls with her. They're carrying buckets.
Fry and Jo stop. Thinking quickly, Fry raises his hands.
"Your problem is with me, not with Jo. My policy is not to fight girls, but anyone who touches her is getting punched. So let her go."
The girls glance at one another.
"Fine. Get lost, fake girl." one of them says.
Jo goes red, but makes her escape and runs for it. Fry hopes she's going for backup. The girls snigger and make comments about her abandoning him. Bethany steps forward.
"Pay up fifty pounds for ruining my top." she says. "Or we're trashing you and your stupid posh uniform."
"If you do anything to me I will tell on you and get you into lots of trouble." Fry points out.
"Yeah, but I'm not going to do it. They are."
A couple of the girls advance on him, but a voice cuts through from one of the girls at the back.
"Wait a sec, you never said we were going to beat up a Special Needs kid."
"He fired shit at me from a catapult." Bethany says. "He deserves no sympathy on that front."
"I thought you said he was a retard."
"He is a retard."
"Then we shouldn't do this to him."
Fry takes their moment of distraction and makes a run for it. They tail him closely, throwing manure at him, until he takes refuge in a decommissioned phone booth. He can just about hold the door shut, but he can't get out.
He waits a few minutes to see if they get bored and go to school, but they don't seem to be leaving. He gets his phone out of his pocket and wonders who is going to be around to rescue him. Even if Jo found help, he's now in the wrong place to be found. He scrolls through his contact list, not finding any number for school - damn. Mum and Dad will both be at work by now. Then next to Mum he spots Max's number. It's the right day of the week for Max to be in his school doing his rounds, so he hits the number and calls it.
"Hey there Fry." Max picks it up after just three rings. "Shouldn't you be in school?"
"I'm trapped in a phone booth on the corner of Jackson Street and Book Lane." Fry says.
"You're locked in?"
"No, there's a load of girls with manure chasing me and I smell bad and I'm going to be sick if I can't get out of the smell soon. I think Mrs Carter's looking for me but I don't know if she knows where I am."
"Okay kiddo, keep very calm and stay there. I'm five minutes away and I'll come pick you up."
He feels better knowing someone is on the way. One of the girls smashes a window of the phone booth, showering glass and manure in. He starts screaming loudly.
"Hey! Clear off, all of you!" Max yells, getting out of his car and shooing them all off. They scarper, and he helps Fry out.
"Are you hurt? Did the glass get you?" he asks, concerned.
Fry shakes his head.
"C'mon, I'll walk you to school."
He feels safe with Max, and follows him back to the school. He gets excused to go and shower in the gym block.
"Why are you in your PE kit?" Lenny asks him, when he enters late. Fry ignores him and sits down, only then noticing that there's newcomers.
"Fry, this is Nimesh, and that's Candy. They're going to be joining us next term."
Fry glances at the newcomers. Nimesh is looking very shy; Candy stares at him briefly, then goes back to staring at Jo. Jo is clearly feeling uncomfortable. He vaguely recognises Nimesh from the junior school attached to Jackson Street. Candy is less familiar to him.
"Why are you in your PE kit?" she asks, in a very loud voice.
"Candy, not so loud in class please." Mrs Carter says patiently.
Fry generally tries to be friendly to newcomers, knowing his classmate can be a bit intimidating. But today he's quiet, worrying about what's happening with Bethany.
He can still smell the manure.
"You smell." Candy says, loudly, next to him. There's an awkward silence for a moment, as everyone stares.
He gets up and walks out of the room.
In the end, Max decides to see him earlier, and not just to coax him out of the bathroom. Reassured that his parents won't be told anything they don't need to know, he opens up and explains how he got into this mess in the first place.
"I don't want the police involved." Fry says when he finishes.
"You say Bethany's Dad used to be your father's boss?" Max asks.
"Yeah. Dad got him sacked."
"Would you like me to go around to their house and have a word with him?"
"Yes please."
Max hesitates a moment, then adds.
"You know Fry, growing into a teenager is hard for everyone. Lots of changes. You want to be independant but at the same time you still need a guiding hand sometimes. And so I want you to remember that if you need to talk stuff through you don't have to wait for me to come here. I keep a number of free slots for people who need to see me between their usual sessions."
"Thanks Max."
"Think you can go back to class now?"
"I don't like Candy."
"Well she's going to be in your class next year, so you'll have to get used to her."
Fry, realising that the nice dynamic his class has got going is soon to be broken, admits defeat with a sigh.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
