(Story dedicated to John)



CHAPTER 4: I've got your back..for now


                      
                   After sitting on the floor for a matter of minutes, i managed to get back on my feet. Whatever woke me up from the trance I had been in was a LOUD, earpiercing sound. I needed to go find out where it was coming from. It was like Ben's voice in stereo....

Except Ben's voice in stereo would've been better then this..

When I stumbled back into the Main Hall, A group of boys were crowed around a round lunch table on which Mike was standing on,telling storys.The sound I had heard was all the commotion around him...the boys had been talking and gossiping,I suppose.

"-you shoulda seen him! The kid is as skinny as a twig! And yet, the dumb ass has nerve to talk up to Nick, the tallest guy to walk in this dorm, maybe even to walk on the planet!" Mike instigated the crowd by measuring how told I was, compared to Nick's height.

"What'd Nick do? Step on him!" A boy from the audience called out, laughing so much it was hard for him to make the words out clearly.

Mike grinned, "Even better, he just blew him right off. As if he didn't say a thing. So I said to the new kid, 'watch yourself, your betting your life be talking to Nick like that' or something along those lines, and the kid glares back at me from under his stupid looking hat, which is 'bout 5 times bigger then his head alone!"

"Where is he? I'll straighten him out for you, Nick!" The boy next to Nick nudged him.

"Yeah Nick, we'll take care of that twig for ya! It'll be a SNAP" the boy across the crowd shouted for Nick and the rest of the boys to hear.

This...Was degrading..

I hadn't realized it, but when i went to check my surrondings(safety reasons of couse), Ian had been standing next to me the whole time.
Oddly enough, Ian was fuming next to me as a result of the public conversation. Maybe because in a small way, It was his fault I was being treated by Mike this way.

Even weirder was I was so startled by the whole event, that I wasn't angry at all.

"Hey look guys, guess who decided to join us!" Mike, I now know, has an uncanny power to find his victim when you were just feeling good about yourself.

Before i knew it, Boys i didn't know yanked me up to the table Mike was standing on.

"Hey, we were just talking about you Johnny. Care to tell us what you were doing in Ben's room for so long?" Mike kneeled down to smirk at me once again.

Damn. This was not the right time to go completely blank. I was too embarassed to even look at him,and I couldn't afford to let Mike mold my life into a living hell.

I went to go speak, but my throat dried up in an instint.

"What's wrong Johnny?" Mike snickered.

Ian, who had been fuming before, at that moment, cracked.

" LEAVE HIM BE, IF ANYONE DESERVES TO BE HUMULIATED, IT'S YOU MIKE!" Ian yelled so loud, it silenced the crowd completely.

"It's not like..It's not Like was doing the WRONG thing..HE was just..Just sticking up for me.. " Ian voice that had been so loud before, had simmered to a quiet whisper once he was done speaking.

Mike began to laugh off the comment, and by doing so, was the only one in the Hall laughing in hysterics..

Ben, who had just earlier pushed me down, now stepped on to the tablet and yanked me back up again.

His grip was so tight, he cut the cirrculation off to my rist.

"What Ben, so your on HIS side now?" Mike's laughing jagg was so ongoing it made him clutch his gut for support.

Ben walked over in one large stride, and then bashed Mike's head against the table. The sound was so loud, It echoed.

Mike grunted in pain, as Ben held his head in place, sufficating him. He then looked up at me, with those same, cold green eyes and said..
"I've got your back...for now"

Ben...was protecting..Me?

After 15 minutes of sufficating to death,  Ben let go of Mike's head. When Mike looked up at Everyone, He had a massive nose bleed gushing as far down as to the middle of his white shirt.

I felt bad for him, so i offered him a hand to help him up, but Mike shoved it away.

"I don't need your dirty hand..." Mike, who had been full of jokes all of this time, had glared at me with the darkest look I've ever seen in all 14 years of my life.

It startled me so much, i backed up in response.

"that's enough" Ben said, breaking up the commotion of people. Then, Ben turned around to face us again. "I'll be dealing with John from now on,obviously no one here can handle showing him how to manage a job yourselves. Anyone who gives him trouble answers to me for the time being. Understand?" Ben was helping me yet again.

Mike nodded, and then glared at me sourly.

"hey Ben-thankyou for all of this.." My apologize was silenced by Ben's glare.

" That's not my name. As far as you know me-I'm cheif."

(Chapter 4 end)