Chapter one: I fight with a bull and win.. Sort of.

CHAPTER ONE

First of all, no matter how you look at this mess, it wasn’t my fault. The broken fountain in the center of the school’s courtyard?

Not my fault! It should have been replaced years ago.

The small class of third graders soaked to the bone, crying and wailing as if them getting drenched was the worst thing on the world?

Again, not my fault.

Of course, the one person who would actually trust me on my word wasn’t here, probably still at work, so here I was alone with Sharon Banks, glaring at me like the bull she was, although even I had to admit that her stare sent a shiver down my spine.

She was also soaked to the bone, but the crying third graders didn’t scare me as much as she did. I honestly wasn’t sure if there was a girls wrestling team here at school, but if there was, she would have been made champion.

To put it into shorter terms, the girl was a beast, and my worst nightmare. Her eyes were beady, and her cheeks were stained red, as if she’d rubbed the blood of her enemies across them.

So of course my first instinct is to stand there like an idiot as she made her way over. Listen, under pressure I can be considered a fish out of water, floundering about.

So? Sue me.

As she walked closer, I couldn’t help but flinch out of fear, here we go. Towering over me a terrible grin replaced her usual shady scowl.

“Moore, why am I soaked?” She murmured in that lovely off putting voice of hers, it made me want to vomit.

“Because… You seriously needed a shower?” I grinned, although in the back of my mind I was panicking.

Like I said, floundering about.

Obviously I’d made it worse with how her cheeks began to magically change color, from red to purple, a vein could probably be seen pulsing on her temple, man was she mad.

“So you’re gonna start being a wiseguy, Moore I swear..!” She lifted her fist, although in the time it took her to do that, I was already wondering who on earth still said ‘wiseguy’ like it was an insult.

Not many, probably.

WHAM, I could feel the impact of her fist against my cheek, and with a groan I fell to the ground, probably looking like an idiot flailing his long and awkward limbs around, trying to catch my fall on something, anything.

Collapsing onto the ground, I tried to think of what my headstone would say:

‘Here lies Caspian, sure he had a cool name, but oh man was he a loser.’

I knew I shouldn’t have been just taking this abuse, I should have stood up for myself or something along those lines. But when you’re a scraggly thirteen year old loser who still collects figurines of your favorite heroes..

You learn a thing or two about where you stand in the food chain, and I, unfortunately, was below even the saddest of micro-organisms.

The worst part about all this that it wasn’t my fault, the fountain simply popped like pressurized soda right as I decided to sit down on the edge with my lunch for the day. I was just as much of a victim as she was!

And so was my sandwich, made with love and now a soggy mess on the concrete.

As another pummeling fist made its way down toward my unprotected abdomen, something took a hold of me and I quickly dodged the attack, letting out a breath I wasn’t aware I had been holding.

Even Sharon looked confused at the sudden quick movement, and looked around like a blinded pig, her breathing was hoarse and angry.

“MOORE!” She howled like a coyote, her voice high pitched and even angrier than before, fists shaking with rage, there was a glint in her eyes, as if warning me to run.

And oh boy did I. My sneakers skidded across the worn concrete of the old school courtyard, and the world suddenly became a blur.

There was a scream of anguish as Sharon the Bull finally realized I was running, I swear it was hoof steps I heard instead of her ratty old shoes.

With a new burst of speed, my feet took me where they needed to go, suddenly having a mind of their own, and I didn’t mind too much as long as they got me out of there. They could have taken me all the way to china and I wouldn’t have cared.

Turning the corner, I jumped the school fence and looked behind me a moment, Sharon stared through the holes of said fence, seething with hatred. “Get your scrawny butt back here so I can kill you!” She howled.

Relived to have a barrier between us, I grinned like an idiot. “Sure Sharon, riiight after I make my sweet get-a-way, I’ll be right back so you can kill me.”

Sharon didn’t seem to find the humor and gripped the fence, wildly shaking it before walking off, she knew I’d be back tomorrow for class, and until then she would wait.

Usually, I’d be afraid, but the little stunt I pulled dodging her fist gave me just enough confidence to skip school for the afternoon, it wasn’t like I did a cool ninja move like that everyday, it called for a celebration.

But with no money, my lunch destroyed, and home a good walk away from here, my hopes quickly evaporated and with that, the pain in my cheek intensified.

Oh yeah, she’d still gotten a hit in, wonderful.

Blinking out of tragically disappointing thoughts, I hadn’t even really noticed where I was going and quickly found myself in town.

The town of Pescadero always seemed to be buzzing to its own rhythm, I knew not many kids lived around here which was obvious with how small the middle school and high school was. The buildings that lined the smallish road always seemed to have paint chipping, but still had a cozy feeling to them.

I was glad it wasn’t tourist season at least, no bustling snowbirds in my way, blocking the bakeries or antique shops, just the quiet sound of low conversation and distant rumbling engines of cars much too old for this century.

Continuing my ‘congratulations, you didn’t die’ mini celebration, my nose took the lead toward The Shop.

The Shop was never busy, and the sign always seem to be tilted crooked, but that didn’t stop me from stepping inside and glancing around to see if Geoff was working today.

The only person who could ever believe me was my best friend Geoff, we’d been friends since I was two and he was six, Geoff may have only been seventeen now but he didn’t go to school, he’d dropped out at a young age to help his father with the shop.

Why couldn’t all people be as nice as Geoff?

Seeing him at the front counter and looking down at his phone, his finger swiping across the screen gave me a sense of relief, if he had time to play on his phone, he had time to talk to me.

I may or may not have had worried before that Geoff was way too good for me as a friend.

Hearing the door gently close behind me, Geoff glanced up with a pleasant smile, reaching to slip his phone away while raising a brow.

“Did school end early? Or did you just decide you would take up my offer on that cool traveling circus.” He asked, hands on his hips, I really hoped he wasn’t serious about that idea.

He seemed pretty serious about it though.

Sighing, I leaned against the counter and dug my hand in the candy jar, pulling out a blueberry sour gummy, blueberry wasn’t exactly my favorite, but I popped it in my mouth anyway, beggars can’t be choosers.

“Nah, no clowning around for me.” I grinned, waiting for him to laugh before continuing. “Just thought I’d visit my buddy ol’ pal, ya know-”

“Sharon chased you through town again, didn’t she?” Geoff didn’t even need to look up from the counter he was wiping off to know my casual demeanor was a fake.

With a  huff, I shrugged and looked everywhere but at Geoff. “Well, to the school fence, she may be fast but I don’t think she can climb well.” I chuckled a bit, as did he.

The mood slowly lightened a bit.

Geoff had the kind of eyes that would make you think about your life choices, they were so sincere and it kind of made me feel bad with the look of worry he was giving me.

“Look, I can take care of myself, I don’t need my big brother looking out for me, ya know, like you always do.” I couldn’t help but mumble with a bit of resentment.

It was true though, he’d always protected me, like I was a runt, the weak link.

Geoff only sighed through his nose, nostrils flaring a bit, they always did that when things got tense, I suddenly felt even worse, he looked tired, eyes too old to be fit for a seventeen year old.

He had a harder life for me, and was still looking out for my well being, way to go, Caspian. A+ jerk right over here.

Placing the glass cleaner down, he gave me a once over, before turning and pulling out something from the freezer and handing it to me, it was cold, and I quickly realized it was for my face.

Placing it against my swollen cheek it felt a little better, and Geoff smiled.

“Tell your Gran to use that steak tonight for dinner, I’m sure she’ll love that.” He chuckled a bit and continued cleaning the glass, a look of tired worry once again crossing his features.

“Come on, spill the beans Gee-off.” I pronounced his name funny, he always laughed when I did that.

But this time, he just looked a little put off by it, as if I’d offended him in some way. 

Running a hand through my dirt blond hair, I tried to apologize.

Geoff quickly interrupted me with an uneasy smile.

“I wouldn’t worry about it too much, but..” He trailed off, sighing. “There were these kids, they looked well, crazy.”Geoff leaned against the counter a bit, looking at me with an intensity.

He always did that when things got serious, and suddenly I stood a bit stiffer. “Crazy huh? I’m sure it was nothing Geoff, maybe just-”

“I’m just worried, you know how Gran liked to take people in when they’re down on their luck.” His frown grew deeper, “Don’t let her take those kids in, they could hurt her.. Or worse.”

Being the curious guy that I am, leaned in a bit closer with curiosity. “Yeah, yeah, I wouldn’t but.. What kind of crazy are we talking here?” I asked, tilting my head a bit.

I’d heard of crazy people on drugs, crazy people lost at sea, crazy old men who screamed about the end of the world. There was a lot of crazy around here, around the world even.

“I mean crazy muttering, they were talking about something..” He paused a moment. “Something about Nereus? Do you know what that is?” Geoff blinked, as if I knew the answer.

He must have not known me very well, I never had an answer for anything.

Geoff slowly leaned back and shrugged. “Look, I’m just watching out for you and Gran, Caspian, I got bad vibes from them.” He muttered and crossed his arms. “Just be on the lookout, ya know?”

And I did know, of course. “Yeah, of course.” I jumped a little at the tinkling of the bell above the door. Glancing back at Geoff, he was already greeting the newcomer.

With the smallest wave and as to not interrupt the sale, I quickly slipped out the door and glanced at the sky.

Crazy people were all over the world, I shouldn’t have been worried. I was though, worried for Gran, who was too kind for her own good, and getting older.

I secretly hoped she would have enough sense not to let any crazy people inside our apartment, because I wasn’t entirely sure I’d be brave enough to fend them off.