Chapter Two

Jacob got off of the bus walked towards his house. He opened the door and was greeted by Isaac.

“Hey Jacob, how was your first day of public school as a freshman?” Isaac asked.

“Good I guess. It was weird being around all of those different kinds of people,” Jacob answered.

“Yeah I bet it probably feels like you were dropped into a new world.”

“How’s Alexis? I heard she put a guy in the hospital,” Jacob asked.

“She’s still a little worked up. Luckily it was only a broken nose. He didn’t have any serious injuries.”

“Well that’s good, I guess. Is she going back tomorrow?”

“She has to. You both need to learn how to function around other people.”

“I think she’s functioning too much around other people,” Jacob said with a smile.

Isaac returned the smile. Alexis walked down the stairs. She was wearing her training outfit.

“Hey Jake, you want to go spar now?” Alexis asked.

“I guess I can fit sparring into my schedule. See if you would have made it through the whole day like I did, you would have homework to do like I do,” Jacob answered sarcastically.

“Oh shut up and get ready.”

Alexis quickly went out the back door, and Jacob walked up the stairs to get changed. A minute later he came back down.

“Hey I’ll be out there in an hour,” Isaac called out from the kitchen.

“Okay, I’ll see you then,” Jacob answered.

Jacob went out the door and Alexis was there waiting for him. She hopped off the chair and stretched neck to each side.

“Ready?” Alexis asked.

“Yep, where are we going to today?” Jacob asked.

“Two mile sprint to mossy rock.”

“Of course, your favorite.”

Jacob and Alexis walked down in front of the railing and each put one of their hands on it. Alexis counted down from three and they both took off. They stayed neck and neck as they sprinted through the forest, but Alexis started to take her lead. After about the ten minutes, they reached the giant mossy rock in the forest. Alexis was the first to touch the rock making her the winner of the race, but Jacob was close behind. They both sat down with their backs to the rock and caught their breaths.

“You’re never going to beat me,” Alexis bragged.

“Who’s the one who made it through a whole day of school?” Jacob sarcastically asked.

“Oh shut up about that already.” She took a few more breaths. “Ready?” she asked.

“Yep” he answered.

They stood up and faced each other. She sent a kick at Jacob’s left side. He guarded with his arm, but the kick was powerful enough to pin him up against the rock.

“Wow, you really are ticked off,” said Jacob.

“That b*****d was a bully who got what was coming to him!” Alexis stated as she threw a right punch. It connected with Jacob’s mouth and it sent him flying back. When he hit the ground he used the momentum to roll back into a kneeling position, and leaped over Alexis as she tried to use a flying kick. She slid a little and he went into another roll and then turned and faced her. They both charged at each other. Jacob attempted a flying kick, but she dodged slightly to the left, grabbed his ankle, and used his momentum swing to him around and slam him against the rock. Jacob fell to ground, but quickly got up and dusted himself off.

“Well it looks like the first round goes to you,” Jacob said in a cheerful tone.

“All of the rounds always go to me,” Alexis bragged.

They stood getting ready for their next round of sparring. A cracking sound came from behind Alexis. She turned and Jacob looked over past her. A bear came walking out from the thickness of the forest.

“Damn, it looks like we’re done for the day,” Alexis stated as she backed up from the bear.

“Yeah. What are the odds we’d run into two bears in a month?” Jacob asked as he walked in front of Alexis.

The bear stood up on its hind legs a let out a roar.

“That’s a big one,” Jacob stated as he took off his shirt.

“Yeah it looks like a grizzly. I’ll go get my dad. I’ll be back in a few,” Alexis stated.

“Okay. I’ll see you then,” Jacob said as he took off his shoes.

Alexis ran off towards the house, and Jacob continued to take off his shorts. The grizzly looked at Alexis running off and started to move towards her. Jacob, while only wearing his underwear, ran over and jumped on the bear. The bear jerked around until Jacob fell off. It turned towards him and attacked. It pinned him down and gnawed at his head. Jacob worked his forearm into the mouth of the bear and wiped the drool from his face. After a few bites, the bear stopped and looked at Jacob. It got off of him and then pounced on him again, and just like before, it gnawed on him. This cycle continued for over ten minutes until Isaac showed up.

Isaac quickly moved over to the bear and pushed it off of Jacob. The bear tried to bite at Isaac, but Isaac slapped its snout down. The bear backed off and then stood back up onto its hind legs. Without hesitation, Isaac moved directly in front of the bear and pushed it up off of it’s feet. The bear landed on its back a few meters from Isaac. It got up and scurried back into the thickness of the forest. Isaac turned towards Jacob.

“Why are you in your underwear?” Isaac asked.

“The last time a bear showed up, it ripped up my clothes so I took them off before jumped on it,” Jacob answered.

“Good idea, but hurry up and put your clothes back on before Alexis shows up.”

Jacob got up and walked over to his pile of clothes.

“Are you okay?” Isaac asked.

“Really?” Jacob answered.

“No, but It’s still polite to ask.”

Jacob smiled and then put his clothes back on.