Kinetic World: Chapter 3

The next day, I walked down the halls with a bit more pep in my step. I was excited to finally find someone who understood me, if even just a little bit. My backpack felt lighter that day. My shoes felt like fabric instead of concrete. My mind was beginning to defog itself, and I was beginning to heal.
Cat_Lovers_Anonymous, whose name turned out to be , and myself had been chatting for a couple of weeks. We shared our horror stories of childhood to each other. Our current struggles were weighed and then shot out in the back by the other person. I felt a true connection to her, and I thought that she might feel the same way about me.
I shoved the idea out of my mind, though. Love was foreign to me, alien and mysterious. It was like tampering with a wild animal that you know nothing about. I didn’t dare to provoke it, for it may recoil and hurt me and those around me. I tried to shove the idea out of my head, but it hung on for dear life, like it was a missing puzzle piece that I didn’t want to put in. I couldn’t let it leave my mind, but I refused to tell my feelings. It might get awkward, she may leave, and then I’d be below where I was before.
I had no desire to go back to where I was before. Or below it, for that matter.
I had one of my occasional anxiety attacks and, I had gotten so many to this point, that I merely looked normal on the outside. Breathing seemed normal, body posture normal, etcetera. On the inside, however, it was different. My heart throbbed and seemed to pummel my rib cage. My body tensed and my limbs ached. I shoved the anxiety aside as hard as I could, and managed to just barely turn the attack off.
Just like normal.
I took a deep breath. It was only second hour, and I already had an anxiety attack. I shook my head.
Then, of course, trouble showed up.
“Hey, asshat.” Said a taunting voice from behind me. I slowly turned around. Standing before me was one of the many douchebags at my school.
His name was Rick Rotalla. His friends called him Rick Roll, because he tended to use his height to manipulate others.
Not to mention his overwhelmingly buff demeanor and broad shoulders.
He stood at around 6’4”, considering my height compared to his. I had dealt with him once already this trimester, and I’d be damned if I didn’t have to do so a second time.
“Guess what? You’re my new target. That was a dirty trick, throwing sand and s**t in my eyes. Can’t do that in here, can you, you cheeky f*****g b*****d?” Rick grinned.
“You do realize that all I need to go is open the door that’s 5 feet away from me. Right?” I asked, gesturing to the doorway to the school garden right outside.
The look on Rick’s face was priceless. The following remark took him a solid 60 seconds. I even began to walk away.
“Dirt isn’t gonna fix what I’m gonna do.”
I grinned. Time for some psychological tomfuckery.
I slowly clapped, nice and disrespectful, and turned to face Rick. “Wow. It only took you sixty seconds to come up with that one. Five seconds better than last time.” I eyed him, and my mind began to work. Oh, how I craved this moment. “I suppose you want to target me because, the last time you confronted me for no reason, I showed you how intellectually superior I was.” I laughed at the blank look on his face. “I smart. You not. Get that, Ricky Dicky?” My cheshire grin and death stare was a combo that many feared.
Rick was no exception. He began to shuffle his feet. I knew damn well that he didn’t have a flight response, so this part would definitely be tricky to pull off.
“That’s… ya know what? I’ll just beat your face in.” He threw a punch at me. I grinned and glided gently and gracefully out of the way. He threw another, and with it being so slow, it was easy to dodge it. “Just remember, you threw the first punch.” I said tauntingly. With the next punch he threw, I got out of the way, grabbed his arm, and pulled hard. I heard a pop, and he swung halfway around me before landing face-first on the ground. At this point, I could tell he was getting mad, and people began to gather around.
Exactly what I wanted.
“You do realize,” I said, dancing around his unfocused and sluggish attacks, “That all of these people are watching you lose right now, right? Wouldn’t it be a shame if I beat you?”
He yelled in frustration, and I laughed. He took a massive swing at me and, just in time, I ducked under it and launched under his legs, his fist smashing into a concrete wall. The crunch that followed was brutal, and even I flinched. He howled in pain, then turned around and attacked me with his non-dominant hand.
It didn’t even phase me.
Time to break this imbecile, I thought to myself.
“I imagine you have a lot of issues at home,” I began, “Abusive dad? Abusive mom? Can’t deny the truth, Ricky.” I dodged another blow. I was having a great time, and Ricky’s face was burning red with both rage and focus. “I also think that you used to get bullied yourself. Isn’t that right?” His punches grew more furious. “Why are you attacking me right now, Ricky? Is it because I threaten you? Now, both mentally and physically. Much more agile, too.” I dodged three more carelessly thrown punches. His knuckles were red now. “Is it because you can’t stand the idea of people being better than you? The idea that people aren’t purely savage like you, and can get somewhere without violence?” Two more dodged. “You feel the need to ruin everyone else’s day because you can’t have a good one.” My eyes drilled into his as I caught his fist. I saw fear, rage, and pain. “I’m ten times more miserable than you’ll ever be. And I don’t take it out on smaller guys.” I threw a karate punch at his gut, and he stumbled back. I noticed a kid go to get a teacher. “Everyone hates you because you want to give them fear. You’ll never go anywhere in life. Nobody will ever be proud of you, and nobody will ever approve of you. You will always be background noise and second-best to someone. So stop trying to use brute force to change it. You can’t.” I released his fist, and it hung loosely at his side. I saw a tear in his eye that he briskly wiped away. “Think about that the next time you wanna pick a fight.” I turned and walked to my class, and before the teacher even got there, the fight was diffused.
I was lucky that my powers didn’t kick in...

Author's Note

ITALICS