FicWad

1981

James Heftield scratched his face and looked at the clock. He sighed silently. The hands were stuck at ten minutes to the end for what it felt like forever. Every Friday was just the same; the school was like a time warping trap, locking the kids away from freedom.
The teacher was talking, the other students were taking notes. His friend Hugh, sitting next to him, had spent most part of the hour looking enthralled at the textbook. Or, more precisely, at the copy of Hustler hidden behind it. “Hey James, look at this.” He had whispered every time he had stumbled across a particularly nasty picture, showing it to James with a grin.

Now that he had watched every photo and read every article (he often bragged around that he only relied on porn magazines for political or social commentary, as they were the most unbiased and impartial sources), his entertainment was throwing paper balls at the girl sitting in front of James.
Hugh had recognized her as an easy target at the beginning of high school and had been tormenting her ever since. The girl was lucky that she was just one of Hugh's many chew toys, and that she only shared one class with the boy. Not that he was her only bully, but in her opinion, he was the most obnoxious one.
James tried to yawn as quietly as possible, looking indifferently at the paper balls hitting his classmate. Nadia, the girl, wasn't one of the popular kids, but that wasn't the reason Hugh picked on her; he tormented a few of the popular kids too, as long as they gave him the right vibe. He had a talent for selecting his victims.

At first, Nadia had tried to ignore the flying balls. As always.
Ignore them, they'll eventually get tired. was what people had been telling her since junior high. She had tried and she still tried, but she couldn't fail to notice that the tactic didn't work as often as it failed. They want you to react, they said, they want to make you angry and make fun of you as you lose control. Don't give them this satisfaction. As true as it may was for some of them, many more seemed just as content to make fun of her as she passively took it all. Don't lower yourself at their level. You're better than them. According to Nadia, it is kinda hard to find the time to bask in the feeling of moral superiority when you get picked on all the time.
But even if adults weren't right, and her doubts were multiplying year after year, she had no idea what made bullies so attracted to her; as a consequence, she had no idea how to react properly and make them stop.

Another ball hit her head. That one was different, though, it was soggy and slimy. She grimaced in disgust. The jerk had munched it. Fed up and angered, Nadia ripped off a page from her notebook and crumpled it up; she turned around and threw the ball at Hugh. In that moment, the teacher lifted his head from the book he was reading and saw the paper ball flying right from Nadia's hand to Hugh's head.
“What's going on down there?” He reprimanded them.
“Sir, this insolent girl has decided to turn your admirable lesson into a vile session of target shooting. May your rightful punishment strike her down and be a shining example to all those who even only dream of reviling the sacred act of education with their meanness and arrogance.”
The old teacher crossed his arms, staring unimpressed at the boy. Nadia gasped, caught off guard by Hugh's ridiculous twisting of the events.
“I did not!” She cried. “He started this!”
“Have at least the dignity to take your responsibility! Look, look at all the paper balls she has prepared!” Hugh said, pointing at her desk.
“These are your papers! They are squared, mine are lined!”
James hid his grin behind his hand. Of course Hugh was fully aware that his pompous mock defense would never convince the teacher, but the boy was completely ready to sink the ship he was on just for the sake of fun.
“Alas, I confess my crime, but I did it -with full support by my valiant friend James, sitting here beside me- only for the benefit of our classmates, who would have been distracted and deprived of precious minutes of knowledge, had we stopped the lesson to point out the regrettable incident.”
James's grin froze on his face. And of course, Hugh had no qualms whatsoever with bringing you down with him, even if -or precisely because- you were his friend. The blonde boy decided not to reply. I don't even have a notebook didn't seem quite a good argument to plead his case.

The teacher cast a stony gaze on the trio.”Do you have any idea about what I was talking?”
“The essential Joseph Conrad, of course.” replied Hugh, never missing a beat.
“Very well. You are going to finish the reading and write a review of it. All three of you. Together.”
“Neat. How many words?”
“Write what needs to be written.” the teacher said, adjusting his glasses.
The bell chimed, signaling the beginning of the weekend.

“I hope you're satisfied with yourself.” James grumbled.
“Quite so. Now we've got our plans for the weekend.”
“Fuck you. Why are we even friends?”
“Because, my sour-faced buddy, together we're destined to change the history of music altogether.” Hugh said, putting his arm around James's shoulder. James glowered at him. As many people among friends, relatives, and simple acquaintances remarked from time to time, if Hugh were to become famous, nobody would have to worry about success changing his personality. He was already a conceited, megalomaniac prick to start with.

Nadia was packing her bag, carelessly slamming her stuff into it. What had happened was cruel and completely unfair. She had just tried to fight back, and had been punished because of it.
“Hey, Honey Bunny!” Hugh called her.
“What do you want?” She spat at him.
“Now, now, this is not the kind of attitude we need in our study group.”
“I was supposed to study this weekend. Alone. ” Nadia said. “I've got a math test on Tuesday.”
“Is that it? Be thankful we rescued you, child. Weekends are not supposed to be spent with math.”
“I had planned everything. My parents are away this weekend and... “
“You're home alone?” asked Hugh with a vicious sparkle in his eyes.
“Yes. They left this morning and will be back on Sunday evening, but...”
“That's perfect. Now, James and I have to rehearse with our band this afternoon, but Saturday and Sunday we're gonna study chez miss Nadia.”
“What?! No, you're not!” But it was too late. Hugh had sunk his teeth and no objection could make him release his grip. Nadia had no choice but give in; they would study at her home.