3 Screw School

     Someone was shaking Skylar awake. "Skylar, Doll, you've gotta get up. We'll be late for school." She groaned and waved off whoever was shaking her. "I don't care about school." Was all she said, but a moment later she shot up. "Oh crap! What time is it?"

     Jack, who was kneeled beside her, sighed. "It's almost 7:30. We've gotta beat feet. Come on!" He pulled her off of the couch. "You better hope your stuff is in your locker missy. I'm not telling you any answers."

     Skylar just huffed at him. "We don't have time for this. Where's everyone else?" Jack simply motioned towards the door. Skylar nodded, and after another moment they hurried out into the hall, where the rest of the group was waiting.

     Oliver sighed with relief. "What took you so long?" Jack just shook his head and started shoving them out of the front door and onto the street. "Let's go, we have ten minutes to get there." And with that, they were off.

     The group all ran into the school and sighed with relief. Hubcap, panting like he ran a marathon, said "Thank God, we made it." Everyone else just nodded lightly in response.

     They all looked up at the sound of shoes tapping on tile to see a gray-haired man in a suit. He scowled at them, and said in a gravely voice, "Not quite."

     Jack looked confused. "But Mr. McCallen, the late bell hasn't gone off yet." Just as he finished his sentence, the final bell for the hour echoed through the building.

     Mr. McCallen gave a sly smirk. "Well, now it has. And-" he quickly turned his smirk into a glare. A glare aimed right at Jack- "That means you're all late. Mr. Grene, that is the second time in the last two weeks. Next time, I will not be quite so lenient." Jack just sighed at him.

     Mr. McCallen led the five children to one of the school workers. Each of them received a late note before being sent off to class.

     When the lunch bell rang, and everyone filed into the cafeteria, Skylar sat with her new acquaintances. While they were talking, one of the town's rich kids "accidentally" spilled their entire lunch tray right onto Skylar. They simply said, "Oops." They then began to walk away with a smirk.

     "Where do you think you're going Greg?" To everyone's surprise, Jack had snagged the collar of Greg's shirt and turned him around.

     Greg's smirk wavered. "To put my tray away. Let go of me." Jack huffed and let go of his shirt while shoving him back. "Hey watch it dumbass!" Greg shouted. "I'll beat you into next week Grease."

     Jack smirked. "I'd like to see you try." He paused for a moment as Greg glared. "No, really. Try me you son of a-" but he was cut off by Greg sucker-punching him in the stomach.

     It immediately became a one-on-one brawl in the cafeteria. After one good punch to the face, Jack stood victorious above Greg. Just as he smiled at Skylar, the cafeteria door opened to reveal the principle; Mr, McCallen.

     He looked furious. "All of you involved in the fight, go to my office. Now." Jack sighed and started toward the door with Greg stumbling behind him. Skylar gave one final look at the little group before following them out.

The three teenagers stood in front of Mr. McCallen's desk while he took his sweet time sitting and getting comfortable. Eventually, he asked, "Would anyone care to explain what happened in the cafeteria?"

Everyone was quiet for a moment until Jack finally spoke up. "This dirtbag spilled his lunch all over Skylar on purpose, and I defended her. That's all."

The principle just gave Jack a look. "Might we hear Gregory's side of the story?" He asked calmly, looking at Greg.

Greg simply nodded his head. "You see, the girl tripped me on purpose, and I accidentally dumped my tray on her. Then Jack punched me for something she did. I was only defending myself sir."

Jack and Skylar glared at him. "But that's not-" the principle cut her off. "Gregory says you two both made him the victim, you two must be punished. I'm afraid I'll have to suspend you two for a week."

Jack have him a death look. "You won't listen! He made up-" but Mr. McCallen cut him off again. "I will not hear your excuses. You are both suspended for a week. Please leave."

With that, Jack and Skylar both left his office and walked out of the school with Greg sneering behind them. Jack was muttering, most likely cursing the bully under his breath. Skylar sighed and said, "What a jerk."

Jack glanced at her and smiled softly. "Yeah. Yeah, he is a jerk. Come on, let's beat it. We can come back to meet up with the others in a couple hours." Skylar looked at him, smiled, and shrugged. "Alright then."

As they began to walk away, they turned to the sound of the school door opening and closing again. Paul, Hubcap, and Oliver were all walking up to them. Hubcap smirked and said, "You weren't planning on leaving without us, we're you?"

Jack sort of shrugged. "Well, we didn't think you would follow us out, so... yeah. We were." Paul scoffed at him. "Oh how cruel. Where were you heading?"

Skylar shrugged and said, "No clue. You guys are gonna skip?" Hubcap nodded and smiled. "Screw school, You guys are more fun. Lets go have some fun." At that, everyone smiled. Jack even chuckled. "Alright, come on then. Follow me."

Jack then began to walk away with the little group in tow. Oliver spoke up as they were leaving. "Hey, I think we need to call ourselves something. We don't exactly have a name for our little group."

Everyone agreed and began to think of names. The group was coming up with names that ranged from the "Chick-Magnets" to the "Blue Devils".

Finally, someone had a good idea. Jack stopped walking and smiled. "Guys, I've got it. We call the apartment the Wolf Den, so we call ourselves the Pack!" Everyone considered it, and they all agreed. Their little group would be referred to as the Pack from then on.