EIGHTEEN

I stared at the paper in horror, I didn't know it was a test!

"Please let me retake the test."I asked him after class.

"No."He said with his French accent.

"This is my first time with a piano, at least cut me some slack."

"Do you think I care?"

"... please?"

"Get out."

I walked into the hallway, towards the parking lot where Mark was waiting for me, with tears in my eyes.

"Tommy, what happened to you?!"

I showed him the paper with the F.

"Well can't you retake the test?"

I shook my head and said,"Let's just go."

"Give me a second."

He got out of the car and walked into the building, I just shrunk into my seat, wanting to disappear.

Mark got to the music teacher's class and said,"You have to let my little brother retake the test."

"You mean Thomas? He's pathetic."

Mark took a deep breath to prevent himself from breaking all the ribs that man had for insulting his brother, brought out a band of money and said,"How much do you want?"

"You dare bribe a teacher?!"

"What if I wrote you a check?"

"At least four zeros."

Mark came back to the car as I had managed to cram myself beneath the seat and said,"You're going to retake the test."

"Really?!"I said, crawling out.

"I convinced him."

"But, ugh, I still don't know anything about playing the piano."

"I do."

"What?!"

"...and also the violin."

"Is there anything you don't do?"

He shrugged his shoulders.

We got to the mansion and he took me to a glass piano and said,"Show me what you've got."

I gulped and played the best I could...it was bad, really bad.

He just folded his arms and watched me, not covering his ears like most people.

"Okay, where's the song you're supposed to play?"

I gave him a paper with lines and symbols which looked like Hiro Glyphs to me.

He began playing and it was—let me be more formal with this—lovely.

"You place your thumb on this white key before the two black ones, it's called a C. Then you put the rest of your fingers on till you get to this one, which is called a G. Place your fingers on mine."

I did and he played, I took note of the keys he played and two days after, I played them in music class, Mr. Clement had his jaw dropped, even his thin moustache was droopy.

He slowly walked to me with another paper, I was glad to be torturing his ego.

At lunch, I looked for Lucille and found her in class, learning the multiplication table. I waved at her from the window and she waved back.

I then sprinted away and she giggled, then frowned when she saw the bullies chase after me.

I ran and saw a thick wall of students blocking my way.

I remembered something I saw Mark doing in the gym, running horizontally on a wall so I tried, one step, two steps...

I appeared in the nurse's office with Cameron, we both had raspberry scratches.

The nurse bandaged me and Cameron looked at me angrily.

"Thanks for breaking my fall."

He bent a metal spoon with his thumb and I gulped my jokes down. Since then, Cameron wanted to kill me! Even the bullies felt pity!

Once, in gym class, we were playing dodge ball and I expected him to throw the ball at me, but no he had to throw a rock!

It missed my head by an inch!

Another time, during lunch, instead of him to start an ordinary food fight, noo he had to start a cutlery fight...he threw a knife at me!

I had had enough of that tiny bully so I went to stand up to him one day...

"Cameron."

He put his Voodoo doll of me down and said,"What?!"

"You need to stop throwing stuff at me, you might hit me one day."

"That's actually the plan."

"Well you better stop or I'm telling my brother and trust me, you don't want to mess with my brother."

"My dad's a lawyer."

"Okay."

I left, defeated.

I tried other methods though, I tried giving him gifts...

"Here's this white cat, if black cats give bad luck, then this white one will give you good luck."

"Oh really, with luck on me side, I'll get my revenge easily."

I backed off.

I tried giving him my stuffed frog...

"This is Hermit, my stuffed frog."

"I hate the Muppets."

I tried letting him see me beat up...

"Jeremy, I know you hate me, but I need a favour."

"What, road kill?"

"I need you to beat me up, fakely, in front of Cameron, but make it look real."

He shrugged his shoulders and he and his gang 'beat me up', Cameron came and thanked Jeremy and said,"Now you've had your pleasure, it's time for mine..."

I stood up and ran away. I know it was the cowardly way out but, the line between bravery and stupidity is really blurry.

I just went home.

That Saturday, I was with Mark, near a flamboyant tree in the garden and he jumped, held a branch an swung to the top, then he back- flipped and caught another branch and did what people on the bars do, to get to the top. Then he said,"Climb up."

I gulped and jumped to hold the lowest branch, swung my legs uselessly to get to the top and eventually did, and jumped to hold another branch but I slipped.

I got a hypnic jerk as I fell and Mark caught my hand. I didn't ask how he got so low so fast, I just feared for my life.

He pulled me up and said,"It's not as easy as it looks."

"I think that's enough for today."

"Nope."

"Oh boy."