Chapter 12: Back to School

We were on our way back to the first day of school. Sam and Matty had been home just over a week. Jason spent most of his time at our house, going home only to clean up and change clothes. This wasn't unusual and as far as Sam and Matty were concerned he was a regular part of the household. Melody spent every night at our house when Betty was working. She would run home in the afternoons to spend some time with her mother but would return as soon as Betty left for work. Neither parent found this odd either. And I didn't even have to do any dabbling.

At night, Melody would come and go through Sarah's room and Jason through mine. I did dabble with the folks just enough so they wouldn't pop in to either room unexpected.

As soon as Sam and Matty had heard about Melody's ordeal they reacted as we thought they would. We had a long talk one night with Betty present and they gave Melody all the love and support any child might expect from her own parents. They also let Betty know that she had their support as well and whatever she needed - all she had to do was ask. They were fully supportive of Sarah going down and giving her statement and they helped her file a complaint.

The other concern was pregnancy. I knew my boys were inert, I had seen to that. And after making sure Sarah hadn't got lucky (or unlucky, as it were) her first time with Jason I made sure his were too. That was a bit tricky. I finally figured out that all I had to do was to make his sperm inert only for one month at a time. I just had to remember to renew it every month. I was worried that if something happened to me, Jason would be stuck impotent the rest of his life.

Exactly how I did that? Don't know, but I have the Jinni to thank one more time. I was again glad I had included that I would instinctively know how to use my powers, no tedious trial and error or endless practice.

Sam was happy to see the weights were getting some use. Whatever the old Danny thought he had seen in his father's eyes had, in fact, been love or concern, not pity or disappointment. Sam was a good man. And he had been concerned as any father would be who had a child who didn't seem to be happy.

I was using telekinesis and my knowledge of anatomy to help Jason bulk up faster. In the last two weeks he hadn't turned into world-class bodybuilder but he did have more tone and definition than he used to.

We walked up from the parking lot, hand in hand with our respective beauties. We got a lot of second looks but no one said anything to us or gave any signs of trouble.

During my first hour I was approached by one of the football players.

I recognized him from witness memories as one of the guys who had taken a few shots at Danny but stopped early.

"Danny?" He said hesitantly.

"What do you want?" I said warily.

"I want to say how sorry I am about last year. I got no excuse. I'm... I'm just sorry, that's all."

I wondered if this was one of the terms of his probation. So I peeked. Nope... in fact he could get in trouble for talking to me. His name was Kevin. I checked into his recollections of that day. He hadn't even known what was going on. Danny had walked up yelling at Tom. He wouldn't get out of the way. When Tom shoved him, Danny hit back and had tried kicking Tom in the balls. When Paul shoved Danny, he had fallen into Kevin, so Kevin hit him. Punched him a few times. In his mind it was just another day of slapping around those weaker than him.

But, when Danny had gone down, and Tom and Paul kept on kicking him, he knew something was wrong. He was even trying to pull Paul off Danny when Sarah showed up and started screaming.

He had been sick about it all summer. He had been reliving that moment and a hundred like it over and over again and he didn't like any of it. He was just another stupid kid who needed a wake up - he got one at Danny's expense.

"I... I heard about your memory and all... I'm..." he was struggling for words. He had prepared a speech, practiced it hoping to say all the right things to garner Danny's forgiveness. But he couldn't remember any of it. "look... you probably don't want anything to do with me... but if you have any problems with any of the other guys you let me know, okay? I've told them all to lay off you. But I don't know about a few of them. Just watch your back and let me know if any of them give you shit."

"Okay" I said slowly. "Thanks."

"I... well I'm just really sorry." And he walked away.

The problem didn't come until lunch.

We were sitting at a table outside when Jason looked over my shoulder.

"Here it comes." He said quietly. "It's Stan, he used to worship Tom."

I turned and stood up.

A good-sized boy was breaking free of a pack of guys in letterman jackets. A few of them tried to hold him back but he shook them off.

"Hey! Dork!" He shouted as he strode towards us.

He looked at Sarah and Melody and sneered, "What are you two doing? Slumming?"

"Actually," said Melody, "I think we traded up."

He wasn't sure how to respond to that, so, after a second he turned back to me.

"You got a good man sitting in jail when he should be playing for UCLA."

"He should have thought of that before he started stomping on me." I said calmly.

"Well, I think you should start this year the same way you ended last year."

With that he sent a right hand straight at my face. He had no sooner started swinging when everything slowed down.

He had aimed it right at my nose. Not a bad strategy for a first punch. You can stun a guy and within a few seconds the eyes tear up and it gets hard to see. Not good in a fight.

I slipped my head a few inches to the left and his punch went past my face. At the same time I grabbed his wrist with my right hand and slapped the back of his elbow with my left. Not hard enough to break it - I didn't want that this time. I hyper extended his arm though and if you have ever had that happen you know how much it hurts.

Keeping hold of his arm I stepped to the left, turned to my right and by pushing more on his elbow I let his own momentum carry him to the ground. I folded my right leg under me and dropped on his back, knocking the wind out of him.

Time returned to normal telling me the fight had gone out of him. He was wincing but hadn't cried out. Not bad - that elbow had to hurt like hell. But guys don't get to be star football players by being afraid of a little pain. That's why I knew I had to make this one stick or I would really have to fuck someone up. They were assholes, sure, but they were still just kids. Big, strong kids... but still just kids. I didn't want to have to cripple or kill any of them.

I reached down and grabbed his hair. I pulled back until he had no doubt that any farther and his neck would snap. He started groaning. I let go and his face popped into the pavement. Before he could recover I backhanded him hard then grabbed his hair again, not pulling back so far this time. If he had two good arms he would have probably tried getting out from under me, but his right arm was pretty useless at that moment.

"This is your freebie," I said as menacingly as I could, "so you better listen good," I looked up to the crowd that had gathered, many of them the guys he had been talking to just moments before.

"You ALL better listen good." I increased my volume so they could all hear me. "You used to pick on me and I would take it. I never saw the point in fighting. That was my mistake. Because some of you thought that meant it was open season on my little sister. That was your mistake. I'm not taking it any more. You fuck with me... I'm gonna hurt you. You fuck with my family or my friends... I'm gonna hurt you BAD!" I returned my attention the guy on the ground; I pulled back on his hair a little more. "Is all this crystal clear?"

"Yes." He croaked.

I released him and stood up.

"Anyone else got a beef with me?" I was still in 'menace' mode. "Now's the time. Today I won't cripple anyone. After today... fuck you."

Nobody wanted any. I sat back down. Some of the letterman jackets helped Stan to his feet and took him away.

Sarah, Melody, and Jason were staring at me, as were a lot of the folks milling about the courtyard.

Sarah broke the silence, "Big brother... I am impressed."

"Where did you learn that?" blurted Jason.

"If you could do that?" Melody said quietly, "Why didn't you ever do it before?"

"I don't know," I said looking at her. "Maybe I couldn't do it before. Maybe I could but just didn't feel like it. Maybe I didn't think I was worth fighting for."

I looked around the table. "It's different now."

Sarah was looking at me with pride in her eyes. I bet the old Danny would have given anything for her to look at him like that. In the end, he gave it all.

She got up and walked around the table. Pulling me up she gave me a warm hug.

"You were always worth fighting for." She whispered in my ear. I hope Danny heard her.

The rest of the day was uneventful. At least for me.

The first day of school is always more than just finding your classes and figuring out your locker combination. It is about renewing friendships held dormant over the summer. Sarah, Melody and even Jason were busy with that. With Jason it wasn't so much friendships. He had been a peer tutor last year and had been assigned to help a few of the same kids this year.

If Danny had any 'school' friends, they didn't say anything.

On the way home, Melody said she wanted to go to her house for a while. Her mother would be working.

"I'm hoping you can help one of my friends." She was saying. "She has always been one of the most cheerful people I have known. But now... she reminds a lot of how you were... you know... before."

"What do you think happened?" I asked, afraid that I knew the answer.

"Tom and Paul." She spat. "I bet I know when too, about two weeks before Sarah. I think if we can get her out of her shell she may press charges too. But, even if she doesn't... I can't just watch her like this."

We were only at Melody's for a few minutes when the bell rang.

Melody let in a gorgeous little Korean looking girl. She was slightly shorter than Melody, and I had seen her at school. I think she was a senior, like me.

I guessed she was a gymnast or something like that because she was lithe and curvy. The way a woman gets when her muscles are well developed - not quite like a body builder. Although some of those women look pretty damned good when they are not pumped up and oiled.

But this young lady wasn't quite that defined. She had pert B-cup tits and prominent nipples pushing out her tight t-shirt. Her waist dipped sharply into a narrow band right at her belly button and then swept back out to meet her well-rounded hips and ass. Her shapely legs were openly displayed beneath a short skirt. I just knew that under that skirt was a rock hard pair of ass cheeks.

She had jet-black hair, which, on the sides, ran strait to the top of her shoulders but in the back it swept down in a 'V' to an area in between her shoulder blades. Black almond shaped eyes and a tiny nose sat above attractive full lips.

Those pretty lips weren't smiling.

"Danny," said Melody, "This is April."

Melody led her over to a chair. And she sat down.

"Hi April, its nice to meet you." I said cheerfully.

She remained flat and emotionless. "Hi... actually we've known each other. We've had a lot of classes together."

As we small talked about school I started rummaging through her head. If Melody wanted me to help her I had to know what was wrong. You can't fix a leaky sink in the kitchen by changing the spark plugs in the car.

She was right. The two assholes strike again.

April wasn't a virgin when they got to her however. She had lost that right after turning fifteen. Her first time had been with a boyfriend she had been seeing for a few months. He had been a virgin too and, though it had been awkward at times it had been wonderful. Her first orgasm had been glorious.

I won't say that she turned into a slut because I hate the negative connotations that word has. And, depending upon your definition she probably wasn't. She simply loved sex. She wasn't a nymphomaniac. That leads to compulsive and risky behavior.

She had to like a guy. He had to show her respect. If she was going steady she wouldn't play the field and she always demanded a condom.

Sex wasn't the only thing in her life either. She enjoyed gymnastics (I was right) and she took great pleasure in playing the piano. She was very good at both.

But she loved sex. Her orgasms were intense. More than that she enjoyed watching the thrill a guy got exploring her hot tight little body. She marveled that she could turn a limp little penis into a thick throbbing cock. Feeling that cock in her slick, tiny pussy sent shivers of delight up and down her spine. It excited her to see a boy cum. She liked the expression on his face, the spasm of bliss he had and the hot jets of cum. Knowing that she had caused it was an excitement all its own. In addition to her other orgasms, she almost always came when her man did.

But the two assholes had ruined it. If they had tried to bed her separately and had shown her only a modicum of respect they each would have had a night they would never have forgotten. But respect towards women was something those two may never learn.

She had gone with Tom after school one day actually hoping they would end up in bed. Tom was handsome, large and powerful. She expected that he would provide an energetic and entertaining fuck. But when Paul showed up she became uncomfortable with the situation long before it turned ugly. She had tried making excuses and leaving but they wouldn't hear of it. When she got insistent they attacked.

She had fought. She may be tiny but pound for pound she was pretty powerful.

Sarah was right, she had been lucky, probably because they hadn't expected it from her.

They knew April was strong, confident and capable. They were ready. She had scored several good shots but one of them always managed to hang on to her. If there had only been one of them she likely would have escaped. But there were two, and like I said earlier, football is a rough game and you don't become a star player if you can't take a hit. They had found it great fun and after a few minutes finally had her pinned down.

Paul held her arms while Tom peeled off her jeans. She managed one final kick in the face. He didn't laugh that one off.

They had gotten rough with Melody - but seeing the scene in April's memory I was glad Melody hadn't fought harder.

They had beaten her brutally. She had endured like many victims of brutality endure. She had found a safe place within her mind and had retreated there. She lay limp and nearly catatonic while they took turns savaging her. As final payback for the kick, she was rolled over, her damaged face pushed painfully into the mattress while Tom ripped apart her virgin ass. When they were done they had quite literally thrown her and her clothing out Tom's back door laughing.

She had dressed and staggered the few miles home in a fugue. She too, was far too humiliated to tell anyone. She explained the black eye, split lip and swollen jaw to her parents by claiming she was by herself in the gym trying some stuff on the balance beam and had fallen badly. ("Yes mom, I know I wasn't supposed to do that alone. sob Yes I know it was stupid. sob I promise not to do it again.") Her parents had fussed over her injuries like any good parent would, making her rest, supplying her with ice and making sure she got nice soft foods for a few days. She couldn't risk going to the hospital because they would have found the finger shaped bruises on her upper arms. So she stoically suffered the fractured ribs alone, no sympathy for those.

But along with the physical brutality, they had brutalized her psyche. Before, she had been a strong confident girl who loved people. She had been a bubbly socialite involved in everything. People were good. They were her friends. Any that weren't, well she could handle herself pretty well.

Now she saw herself as small, vulnerable. She was afraid all the time. She cringed at any fast movement. She looked at people with suspicion. Before, she had always been the one to greet a new face in the crowd. Now strangers were to be avoided. Feared. Nothing held any passion for her anymore. She hadn't touched a piano since that day. She hadn't gone to the meeting for the gymnastics team two days prior to school starting. She didn't care. She couldn't have sex any more, she couldn't even masturbate without thinking of the violence. Fear was all she had left.