Chapter 1

"Emergency Exit Only," declared the foreboding sign attached to the fading gray paint of the heavy steel door at the back of the locker room. The warning continued, "If Door is Opened, Alarm Will Sound." I knew the alarm warning was a bluff, having used the door as an escape route many times. Peering through the crisscross of diagonal wires in the narrow window it appeared as though I might make yet another successful getaway. I reached for the crash bar.

Mike, my best friend and fellow nerd, put a restraining hand on my shoulder. "Why are you in such a hurry? If we stay here for another, oh say, hour or two they're bound to get bored and leave. Look, there are some nice comfortable wooden benches right over there."

I couldn't really blame him. The school's quarterback may have been gunning for me, but jocks never seemed to mind pounding on an extra nerd or two.

"Where's your sense of adventure?" I quipped with a grin, "Besides, we may not have lost them in the library, they could be here any second. C'mon, we should be able to beat them out to the parking lot if we hurry."

Pushing the door open I ran towards the parking lot coming to a panic stop as soon as I rounded the building and my car came into view. Thad and two of his friends were standing right next to it. He hadn't seen us yet so we ducked back around the corner of the gym so I could figure my next move.

I hadn't anticipated this move. I had to learn to think things through.

"Shit, I can't leave without my car." I whispered to Mike, "looks like we will have to wait them out."

I peered around the corner to make sure I hadn't been spotted.

"Uh, Jake?" I didn't like the tone of Mike's voice but before I could turn around another voice (with an even more disagreeable tone) let me know the jig was up.

"Where the fuck do you think you're going, egghead?"

Before I could react I was grabbed and forcefully pushed up against the rough red brick.

It was Thad's number one toady, Gary and a couple of other jocks. His question was obviously rhetorical so I didn't bother to answer. I met his eyes and refused to look away. I have never let assholes like these guys know that I was afraid. They used fear to try and control everyone in the school and I guess I was too stubborn to be intimidated – which was why I was here.

It took only a few seconds for Thad come around and confront me himself. His lackeys let me go, leaving me standing against the wall, eye to chin with the big football star.

He wasn't happy.

"What the hell did you think you were doing? I failed the math test. Did you know that means I can't play in the game on Friday? How are we supposed to win without a quarterback? Just where is your school spirit?"

"Gee, I'm sorry." I said easily, "But Mrs. Jennings said we have to correct the papers honestly and you didn't answer any of the questions." My tone of voice may have been a bit too flippant, at least that's what I was shooting for.

"Of course I didn't answer any of the questions, dipshit. That was so you could put down the right answers and the paper would be nice and neat. Everyone in class knows what to do if they get my paper but you just had to be cute didn't you?" He emphasized the last few words by poking my chest with his finger.

"Really? You think I'm cute? Flattering, but I'm afraid I don't swing that way."

I often spoke without thinking it through. I did a lot of things without thinking them through.

Despite my flippant tone, I could feel my heart pounding as the adrenaline rushed into my system triggering the fight or flight response. The way they had me hemmed in made flight impossible – so I knew I would have to fight.

I assessed my opponents. There were six of them, and all of them pretty big. I couldn't really rely on much help from Mike. Not that he would leave me to the wolves. Even if he thought he could run, he wouldn't abandon me and he would try and help, it just wouldn't do much good.

Luckily I had a developed a strategy that had proven successful against such odds in the past – I just hoped it would work with this time.

At the first blow, I would fall to the ground crying. That usually got them to stop and leave out of disgust.

But, as they say, the best battle plan seldom survives the first shot. Before I could react two of the jocks grabbed my arms and held me against the wall. Thad stepped up and slugged me right in the solar plexus, knocking the wind out of me, but I wasn't allowed to drop. It took an eternity before I could take in another breath and in the interim he punched me in the face several times. Up against the wall the way I was, each punch knocked the back of my head against the brick. When they finally let me go I fell to the ground just as I had planned, except it wasn't an act. I was seeing stars and for the life of me I couldn't figure out why I wasn't puking.

Ah, there it was.

While I coughed and gagged, Thad leaned over me and whispered, "Just so you know, the coach convinced Mrs. Jennings to let him administer a retest and he guaranteed me I would pass, so I won't be missing the game after all. You just got your ass kicked for nothing."

They all laughed and walked away dragging Mike with them.

"Come with us, Mikey," Gary told him, a little too amicably, "we'll make sure you get a ride home." More likely they would take him out to the middle of nowhere, smash his phone and leave him to walk home. That's what they usually did if they didn't simply beat him up.

I lay there in the unseasonably warm, late September sun for quite a while – my stomach lurching and my head pounding. Nobody bothered me – the few who passed by apparently didn't care enough to.

Eventually I did make it to my car and a short time later I was trying to sneak into my house by the back door so my mother wouldn't see the mess Thad had made of my face. I guess she heard me despite my efforts.

"Jake? Is that you?" My mother called out from the living room.

Damn. I hoped she would stay where she was.

"Yeah, Mom, it's me." I called out as I headed up the back stairs. Just raising my voice that little bit caused my head to ache even more than it already did.

"Would you please take Mrs. Ridley's punch bowl over to her, and thank her for letting us use it."

"Sure, Mom, I just gotta go to the bathroom first."

I was still feeling a bit dizzy so I made my way up the stairs carefully. Once in the bathroom I assessed the damage. I have been beaten up plenty of times in my eighteen years, a consequence of being a nerdy smart-ass, but I had to admit that Thad was one of the best, or worst, I guess it depended on your perspective.

The amount of damage looking back at me from the mirror belied the short duration of the beating. I had a generous swelling of purple on my left temple, I think my nose was broken, both eyes were on their way to being black (not just because of the broken nose) and my lower lip was split. The man was a true artist.

I washed up and quietly descended back to the kitchen. I really didn't want my mother to see me. It would only worry her. She had enough to worry about – it was hard for single mother with a teenage boy.

My father had disappeared when I was six and mom hasn't had any relationships since. As far as I know she hasn't even been on a date – she says she isn't interested in any other guys. If she were, she certainly wouldn't have any problems finding one. She was a small woman, barely topping five feet – I had outgrown her by the time I was sixteen and was now a good nine inches taller than her. Regular exercise maintained her fine figure and, even at thirty-eight, she was very attractive with stunning blonde hair and classic features.

She was a beautiful woman whose husband had simply vanished a dozen years ago and she still carried the torch for him. I have always hoped I would be as lucky as my dad. There were several pictures around the house and while he wasn't disgusting or anything, he (much like myself) was certainly nothing special to look at, yet in those same pictures mom was a knockout. So, even though she could have had guys lined up around the block waiting for a chance to ask her out, she stayed loyal to the man who abandoned her. At least I have always assumed he abandoned her. There are ways that a person can be made to disappear without a trace – and people who specialize in taking care of such matters – but I never imagined my father involved in something like that.

But, come to think of it, I never did know what dad did for a living, and my mother was always very vague about it, as though she either didn't know or didn't want me to ever find out. But whatever it was it must have been very lucrative. We lived in an expensive house in a very nice neighborhood. I sometimes fantasized that he was some sort of secret agent who had either disappeared on a mission or had gone underground – perhaps to return at some point in the future.

Regardless, when he vanished he had a huge amount of money in their joint savings account and, as far as I knew, he had taken nothing with him. Mom worked as a file clerk and used the savings to help meet the gaps in the monthly expenses. The savings had lasted a long time and though I didn't know how much was left, I hoped that it was enough for mom to hold out until I got through school (I had good shots at several academic scholarship offers) and started picking up the tab. Dad may have abandoned her, but I'd be damned if I ever would.

I grabbed the punch bowl and headed next door. I thought about calling Mike to see if he had made it home yet, but decided to wait until I got back – if the artistry Thad had performed on my face was any indication of the big football player's level of pique, Mike was in for a long walk – at least I hoped that was the worst he'd faced.