Neo Chronicles: Nexus
Episode 45: Stuck in Detention
Table of Contents
Well, I can't say anyone here's happy with this. School let out some time ago. We wanna go home, but when you get caught settin' fire ta the hallway, the higher ups feel like its best ta punish you in some form or fashion.
I guess that's fair.
So here we are. Been sittin' here in an empty classroom for the past ten minutes, waitin' on our great and wonderful assistant principle to step on in.
Oh look, there he is now.
Each loud, clacking step his hard, leather soled shoes makes as he walks across the front of the room is menacing. Puts chills down my spine.
“I can't believe the all the s**t you kids put me through today,” he starts out. His voice is thundering. His posture is stern. He's looking down on us both figuratively and literally.
Tameka and Rayne are on opposite ends of the row. Mr. Mayer's gaze starts at one side and slowly makes its way down to the other. My heart practically drops as he looks past me. “Fighting each other before class?”
After another panned view, he stops his gaze on Tameka. She sits there, all prissy, pretending to be disinterested in the happenings of her surroundings. Aloof, and totally full of herself. Her legs are crossed. Her arms are folded. She stares up at the ceiling, not because of anything interesting there, but as a means to purposefully show that she does not care about any of us.
“And for what?” Mr. Mayer boastfully asks. “Please tell me this wasn't over some boy!”
Mr. Mayer makes his way over ta Tameka's desk and leans over it. “Would you care to answer the question?”
Tameka pouts and rolls her eyes. “She offended me with her poorness!”
“I didn't do nothin' to you!” Rayne cries out.
“Oh, so this is a class dispute. An 'us versus them', 'rich versus poor' kinda thing. I see. I see.”
Mr. Mayer paces a few steps away, stroking his chin. Then, after shaking his head, he goes on, “Well, I hate t'break it to ya, but the only thing you two ended up doin' was playin' into the same, two-dimensional depictions that the world's already painted you in. You're young. You're black. You're women.”
He can see the two roll their eyes at him. His wrinkles harden as he frowns in response.
“Ain't nobody give a damn about how rich or poor you are! All they saw today was two ratchet hoodlums in a—in a, in a—cat-fight! All that hoopla y'all was makin'—all that noise comin' from ya corna—none a' that was for you. None of those kids crowded around t'back you up. And you can bet that they took video of it, too. Probably trendin' in the Infosphere right now. Is that how you want the world to view you? Your culture? Your people?”
There's a long period of silence after. I feel a huge sinking feeling in my stomach. I try ta focus on my breathing ta put myself at ease. Deep breaths. Inhale. Exhale.
Then Ranye breaks the silence. “Why should everything I do be a reflection of my people and my culture? My beef with Tameka is personal. It's simple. She's a b****, and I'm tired of her s**t.”
“You're the only dog I see in the room!”
“See, sh** like that! This ain't fair!”
“Because you're young. You're black. You're women. That's three strikes against you, and the world is broken. I'm not tryna tell ya that it's fair, cuz it ain't. There's so much history behind how things came ta be, and you can bet they ain't teachin' it in these books here. But the sooner you learn it, the sooner you can do better.”
Mr. Mayer sighs after finishing. Then he looks at me. Not just me, though. I'm sure he's lookin' at Nexus and Kai sitting behind me too, but it feels like he's looking at me. Right into my soul. And I feel like I'm two feet tall.
“And where do you three get the nerve to attack me? What have I done to you? Chris, I know I've been more than lenient with you this semester.”
“I'm sorry, sir,” Nexus responds. “Don't know what happened.” Now, I'm too frozen to turn around and see how he looks, but, from the sound of it, there's a faint air of humility in his voice.
Mr. Mayer isn't havin' none of it. He focuses his gaze. “What done happened was, you done lost yo damn mind!” he exclaims as he wags his index at him.
“And you!” And now, he sets his sights on the last member of our impromptu, after-school gathering. Octavia's sitting in the far back row, away from all the action. Maybe she thought Mr. Mayer wasn't gonna pay her any mind.
She was clearly wrong.
“Attackin' lockers, trash cans, an' vendin' machines? What is – I don't even know what ta make of all that. Way you was carryin' on, made it seem like they owed you money. Is that what that was? Some fight breaks out, and the first thing that comes to yo mind is to break sh**? Riot?”
Not only has Mr. Mayer set his sights on her, he's walking towards her. Kai, Nexus, and I quickly turn around ta see how this is gonna play out. Some might say we're a little too eager to see this. Well, some might be right.
“A wise man once said that a riot is the language of the unheard. Well, Ms. Bishop. I'm listenin'. What were you tryna say?”
Octavia ain't budging. She's slouched down in her chair, leaning back, with her arms folded and her hand placed over her mouth. She looks at Mr. Mayer approach her, unfazed. She gives him the same mean, scowl she's known for giving everyone she meets. She doesn't care about his authority. She doesn't care about his demeanor.
Honestly, I'm scared. I'm fearing for my life right now. My heart's racing. My eyes are wide open in anticipation. I don't know what Kai sees in her. Every time I tried ta mess with her, I always came out feeling like she just took a piece of my soul away. She's not a pleasant person ta be around.
“Don't give me that scary, goth, 'set the world on fire' look!” But Mr. Mayer isn't intimidated. He carries on like he always has, and treats her the same way he's treated us. “You better shape up!”
Mr. Mayer then steps away from her desk and addresses us all.
“Come on now! y'all got it hard enough as it is. If you don't take nothin' away from this, at least get this. Don't let the world shape ya into somethin' ya don't wanna be. I know it's hard. I know it's rough. An' truth be told, it ain't gon' get no betta. But y'all got a choice. Can either roll ova, an' let whatever demons an' ill will guide your path, or ya can stand up an' make somethin' of ya'self, in spite of what the world says you should be.”
There's passion when he speaks. There's fire. I'm not entirely sure where it's comin' from, but that's just how Mr. Mayer is. He demands respect when he addresses you, and more often than not, he gets it. Not everyone here likes him. He can definitely be rude. And if you can't tell, he doesn't really care about stepping on toes or hurt feelings.
“Now, all of y'all are in here for an hour. I don't want that to be an hour of socializing or talking or playing. Y'all better open up them books and get to that homework you've been assigned.”
His command is met with moans, but we follow suit. My backpack's at the foot of my desk. I unzip it, and pull out my the main computer tablet I work with. It's nothin' fancy, especially compared to the top of the line tablet I see Tameka pull out, but it gets the job done.
“Now I'm gonna step out for a moment. Y'all betta not kill each otha while I'm gone,” Mr. Mayer says as he leaves the room.
*/
About five minutes into the silence, I boldly take to my feet and sneak on over to peep outside in the hallway. The coast seems clear. No Mr. Mayer in sight. And more importantly, no shadowy creatures running amok.
“Alright, we're good,” I say as I slowly draw the door shut.
“Man, I can't believe this!” Kai shouts out. He's pretty much done with the studying thing. Knowing him, he's probably already got his homework done. Believe it or not, he's a pretty smart guy. This school stuff comes easy ta him, so having an extra period to do the same work isn't really benefiting him.
“Dude, keep it down!” I say in a clear, forceful whisper.
But then again, we're not really here ta get school work done.
“But this is so stupid, though.”
“I know, Kai. I know. But like it or not, this is the mess we gotta clean up. Now, have you seen any more since earlier?”
See, all day, we've been running into these shadows. Turns out the shadows are actually demons, and they're going crazy. So far they've attacked people, broke stuff, and just caused a ruckus everywhere they go.
“Of course I have. And they know it, too. Not even tryna be discrete.”
The worst part of it is, no one—except me, Kai, and Nexus—can see them, which makes trying ta stop them a kinda sorta difficult.
“Well, it helps that they're invisible,” I say as I walk back ta my desk.
Nexus, for some reason, has taken a major liking ta Ms. Wolf Girl Rayne over there. He's moved ta the desk beside her and is just sitting there, watching her. Rather creepily, I might add. He's not really hiding it, either. His big, brown eyes examine her every movement. She tries ta ignore it at first, but anyone can tell that she's visibly bothered by him.
“Whutchu lookin' at?” she finally breaks out and asks.
“I'm tryna see if you still possessed,” Nexus responds.
“Still what?”
Kai turns around and inserts himself into their conversation. “Of course she ain't possessed no more! You think she'd be in here if she was?”
Nexus turns back around and throws his arms in the air, exclaiming, “How'm I supposed t'know? These demons don't make no sense!” He takes to his feet and walks away from them.
Rayne's eyes widen as she looks around the room. Her eyes fall on Kai, then on Nexus, then on me. She clearly feels out of the loop—which she is—and it shows in her confused look. “What are you talking about?” she asks.
“Nothin', don't worry 'bout it,” Nexus answers.
“You tryna keep it a secret, too?” Kai asks, turning to Nexus's direction. “What good does that do?”
Nexus raises his arms outward as he shrugs his shoulders. “What good does lettin' them know do?”
“Other than lettin' her know what possessed her?” He places his hand over his mouth and sarcastically says, “Hmm, I don't know!”
Rayne slams both her hands on top of her desk. “I wasn't possessed!” she interjects.
“Yes, you were. Don't play,” Nexus responds.
“Is this why you think me and Tameka got into it? Look, I've hated her since day one. The b**** has always cast me shade. I just got fed up with it.”
Tameka leans over in her desk—arms folded, mouth wide open—and loudly adds, “You attacked me, because you have no class!”
The room looks her way, silently giving her the audience she just demanded to have. It's an awkward silence, mostly due to no one really caring about what she has to say, but still waiting on her to finish saying it.
I look back ta Rayne, figuring that she'd want to address her remark. You can tell she does, too, but after a deep sigh, she rolls her eyes and looks away from her.
“So you started that fight on your own?” I ask, intentionally steering the conversation back on track.
Rayne arches an eyebrow and snaps back, “What kinda question is that?” She exhales and continues with a more even tone. “Look, this wasn't no 'devil made me do it' type sh**.”
“C'mon guys,” Nexus says. “If she wasn't possessed, she'd remember fightin' me.”
“Beatin' you, you mean,” Kai snarkily adds in.
“Shut up, Kai!”
You can tell the frustration's getting to Rayne. She groans, and her head falls to her desk. “What are you talkin' about?” Then, after propping her head up with her arm, she exhaustively says, “Only one I got into it with was her,” as she nods in Tameka's direction.
“Okay,” I murmur to myself. After placing my hand over my chin, I pace in place. “So I guess that clears up how demon possession works.”
“No it doesn't,” Kai says. “They don't remember, and they do remember? At the same time? That don't make no sense!”
Kai's a very annoying person when you get down to it. I know he knows what I mean. I may not be the best at expressing myself at all times—especially when I'm still forming the thought—but he clearly knows what I'm getting at.
“Well, clearly the demons have some influence over people's minds,” I say, pointing my index at my temple. “Telepathy? TP? Have ya heard of it?”
He bites his lips, and puffs up his cheeks. I've rendered him silent, but it only for a moment.“Even still,” he barks back. “That doesn't help us get rid of them!”
He's not helping. Pointing out the obvious does not solve anything. Darn it, I need time ta think.
“Shut up, Kai!” I exclaim. It's all I can do ta keep me from punching him in that face.
“You shut up!”
“Go apologize to your crush!”
“For what?”
“For bein' an a**hole!”
I admit it. I lost my temper. It happens. Seems ta happen a lot when Kai's around, but that's on me. What's also on me is forgettin' the entire reason that I've got my back ta this door, and ignoring the one job that I put on myself. Stupid. Sloppy and stupid.
I hear the door creak open behind me. I was supposed to be the look out, and I didn't see Mr. Mayer coming. He's back. I quickly turn ta greet him.
“I leave for one moment!” He's clearly upset. I guess he's got a right ta be. No one here's doing what he asked. Two of us our out of our seats. Yeah.
I just sorta force a smile and slowly back away from him.
“Guys,” I hear Nexus whisper from behind. “You see this?”
I almost don't, but then I do. It quickly turns into the only thing I see. The shadows are back. They come spilling in from the door. I glance up and see them falling from the ceiling like goop. Formless. Shapeless.
“If they possess him, we won't be able to do anything,” Kai points out. Again, obvious. Can't work with that.
The shadows mold on in together. They're like a blob that's slowly spreading out and covering everything. I see them rise up and try ta engulf Mr. Mayer here. I clench my fist. The vapor around it starts ta solidify. I might end up getting suspended for this, but at least it'll be worth something.
Wait, something's wrong. I look down at my hand, and see that the ice stops working. The vapor stops chilling. Have my powers stopped working? Is this another demon trick? This is bad. Real bad.
But then the next thing I know, a huge crystal of ice juts out past me and impales the shadowy maw right in the center. Takes me completely by surprise. I fall back. My tailbone meeting the floor is not a pleasant experience, but the sound of my heart drumming through my chest is enough for me ta take my mind off it.
When I turn ta see where the pillar of ice came from, my eyes widen, and my jaw drops.
Octavia?
“You can see them, too?”
