Prove Me Wrong

Chapter 1

Max Andrews

I walk (more like rush and run) towards the gates of the school to get to my Jeep ASAP with the main intention being: keep away from the snobs.

I take my school blazer off of my shoulders and throw it on top of my head, but make space for my eyes to direct my legs to the correct directions. I roll my school shirt to my forearms and take long strides towards my Jeep. But the hoots and yells from my "Friends" made their way to me, as they recognize me even after I tried walking like a madman with a blazer atop of my head.

I stood frozen and took a deep breath to calm myself, rolled my eyes and exhaled. I harshly snatched my blazer to communicate with the huddle that was making it's way to me, "Oh hey guys, I didn't see you at all. So, I was just heading home." I stare at them, blankly. I mentioned my response before they could ask me, but putting maximum emphasis on 'heading home'.

That was the least harsh expression I could use. The alternate was 'Can you not stick to me like a freaking leech?".

I may be rich (my parents may be rich) but that doesn't mean I didn't lose my morals like some people. In fact, by being rich (again, my parents being rich) I most certainly did not put on a label on my forehead saying 'use me for benefits. I'm rich.' And if possible I would draw brackets inside it holding (My parents are rich). I sometimes wish I was from a middle-class family. Don’t get me wrong, I know I get the rare privileges, but I don’t get the basic happiness. Only the materialistic possessions.

But it's not important to plan a structural design to imprint on my forehead right now. My main objective was to drive home and do something productive like sleep. Or maybe homework.

 Or sleep.

A blond 'buddy' punched me in the arms out of nowhere as a sign to say, ‘sup dude'. I stumble slightly from the unexpected and regain my position, discreetly narrowing my eyes on him. "So, we were thinking of visiting the park." Jason, another blond from the group spoke up.

I raised my eyebrows, surprised at their decision. "The park?" I mirror their objective as if trying to convince myself they want to go to a park.....a place which has toddlers running around......the lamest part of the neighbourhood, so no one goes there. 

The Park.

I must have looked confused on the outside too so Jason speaks up, first chuckling, "Woah dude. We ain't going there to play tag if that's what you’re thinking." The small gang erupts in laughter.

Except for me. Are they thinking of burying a dead body then? I held back a bitter retort by biting my tongue. I had a rough day at school and I just want to go sleep. I could have passed the traffic and reach home by now.

"We were bored so we thought why not start some spark of trouble for some of the losers there, aye?" He looks me straight in the eye, amused.

I furrow my brows, confused about everything mentioned in the sentence. “I’m sorry, what?”

But I didn’t have the patience for this.

“You know what, never mind. I think I'll pass," I say casually, avoiding the urge to run home. "Are you sure mate? I mean, usually, in our group you are the only one who takes care of things if we go too far. We could handle some supervision." Another boy named

The dude, Jack, is nowhere related to Australia. I once asked him where his parents were from and his grandparents and where HE was from. He is fully American. He didn’t even bother lying!

This time, however, I let the Australian accent slip away after hearing a some-what-sensible thing from him. I open my mouth to agree cause these dudes can sometimes turn a blind eye to limits. But close my mouth again. I mentally weighed my decisions.

Save some innocent life from sick bullies or sleep. What a dilemma. 

"I'll come with." I declare as they hoot and cheer. " Can we use your Jeep?" The Blonde asks as the rest of the boys stare at me with the same question in their eyes. I sigh and make my way to my Jeep, which erupted another wave of cheers. 

I didn't even tell them anything!

But either way, we hopped into the Jeep. Before we went to the park we stopped at Jake's house as he wanted to pee. Not sure how his male pride is still alive. He bluntly told us about his nature calls. Safe to say everyone would have wanted him to rephrase that.

Groans of complaint were thrown at him harshly so the poor boy tried to run but, oh, the tragedy, he tripped on his shoelace after taking the very first step and tripped on his nose. And now out of formality, we had to stay in his house, where his mum gave him an ice pack and ordered him to leave after half an hour or an hour.

But I decided to stay in my jeep. At least I can view the sunset.

 After an hour of glancing around the neighbourhood, the gang of five people finally grace me with their presence. I tend to not talk too much in front of these guys, so they get the message that I'm not interested, but they are so dense that sometimes I stopped trying.

I drive to the nearest local park, blurring the conversations the guys held about some chick as I just stared ahead feeling the dry Arizona air hit my face gently. I parked my car near the entrance of the park as we made our way inside.

What am I even doing?

A voice of insecurity speaks up, making me slightly dizzy.

But I'm here to stop them from harming anyone.

Yeah well, what if your motives and intentions change when you are with them?

I block out the internal debate being held inside of my head and slam my Jeep's door shut. The boys immediately went to work to find some easy targets.

A wave of shame drowned me for a minute. I don't know for whom I felt the shame. For me or them? Maybe both...

"Yo check out that chick with a hoodie, who wears a hoodie in this weather?" Ashton, with his ruffled jet-black hair sticking around in different directions, yelled at us from a distance, pointing to a petite figure, sitting on a bench at the far end of the park, watching the sunset calmly. It was weird how she wore a hoodie during this heat. Ashton was right about that. Especially since it was summer. But either way, she looked like she couldn’t be more bothered.

But the boys here had other plans. Her short ash blond hair swayed slightly with the wind. One glance at her and I felt like warning her. I couldn't see how she looked as she wore huge sunglasses which covered almost half her face. But I could see the faint blush on her face, probably from the heat of the hoodie.

The guys targeted to move to her but I took two long strides to reach in front of them, "You know what, we should maybe do something productive and nice?" I talk to them like they were one of the toddlers in the playground. But instead of obedient responses, they all grunt and scoff.

"Dude, if you’re just gonna spoil the whole mood, you can go home man.” Ashton shrugs at me.

Wow, bipolar much?

The i***t doesn't even know I'm the only mode of transportation for them

Well, I tried.

But was it enough?

I sigh and walk back to them, but halt and decide to walk to the bench the girl was sitting on.

I had an urge to yell at them, but the parents and toddlers probably wouldn't appreciate it. It's almost evident that they didn't like us at first glance because the minute we stepped out, no child within a few meters of the radius, wherever we stepped, was seen. Almost like we were a plague. And I won't argue with them. Not about the plague part. I mean you probably can't expect a bunch of teenagers, where some of them have piercings (which is a big no-no to parents) stepping out of a Jeep and rebelling their way into the park with uniforms all crumbled, and hold a charity stall in the park. Now would you think of that? Teenagers are equivalent to reckless. A universal fact.

Let's just say, these guys aren't exactly new to bullying others. A few victims from Green Elite High suffer big time. Everyday.

But the number of bully-victims are less compared to the number of egoistic bullies in our school. Sure, our school holds a good reputation, but it will be hell if you are even a class lower than most of us.

The only reason they are probably friends with me because of my status. Everyone comes to me only because of my status. Every girlfriend came to me because of my position. I have tried so many times in trying to drill into their thick skull that my stance in class doesn’t define me, but in the end, the privileged people can be greedy too.

I storm towards that bench as if to dare them to come and bully her. I sit there on the bench and glance at the boys, ignoring the stink eye sent in my direction as they walked away. In no time will they realise they have to walk back home.

Serves them right.

But what I didn't notice until now was that the pretty girl next to me visibly stiffened at my presence and glanced at me. I ignore her piercing gaze and stared straight ahead into the sun.

I'll leave after the guys leave the park.

But the missy beside me stood up, ready to leave. A thought came into recognition as I realised she was leaving because of my company.

"Excuse me, I'm so sorry if you are leaving because I sat here. I saw a bunch of bullies coming your way. I just wanted to sit here before they leave. " I tell her politely. Her head slightly slants to the position of where I directed the guys to. Suddenly she stiffens again as if something inside of her clicked again.

Please don't think I'm the bad guy

She stared into space in deep thought. But that gave me time to observe her. She didn't look too old than me. And she had long legs.

I frowned at my thought.

Why would I look at her legs? Jesus.

I turn my gaze to her as if waiting for her to answer. Usually, I would rudely walk out because my business was done here, but a part of me urged me to stay. She looked slightly pressurized by my gaze on her.

She gulps visibly, "To tell zebra's apart, look at their butt." She blurts out in pressure. If she weren't a stranger who looked like she was being strangled by tensions I would have laughed out loud. But she looked like her mind was all over the place so I held my laughs inside of me but couldn't stop the confusion and amusement that took over my face.

What made it more amusing was that her face burned with red. And it most certainly wasn't because of the heat this time. She looked adorable.

"I will keep in mind to remember that. In case I buy two zebras for a pet." I reply with a touch of sarcasm I couldn't hold back. I crossed fingers mentally hoping it doesn't make things awkward but I see the tension stuck within her relax slightly. "Thank you." I let my lips curve slightly upwards. At this point, I was ready to ask her for her number. It's been ages ever since I smiled full-heartedly.

After that, she looked at everything but me and said, "I-I mean...." she takes a deep breath and exhales, "Thank you. I-I have to go. Sorry." She stutters, probably in embarrassment. But she took a huge stride away from the bench and started walking quickly, making my heart pinch a little. Just when I was going to ask her number. Damn

Did I make her uncomfortable? 

Ah well, jeez. There are plenty of other fishes in the ocean. Hopefully, they can be amusing too.