~Chapter 4~
1584 Words
Mr Jareth begins moving off as he begins grouping those without a partner into pairs and I snap out of my trance.
What the-
"Um sir?" I call out to Mr Jareth. "I don't want him as a partner-"
"But I want her" Zach cuts in.
"No, you don't"
"Yes, I do"
Mr Jareth looks between us in confusion before a slow smile suddenly spreads across his face.
"I see whats going on here. A couple's fight!"
"Ew! Hell no!" I almost shout in revulsion.
"Yes sir. She refuses to talk to me" Zach mutters quietly. "I don't know-"
"Okay, I'll leave you two to it. As partners." He says walking away whistling to himself.
Zach breaks out into a laugh at the expression of horror on my face.
"Don't worry, I won't hurt you. Much"
I knew he would use this A&D class as an excuse to hit me in the open without any consequences and I couldn't help gulping. I had better do well to protect myself.
"Okay class, you have all been paired. Watch me and carefully listen on how to flip over your opponent using their body weight. Let me demonstrate with Harry here. Firstly, stand facing your opponent in a comfortable, relaxed stance, feet hip width apart and arms by your side"
Zach and I face each other and I try to relax myself despite the tension rolling through my body.
"Grasp your opponent's left hand with your right, and pull him slightly toward you. Getting him off-balance now makes him much easier to throw. Decide amongst yourself who's going to flip the other first"
"Should I go first?" Zach asks sweetly.
"Yeah right. I'm sure you'll love that" I say rolling my eyes.
"Who wouldn't. I'm going first" He says with finality.
Well it would be his turn anyway.
Zach grasps my left hand and pulls me towards him. In that position, we await further instruction.
"If you're wondering how to get your opponent in this position in a real fight, fret not. You could also arrive at this position from a clinch or while defending against a strike. Next, step forward with your left foot at the same time as you pull, then pivot on that foot, swinging your body so that you face roughly the same direction as your opponent and your hips are very close to his or her as the case may be" Mr Jareth says displaying it to us using Harry.
Zach follows the instruction pulling excessively hard on my hand. I grimace while mentally preparing a throw I know will leave me winded.
"Class, the key to performing a clean, effective throw on someone bigger than you is getting your center of balance -- for general purposes, consider that your hips -- directly below his. Girls don't let your male partner take advantage of the position to feel you up" Mr Jareth says slyly, earning a chuckle from the class.
Zach was throwing first so I didn't have to worry about him feeling me up.
"You're not attractive enough for me to do so" He mutters.
"Excuse you!" I say sputtered. "You think I don't notice you checking me out anytime I change into shorts? You and gang of pervs"
"What?" He says flustered.
"Lie you don't-"
"Now swing your left arm around your opponent's torso if possible. You'll use it to guide the position of his upper body, but not to force it" Mr Jareth says swinging his left arm around Harry and we follow suit, stopping our conversation.
How dare he say that?!
"Good, squat slightly, to get your hips below your opponent's, and continue pulling on your opponent's left hand with your right. His hips should end up over your hips and his left armpit should end up over your left shoulder" Mr Jareth pauses looking around the class. "Are you getting it?"
"Yes sir!" We chorus once. He goes around correcting positions before coming back to demonstrate with Harry.
"Now, straighten your legs while lifting your hips -- and thus your opponent's -- straight up. At the same time pull his left arm down and to the right, as if you were pulling a towel over your left shoulder. If you combine these two movements properly, he will go flying over your left shoulder like this" He says flipping Harry over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. "Now try it and brace yourself for the fall"
The words had hardly left Mr Jareth's mouth when I went flying over Zach's shoulder and landed on my side hard. The flip had me clutching my ribs in pain as I was left winded and aching.
"Good, now its time to switch with your partner so the second person can learn too" Mr Jareth announced.
Zach offered a hand to me as he snickered at my pain. In anger, I swatted his hands away.
My turn
"Get into position with your partner and flip him/her at my go"
I pull Zach towards me and swing my body so we're facing the same direction while I'm still holding his arm.
"Now!"
I pull hard on Zach's left arm with all my might but he doesn't fly over my shoulder like I had planned. The bastard was resisting me!
"Good, Zach. Class thats how you resist getting flipped over" Mr Jareth compliments making all heads turn to us as I struggled. "That was to be what we learnt in our next class. Bravo"
Infuriated, I swing my elbow back into his stomach with force winding him. In that state of confusion, I send him over my shoulder and he lands on the mat groaning in pain.
Dusting my hands, I beam up at the class.
"And thats how you counter attack in real life situations"
"That's true" Mr Jareth affirms. "Find something to destabilise your opponent and flip them right over. Brilliant miss Aris"
"But sir! She isn't allowed to do that. You didn't teach her that!" Zach shouts from his position on the ground.
"And I didn't teach you how to resist an attack yet, did I? I see nothing with improvising. Stop whining like baby"
Zach gets up from the mat and storms out of hall in anger despite the calls from Mr Jareth.
"Well, class must go on" Mr Jareth says shrugging. "Where were we?
***
I leave my class for the day humming to myself and head over to my locker. School was finally over and I wanted nothing than to bury myself in school books so I could revise for the next class beforehand. A princess like me mustn't get anything less than first, I would never bring shame to my parents.
A commotion in the hall catches my attention and I debate whether or not to go look at what caused students to gather together.
Just one look
Four familiar figures were crouching next to a boy on the ground in the center. After fighting through the crowd, I could finally make out their faces. It was zach, Kai, Vincent and Drew poking Fred. Fred's bag lay few feets away from him open with his books scattered everywhere. A knot was just starting to show on his forehead and there was a drop of blood on his chin from his busted lip.
Looking away I shrug, it was none of my business.
"Your mom made us wait in line today" Kai said stopping me in my track.
Mrs Coleman was Fred's mother as all the kids in the school knew. It was something normal on the island, some teachers also had their kids in the school since this was the only school on the island. Why are they picking on Fred for what his mom did?
"Because of her, we couldn't eat lunch today" Vincent says poking Fred on the forehead with his index finger.
"And how is that his fault?!" A voice shouted.
Everyone turns to face me and I realized I was the one who had shouted that out.
"What did you just say?" Kai asks quietly walking towards me.
"Well, you guys cut through the line and Mrs Coleman simply told you to go back to your place. If you have a problem with that, go complain to Mrs Coleman and leave Fred alone." I rush out.
"Wow, you must have grown wings now. You think just because you flipped me over in D&A, you're now strong?" Zach asks hitting me on my shoulder.
"Ive always been strong" I sneer into his face then grab his retreating hand with my right hand and pull him towards me as I slam my left fist into his stomach. He flops to the floor wheezing and his friends run over to him.
"Get out of here and leave the poor boy alone" I growl out to them.
"Her eyes" Vincent says and the crowd starts gasping.
"They're black"
"Freak"
"Demon spawn"
"Tainted witch"
Closing my eyes, I struggle against my demon side which threatened to come out and I growl out once more after.
"Leave"
Heaving Zach, they scurry past me and other students follow suit. Bending down, I begin helping Fred to gather his scattered books and hand it to him.
Instead of showing gratitude, he snatches his books from my hands and wipes them with the tip of his sleeves.
"Do not touch my stuffs freak. I never asked for your help" Fred said storming past me.
With a heavy heart, I followed suit.
- Writer
