Surprises

By Siren7

 

             Jo glared at her opponent, sending a barrage of mental knives into his eyes. She hated those eyes. Chestnut brown with a little green in them, they glinted with anticipation. Everything about Joshua infuriated her, but eyes were what provoked her to strike first. Her kick connected with his chin, and his head snapped back, severing the line between his eyes and hers. She followed up with a swift kick to the stomach, but he recovered more quickly than she’d thought he could; he deflected her blow, knocking her off balance. An assault of fists followed, but out of twenty blows launched, none connected. They each blocked with identical speed, matching each other’s force in a dead heat. He was much stronger than she, though, and she was certain she was tiring much more quickly. Jo screamed in frustration and broke away from their joint block, then returned quickly with a kick aimed at his brow…

 

Anna groggily slapped at her alarm clock, which triumphed in amusement when her blow failed to connect. It was an infuriatingly cocky alarm clock, and felt the need to broadcast its egotism at six-thirty in the morning, when reasonable people were trying to sleep. Anna slapped again and this time connected, but it was only a glancing blow and succeeded only in pushing the alarm clock to the side slightly. Anna finally raised her head to look at the accursed thing, and its smug face beamed back at her with an amount of self-satisfaction that Anna was certain should be outlawed, especially at six-thirty in the morning. All things considered, it was not a very good day so far. Anna pushed the button that shut the thing off, then shoved it off the nightstand so that it tumbled to the carpet. Take that, she thought vindictively, and let it be a lesson to cocky alarm clocks the world over. In celebration of her victory, Anna promptly rolled over and went back to sleep.

 

            All things considered, it was not a very good day so far. Anna was tired. It was 9:30 in the morning, but it seemed as though it should be much later than that, for time was being either cruel or lazy or both today, and decided to trudge, barely dragging its feet through existence. She’d been late to school and had no breakfast, then had been forced to suffer through a ridiculously boring lecture all through first period, and was now in store for three more ridiculously boring lectures. No matter. It would be a good day, no matter what happened at school. It would be an excellent day.

            It might be a bit curious that Anna was so optimistic about the promise the day still held, but she had a good reason for holding out such hope. She knew that that night she was going to get to see someone who had a history of making her very happy. His name was Chris, and he was the single coolest person on the planet. Really. Chris was her best friend, but aside from that he actually was the coolest person on the planet. Most people she knew agreed with her, but she didn’t need the population of Westview High to concur with her to know she was right. Chris was, after all, from Wisconsin, and everyone knows that people from Wisconsin are the coolest people in the world. It was a good thing he was coming by her house after school today, or she might have lost hope for the whole twenty-four hour period. Certainly nothing else was going to justify her getting out of bed this morning.

 

            The day had gotten worse. She had thought the rest of the day would be bad, but when she walked into fourth period and he stood there, gloating, with that self-assured smile on his face, she knew it was going to get very, very ugly. He was out for blood today, high on life and ready to destroy. Jackson Matthews thrived on sucking the energy from other people, and had taken it upon himself to assume the job of Chief Sadist at Westview. Of course, not everyone saw it that way, but most of the people Anna knew did. Like all cocky jerks he had a large band of followers; poor, desperate little boys scrambling for his breadcrumbs of approval, in hopes that they would somehow climb the social food chain by association with the master.

Unfortunately for Jackson, Anna had long ago lost her taste for said breadcrumbs, and though she might be lower on the food chain than he, she had claws of her own. As one of the few who ever bothered to acknowledge the fact that he didn’t have the right to be a colossal jerk to everyone around him, Jackson and Anna had inevitably become mortal enemies. She didn’t particularly want it that way, but Anna saw it as a service to the average working student at Westview High to put him in his place once in a while. Jackson, quite understandably, did not exactly appreciate this. However, when all was said and done, he actually didn’t seem to mind the biting sarcasm and insulting banter that passed between them at least twice a week. Quite frankly, it was nice to have a challenge, and he found their little exchanges to be a great deal of fun. In all honesty, Anna found them somewhat amusing herself most of the time, when she was winning, of course.

Today was different though. She was not in the mood at all, which is why she knew when she walked through the door that it would be a very long hour and a half. He seemed to notice she was already out of sorts, because he jumped right on the ball.

            “Oh…. Anna, you are looking good today. Did you get those jeans at Sears, or am I dreaming?”

            “You’re dreaming, as always, and I am really not in the mood.”

            “Aw, is someone having a bad day? How about a little backrub to loosen you up?” He stepped forward and she quickly stepped back, releasing a little sigh of exasperation.

            “Need I remind you that any part of your body that invades my personal space will with all certainty be damaged or destroyed?”

            “That’s not a very nice way to respond to someone who just offered freely what other girls beg for.”

Anna crinkled her face in disgust and said as sternly as she could muster (which was very, very stern today), “Move.”

“We’re not done here.”

“We’re done.” She shoved him out of the way using her books as a shield and made her way to her seat, which was thankfully across the room from his.

I just have to get through the next few hours, thought Anna, and I’ll get to see Chris.

 

 

*       *       *

 

 

 

Jo was beginning to get tired, but giving up was the last thing on her mind. She had to end this frivolous conflict, this obnoxious rivalry that always got in her way at the worst possible times. Joshua had been following her for nearly six months now, causing botched missions, lost Intel, and a fair share of injuries. Anytime she had something to accomplish, there he was, standing in her way. The Agency had been clear at her last briefing: he was to be put away immediately. He was the hair in their soup, the thorn in their collective sides; and he needed to be plucked out swiftly.

Joshua had been impeding their progress with Saduj for far too long now, and Jo reminded herself of this as she ducked one of his punches and kicked him in the groin. She caught her breath as he staggered, then brought her leg down on the back of his neck, forcing him to the ground. He didn’t get up, and she cautiously bent to turn him over. She felt for a pulse, and found a strong yet slowing beat. He was definitely out when she left the room to call for backup, which is why she wasn’t able to explain why the team that arrived just a few seconds later to arrest him found the room empty.

 

 

 

While taking notes, Anna’s mind became so deadened by the incessant drone of Mr. Oggsden’s voice and the completely vapid subject matter that she actually found it quite impossible to concentrate on the lecture for more than 2.5 seconds at a time, and eventually gave in to daydreaming. Her mental escape worked for a few minutes, but she was soon jolted from it by an odd feeling of being watched. Furtively glancing around the room, she caught Jackson smirking at her. Anna glared and returned her eyes to the board. Not a moment’s peace, she thought. I can’t believe I have to spend another year in this place. She envied Chris, who was a senior and leaving this stupid school for good in just a few months. It really wasn’t fair that he got to leave Westview and everyone in it behind him forever when she was going to be stuck here, in this insipid swamp of ignorance, for a whole year longer. At least she’d have him to keep her sane.

 

 

 

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