Our last class was Workshop, and at the end of each one we had to clean up after the mess we made. I grabbed a few brooms, but there was the question of who would take out the rubbish. I glanced at Rowan, who was stacking all by himself the boxes with our heavy projects while a few other guys were pretending to be busy, wiping the worktables; job already done by the girls. There was absolutely no reason whatsoever to do all that alone, but I had an idea.
"Rowan, would you mind taking out the rubbish?" I asked loudly so that everyone could hear me.
"I don't mind, but what about the rest of the projects?"
"Don't worry about those. They can do it." I pointed to the 'busy' boys. "You know where the container is behind the school, right?"
Rowan nodded, and with a bag in each hand, he left the room. I turned around to check if there was anything else to do, only to see that all my classmates were staring at me.
"What?" I raised an eyebrow, waiting for something stupid to come out of their mouth.
"You're either brave or crazy," one of them said.
"I like to think I'm a little bit of both, but why?"
"How did you have the courage to talk to Rowan like that? What if you got hurt?
"Do I look like I'm hurt to you? And besides, why would he do something like that? You guys should give him a chance. He might surprise you."
By the looks in their eyes, it was clear none of them believed me. I could've used a little backup, but where was Mara when you needed her?
"But, didn't you hear what happened yesterday?"
Oh, my God, I swear that everything is gossip for these kids. Apparently, this one earned him some respect, but I don't think he wants respect through fear.
"Do you have any proof of that?" unintentionally raising my voice. "How about you use your brains from time to time? What that rumour's about is not humanly possible. Reflect on that, because he's not how you think ..."
"Rya, Rayna!" Mara shouted alarmed, from the other end of the corridor. "Rayna, there's trouble! There are three men behind the school, by the oak. We must tell someone. They seem dangerous."
I sprinted out of the classroom and past her, so close I almost knocked her off her feet.
"Rya, where are you going?" she asked me, confused.
"Rowan's there!"
"What?! Rya! RYA!"
There was no way I was going back.
That is why I hated Tuesdays. Because of the last class, which lasted for two hours, there was almost no one left in the school by the time we finished cleaning. An empty school was creepy anyway, without adding trespassers.
Indeed, the three men were there. While hidden behind the corner of the building I could see them perfectly, but there was no sign of Rowan. They seemed pretty upset as they were circling the old oak, hitting it with their feet from time to time. I knew I shouldn't have high hopes for this kind of people, but I begin to seriously doubt the existence of rational human beings in this world.
"Hey!" one of them yelled up to the tree. "Get down here! Come down now, and noting bad will happen."
Just who were they talking to? I looked around carefully, without risking being seen, but there was no one there.
"Guys, he's not going to come down. I say we should climb after him."
I recognised the person who said the last words. We had played together for many summers when he was visiting his grandparents, but despite him being a few years older than me, he was a big crybaby scared of his own shadow.
"Brice? What are you doing here?" I asked, coming out from my hideout.
"Rayna, is that you? What are you doing here? Don't you have to be at school?"
"Brice... where are you now?" I asked, trying to keep my calm.
"What do you mean?" he asked, a bit puzzled. "The high school's campus?"
"Which high school?
"Moon's Gate North High?"
"South." I pressed my hand to my forehead. "Moon's Gate South High."
"Then... this is your school!" he exclaimed happily.
"After all these years, you are still a klutz," I said more to myself. "So? What do you have against this tree?"
"Brice, who's this girl?" the tallest one interrupted.
"It's Rayna, a childhood friend; you know I told you about her."
While Brice reminded them who I was, I looked at them, measuring them from head to toe. All three of them were dressed in black, and they even had the same haircut.
"Hey, Bri, why do you all look the same?"
"We're members of a gang, though we like to think of it as a brotherhood working to patrol and protect."
"Yeah ... awesome! Though if that's how you see it, you might wanna refrain from introducing yourselves the way you just have."
"You don't believe me?" he asked, bothered by my sarcasm.
"I'm just not impressed. I assume a normal job's out of the question?"
"Actually, no."
"What?" I asked a bit surprised.
"Yeah, I'm an accountant, well, still an apprentice, but you got the idea... Alex" – he looked to the one who hadn't said a word – "is working in IT, and Robert," he said, pointing to the third, "believe it or not, he's doing a doctorate in aeronautical engineering."
Oh, wow!
" Well, if that's how it is, and how you see it, you might wanna refrain from introducing yourselves the way you just have. Anyway, what are you doing here?"
"We are looking for someone. I'm not sure if you are familiar with the incident that occurred yesterday. Have you heard the story? How one teenager left half-dead some guys from a gang?" he talked cautiously, not knowing how much to share.
I nodded in response. With all the gossiping around, I knew very well what he was talking about.
"Yes. I am well aware. What about it?"
"We came to this school to find the guy who did that."
"And what makes you think he studies here?" I frowned.
"We are not sure, after all, it's just a rumour, but we thought we should check it either way." Alex interfered for the first time.
"We came to check if anyone knows anything." continued Brice.
"Okay!" I raised my hands to stop them. "For the sake of conversation, let's say, by absurd, that you find him. What do you want from him?"
"To recruit him, of course. We would like him to join our group. A powerful person like him is just what we need." Brice said with a big smile.
"But that doesn't answer the main question." I tried to keep myself from rolling my eyes. "What do you have against this tree?"
"That's the funny part."
"There is a funny part?"
"On our way to the main building," Bri continued, ignoring my comment, "we met this weird-looking kid, who kept staring at us. We figured he might know something, so we approached him. Only when we did that, he fled."
"Sorry to tell you this, but you don't look very friendly."
"I admit that," he scratched his head sheepishly, "but he climbed up there and refuses to get down."
He pointed to the tree crown, and I looked up. Rowan was hanging off the branch like a monkey, with his head down, looking at us curiously. I couldn't help but laugh.
"Rowan! What are you doing up there? Come down; they won't do anything to you."
He moved his eyes from me to the three men, hesitating.
"Look man... Rowan, was it? We're sorry if we scared you, that was far from our intention," Bri tried to mend the situation. "We just want to talk to you. That's all."
Before Rowan got down from the tree, I whispered to Brice.
"Why did you say you kicked the tree?"
"Frustration, maybe?" he shrugged his shoulders.
One hell of an answer.
"So...does any of you know who this rumour might be about?"
"That would be me," Rowan answered without hesitation.
His unwavering statement seemed to take the three men in front of us by surprise .
"But how?" Alex asked confused "When we approached you, you ran away. How can this be about you?"
"When you look at me, what do you see?" Rowan asked patiently.
The men looked at each other, frowning.
"By the way I see it, you look like you want to pick a fight. But you don't, do you?" it was Robert who talked this time.
"No, I don't! This is the way I look and there is nothing I can do about it, but people are anxious around me. They are quick to judge and misunderstand." He gripped his fists in frustration, knowing that what he said was only the truth.
"Did this have anything to do with what happened yesterday?" Brice pried.
"Maybe. I don't know." He shook his head, trying to chase away an unwanted memory. "I don't remember much. All I know is that I got myself cornered and one of them cut my arm with a blade, I start bleeding, and then ... nothing. I woke up standing in front of the park."
"I don't understand. What do you mean, nothing? Come on man, give us some more details." Brice said, more and more curious.
I looked reproachfully at him, and kicked him, then I turned my gaze to Rowan, who seemed to be somewhere far away, with his hands hanging around his body and his eyes slightly closed.
"I'm sorry, but that is all I can tell you."
"You don't have to apologise; we understand," Robert said, placing his sunglasses on his nose, "You can call me crazy, but I don't think you are a bad person. Weird, that is unquestionable, but not bad. I advise you to be careful with those people; they might – no, they will most certainly seek revenge. Take care of yourself. Both of ya."
Without saying anything else, they turned around and left. It was just me and Rowan now, but something was bugging me. Did that mean all the rumours were true? But how? How was that even possible?