"That's Chinese Boxing my slightly TV Trivia illiterate cousin." Declan said with a sly smirk. Then he looked at the bully, "There is a difference, you know. Besides, I've also been compared to Jet Li in Fearless, or Jackie Chan in Who am I. Can't for the life of my figure out which one I like the most however."

Declan then looked over to the others, and Rosamunde. "So, aren't you gonna help me down from Mongo's grip here? Mundy, you know I'm desperate when I start using Blazing Saddles references."

"Okay, Brooklyn. This ain't exactly the way I 'magined meetin' a girl, but..." he shrugged his shoulders. " I'm Ted Cole, but ever'one jest calls me Country."

Shifting her weight, Maya felt pain shoot through her abdomen and she arched her back against the pain.

"Oh! Are you okay? I mean do ya think you can sit up. I mean..." he stuttered.

"I'm fine. I wonna sit up." She tried to sit up, but the pain was so bad in her stomach, she slouched back into his arms.

Ted shifted her in his arms and sat her up slowly. She quickly went dizzy with pain and closed her eyes. "Maybe you shouldn't. Maybe not yet."

She stared at him with such peircing gaze, he regretted what he had said. "I'm fine. I can stand up, jest help me."

Standing up, Ted pulled Maya up onto her feet slowly, gently. Standing up too quickly would have made her dizzy, but the way he had helped her up, she hadn't gone dizzy. She looked at him. "Um... thanks."

Peter kicked the bully in the left knee, as hard as he could, but two other seniors grabbed him, causing him to whimper. Oh no, now is not a good time to cry, he thought to himself. He kick one of the seniors low, but that only made him madder. The other senior flung him by his short hair, causing him to land on the ground, massaging his hair.
The senior yellled, "What's the matter? Little wimpy boy? That wasn't enough to make your pretty hair fall out."
Peter was relieved his hair wasn't gone, but knew he still needed to protect his friends. "Get off him, or I'll tell a teacher!"

"Thanks, Peter." Declan said out of the side of his mouth. Then he looked at the face of the bully, which was so close Declan had trouble focusing on it.
"Listen." Declan said, giving the bully a calm pat on the cheek, "Obviously you didn't brush your teeth this morning. Now if your plan was to make me go faint by taking in mass breaths of your fowl air, then I should say it is working. Just tell your friends to leave my friend Peter alone. Just because they are jealous of his hair, doesn't mean they can pull it out."
No response.
"Why don't we work out an agreement. Peter will tell you the secret of his amazing hair, and you will leave us alone for this next semester." Declan said, then he turned and gave Peter a friendly wink.

Peter would have laughed, had the situtation not been so serious. "Declan's right. I'll tell you my secret if you promise to leave us alone."
The main bully turned red in the face and dropped Declan, then started chasing Peter, who was running as fast as he could, towards the school building. He prayed fro God's safety, then say his friend, Brian wiht Emmy. "Angrry senior alert. Let's run!" he motioned towards the mad looking senior, whose pace was catching up.

((( Hint, hint. That's Peter she grabbed, who's bieng followed by Brian and Jen, Right?)))

Seeing the commotion going on, Laura jogged over to a young teenaged boy and grabbed him by the arm. "Follow me," she said with such command, the boy followed her.

(and emmy)
Peter followed after her. "Where are we going?"

"Behind the gym. My volleyball coach is there. And he's big, huge. Bring your friends," Laura replied.

Ro high-fived her cousin. "That was the best, by the way." She laughed.

Declan fixed his shirt after giving his cousin a high-five. "That was awesome." Declan smiled, then picked up his pack which he had dropped when the bully grabbed him. Then he walked over to the boy who had spoken up earlier. "Hey, I'm Declan. What is your name?"

Logan looked Declan up and down. "Hey... I'm Logan. Thanks for the help. I probably could have taken them, though," he said, still trying to be tough, and very glad he hadn't had to prove it to those bullies. He looked over in the direction Peter and the bullies had run. "Where do you think they went? I hate to leave them to those bullies all alone, but... I don't see them anywhere."

-------

Emmy wasn't the best runner, but she wasn't slow, either. She was right on the heels of Brian, Jen, Peter, and the girl who was leading them. She didn't really know why they were running; only that Peter had suggested they do so, and now they were being pursued by angry kids.
Her mind flashed back to last school year, and all the bad memories that came with it. She hadn't really been picked on physically in middle school, or chased around like this; but the other kids had been severely cruel to her, and this ordeal was bringing it all back. All of the emotions were returning - fear, regret, sorrow, anger. And more than anything, she was embarrassed. How many people were watching her running like this? She felt terrible. What a horrible first day at Ditto Town High School. If she wasn't concentrating so hard on running, she might have sat down and cried.

"Logan? That's a cool name." Declan said, "Like Wolverine from X-Men."
Declan looked off in the direction that Peter had run. "Follow them? Nah. I don't go much for the whole running thing."
He then looked over to Mundy and Logan, "Or we could go after them if you like."

Logan rolled his eyes slightly at the x-men reference. "You wouldn't believe how often I get that... but it's cool. Anyway, I'd better go find my friends... if I can. They seem to have disappeared." He scanned the school yard again, which was becoming increasingly muddier in the rain. "I wonder if we can go back into the school now? This rain is just getting ridiculous!" He grumbled, "Let's head back. The stupid fire drill should be over by now, right?"

"Yeah, probably." Declan said, adjusting his glasses. "I'm sure they wouldn't make us stay outside in the rain."
Declan then began to walk, resuming his whistling of the song Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head.

"Yer welcome. Um...how'd ya git here?" Ted tried to make the request as gently as he could, but came up short.

"None of your business," Maya not only was in a bad mode but she was embarrassed that she had fanted in front of him.

She was picking a fight with him and he wasn't falling for it. "Okay." He shrugged his shoulders. "Ya don't have to tell me, but ya do have to tell my uncle. He owns this farm." He pulled her toward the door. She resisted, pulling her arm out of his grasp and stood her ground.

Ted bit back a smile. "So..." He rose an eyebrow. "Are ya comin' or are ya gonna tell me? I can keep a secret if it's forth keepin'."

She looked down, as if ashamed. "I ran away from home," she said so softly, Ted had to lean over to hear what she was saying.

"Oh," was all he said.

She didn't understand his expression or his answer and automatically became defensive. " I ain't goin' back."