Mystery Savior Ch 5
#8 of Mystery Savior
Mr. Aktaion is a white tiger whose head seems a bit too large for the rest of his body, but seemed just the right size to hold his brain. He is what many people would call an absent-minded professor. The only reason that he was so strict whenever it comes to assignments is that he has a daily planner that he spends about ten minutes reviewing before he begins every class. Luckily, I've gotten an A on almost every assignment that he's handed out, and the better you do in his class, the more likely he is to listen to you.
I paused at his door. What if he won't give me any extra time, because I'm not in the hospital or anything that prevents me from coming to class? I looked at my reflection in the window that was on the door to his office, and the only bruise that I could notice was my eye. What if he won't allow me to do it just because the only thing he sees is a black eye? It doesn't even look as bad as some others that I've seen before. I shook myself, and realized that there was only one way to find out.
I rapped on the door three times, then walked in. "Mr. Aktaion?"
"Yes, Beowulf?" he said, without looking up from the papers he was grading.
I took a gulp of air. "I've got a problem. It's about the project that we have to do." I said.
"What can I help-?" He said, while looking up. He stopped in midsentence when he saw the black eye. "Woah! Looks like someone did a number on you."
"Yeah, I'll be fine," I said, "but I'm afraid that I couldn't say the same thing about my project." I pulled out the remnants of the project.
"Dang!" he gasped. "That thing looks wrecked. How long do you think it will take for you to redo your project?"
I blinked in surprise. I had expected to at least have to talk him into it for a while before he would give me another week. He's actually letting me decide how much time I need? "Um. . . I'm not sure. I'm having a hard time finding something that would be suitable enough to use for the chromosomes."
"How about I give you another week? That way, you'll have 2 weekends to search for it."
"Really? Ok, thanks!" I said, my tail wagging behind me. This was a lot easier then I thought it would be.
"No problem," said Mr. Aktaion with a smile. "Just make sure it doesn't happen again, ok?"
I replied, "Yes, sir," and left him to continue grading his papers. Before the door closed, I swore I could hear him mutter something that sounded oddly like, "poor kid."
Through the entire school day, I became somewhat of a celebrity. Whenever people saw that I had a black eye, they would ask if I was ok and what happened. Whenever I told anyone about Loki and his goons beating me up, several people gave me the same advice that Rendall gave me; I should go to the principal. Most of the time, I just nodded my head and vaguely replied that I should.
When I saw Rendall again in gym class, I noticed that he was a lot friendlier to me then he was before. Whenever I told anyone about how I got beat up, I had made sure to leave out the part where he saved me. I didn't want people to know that he had tried to help a gay guy. There aren't many extreme homophobes in our school, but the few that we do have are louder and more obnoxious then the rest, and I didn't want to have that group out to get him too. Not many people talked to him about it then there would have been.
"Hey. How are you holding up," He asked, his head cocked slightly with concern.
"Pretty good. I think that I've had more people talk to me today then have in the past week!" I said, laughing a bit.
To add insult to injury, we were playing dodge ball today. As if I needed anything else hitting me! If I was being honest, though, dodge ball is one of my most favorite sports. It's also one that I'm pretty good at. Even though I'm not that strong, I have very good reflexes.
The teacher put us into teams, and we all lined up on one of two sides of the walls. I scanned the room, analyzing all of my opponents. I growled when I saw that Loki, Fenris, and Enyo were all three on the other side. If there was anyone that I wanted to throw a ball at, it was those three.
The coach blew the whistle, and the game began. I sprinted to the middle of the gym to where all the balls were lying. Unfortunately, someone grabbed the ball I was going for. He threw it at me. I ducked. I ran back to a ball a few feet behind me. I held the ball in front of me to block a ball that was aimed for my face. I threw the ball at the nearest person on the other team. It hit him. I jumped to the left to avoid a ball. Then I ducked to avoid another. I grabbed another ball, and aimed it for Loki. He dodged it easily.
The beefier people were the firsts to get hit. The crowd slowly started thinning on both sides, and soon all that were left was Loki and his two goons on the other side. On our side, there was only me and Rendall.
All three of them had a ball in each hand. There were no balls on our side. For a moment, they just stood there, deciding what to do. Then, Enyo threw one of his balls at me. I dodged it. Loki threw both of his balls at me. I ducked. I ran for one of the balls behind me. Fenris tried to stop me with one of his balls, but failed. I picked it up, and turned around. I just barely had time to dodge left from Fenris's last ball. Unfortunately, Enyo threw his last ball at that moment, and it was aimed directly at my eye. I didn't have time to react, or even to brace myself. The ball stopped about two inches from my face. I looked up, and saw that Rendall had run over and caught it. That made Enyo out. Rendall threw his ball at Fenris. I threw mine at Loki. Both made contact.
The coach's whistle blew. "Class is over!"