Loyalty, Lust, Love

Chapter 1 Flashback - Sixth Grade

Flashback - Sixth Grade

Lynx hated having to attend a new school in the middle of the school year. Sixth grade was hard enough, and now, he was the new kid. He didn’t have any friends at his previous school, so he wasn’t optimistic about having any there either. However, he had no choice.

His mother had lost her battle with cancer, leaving his father to raise him alone. After selling their family home, he bought something smaller across town, near his job, to ensure he was more accessible to and for his son.

Lynx was known as the quiet, angry boy at his old school. Even as a young child, Lynx wasn’t a fan of people. As he grew older, not much had changed. He had come to terms with being socially awkward, and he was okay with that.

On top of that, he didn’t have the latest shoes and clothes, making him an easy target for bullies.

He wanted to make his mother proud and promised her on her deathbed that he’d stay out of trouble.

He knew his quiet nature and standoffish attitude were why kids always started stuff with him, forcing him to finish it, but he hoped it would be different at the new school.

It was his first day, and he was sitting alone at lunch.

A group of boys walked by and knocked his milk off his tray.

Luckily, it wasn’t open, but he was still annoyed.

They laughed as if it was the funniest thing in the world and continued to their seats.

He’d ignore them for as long as he could, but based on past experiences with bullies, he knew he’d eventually have to show them he was no punk.

Sighing, he got up to pick up the milk from the floor. When he returned to his seat, a girl he’d seen in all his classes sat across from him. She didn’t look like she was there to cause trouble, but he prepared himself just in case.

“Hi,” he said.

“Hi, I’m Fateema Nesby. Lynx Patton, right?” He nodded. “Don’t worry about those guys. They’re jerks. I can’t stand them.”

Fateema had been watching Lynx since he walked into their first-period class. He was quiet, but she hoped he was nicer than all the other boys in the sixth grade. She was nervous when she sat across from him, but she hoped he wouldn’t be rude.

“I’m not worried,” he assured her.

“You’re not?”

“No? Should I be?”

“Yeah. They bully almost all the kids in sixth grade.”

He shrugged, not caring who those boys were and praying they’d stay away from him so he wouldn’t have to introduce them to his dark side.

“I’ll be fine,” he told her because she looked worried.

“Okay. So, where are you from again?”

“What do you mean?”

“Didn’t you just move here?”

“Yeah, but not from another state. I lived on the other side of the city and went to another school.”

“Oh. Why’d you move?”

Lynx felt a wave of sadness wash over him before responding to her question.

“My mom died from cancer. It’s just me and my dad now.”

She gasped. “Oh… I… umm… I’m sorry. My mom died last year. She had lupus. I live with my dad, too.”

It had only been a few minutes since they’d met, but a connection was made as they sat quietly finishing their lunch.

“Where are your friends?” he asked.

She looked down at her tray and moved the carrots around.

“I don’t have any friends. The girls don’t like me because they say I act too much like a boy, and the boys don’t like me because I’m a girl and better than them at almost everything we do in PE.”

“Oh.”

She shrugged and continued eating. Even though she acted like she didn’t care, Lynx noticed the sadness in her eyes.

“Let’s be friends,” he offered.

Her head popped up, and she smiled. “Really?”

“Sure.”

She extended her hand to him, which he thought was weird, but he shook it anyway.

They continued chatting while finishing their food.

He stole glances at her when he didn’t think she was looking, but she felt his gaze on her every time.

Lynx wasn’t sure if he thought she was pretty, but he liked looking at her.

“I don’t mean this in a mean way, but you kinda look like a bunny rabbit,” Lynx said after observing Fateema as they conversed.

“That’s funny. My dad nicknamed me Bunny when I was a baby. He said it was because my eyes were so big. I think my head grew into them, but the name stuck.”

“They’re still kinda big, so it still fits.” They laughed.

“I know. So, when is your birthday?” she asked.

“May thirtieth.”

She slapped her hand over her mouth for a second, then said, “For real?”

“Why are you so surprised?”

“Because that’s my birthday, too.”

This time, Lynx was surprised, but he didn’t show it. He stared at Fateema for a minute, and nothing about her stood out. She looked like a typical eleven-year-old girl, but he felt she’d be a good friend.

Fateema was excited that he wanted to be her friend. She’d tried making friends with everyone else in sixth grade, but no one seemed interested. The school was very small, with about seventy students for each grade, and everyone knew each other.

“If we’re still friends, maybe we can celebrate our birthday together,” he suggested.

“Why wouldn’t we be friends? Are you wishy-washy?”

“No.” He frowned. “It’s January, and anything can happen by then. You might get mad at me for something stupid.”

“If I get mad at you, it’ll be for a good reason.”

“Whatever. You’ve been in all of my classes so far today. Are you in all honors classes?”

“Yep,” she said proudly. “Are you?”

“Yeah.”

She was happy to know they’d be together all day because all the honors students followed the same schedule.

After lunch, they walked to class, and the rest of the day went by quickly.

Fateema enjoyed having a friend in class, especially when they did partner activities.

Usually, the person she was paired with only did it because there was no one else to choose from or the teacher told them to.

At the end of the day, they were headed to their lockers, and one of the bullies, Mitchell, bumped Lynx with his shoulder hard enough for Lynx to drop his books. Lynx took a deep breath and kneeled to pick them up. When Fateema kneeled to help him, Mitchell pushed her over.

Unlike everyone else, Fateema didn’t let Mitchell push her around. Without a second thought, she jumped to her feet and got in his face. Before she could speak, she felt a hand on her shoulder and was gently pushed to the side. Lynx took her place in front of Mitchell.

“What kind of punk goes around pushing girls?” Lynx asked.

“Ha! You call that a girl. It looks more like a boy than I do,” Mitchell replied.

“Keep your hands off her.”

“Or what?” Mitchell challenged.

“You don’t want to find out.”

Lynx turned to walk away, and just as he was about to bend down again to get his books, Mitchell pushed him. Lynx was only on the floor for half a second before he was up and swinging on Mitchell. A crowd was already surrounding them, and it only got bigger.

When Lynx began to get the best of Mitchell, Terry, Mitchell’s best friend, jumped in. There was no way Fateema would let them double-team Lynx, so she jumped in. She and Lynx were beating Mitchell and Terry’s asses before someone finally showed up to stop the fight.

On his first day at a new school, Lynx was suspended for ten days because he came to Fateema’s defense.

She felt terrible, but she was suspended right along with him.

Unfortunately, they didn’t exchange phone numbers before their suspension.

However, two days into it, Lynx looked out of his bedroom window and saw Fateema in the backyard of the house behind the one he now shared with his father.

His father was at work, and he was given strict instructions not to leave the house or let anyone inside. Lynx and his rebellious spirit convinced him that going to the backyard wouldn’t be a big deal. He bundled up in his winter coat and exited the house through the patio doors.

“Hey!” he shouted, trying to get Fateema’s attention.

When she didn’t notice him, he walked to the back of the yard until he reached the fence that divided the properties.

“Hey!” he repeated, louder this time.

She turned around, obviously startled, but when she realized who was trying to get her attention, she smiled.

“Oh my God. Is this where you live?” she asked after jogging to the fence.

“Yeah. We moved in right before I started school.”

“Wow, that’s cool. I’m sorry for getting you suspended.”

“Why are you sorry? It wasn’t your fault.”

“It was your first day, though. I feel bad.”

“You shouldn’t. I’ll do it again if those punks try anything.”

Fateema smiled. “Thank you. What have you been doing since we’ve been out of school?”

He shrugged. “Nothing, really. I finished all the work they sent home on the first day.”

She gasped and followed it up with a laugh. “Me too. It was so easy.”

“Yeah. Are you grounded?”

She shook her head. “My dad was glad we beat those guys up. I’ve been complaining about them all year, and he said they deserved it. Are you grounded?”

“No, but my dad was mad until I told him what happened and what you said about them.”

“Cool.”

“Is that a treehouse?” Lynx pointed to the structure in the corner of Fateema’s yard.

“Yeah. My dad works in construction. He built it for me when I was little, but I still go up there a lot. There’s a lot of space on the inside. I even have a gigantic bean bag chair up there.”

“That’s cool.”

“It’s too cold to hang out up there now, but I can show it to you if you want?”

“Not today. I wasn’t supposed to leave the house. Do you have a cell phone?” She nodded, prompting him to remove his from the pocket of his sweats. “What’s your number?”

After Fateema shared her number, he called her and saved the number.

“I only planned to come out for a few minutes to get some fresh air, but it’s cold. I’m going back inside,” she told him.

“Okay.”

“I’ll call you.”

Lynx nodded, and they both went inside their respective homes.

Later that night, when they should’ve been asleep, Fateema called Lynx.

She was so glad her father had given in to her pleading and allowed her to have a cell phone.

It was the first of many nights when they would stay up talking late into the night.

When they returned to school after their suspension, things were different.

Everyone wanted to be their friend because they beat up the school bullies.

Fateema thought it was cool that people finally wanted to talk to her, but she’d gotten used to being a loner.

Besides, now she had Lynx and didn’t feel the need to be friends with the people who’d shunned her all year.

Lynx followed Fateema’s lead and wasn’t interested in being friends with fakes and phonies. Even though they’d just met, the fight and suspension brought them closer, and it was like they’d been friends for years.