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 Posted: Sat Sep 12, 2009 8:06 pm
Killingworth seemed to have a certain effect on people. He definitely had an effect on Simon - the atmosphere had pressed down on him as suddenly and coldly as it had on everyone else, and the resentful mention of the man's name made him jerk mid-stretch, ramming his shin into the metal benches of the bleachers with a painful clang.
That had hurt. The chill of the morning made the pain linger for several moments, and Simon could swear that the sudden appearance of the gym coach had somehow pushed down the temperature of the field another ten degrees. He was shivering, but not from the cold, it was the sickly static jolts of a sudden adrenalin rush, terror and dread painting soft strokes down his spine and his legs.
He terribly wanted to bring some false hope into the air by suggesting that maybe he was out here for some reason other than tormenting the Polecats, but in the state he was in there was no way his jaw muscles would be willing to cooperate.
Simon was terrified of Killingworth.
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Posted: Sat Sep 12, 2009 8:08 pm
Simon wasn't alone. The other boys suddenly looked truculent, Warne looked annoyed, Burford looked horrified, and Franz looked -- well, Franz looked haunted, more than a little haunted. A little bit rebellious, which never bespoke anything good. But, thank God, he said: "I'm not going to make you boys practice while he's watching. Break it up, I'll see you over the weekend."
Which was something of a saintly reprieve. But Franz still looked -- a little hateful, which was unusual for Franz. He did follow it up with giving Simon a backslap though, and said: "See you on Saturday, right, Ferris?"
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Posted: Sat Sep 12, 2009 8:19 pm
The backslap was probably a good thing this time around - without it to jolt him back into lucidity, he probably would have remained standing there looking petrified for several more minutes.
"Yeah, Saturday..."
As it were, he couldn't help but feel a little sad that the practice had broken up so soon despite how nervous he was about the whole thing. Maybe it was partially because a bit of anxiety over suddenly being a cheerleader was nothing compared to the sobering horror Killingworth could cast on people just by being visible, but he also couldn't stand how one person could willingly and deliberately ruin something like this so easily, and how upset it was making Franz and everyone else.
"Hey, Franz..." He followed the other boy for a couple more seconds, earnestly looking him in the eye (or at least trying to) for the first time in the day. "D-don't let Killingworth bring you down like this, okay? You'd be giving him exactly what he wants."
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Posted: Sat Sep 12, 2009 8:47 pm
Simon was treated to a genuine, full-watt Franz smile as the cheerleading captain turned to him, apparently inspired by his hesitant call of brotherhood. He looked him right back in the eye (well, he always looked everyone right back in the eye) and was visibly cheered. "Yeah," he said. "Yeah, you're right. Why should I let Killingworth get me down? Seriously, none of us should be scared of him. In fact -- I'll do an expose on Killingworth, I'll seriously nail the guy to the floor! I'll rip his heart open with the power of the free press!"
This had all gone wrong. However, Franz was just lifting the boom box and giving the thumbs up to Simon. "I'll let everyone know it was your idea if it all goes to plan, Ferris," he said, and was already happily trotting off, his head obviously ticking full of its fancies and insanities.
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