The Bullworth Never Ending Story

[Miss Ordered]

On his way out of the gym, Tony ran into someone.  Or rather, it was more like someone ran into Tony.

For the second time today, Tony was knocked over.  He looked up to see a large, hulking figure looming over him. The tall student was wearing a Letterman jacket and the standard gym pants.  He had a scar that Tony could see even past his dark skin, close cut black hair, and an expression that made nerds whimper.

"Watch where ya goin', new kid," growled the figure.

"Yeah, whatever," said Tony, lifting himself off the ground. "Nice scar."

"Are you trying to mock me?!" The jock snapped. "Cause I know da cure for that !" He slammed his gigantic fist against the palm of his other hand.

"You're the one with the scar !", snipped Tony, who had been ready to bolt before the Jock suddenly grabbed him.

"That's it, you asked for it !" The jock gripped at Tony's collar, although Tony wasn't going to run off now.  This would be so much easier if Jake were here, but Tony had a feeling that Jake already knew about it. After all --"Nothing escapes my attention."

Damn. But before the behemoth could land a blow on Tony, a girl with strawberry blonde hair ran up to them.

"Juri, the Coach wants to see you," she said.  Juri grunted, and then unlatched Tony from his grips.  For now.

The linebacker charged through the double doors of the gym, bringing in a gust as he left. Tony straightened out the bends in his new collar, which now had holes in it.

"You're lucky," said the girl. "Any farther and Juri would've torn you up."                                                                                       

She had short, boyishly cut coffered hair. Telling by the way she was dressed, Tony guessed she was a Jock girl.

"No shit," said Tony. "Everyone's psycho around here."

"The Jocks weren't always like this," she explained. "Do you know about Lance Jackson?"

"No”, Tony said. “I’m new here.”

"He was an underclassman here last year.  He wanted to be quarterback..." She smiled, although almost sadly.

"So what ?", said Tony, not understanding.

"He never made it," continued the Jock girl. "Lance was found in a alley over in Bullworth Town, beaten so badly that he may never walk again.  They never found who did it. He was Bo Jackson’s younger brother. Lance looked up to him. All the Jocks were real protective of him. He was so kind, too. Hated fighting, used to read a lot..."  The girl put on a sad face.

"Hey, I'm sorry," said Tony. "Listen, I'm Tony....Tony Calderone"

"I'm Karen," said the Jock girl. "Karen Johnson."
___________________________________________

[Mercury]

"Look, I can't explain to you now, but I guess I have to make the Wrestling class, and I've never Wrestled from my whole life !"

"Hey, take it easy, Tony !", consoled Karen.  "You know, even Nerds attempt this class, to get the minimum muscle allowed in Bullworth.  You'll see, it's easy to beat them.  I love wrestling !"

"Oh, okay, so it's cool then. I’ll go change for Gym class”, Tony said.

"I'll wait for you !" Karen smiled.

Tony, while changing in the locker room, heard someone talking in the next box. The voice was literally crying, sometimes calling his mum. Tony thought it could be one of those Nerds that he learned about.  As he arrived in the main Gym, many students were forming a circle around what they called "The Ring". As they saw him, a group of girls in blue dresses twittered, "Here he is ! The New kid !"

Included in them was Karen.  As he looked at her, she made a wink.  Tony went into ‘The Ring’ and waited for his opponent to come.  Mr. Burton was looking at the scene from the bleachers.  Now every student was looking at the stairs, and there came a very fat guy in wrestling suit, the same as Tony.  All began to call his name, "Fatty ! Fatty ! Fatty !"

The fat kid became  beet red.  He knew it was ironic.  Tony remembered, as he had watched wrestling on TV when he was younger, that this "Fatty" reminded him of one wrestler….Big Show, maybe ?  Fatty smiled at him, a horrible smile saying, Please, don't hurt me.....

"Okay, you little Roaches, let's begin ! I'll give you moves to execute during this match." screamed Coach Burton.
______________________________________________________

[Miss Ordered]

Coach Burton glared at Tony, although Tony was busy looking at Karen for reassurance. Karen simply smiled and nodded at him, so Tony faced forward. The hippo in front of him was already soaked with his own nervous sweat, and Tony could swear something foul had just released into the air.

"Grab him," growled Burton. Already, the Cheerleader girls in the short blue dresses seemed to be dancing in formation.  Students gestured as if they were expecting something exciting to happen.

"Go boys, GO!" intoned Burton.

Tony lunged out and gripped the straps of Fatty's wrestling suit, wincing at the wetness, before driving his head into Fatty's.  A sense of dizziness cut into him, and when his vision cleared, he found Fatty lying helpless on the floor.

"Another crushing blow for Fatty !" squealed the giant boy. The students cheered as if Tony had won some epic battle, and Tony could hear Karen cheering his name.

Fatty struggled to haul himself onto his bulky feet, before backing away from Tony.  A pang of dizziness laid into he back of Tony's head, but he continued forward.

"Hit him !" screamed one of the Cheerleaders. "Hit Him ! Hit Him !"  The other students watching cheered in response. Tony was sure that if they all had weapons, they would be waving them in the air like some kind of psycho horde of murderers.  Out the corner of his eye, Tony could see Jake sitting contently on the bleachers, smiling.

Tony rushed forward and delivered a blow to Fatty's face, which shocked the Giant kid.

"More !" screamed a student bystander. "More !"

Fatty seemed to be running away, trying to back out of the ring until a student stepped forward and shoved him back in.  Tony raised his fists, one after the other, and struck Fatty two times in the face.  He heard something crack, and blood started to squirt in trickles down Fatty's wrestling uniform.

He looked at Burton, who simply smiled contently.  The Cheerleaders continued to cheer, and Karen gave him a big smile and a brief thumbs up.  In the bleachers, Jake continued to smile, although it took on a morbid quality in it.  The bystanders roared in anticipation.

Fatty looked broken.

Canis canem edit.…..Dog eat dog.

Tony gripped Fatty's moist uniform, and with an unknown strength, dragged him forward. He delivered two strikes to his opponent's puffy cheeks, and then finished him with a devastating knee to the face.  Fatty collapsed on his back, obviously injured.

The students exploded in fits of insanity.

"That's enough !”, growled Burton. He looked less pissed. "Maybe you're not so useless after all !"

As the students exited out of the gym, Tony looked down at his knuckles. Blood.

"Good job, there," crowed Jake. "I see you're getting used to the place."

"I guess," said Tony, continuing to marvel at the stains of red on his knuckles.

"You were great out there, Tony," said Karen, who ran up to the two. Tony continued to stare at his knuckles, comparing the spots.

"Oh !", said Jake, startled. "Who's this ?"
__________________________________

[--Peter--]

"Hey, Tony, im talking to you !  I said who’s this ??" said Jake in a stern voice.

Broken out of the trance of staring at his bloody knuckles Tony replied,
"Oh….This is Karen. She saved my face today."

"Well, Hello, Karen.", Jake said with a grim smirk.

"Hey there", Karen said uncomfortably.

"Well, I gotta go, Tony.  I got biology. Today were gona dissect Pig dicks." Jake said jokingly before speeding off.

"That kid is strange, I always feel like he’s staring at me when we pass each other in the hallways”, said an uncomfortable Karen.

"Who, Jake ?  He seems pretty cool”, mused Tony.

"Whatever”, Karen said, and changed the subject. "So , anyway I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone named Tony before."

"Well, my Mom tells me that I’m named after my father, Anthony Calderone, but I never met met him….He used to live in Liberty City."
__________________________________________________

[Mercury]

As Tony finished speaking, a person dressed in a Bull outfit appeared.  In fact, it could have been anyone in that Bull suit.  The Bull had a little object in his hand.  As he lit fire to it, Tony knew it was a Firecracker that was going to explode near one of them.

BLAM !!!!!!

 Shielding Karen, Tony didn't run to avoid the blow of the weapon, nor he didn't hesitate as he saw his mugger escaping in direction of the library.

“Karen, I’ll see you later !” Tony shouted, as he raced after his attacker. By the fountain, he saw Jake, and called, "Jake, come help me take this Jerk !!"

And the two boys ran after the Bull, who was slowed down by his suit. Tony remembered the guy he talked with before math class, the one with a dark cloud over the head.  But why should it be him ?  Jake advised Tony to take out his slingshot, but it was ineffective, as they were on the run.  He definitely had to use his fists...and his head.  As they arrived at the Library, they saw the figure bolt inside.  Racing right behind, they finally caught up and trapped the Bull against a wall.  He was desperately looking for an escape.  Seeing he didn’t have any, he started to act like a real Bull and made out as if he was going to charge right on the two boys.  By chance, Jake had some stuff on him.  He took out a small package that Tony couldn't identify.  As the bull charged on them, he just avoided him and threw the package.  And Tony realized what it was as the figure stopped and began swatting at himself . "Itching powder, right ?"

"Yep, my friend. Now he hasn't got much choice, he has to take this off”, Jake laughed.

Jake was right.  The person was frantically scratching and couldn't keep the suit on much longer.
_________________________________________________________

[Miss Ordered]

Jake and Tony watched in morbid anticipation, waiting for the jerk to take the head off so they could pummel him.

"What are you doing?!", came a sudden voice.

An ancient-looking woman had sauntered up to them. Tony and Jake peered around, and it looked like they had taken the library hostage. Books and papers lay abandoned on the floor. One of the chess tables was knocked over, and the pieces rolled all over the place. Two skinny Nerds peered up from behind a study table.  A smelly, wet trail on the floor led to a couch with a particularly large Nerd shaking behind it.  Behind the couch next to him was a kid who was wearing that blue, diamond-patterned sweater.

The guy in the Bull suit continued to scratch wildly, cursing under his breath.

"You three are getting in big trouble for this !" growled Ms. Carvin, the Librarian. "How dare you come into my library and destroy my beautiful books ?!"

Jake couldn't help but smile, but Tony wasn't too happy.  But before Ms. Carvin could attempt anything else, the guy in the Bull suit let out a frustrated grunt and charged his way through the library, exclaiming loudly when he bumped his hip on the side of a table on his way out.

Jake tried to speed off after him, but Ms. Carvin's wrinkly arm had slung out and grabbed his ear.  He yelped in surprise and kneed her in the privates.  What came out of her mouth then was too obscene to relate.

The old woman groaned and shook her fist at them as the two ran off.  By the time Tony and Jake had exited the library, the guy wearing the bull suit was long gone.

"Whoa," said Tony, as he and Jake continued to run as Prefects trailed after them, "Just...Whoa."

"No one touches me," muttered Jake. "No one."

"So, where are we headed to next ?" asked Tony.  The two Prefects that were chasing them had hunched over to catch their breath.

"English class, I guess," said Jake.

Tony looked at his watch. "We're forty minutes late."

"Doesn't matter," said Jake, with a smirk. "It's not like the drunk bastard will notice anyway."
_________________________________________

[Mercury]

"Sorry, sir, we..." Tony said, then stopped, seeing that there were only five students in the classroom.

"…Are a bit late, I know”, the Teacher, whose name was Mr. Galloway, said.  “Go take a seat and finish these assignments."

The two boys took two free tables and started to work.

"This one is more cool than Hattrick !" Tony Exclaimed.

"You see ?  But no one likes his class.  All think it's useless...", Jake began.

"Why are we here then ?", questioned Tony.

"Because in fact, it's NOT useless. Look at your sheet." Jake pointed to the paper.

The worksheet was titled "The Words That Hurt". While working on it, Tony wondered if it could be useful to calm down the Bullies.…It was clear that this class was more useful that just learning grammar.  The teacher, named Mr. Galloway, walked between the tables, a cup in the hand.  As he arrived near Tony, he looked attentively at his work.

"Good one, I never thought about that…”  Mr. Galloway seemed to be lost in thought for the moment.  Then he said,  “I think you have finished, you may go now.  Try not to be late next time !"

"Thank you, sir !", Exclaimed Tony, getting up.

Jake hadn't finished yet.  He gave Tony a little paper on which he had written two words.

FIRE ALARM

Tony exited the class and looked over at the red handle on the wall. He was wondering what would happen if he got caught.  But his plan was perfect.  Just hide in the nearest locker after doing it, and wait for Jake.  His hand grabbed the handle, and pulled.
_______________________________________________

[T-Bone]

As he was running to the nearest locker one of the Prefects managed to see him squeezing into the only open locker.  After only about 3 seconds, the Prefect pulled him out and held him against the wall.  At about the same time Jake came sprinting out of the English room and shot the Prefect in the back of the head with his own Slingshot and knocked him out.  Tony and Jake took off.

Tony asked him how he had knocked out the Prefect with only one shot.  Jake replied, "This is about 3 times more powerful than your little peashooter that you call a Slingshot."

Tony had noticed that it had a scope, and was twice the size of his. "Where did you get that from ?" asked Tony.

"I stole it from one of the Nerds." said Jake. "Here…I'll let you take this one…You'll need it more than me."

Tony was puzzled.  He had no idea why Jake said that he would need it more than him. But before he had a chance to ask why, Jake said, "I'll be doing all of the planning, and you'll be doing the dirty work."

"What do you mean?" asked Tony

"Oh”, said Jake, “I haven’t told you how we’re going to take over the School ?"

"No." said Tony. "But….I don’t want to take over the School."

"WELL I DO, AND I WANT IT NOW !!  SO, YOU ARE GONNA DO WHAT I SAY, OR YOU WILL END UP LIKE THE PREFECT I WASTED!!!!  DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME ?!" Jake hollered.

"WOW….Quit freaking out man !!”, Tony cringed.

"Sorry”, Jake said, shaking his head and quickly calming down.  “I forgot to take my Meds.  I just get overexcited."

"Whatever, its cool”, Tony said, relived.

"So are you coming or not ?", Jake urged.

"Yeah, I‘ll be along”, Tony said, a spark of doubt raising in his mind.  Was Jake some kind of Psycho ?  “Something I gotta do.”
_____________________________________________________

[Mercury]

Free of Jake, Tony ran everywhere. He had to find HIM.  Jake wants him to do the dirty work ? OK.  But no one has said that he couldn't do his own business.  He bumped into many students, without finding the one he was looking for. The Fire Alarm continued to ring, but finally, he found him.  He was like Tony had last seen him, milling about aimlessly, a cloud of misery over his head.

"Hey, I remember you !  How was Math Class ?", The Student greeted.

Tony didn't answer. He grabbed Constantinos, and whispered in his ear. "I know it was you. Time to pay now."

"Hey, what are you talking about ?" Gurgled Constantinos.

"Don't play innocent with me”, Tony growled, and drove his fist to his victim's stomach. As he stood up, Constantinos decided to fight. Tony thought it was time to prove that gym class wasn't useless.  After avoiding the unsure fists of his opponent, he made a perfect headbutt, finishing him. But Tony didn't let him hit the ground.  He shoved him to the wall.

"OK, Tony, let me explain to you !”, Constantinos wailed.

"Oh, you remember having done something now ?", hissed Tony.

"Wait, I didn't have the choice... It was the Jocks... You know…”, Constantinos trailed off.

"They made you ?", Tony asked, understanding.

"Yes...", Constantinos said, miserably.

"Hmm…“ Tony paused.  “Maybe we can make a sort of deal together. What about if you keep me informed of what people plan and say ?"

"Will I get paid... ?", Constantinos said, weakly.

"Maybe, if you do a good job”, Tony replied.  “We got a deal ?”

The other boy nodded.  At that, Tony let Constantinos fall against the wall. He had ‘Ears’ now.
__________________________________________________________

[Miss Ordered]

Tony wasn't the last student to make it out of the building.  Apparently, some students didn't even leave at all.  Fire Drills were performed at least six times a week, even if the authority figures didn't want them to.  There was no fire, and the chances of a fire actually happening at Bullworth School was pretty rare. It wasn’t like anybody really cared anyway.  Getting all the students out of the building took so long that the School Classes were over by the time everyone was out. Tony was tired.

He went back to the Boy’s Dorm, ditched his uniform, and slumped onto his bed.  Out of his open eye, he could see Hattrick's long-ass homework assignment.  He thought about the way Hattrick had chewed out those two boys on the first day of school.

"Screw it," was all he muttered, before drifting off to sleep.

==========================================================================

"Hey, Wake Up !!!"  Someone shook him.  It was Jake.

"I got something amazing planned, and YOU'RE a part of it," spouted Jake. When Tony opened his eyes, the alarm clock read 5:27. In the morning.  He had slept a long, long time.

"C'mon," urged Jake. "We gotta hurry up if we're gonna do this right. Hurry up ! Oh, this is going to be GREAT."

Tony noticed something odd about Jake.  Jake was already pretty disturbing before, but there was something about the way he moved that made him seem really Psycho now.  His uniform, which Jake was still wearing even at such a time, was even more messed up than it usually was.  His hair stuck out at random spots, and Jake's eyes seemed to react to everything.  He fidgeted as he paced back and forth.

"Do you know what time it is ?" asked Tony. "You look like you need some sleep."

"Yeah, it's time to get up off your ass and follow me," commanded Jake. "This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and you better not miss it !"

Tony thought about laying his head back onto his pillow, but after realizing Jake was crazy enough to literally drag him off, he got up and slid back into his own uniform.

"Follow me !" called Jake, as he sped out the doors. "This is going to be FUN !"
____________________________________________________

[Mercury]

Jake was now walking in the Quad towards the School.  Tony took this opportunity to ask him about his plan.  Jake’s answered, "Well, have you ever seen the School Store ?"

Tony remembered the two Preps hanging out near it. "Yes, but I don't know anything about it. What do you have in mind ?"

"I discovered that the people who like to sleep much miss a lot of things...", Jake said absently.

"Tell me, what's the thing with the Store ?", Tony persisted.

"OK, Tony boy, let me explain it to you, Jake said, suddenly focused.  “Many students have to buy some stuff to wear, especially the Jocks and Non-Clique students. But where does that stuff come from ?  The answer is simple. They buy it every month, at quarter to six, before everyone wakes up. I found this out during my nights without sleep."

"So…What ?", asked Tony.

"So, if we steal the stock”, Jake continued, “We have the opportunity to sell it for twice the price !"

"OK”, Tony said, “I understand now... But how are we going to get it ?"

"The Prefect that has to move the stock has some Nerds as ‘employees‘, Jake said.  “If we waste the Prefect, the ‘Nerd Slaves’ won't do anything to stop us. That's the plan."

They arrived by the basement stairs at the West side of the school.

"Go hide in that Trashcan ! Jake whispered.  “I'll take this one over here."

"IN the trashcan ?", Tony said doubtfully.

"Don't be a girl”, Jake snickered, “No one throw their Bananas in there, if you know what I mean."

Tony took out his new slingshot, then hid in the trashcan.  In a few minutes, He saw that Prefect that almost busted him after he had pulled the fire alarm, and behind him, three Nerds with long packets in the hands.  When he saw Jake jumping out of his trashcan with an M-80 firecracker, so did Tony.  He used his new powerful Slingshot to shoot the Prefect in the head, while Jake was throwing his M-80 the feet of the Prefect. In just seconds, the Prefect was lying on the ground.  The Nerds didn't know what to do, and stopped dead.  Jake promised them nothing would happen. He even paid them two bucks each, so that they wouldn’t say anything.  His plan worked perfectly.
__________________________________________

[Miss Ordered]

"Hurry up," urged Jake, as he hauled a box full of clothing past the Parking Lot.

"What for ?" asked Tony, who was also balancing two large boxes against his chest.

"Listen up", crowed Jake. "We're gonna hide the boxes.  No one knows about our little business plan, but they will soon enough."

"Then how are we supposed to sell them ?" asked Tony.

"You'll see soon enough," said Jake. "Now haul your ass."

Tony and Jake edged around through the Quad. Their eyes darted around, watching for people who could potentially rat them out.  At last, Tony and Jake made it to the back of the Boys' Dorm.  Jake pulled some bricks from the back of the dorm, and a massive hole formed. The inside of it had an abandoned spidered webs.  Pipes stuck through the top of the secret compartment, and everything was covered in dust.  Tony could hear Rats.

"How did you find this ?" asked Tony.

"Isn't it amazing ?" boasted Jake. "I spent a whole month after I came here carving those bricks out of the wall.  Now hurry up and toss the boxes in there."

Tony didn't even have to be asked, for he was already placing the boxes hastily into the secret space. Green sweaters, blue sweaters, Letterman jackets, extra gym uniforms, and even a jockstrap spilled from the edges of the boxes.

"This is our first step towards power, Tony-boy," said Jake. "You can bet that we'll have some people willing to offer their services for a small cut of the goods."

Tony continued to pile the boxes in. "For some reason, I feel like a Drug Lord", he joked.

"Good," said a smiling Jake. His smile dropped into a sneer as he looked up. "Aw, Shit."

Tony peered up and saw a person standing in the distance between the back wall and the Dorm.
_______________________________________________________________

[Mercury]

Both Jake and Tony began to run at the shadowy figure. It appeared to be a Nerd, and the two boys slapped their fists into their palms in a gesture of intimidation.  Tony recognized him as the fat Nerd that wet himself in the library, as they was chasing the Bull.

"Wait, Wait, Wait !" said the fat kid with an unsure voice, and he showed them the object he had in the hand.  It was made of what looked like a large chewing-gum pack, many electric wires, and some stuff taped a bit everywhere.  "This is a Transmitter !  I tied it into the Fire Alarm.  If you touch me, I'll have to use it, and everyone will see what you've done !"

The two boys stopped. Tony was sure it was bluff, but Jake whispered him not to underestimate the Nerds.  Out loud, he spoke, "OK, what do you exactly want from us ?"

"I want a percentage from your little business”, the figure said. “And some new pants when I ask you for them.  Mine get dirty very fast, because of my.…Sweat."

"And if we don't want to ?", challenged Jake.

"Then I'll tell Dr. Crabblesnitch what I know about it”, the fat kid said. “Two bucks wasn't enough."

"All right”, Jake said.  “We'll throw a percentage of our profits in the Trashcan near the Library, when you ask for it"

The nerd, named Algernon and known as ‘Algie’, nodded, then looked right and left, and then started to run away, a hand on his stomach like had had to pee.

"Don't worry, Tony, every business works like this, especially in Bullworth”, Jake said. “You always have to pay for your secrets, everyone depends on it from everyone else.   Now get let’s get some sleep, tomorrow morning is Art Class….Oops, I mean, today is Art Class !"
___________________________________________________

[Bully-Freak]

Jake went over and pulled out the boxes after Algie left.  “That fat shit saw the hiding place”, Jake grumbled.  “Let’s take these back to your Dorm room and get this crap unpacked.”

Tony was worried that someone might be hanging around the front of the Dorm, but as they snuck back around the front, he was relieved to see no one there. Going into the Dorm, they moved quietly to Tony’s room across from the Common Area, going inside and closing the door. 

“So, how much are we gonna sell this stuff for ? Asked Tony as they unpacked the boxes.
Jake had used a razor blade to slit them open.

“I’m thinking about $20 for the shirts, and $40 for the pants”, Jake replied, laying out their booty on the bed.

“Wow, that’s crazy !”, Tony exclaimed.

That’s the point”, Jake said.  “When the School Store stocks go empty soon, those dumb kids will be forced to pay double the price.”

“Oh….I get it now”, Tony replied.  “That’s brilliant.”

“Ok, looks like this is a good haul”, Jake said, and sorted the clothing back into the boxes.  “Stash these in your Wardrobe, since it’s empty.  I’ll take care of selling these when the time is right.”

“All right, if you say so”, Tony said, but in his mind he was a bit doubtful. “I’ll get a cut, right ?”

“Sure, I’ll get that to you”, Jake said hurriedly, but Tony wondered how sincere Jake was about that.  The clothing boxes were secreted in Tony’s Wardrobe cabinet.

“Now get let’s get some sleep, tomorrow morning is Art Class….Oops, I mean, today is Art Class !", Jake chuckled as he left for his own room.
________________________________________________

[Miss Ordered]

Tony yawned, before smacking himself on the arm to wake up as the Alarm Clock went off.  He had dozed off.  Groggy, he left the Dorm.  Jake caught up to him, and seemed just as crazy as usual, urging Tony on, as the two made their way to Art Class.

"You can sleep when we get to Art Class," called Jake. "Hurry up !."

Tony lazily sauntered his way up the stairs, trailing behind Jake as he hauled himself into the classroom.  Tony's brain might have been pretty screwed up from his broken sleep, but he could've sworn that all the other students in there were girls.  Tony realized that he and Jake were the only guys in the class.  Well, not quite…On closer look, he could see there were some drooling guys tucked away in the far corner.

He was expecting some weird, stick-like, possibly perverted guy to be leading the class. Instead, a woman dressed in a well-fitting turtleneck and a tight leather skirt made her way around lonely easels and took a stand in front of the class.

"Hello Class," said the woman. "My name is Ms. Phillips, and I am your Art Teacher. Welcome to the Amazing World of Art !"

Tony peered at the group of guys in the corner, whose eyes were all locked onto the teacher. He was pretty sure it wasn't because they wanted to learn about Art.

He stared back at Jake, who seemed to be amusing himself with some morbid thought.  Tony could tell by the evil smirk on his face. "Hey, Jake", he whispered.

"What ?" replied Jake. "Can't you see I'm busy thinking here ?"

"Why the hell are we here when we could be managing our little business ?" asked Tony.

"You've got a lot to learn, my friend," said Jake, who picked up the brush that was laid out for him. Tony copied him, eyes watching the guys in the corner. They were all still staring and gawking at Ms. Phillips, although she had already told them to pick up their brushes.

"Okay, class, I just want to see how far your skills have gotten up to this point," explained Ms. Phillips. "Let the inner self flow onto the paper. Don't be embarrassed."

Tony looked at the blank canvas in front of him. After blinking for a few times and then jolting back to reality, he had realized that he had dozed off there for a few seconds. This Art  wasn't going to be good.
_________________________________________