The School's Arena ((An original Story by Jonathan Beltran))

This is a space I am reseving for when I have time to sit and write up the first chapter. I don't wan't to give to much information about my story away yet but you can get some hints from the title. Other than that all I can say is that it has to do with Gladiators and the injustices of the school system. JB

Chapter 1

I woke up this morning. Nothing was different. Nothing had changed. I got out of bed lazily as I reached out and hit snooze on my alarm clock. I got up and walked toward my bathroom. I took a shower then got dressed. I put on my usual jeans and my t-shirt. I then put on my hooded jacket. It was the end off summer break so I tried to take as long as possible. Trying to savor what little time away from school remained. I packed my bags for school and looked around my room. I then dropped back down into bed. I was exuhasted and felt like resting a bit longer. "Alex! Your going to be late! Come downstairs now!" my mother called up. I got out of bed again and exited my room. I began to climb down the stairs. I walked through the house to the round table where I ate. I drank my usual cup of milk as I do every morning. I then rushed out the door towards the bus stop.

Once I was walking on the sidewalk I began to ponder about my next year of school. Wow. I am already in 11th grade. Seems like only yesterday I was getting thrown in trachcans by seniors. I just wish I could go back in time, I would teach those morons a lesson. When I was nearing the bus I noticed somethings were changed on the big yellow bus. It was notably made of reinforced steel and the windows all had iorn bars on them. I waved off any suspicion and assumed they were safety measures. I made my way to the steps and climbed in. I looked at the driver but instead found myself looking at a darkened glass. The driver was cut off from everyone else by the glass. Again I assumed it was probably for safety but this time my suspicion grew. I looked down the rows of seats and noticed that many of my old classmates were also on the bus. I had though that because the high school had been demolished that many would move away or go to other schools in different counties. Instead it seemed they all decided to go to the same new Boarding School that opened the day before. I began walking to the back of the bus and the fell face first into the floor. I looked up while still laying there. It was this years seniors. Even before the school day officily began they were already being assholes. I got upand was infuriated. I felt like beating the crap out of him. Instead I just kept on walking and sat at the very back of the bus like I have done for the past 2 years. So much for that talk about teaching them a lesson.

As I sat at the very end of the bus I saw someone stumble inside then curse out a kid. At that point I recognized who had entered. It was my long time friend Misha. As always he had his dark black hair in a way that resembled a mop. He had his shorts on and his t-shirt that says "I find it funny you would waste your time reading this shirt." He ran down the ailes and sat next to me. "Do you ever wash your cloths?" I asked jokingly. "No, never." He responded sarcasticly. We had been best friends ever since 6th grade and it was releiving to know he was going to this new school too. We talked a bit about what to expect when the smell hit me. "Dude, what is that smell?" I asked covering my nose. "Cologne." He responded blankly. "What did you shower in it or something? Your gonna suffocate everyone here." He shook his head. "Nope. I am doing this to smell nice when I ask Lexis out." I was suprised by what he said. "You mean the Lexis. The one you have had a crush on for 2 years but she always says no to you when you ask her out?" I asked with a confused expression on my face. "Yep." He replied with a confident smile, "But this time, she won't be able to refuse." I shook my head, "What makes you think it'll be any different?" "I heard she likes guys who work out so.. I have." he said as he tried to show off his muscles. "Are your biceps hiding?" I said jokingly as I saw what small effort he put into working out.

Just then, none other than Lexis walks in. Her hair was a mixture of brown and blonde. She had on a short green skirt and a white jacket and she had deep blue eyes. Mishasaw her and took a deep breath. "Wish me luck." he said as he walked over to her. I sat and watched as he bravely walked over to her. He was not shy when it came to girls unlike me. He talked to her for a bit. I then saw him show off his 'muscles' and she held back laughter. A while later though he came running over to me. "She said yes!" He yelled happily. He then fell into his seat again. "She just couldn't resist my powers of persuation." he bragged. I was congratulating him when she, climbed into the bus. She is Katherina. I have had a crush on her ever since 6th grade. I have always been too shy to say anything though. She saw me and Misha and smiled. She then started to walk towards the back of the bus. "Here is your chance man. She is coming here." Misha whispered in my ear. Don't mess up Alex. Don't Mess up.

"Hi guys, whats up." She said happily. "Hey Kat."Misha said referring to her by her nickname. "Umm.. hey, yeah, hi Kat." I stuttered in a soft voice. "Mind If I sit here?" She asked. "Sure," Misha said without hesitation. He then shot me a look saying Go For It! She sat down between us. And leanded back. Her black hair with purple streaks falling on my shoulder as she turned to talk to Micha. She then turned to me. "Hey, Alex. I wanted to ask you something." She said as she put her soft hand on my arm. "Yeah." I said softly. "Have you heard the rumors about the school system? I heard that some Multi-Billion dollor company that has a history of hosting illegal fights, made a deal with the government. In order to help with the dept the government basically gave away the whole school system to them. Now they can do as they please and the government can use the money for other things." Misha shook his head in disbelief. "Yeah right." "No really," Kat insisted, "They annonced it yesterday. The deal was made 3 years ago but takes affect today. They had been building stuff up until now." Micha turned towards the front and leaned back in his seat as the bus started up. "Well, we will have to wait to find out won't we.

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A hour had passed. Still we were many miles away from the school. Misha was texting someone in his phon and Kat had fallen asleep leaning into me. I smiled as I saw her asleep. We had left at 4am in order to get to the school by 8am. She probably didn't get much sleep so I tried not to disturb her. I looked out the nearby window and observed the highways. We were amoung a convoy of 5 other buses. Something I hadn't noticed before though was the black SUVs that were following or bus. I tried to see who was inside but the windows were blackened similarly to the glass obscuring the veiw of the bus driver. I felt Kat snuggling closer to me. This turned my attention away from the SUVs and back to her. I just wish I wasn't as shy as I am but that can't be helped. I guess I will have to stick to admiring from affar. But I could enjoy this while it lasts. I leaned back in my seat and took out my IPod. I then played some music and dozed off.

A short while later I woke up as the bus grinded to a stop. I slowly opened my eyes and saw Misha getting up from the seat. "Wh... why we stop?" I asked still half-asleep. He shruged. "I don't know." I then sat up strait in my seat. Kat was still asleep next to me. I gently shook her shoulder. "Are we there already?" she asked with her eyes still closed. "No, but we seem to have stopped." She then sat up strait and yawned. She stood up and seemed as peppy as normal even though she just woke up. I however, was still sleepy and slowly got up next to them. Everyone else on the bus began exiting the bus. All three of us began to follow suit. I was the last to exit and I noticed that the black SUVs from earlier wwere parked a short distance away. There were also 6 security guards standing next to the bus. The buses had stoped at a service station for fuel. We all stood in a large group in the lot. A guard walked up to us. "You are to take a restroom break then report here imediately. If you are not here in 5 minutes you shall be severely punished." He then walked back to the other guards. "That was creepy." Kat whispered to us. She then walked towards the station. Me and a few other kids stayed near the bus.

I leanded against the bus to wait for my friends to return. I then saw that the seniors who had tripped me were near another bus. I looked over at them with serious look on my face. I was trying to keep track of where they were so I could avoid them. One however, looked in my direction and got a look of success on his face. Crap... they are coming over here. I looked away casualy as if I hadn't noticed in hope that they would simply leave me be. Unfortunately about a second later I heard the booming voice of one of the tallest senior. "Hey, you. Nerd. Look at me when I talk to you" I turned slowly to face him. "What if I don't?" I asked without thinking. As soon as it exited my mouth I wanted to take it back. "Wha'd you say F*gg*t?" He said to me angrily. I knew at that moment I was screwed. If there was one thing I learned from High School, its that you never talk back to a senior no matter how bad you want to. I stayed silent. The senior, being impatient as usual, shoved me with his hand. "Come on, say something kid. You arn't scared are you?" He said mockingly as his posse laughed. At that moment I fell off the deep end. Instead of doing the rational thing and laughing along with him then fleeing as fast as possible I decided to do something more rash. I turned and punched him in the stomach. He took a step back and held at his stomach. He quickly recovered though. "That's it! Your dead!" He lunged at me recklessly with a punch. The technique was so bad I could see it a mile away. I stepped to the side, grabbed his wrist with both hands, pulled him in the direction he was going. Then when he lost his balance I switched the direction of pulling and twisted his wrist. He was unable to follow the direction of his wrist because his momentum carried him the other way. So as expected. his wrist broke. A large 'crack' was heard and the senior sat down holding his limp wrist. "HOw... did you do that?" he asked suprised. "Well, its just simple Aikido. Even a neandrathal like you could probably learn it." I said proudly. I couldn't believe it but I had actually stood up to the seniors like I said I would. The seniors 'friends' all decided to leave, because they only act tought becuase they think they got their friend to back them up. Normaly thats not the case though. Misha ran up to me. "That was great man! I didn't know you could do that! I saw you beat him up in one move! Thatwas sick! Oh and a certain someone else was also impressed." Misha whispered the last part. Kat then ran over to me. I was half-expecting her to congratulate me. Instead, she got all suspicious. "DId you guys notice the security guards didn't care about the fight?" she asked. Man, I really thought that would impress her. I nodded in response to her question.