Within The Bonds

55: Hell Week

Hell week

I think as the scene unfolds before my eyes. Shrugging off my jacket and stuffing my phone into its pocket, I gently place it on the ground. With light cautious steps, I approach the group of six.

Five well-build athletes sporting the greens and reds of their letterman jackets circled a girl wearing a jersey identical to the colors of their jackets.

Even from my distance from them, I could tell that they are juniors if not seniors and the girl in the middle looks no older than a freshman, making her the ideal candidate for hell week.

It wasn't uncommon for the jocks of a public school to dedicate one week of the academic year solely to tormenting the newly recruited members of their teams. Freshmen are always the target and the juniors usually take the lead, with some seniors occasionally joining in on the fun.

All this is done under the radar and no one ever dares to report it, they make sure of it. Back at my old school, they call it 'The initiation' while the parties on the receiving end calls it 'Hell week'.

So far I haven't noticed anything of this sort in my current school, so I'm not certain if it happens in private schools as well or not. But each school had a different week dedicated to this, back at good old Crimson Creek it was the fourth week after our first match. 

Of course, I wasn't there long enough to be a victim of it—not that I would put up with it either way—but we did witness what happened to the sophomores who were blacklisted the previous year. It was their way of warning us not to make the same mistake those sophomores did.  

I observe the duffle bag as it's thrown from one of the five to the other, spilling its contents on the dusty ground while mid-air. Their sadistic laugh permeated the air as they watch the girl picked the books off the ground, clutching them to her chest. 

With tears streaming down her face the poor girl pleaded for her bag to be returned, but her voice falls to deaf ears. Bending down every other minute to pick up yet another article that falls out of her bag, she doesn't even for a minute try to grab her bag back. 

I weighed my options carefully before settling on a decision. Taking on the five guys isn't the topic of concern at the moment. But the fact that I know the outcome the girl will have to face later if I help her out now, stands priority.

Caught in a dilemma, I feel myself leaning towards my initial decision. Concluding my mental debate in record time, I approach them within five anger fuelled strides.

"Get the fuck out of her while you still can bitch!" A choleric jock with jet back hair snaps as he passes the bag to his companion spotting me first.

His words draw everyone's attention to me, stopping them mid-action. Each of the six looks at me with a different emotion swirling in their eyes. Ignoring the rest, my eyes find the girl's and lock itself there.

Her pleading gaze waverers my decision as all they ask is for my help. Help her not by getting rid of the guys harassing her, but by getting out of there so that they can get done with her and leave her alone for the rest of her high school life.

I know this game all too well, yet I still cannot convince myself to leave her alone here when I know what is going to happen.

"Didn't you hear what he said? Or do you want to join in the fun as well and give little Kate here some company?" Another threatens with a lustrous glint in his grey eyes, making me sick to my stomach.

"Are you fucking nuts Lester?! She's a motherfucking Eagle!" The guy next to him reprimands him in a low crude growl, eyeing my team jersey emblazoned with my school's logo.