Joshua's Island (James Madison Series Book 1)

by Patrick Hodges

  I looked him in the eyes. “Don't call me 'girly-boy.' ”

  My classmates were leaving the cafeteria by the minute, and the crowd of eyewitnesses had grown considerably. Perfect, the more people see this, the better. Assuming I survive.

  “Why not, girly-boy?” he said, grinning. “You know what you are if you hang out with only girls all the time, right?”

  I looked at my trio of friends, smiled, and then turned back to face him. “Umm …” I said, trying to sound as patronizing as possible, “… lucky?” I heard a few chuckles from the crowd and did a mental fist-pump.

  “No, it makes you the biggest girl of them all,” Brent said, sneering.

  I grinned mischievously. “No, I'm pretty sure it makes me lucky…” I gestured at the girls. “I mean, look at them! They're hot! Wouldn't you feel lucky?” All three of them smiled, loving the show so far.

  This wasn't going the way Brent had planned at all, so he changed tactics. “Is that supposed to impress me?”

  I looked down at my shoes, pausing for just the right dramatic effect. “Brent, I'm sick of you. Three years of the same old bullcrap.” I inched closer to him, stopping when I was just a yard away. “I'm sick of your voice, I'm sick of your smell … and most of all, I'm sick of your ugly face.”

  “Let's get it on then, girly-boy.” Brent struck a fight-pose, inviting me to take the first swing. He even stuck out his chin, giving me a target. I didn't take the bait.

  I backed up a few paces, spreading my arms for the crowd to see. “You think I'm going to fight you, Brent? What would that prove, exactly? That you're bigger than me? Stronger than me? That you can kick my butt anytime you want?” I gestured to the crowd. “I think everyone here has pretty much figured that out by now. You've been proving that for the last three years!”

  Brent straightened up. “You're a spineless fag, you know that?”

  I glared at him. “I don't need to prove anything to you, Brent. I have the three best friends a guy could have. You could kick my butt every day for the rest of my life, and they wouldn't like me any less.”

  I looked at the girls, who nodded. Good for them. I then caught sight of Rick in the crowd, who was smiling. He looked at me and nodded, you go, little bro.

  A note of desperation crept into Brent's voice. “You think those girls actually like you? No freaking way! You're the most miserable excuse for a guy in this whole freaking school!”

  Good old predictable Brent. That's exactly the opening I was looking for. “And what does that make you, Brent?”

  He made a fist and used it to pound his beefy arms. “I'm a man,” he said confidently.

  I exploded, screaming as loudly as I could, “YOU… ARE… THIRTEEN… YEARS… OLD!!” My voice had gone up nearly an entire octave. “You are NOT a man!” I was practically frothing at the mouth, making emphatic gestures with my hands. “You're an APE! You strut around this place, beating your chest like some brain-dead gorilla, but you're not a man!”

  Brent had lost his composure completely. I backed up again, pressing on. “Can you drive a car, Brent? Buy beer? Vote? No, you can't!” I pointed my finger right at his face. “These are things that a man can do! Not you!”

  Brent's eye had started to twitch. He'd lost control, and he knew it. “I'm more man than you …” he began.

  Got him. Spring the trap. “Oh yeah?” I interrupted. “Well, if you're such a goddamn man, why is it you only pick fights with people half … your … size?” I drew the last three words out dramatically. I looked at the crowd, who were looking at Brent in a brand new light.

  Keep going. “You're six inches taller than me! You outweigh me by fifty pounds! Does that sound like a fair fight?” A couple of girls actually shook their heads.

  I whirled around dramatically. “Is that what a man does? Only picks fights he can't possibly lose? Against people who can't defend themselves?” He had no answer.

  I stepped back toward him. “I may not be a man either,” I said, gradually lowering my voice, “but I'm five times the man you are.” Get ready, girls, here comes the coup de grace.

  The blood had drained from Brent's face. “How do you figure that, dog turd?”

  “Because a real man has friends, Brent. People who have his back. People who care more about him than about themselves. That's something you … will … never … have.”

  Brent clenched and unclenched his fists. “What the hell are you talking about, dickwad?”

  I smiled as evilly as I could, walking backwards toward the girls. Turning around, and unseen by Brent, I made the slightest of hand gestures, which was my prearranged signal. Seeing it, Eve ran forward, threw her arms around my neck and kissed me, hard. I wrapped my arms around her and returned the kiss.

  I waited for the “Woooooh!” to erupt from the crowd, and it did. After about ten seconds, Eve broke the kiss, smiling. But the show wasn't over yet.

  I glanced over at Emily, who immediately ran forward, put her arms around me and planted an equally forceful kiss on me. Again, I closed my eyes and returned the embrace, waiting for the crowd to react. They did, but it was much quieter this time, as this turn of events was completely unexpected.

  I broke from Emily, facially thanking her for this extreme act of cooperation. What a trooper.

  Then I turned to Susan, who ran to me and kissed me too. It wasn't as forceful as the other two and didn't last as long, but it was equally sweet and genuine. I cupped the back of her head with my hand and whispered, “Thank you,” as we broke the kiss.

  I looked at the crowd. You could hear a pin drop. A sea of faces, standing slack-jawed. Even Rick was blown away by the audacity of this plan, which, unbelievably, had gone off without a hitch. So far.

  No one was more shocked than Brent. His chest was heaving with anger. Undaunted, I walked up to him again, planted my feet and faced him. “Any questions?” I asked sarcastically.

  “You're toast,” is all he could choke out.

  “You're a coward, Brent. Nothing but a chicken-yellow coward.” Victory complete. “And I'm done with you.”

  I turned to walk away, and he rabbit-punched me in the back of my neck.

  I dropped to one knee. The girls took a few steps forward but I held up my hand. I climbed to my feet, and made a show of dusting myself off.

  “Right in the back of the head,” I said to the crowd. To Brent I said, “Thanks for proving my point.”

  I backed off, waiting until I was a few steps away before turning toward the girls. I'd just reached them when Eve yelled, “Look out!”

  In one motion, Emily grabbed my arm and pulled me sharply to the side. Brent's fist swung through the empty air where my head had just been. Ducking under his arm, Emily's judo-class training kicked in. She grabbed his forearm, pulled it downward and delivered a hard right cross to Brent's nose. He fell backwards, hitting the ground with a thud, blood gushing from his nostrils.

  Emily immediately grabbed her hand in pain. She prepared for a counterattack, but there was none. Brent was not getting up again. He lay on the ground, holding his nose in agony.

  Emily stood there, her mouth open, unable to believe what she'd just done. I laid my hand on top of her aching fist, giving her a soft but sincere “thank you.” She caught my gaze and nodded slowly in reply.

  There was nothing else to say at that point, so the four of us walked away. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Rhonda watching events from the upper concourse.

  “Hey, girls, look,” I said. They all turned their heads and saw Rhonda. Smiling, I flipped her off. One by one, Eve, Emily and Susan did the same. Rhonda looked horrified. Then we turned our backs and headed for the Island.

  But Brent wasn't done yet. Holding his nose with one hand, he used his other hand to clamber to his feet. Gibbering with rage, he screamed at our retreating backs, “You think this is over? You think you've seen the last of me? You better grow eyes in the back of your skull, you little maggot! You hear me?” We didn't even look back at
him.

  We made it to the Island with no further drama. The four of us sat there, heaving a collective sigh of relief. I spent about ten minutes thanking Emily for her rescue. She was still shaken by what she'd done. My warrior maiden.

  Eve placed her head on my shoulder. “You are nuts, you know that?”

  “You may be right,” I replied with an exhausted grin.

  I received no less than ten high-fives, back-slaps and fist-bumps between recess and the end of sixth period. Whether this was for my public act of defiance or my new reputation as a ladies' man, I honestly didn't care.

  * * *

  On the bus, Kelsey nearly fell out of her seat when Eve and I told her what happened, especially having been more than alarmed when none of us showed up for our daily get-together. Her eyes were as big as saucers. “Wow, I wish I'd been there to see that,” she said. “Did anyone record it?”

  I grinned. Damn, wish I'd thought of that. “Afraid not. I kind of had to come up with this plan on the fly.”

  Kelsey put her hands on the seat-back and rested her chin on them, looking intently at me. “What got into you?” she asked me.

  Before I could say anything, Eve replied, “I think you did.” It was the perfect answer.

  Kelsey flashed her most beautiful smile yet. She reached forward, grasping our clasped hands. We sat in silence the rest of the way home, reveling in our victory.

  Chapter 52

  DAY 59

  JOSHUA

  When the girls came to the Island after lunch, I was writing furiously in my notebook. As they took their seats around me, Eve said, “What are you writing?”

  “A story,” I replied. “For English Comp class.”

  “You're working on that already?” Emily asked. “It's not due for three weeks.”

  I grinned. “I know, but I had a great idea for a story last night, and I wanted to get it on paper.”

  “What's it about?” Susan asked.

  “It's about an exiled knight, Sir Joshua, who travels back to his homeland to free it from a gang of vicious ogres, who are led by the terrible Dragon Queen, R'hon-Da.”

  All three laughed. “I like it,” said Eve. “Keep going.”

  “He is savagely beaten by the ogres, who are led by Brentauric the Smelly. But his life is saved by a beautiful healer named Lady Eve.” I smiled at Eve, taking her hand. “Along the way, they gain more allies: we have the brave warrior, Emily the Fierce …”

  “Joshua!” Emily said, blushing.

  “We also have the sage mystic, Susan the Wise …”

  Susan grinned from ear to ear.

  “… and, of course, their faithful squire, Kelsey the Fearless.”

  “This sounds very familiar,” Eve said, laughing.

  “Together, the band of friends are able to vanquish the evil R'hon-Da and bring peace to the entire kingdom. The End.”

  “'The End'?” Eve said, grinning coyly. “Don't Joshua and Eve live happily ever after?”

  I smiled. “Ooh, what a good idea! I think I'll add that in!”

  Eve leaned forward and gave me a hearty shove. We all laughed again.

  “Sounds like a great story,” said Susan.

  “Though you may want to change the characters' names,” said Emily. “Or you'll find out just how fierce I can be.” She smiled evilly. “Besides, you owe me that much for saving your butt. And for kissing you.”

  “You didn't have to kiss him, Em,” Susan teased. “I think you wanted to.”

  “Susan!” Emily replied, her eyes widening. “You do know that was my first kiss ever, right?”

  “Mine too,” said Susan, smiling. “I didn't mind.”

  Eve put a hand on Emily's arm. “Em, as far as first kisses go, you could do a lot worse than Joshua. Believe me, I know.”

  Emily looked serious for a moment, and then sighed. “Oh, come on, you guys, you know I'm not really that mad. It was worth it to see the look on Brent's face. And Rhonda's.”

  “Especially Rhonda's,” said Eve.

  Emily leaned over and gave me a friendly punch in the arm. “It's okay, Joshua. You can put me in your story if you want.”

  I nodded. “What if I wrote it so you're the one who slays R'hon-Da?”

  She smirked. “Well, then, I might just have to kiss you again.”

  Eve made an annoyed face. “Emily!”

  Emily threw up her hands, smiling broadly. “Kidding!”

  I started laughing, and within seconds, all four of us were doing it. I laughed so hard, I had to hold onto Eve's arm for support. It took a couple of minutes for us to regain our senses.

  As our laughter subsided, I looked at their faces, one by one. What an incredible group of girls. I could search for years and not find better friends than these three. They're magnificent.

  My eyes were then drawn to the school buildings in the distance. I smiled again.

  “What is it, Joshua?” Eve asked.

  “I've been coming to these bleachers for over a year,” I said. “I felt safe here. I would sit here by myself, staring at the school. It always looked so far away. That's why I liked coming here. I know it's crazy, but … it just seems a lot closer now. But that's impossible, right?”

  Eve cozied up next to me, putting her arm around my shoulder. “That's the magic of the Island. It's whatever you need it to be.” She kissed me sweetly on the lips. “You're still coming trick-or-treating with us tonight, right?”

  “Wouldn't miss it,” I said.

  * * *

  Later that afternoon, I was in the family room, still working on my story. The words just poured out of my brain onto the page, and I loved it. It didn't even feel like a school assignment anymore. It felt so natural.

  “Sweetie?” said my mom's voice from the next room. “Can you come in here, please?”

  “Yeah, Mom?” I asked, walking into the kitchen. The aroma was heavenly.

  My mom had surprised Aly and me on Monday with the news that she was taking a well-deserved break from her job. She had two months of paid vacation days saved up, and she was determined to get in as much 'family time' as she could while she decided whether or not she would return to her chef position. We didn't argue. It was just so awesome to have her home every night again.

  Not taking her eyes off the stove, she said, “I've planned an amazing dinner for us tomorrow, just so you know. We'll be eating in the dining room, using our best plates and silverware. And there'll be place settings for five.”

  “Five?” I asked, puzzled.

  “That's right, sweetie, five. All I've heard out of your mouth for a full month is 'Eve' this and 'Eve' that … but you still haven't managed to bring her here, have you?”

  My God, she's right. Eve and I had been friends for six weeks, in a serious relationship for over two, and my family still hadn't laid eyes on her.

  She looked at me determinedly. “So … you're going to invite her over for dinner tomorrow, and I'm not taking 'no' for an answer.”

  “I'll make sure she gets the invitation, Mom.” I smiled. “It's so great to have you back. I mean, you never really left, but …”

  She smiled back. “I know, sweetie, I know. It feels like back to normal again. You have your costume ready?”

  “Yeah, I do.”

  I probably wouldn't have gone trick-or-treating at all, but I figured, what the hell. This might be the last chance I get. And besides, Kirsten and Sophie had insisted. There was no saying 'no' to those two.

  Chapter 53

  DAY 59

  EVE

  As dramatic as our lives were, Joshua and I often found it hard to get our minds back on the more mundane aspects of it, which included classes, homework and tests. We switched up our normal routine this week by having Joshua come to my house on Thursday instead of Friday, what with Thursday being Halloween and all.

  The first thing he did when he got here was tell me his mother had insisted he invite me for dinner. After Joshua's resounding victory over Brent, she could
wait no longer to meet the 'miracle girl' – her exact words, according to Joshua – who had completely transformed his life. I accepted on the spot.

  Joshua accompanied me, Kirsten and Sophie around my neighborhood. We were an odd pair, walking the streets arm-in-arm, with me dolled up as Pocahontas and Joshua dressed as a Junior Ninja. Kirsten was dressed as a fairy princess for like the fourth year in a row, and Sophie was even more adorable than usual going as a pink bunny rabbit. The four of us had a great time, ringing doorbells and gorging ourselves on candy.

  When we returned from trick-or-treating, my mom sat Joshua and me down in the family room. “I have great news,” she said. “I had a very productive phone conversation with Mr. Alvarez. I told him briefly about the situation at your school, about Mr. Baird's unprofessionalism, and all about both of you.”

  Joshua's eyes went wide. “And?”

  “Well, he wasn't happy, to say the least,” Mom said. “It seems he's a very strong advocate against bullying, so he's agreed to meet me for lunch tomorrow.”

  My jaw dropped. “Tomorrow? That's great!”

  “I'll be bringing along the recording of your testimony, Joshua, as well as the notes you found in your locker. I have a strong feeling that Mr. Baird will be out of a job before too long.”

  Joshua smiled, jumped to his feet and hugged my mom. He was still dressed as a ninja. It was too cute for words. “Thank you, Mrs. Devereaux,” he said. “I don't know how I can ever repay you for this.”

  “Don't worry about that,” Mom said. “Just keep yourself safe for a little while longer. And Eve, of course.”

  He sat back down next to me and took my hand in his. “No problem,” he said, smiling.

  Friday was still Test Day in Mr. Taylor's class, and the next test was a biggie, covering basically everything we'd gone over since the school year started. It was going to be twenty percent of our final grade for the semester. I was confident we could both ace it, but we agreed to spend Friday's recess period doing one more review. Then we could talk about Joshua's family, whom I was itching to meet.