The Broken

by Sean Michael Frawley

mind in the least. Unlike before, the dreaded nickname now seemed more like a rite of passage than a putdown. "I don't mind," he said with a smile, savoring the sweet taste of belonging.

  Panch stuck out his tongue at Celia. "Told you," he said.

  "Whatever," Celia said, sounding miffed that Panch knew something more about her new friend than she did. "Link, have you met Watcher?"

  Tom looked up from what he was writing barely long enough to nod. Then he resumed his frenzied scribbling.

  "Isn't his name Tom?" Link asked.

  "Watcher is a nickname," Celia responded, pulling a book from her satchel.

  "What's he writing?" Link whispered, trying not to disrupt the flow of words that were spilling onto Tom's page.

  "Who knows? He writes about everything and anything. Thinks he's the chronicler of mankind or something."

  "She's not kidding," Panch whispered. "That dude's room is like a library. Kind of mental, but don't worry. He's cool."

  Celia smacked Panch in the shoulder again.

  Panch rubbed the place where he'd been struck. "Knock it off! Will ya? And I'm not talking about my head, freckle face. What's wrong with you, woman?" Panch stifled a chuckle, before immediately raising his hands to block another of Celia's vicious right hooks. "Dude, that's enough. My arm is killin' me."

  "I'm not a dude, Panch."

  "Du...I mean...Celia," he said, quickly correcting himself. "You know I'm only playin' with you. I kid 'cuz I care."

  The remainder of study hall flew by without incident. When the bell rang, Link rose in triumph. He had made it. An entire day of school and nothing bad had happened. Take that, universe! He congratulated himself on this remarkable achievement. He looked up through the popcorn plaster, blocking out the heavens above, and said, "Screw you, fate! Not so big and scary now, are you?" Flushed with confidence, he extended his middle three fingers and held his hand high. "Read between the lines, you big bully."

  Behind him, a tall, Sasquatch of a boy turned to face Link and his premature three-fingered celebration. "What'd you say?" he growled.

  Link gaped at the monster in amazement. How was this beast even in the same grade? The room began shrinking around him. The halogen lights above became spotlights, blazing down upon Link as if he were being interrogated. At last he said, "What? Me? No...I?"

  "You and me, loser. Lot D. Be there and I might only send you to the hospital. If you run, I'll hunt you down and kill you in your sleep." He punched his left hand to emphasize this point.

  Link backed up, nearly tripping over Watcher's pile of books. "But I..." That was all he managed to say before the boy left the room. Link dropped his head in disgust. He wondered why he ever opened his mouth at all. Time and again he'd proven it to be a bad idea, and yet he insisted on talking. It was moments like this when he truly wished he was a mute.

  Still, Link couldn't understand why the boy had gotten so upset. Was he friends with the universe or something?

  Panch came up beside him and placed an arm around his shoulder. "Dude," he said, "what's your beef with Fade?"

  The two of them stared into the hallway for a few seconds until Panch's words sunk in. Link realized what he had done wrong. "Fade?" he said in exasperation. That was so typical, he thought. Link had meant to curse fate, and somehow managed to insult a walking monolith named Fade. "Is that even a name? I mean, really. Who names their kid Fade?"

  "It's not his real name," Tom said, glancing up from his work, "just a nickname. He has a good fade-away shot."

  Link noticed Celia playing with the frayed edges of her backpack again and began to worry. If she was concerned, Link knew that he probably should be as well.

  "So what are you going to do?" Celia asked. "Please tell me you're not going to actually show up."

  Link laughed and tried to play it off like it was no big deal. "I'm just going to tell him it was all a big misunderstanding."

  "Unbelievable," Celia said. "You honestly think you can waltz up to him and explain your way out of this?"

  "Well, dancing may not be the right approach, but, yeah, that's the gist of it."

  Clearly not amused by Link's attempt to shrug off the severity of the current situation, Celia said, "Sure, sarcasm, even better." She turned to Panch who appeared to be deep in thought. "Please talk some sense into him. He's going to get himself killed."

  Link walked over to the window and watched the steady stream of kids leaving the school. At least nobody would still be around to watch him get his butt kicked. "Celia, you're overreacting," he said. "I'm sure Fade is reasonable enough to see it was all a mistake."

  "Fade? We're still talking about Fade?" Celia asked, growing noticeably exasperated by Link's refusal to accept the obvious. "Because if we are, you're going about this all wrong. You seem to think he's capable of thought."

  "He's not?" Link asked.

  "Put it this way," Celia continued. "In a battle of wits between Einstein and a goldfish, Fade would be the goldfish."

  "You're exaggerating," Link said.

  "Probably right, dude," Panch said. "That'd be givin' Fade way too much credit. Think more along the lines of a mentally damaged goldfish named Gomer."

  "Then I guess I'll have to fight him," Link said.

  There was a brief moment of silence before all three of his new friends burst into a loud chorus of laughter. It wasn't a small chuckle. Panch, Celia, and Watcher all roared with merriment. Celia laughed so hard she nearly fell out of her desk. Panch, meanwhile, was wiping a tear out of the corner of his eye.

  Link wanted to leave, to go sort all of this out with Fade. This was the last thing he needed right now. The only problem was that he had no clue how to get to Lot D.

  "Honestly, Link," Celia said, "either you're much funnier than I gave you credit for, or you're totally cracked in the head. Please tell me you don't honestly think you'd stand a chance against Fade. Face it. We've already established how well you fare against trees. And Fade is bigger than some trees. And more importantly, unlike the tree, Fade will hit you back."

  In the silence that followed, Panch turned to Celia and said, "You mean he really did run into a tree?"

  As the once glorious day rapidly deteriorated, Link said, "Yes, Panch, I really did run into a tree. But it's not like I have a lot of options here. I can't hide from him forever. If I don't face him now, I'll just have to do it later."

  Celia threw up her hands. "But that's my point. Don't you get it? The guy is an absolute moron. I bet most morons would be offended if they knew that I compared them to Fade. Chances are he'll forget his own name by Monday. There's no way he'll remember some petty argument he had right before the end of school on Friday."

  "Look, Celia, I appreciate your concern. But there's only one thing worse than enduring something terrible, and that's being forced to wait for it. I'd rather just face him now. Think about it. Nobody is going to want to waste their weekend to stick around for a fight. Besides, who could possibly have heard about it that fast? Trust me. I'll be fine."

  20

  Who Let the Dog Out?

  Link stepped onto the rough pavement of Lot D and was immediately reminded of the crowded Shakespearian amphitheaters he'd learned about in his British Literature class. Until witnessing it with his own eyes, he never would have believed how amazing the efficiency of the Shady Oaks Academy gossip chain could be.

  Astonished at the sea of students who turned out to witness his murder, he stood dumbstruck between his two remaining friends. Watcher had left early on some important errand. Apparently Link's impending appointment with death was the one thing Watcher didn't want to chronicle. Link didn't blame him. He didn't want to watch it either.

  He noticed one of the students holding a handmade sign, supporting Fade. The sign depicted an oversized basketball bouncing on top of a bloody pulp that Link could only assume represented him. He made that informed guess because the artist had taken the time to give the bloody pulp red hair. Link wondered how on earth someb
ody would have had the time to make a sign. "What do they think this is?" he mumbled. "A pep rally?"

  "All right, dude, this is as far as we go. It's been cool knowin' ya. Just remember to swim toward the light."

  "Your confidence in me is overwhelming."

  Celia, still visibly annoyed by Link's pig-headed refusal to listen to reason, stood next to Panch and pouted. She was trying her best not to reveal her concern, but she was failing miserably.

  By the looks of it, the entire basketball team had shown up in support of their star center. Kids screamed as if they had just won districts. Link half expected to see a hotdog vendor walk by or someone selling cotton candy.

  "Let's do this, punk." Fade said. He emerged from the crowd, smashing his right fist into his palm once again.

  The sun shone overhead, causing Link to sweat as he stepped forward from his friends. At least, he hoped it was the sun that was making him sweat. Since his palms were also sweating profusely, it was hard to tell. He tried to approach Fade, but his legs didn't want to cooperate. So he spoke where he was. "Let me explain. I think this has all been a silly misunderstanding."

  Fade snarled. "You calling me silly?"

  "Course not. Don't be stupid." Dang it! Why didn't his brain ever filter his words? Link tried to back up but was quickly rebuffed by the frenzied crowd. Some of these kids seriously needed to learn what a bar of soap was for.

  "You callin' me stupid?" Fade said.

  It was then that Link knew his friends had been right. It was going to take