Darkness Rising: Book One of The Catmage Chronicles

Two: Andy

"Loser says 'ow'!" Taylor said as he slapped Andy on the side of the head, hard.

"Ow! Jerk!"

Taylor elbowed Andy as he rushed past, making him drop his backpack. It fell open on impact and the contents spilled out. "No, you were just supposed to say 'ow'!"

Pete and Tommy, two of Taylor's friends, laughed loudly as they followed him down the hall, making sure they bumped Andy as they passed. The bell for the next class rang. Andy gritted his teeth to stop himself from saying anything, hurriedly pushing his books back in the pack. The small, skinny boy grimaced as he gathered his things. He had short brown hair and a light spray of freckles across a snub nose. Andy was smaller and smarter than the rest of the boys in his eighth grade class. He was always at the top of his class, which Taylor and his friends resented. It wasn't Andy's fault he was smarter than they were. He was athletic and liked sports, but he was too small and never managed to make any of the teams. Boys like Taylor shot up in height, put on muscle, and were able to push Andy around—especially when they ganged up on him.

This was the second time this week Taylor and his friends had humiliated Andy. Baiting him was Taylor's favorite sport, and the smaller boy couldn't do a lot about it. Taylor always had two or three of his buddies around, and Andy had already experienced the unpleasantness of a three against one fight. Not for the first time, Andy wished he was about six inches bigger and fifty pounds heavier. Fantasizing about how he'd punch Taylor's head in made him smile all the way to history class.

"What's so funny?" Becca asked as he sat down at his desk. She was a pretty girl with light brown skin that Andy liked to think was the same color as coffee ice cream. He liked her high cheekbones, her big, brown eyes, and the way her mouth turned up at the corners, even when she wasn't smiling. But he didn't want to talk about Taylor with her.

"Nothing."

"I saw Taylor picking on you again."

Andy looked away. It wasn't just embarrassing to be picked on. It was worse when his friends knew that he didn't fight back. They all saw what a coward he was. He liked Becca. He'd known her all his life, ever since they went to preschool together. She knew Andy as well as he knew her. But Becca didn't understand about Andy's problem with Taylor.

"It's not fair, three against one. He's a jerk and a bully," Becca said. "You ought to tell someone about him."

"No!" Andy said. "That'd just make things worse. Promise you won't tell!"

"But Andy—"

"Promise!"

"Okay. I promise." She added under her breath, "For now."

The class quieted as the teacher entered the room. He sat down behind his desk and began sorting through the homework papers. "Don't think I don't see you, Michael," he said, head still down, to the slim, shaggy-haired boy who whipped through the door into the seat behind Andy. "One more time getting to class after the bell and I'm sending home a note."

"Sorry, Mr. Straight."

Jack Straight got up and handed out the homework, face down. "Most of you," he said, pausing to look around, "did a pretty good job on the assignment. A few of you could do much better, though." He stopped by Andy's desk, dropped his homework paper, and moved on. Andy held his breath as he turned the paper over, then expelled a huge sigh. An A-minus. Mike grimaced as he turned his paper over, and then shrugged.

"I think you'll all like today's topic a lot better than the last one. Turn to chapter three. We're going to learn about the Salem witch trials. A fitting subject for autumn, don't you think?"