Chapter 9: The Rebel With Cause

The Outside Patio, Ridgemont High School, Felton Dr., Fallon Creek, Michigan....

A cool breeze rushed by Casey as he made his way toward one of the empty tables which happened to be the farthest away from the other students whom were going about their usual day chatting up a storm about any and everything that came to mind or happened in the past few days in an effort to stave off boredom and the surrounding influence of being at school. The table had not been empty for long as none other than Rick Channon came outside and copped a squat near him at the table, tray in hand and a look of annoyance etched across his handsome face. He seemed to be contemplating something, but eventually turned his attention back to eating his meal without a word. Casey had not been much for conversation either as he did his best to eat his lunch while trying not to get on the rather odd teen Rick's bad side.

Rick rolled his eyes as he noted the fear that seemed to radiate off the new arrival despite it having something of an arousing effect on him as the beast inside him seemed to delight in it. A low growl erupted from him as he polished off his lunch, which consisted of a classic peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a carton of chocolate milk with an red apple on the side.

Casey watched him eat with rapt fascination as Rick seemed to not have a care in the world. There was also something else about him, something Casey couldn't directly put his finger on but he got the feeling that Rick seemed to be someone whom had the world all figured out as he polished off the rest of his lunch. There was a definite hint of arrogance in the brooding older boy, like he knew something that no one else had and an almost predatory way he handled everyone as if they'd been beneath him in some sort of manner.

On more than one occasion, Casey had gotten the feeling that Rick had some how hated him despite their first encounter and became uneasy like prey in the sight of a wolf that deemed them to be a worthy piece of meat. The flickering of Rick's dark eyes had been both haunting and terrifying at the same time but he said nothing as he cleared his tray and proceeded to kick his feet up on the table and sat back in his seat.

Nervously, Casey finished what he could of his food before the knots in his stomach impeded his ability to do so. He found himself fiddling with his half full milk carton more often than not as he lacked much courage to do anything else especially when it came to being in Rick's presence. The brooding boy seemed to have enough of his company as he got to his feet and headed toward the bathroom with the intent of relieving himself.

Casey breathed a sigh of relief once he'd gone and found himself swarmed via strange girls the moment Rick left the table.

"Excuse me." said a rather perky blonde with wavy pigtails. "Where did you come from and how do you Ricky Channon?"

Casey arched a brow at this.

"I moved here from the city with my Mom." said Casey keeping the conversation casual. "I don't really know "Ricky Channon" as I've only met him today."

The group of girls seemed to find that hard to believe.

"There is no way that a guy like Rick Channon would sit next to a newbie and not know him." said the blonde as if she needed more convincing.

Casey sighed unsure what business of it was theirs, if the angry boy Rick Channon sat next to anyone let alone him.

"I guess we're neighbors." replied Casey annoyed already via the questions.

The blonde looked upon him matter-of-factly.

"So you do know him." she said apparently delighted by this bit of information.

"Not really." admitted Casey. "I sort of just moved here."

The blonde sighed.

"This may be something of a shock to you but Ricky Channon is a big deal around here." she said almost gushing over the thought of the angry older boy. "He was once captain of the basketball team on summer events, a straight A student, and a high profile kayaker."

"What do you mean by once?" asked Casey catching on to her meaning.

"Well." said the blonde with a sad expression. "His dad was a detective and worked some pretty high profile cases when they lived in the city, they vacationed here but most of everybody knew his mom who had grown up here."

Casey continued to listen intently.

"One day Ricky's dad put away a big time thug and he called in a hit squad which nearly killed the entire Channon family, Ricky was shot pretty badly too but he survived and hadn't been the same since."

Casey couldn't imagine going through something so horrible let alone living to tell the tale.

"That's awful." said Casey suddenly feeling uncomfortable speaking about such personal traumas with strangers about a boy he hardly knew or rather knew nothing of at all.

"Doctors till this day don't know how he managed to survive, folks around here see it as a miracle even if Ricky doesn't." continued the blonde. "He didn't associate with anyone after his recovery and hardly ever came to school, so when you arrived and he showed up to class everyone was stunned to see him."

Casey didn't doubt that the murder of his family had a tremendous effect on Rick Channon as he noted the often haunted expression on the angry boy's face.

"No wonder he's so angry." he muttered forgetting the girls were among him.

"So newbie, what's your name?" asked the blonde.

"I'm Casey." he replied evenly. "Casey Peterson."

"I'm Rachel." replied the blonde. "That's Cindy and that's Jessica."

Casey took note of the other girls that surrounded him when she said their names and nodded.

"Get away from him." growled the voice of Rick Channon as he made his way back toward the table where Casey sat.

Almost immediately the girls rushed off and scattered while watching him return to his seat as he put his feet back up on the table and reached over to pluck a bit of Casey's food from his plate before eating it as the younger lad stared at him in amazement.

Sad story or not, Casey was convinced that Ricky Channon was just another run of the mill jerk when it all came down to it. Rick eyed him for a few moments and took in his expression before chuckling to himself before the bell sounded and lunch had been at an end.