1 The League of Students

[3RD PERSON—BAXTONVILLE HIGH]

Chris places down his lunch tray with a slam, making all of their heads whip in his direction. He looks around at each of them, pointing at them too. A majority of them looked confused at his sudden actions, for good reason because he looks like a crazy person.

"So," He starts, taking his seat next to Wes. "There's this abandoned power plant that supposedly closed down due to the biggest factory incident ever."

Trevor and Penny suddenly becomes interested when he hears 'biggest factory incident ever', "What was the incident?" They ask.

"I'm not sure, but with a little more research I could probably find out." He says as he shrugs his shoulders a little.

"I mean, sounds good to us," Trevor reassures them, nodding towards his sister Talia, who sat next to him.

"Did you do your math homework? I wanna check my answers." Donatello tells Trevor.

"I didn't do it." Trevor says.

"Sounds about right." Wes nods in agreement.

"Didn't you literally tell me that you did?" Donatello says.

"How dare you make such an audacious claim." Trevor jokes.

"How could I do that if I don't even know what it means?!" Donatello shoots back.

"Quit flirting you two." Penny says playfully, causing Melanie to snicker.

Melanie walks over, placing her tray down and taking a seat next to Donatello. His green eyes meet Melanie's brown ones, a smile surfacing on his face. It's a warm and welcoming smile. The kind you'd wanna see when you enter any place. To be frank, he looked fairly smitten at the same time. Well, that's because he is.

"Uhm, what's happening here you guys?" She asks.

"Donatello is shoving lies into my face!" Trevor shouts jokingly.

"He's an idiot." Donatello shook his head.

"

She looks over at Chris, noticing how focused he is on his phone, "What are you looking at?"

"This abandoned power plant I recently came across." Chris answers.

"What about it?" She settles down in her seat.

Chris shoves his phone away in his pocket as he speaks, "I wanna visit it. And obviously, bring my best buddies in the world."

"Cute nickname for us." Penny winks.

"Thank you," Chris nods his head to her. "So, you guys in?"

"I don't see why not." Talia clears her throat as she looks around at them.

Chris smiles and starts to get excited, "Sweet! You won't regret it!"

"The amount of times you've said that.." Melanie cocks her eyebrow at him. Queen of Mean.

"I have meant it everytime." He replies, and she mockingly rolls her eyes. "That's just plain rude."

"Melly." Donatello says, looking over at her with raised eyebrows.

She sighs, "Okay, okay, I'm sorry. It sounds like a fairly good idea."

"How'd you do that?" Wes asks, leaning towards Donatello a bit.

"Do what?" Donatello shoots Wes a confused look as he leans back, away from Wesley.

"Get her to listen?" He questioned. "She doesn't listen to anyone." Wesley points out, then squints his eyes as if he's trying to stare into Donatello's soul.

"That did seem a bit easy." Penny points out.

"I'm going to smack each and every one of you." Melanie says.

Donatello looks up from his tray and furrows his brows upon that threat, "What did I do?!"

Chris looks up from his phone, cutting into the conversation "Explosion, that contaminated the whole area." He says. He lifts his phone, displaying the article he was reading.

"Is it safe then?" Natalie lifts her head as she looks across the table at Chris.

"Here comes mama bear!" Trevor announces.

She chuckles and rolls her eyes. "Anyways... Is it safe, Christopher?"

"I mean, I don't see why not." He says, shoving his phone back into his pocket.

"That's extremely reassuring," Trevor remarks sarcastically. He is practically burning holes into Chris' face—with his staring—at this point.

Chris rubs his neck sheepishly, then sighs, "Guys, c'mon. It will be fun!" He promises.

"I promise we'll all have fun." Wes' lips curve up into a smile as he rubs Chris' back.

All of them look up once they heard the sound of the bell. Lunch is over, meaning they have to split up. They gather their things and throw out their trash, then they converse with each other as they leave the cafeteria. After some walking, Talia strays away from the group, going to Algebra class, then Melanie and Wes walk to world history together since they have it with each other, Chris, Natalie, and Trevor go to Language Class, and Penny goes to the library to skip Art class.

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[TALIA—BAXTONVILLE HIGH]

I tap the end of my pencil against my notebook, awaiting further instruction from my teacher. Currently, I am in Algebra class. The worst part about it is the fact that I'm in Algebra II and the only other person in Algebra II is Wes. That should be a good thing right? Wrong. Because Wes has Algebra II on a different day than me.

"Talia, what is the answer to number one?" Mrs. Nilsen asks.

She walks past my desk from the back of the classroom, almost like a supervillain emerging from the dark. You know, in my opinion, I have always thought she was an amazing teacher. But, she's just rude. Education-wise—she's nice. Human decency-wise—she's not nice at all. Frowny face.

"7.2," I answer, flashing an awkward smile.

"Correct." She smiles as she writes on the board.

She continues talking, but to be fair, I don't really bother paying attention. Mostly because everything is too easy. No, not easy, just plain boring. My phone vibrates in my pocket, and when I open it, there is a message. From Trev. Once I finish my text, I put my phone away and look back up at the board.

"Talia.. Talia!" A voice from behind me whispers.

I turn to come face to face with a familiar red-head, "Hi Amity," I say.

"Do you have a pencil?" She asks, almost whisper-yelling.

I turn back around and shuffle around my pencil case, then turn back around, handing her a pencil, "You can keep it."

All of a sudden, the bell rings, and boy am I relieved that class was finally over. Gathering all my stuff, I neatly put it in my backpack. Once I pack, I leave my classroom and venture to my locker. I assume everyone is mostly still in class since the hallways are quiet.

"Talia!!" Chris shouts for me, then runs away from his basketball buddies.

Both of them give me a weird look, making my stomach churn because I know what's about to happen. Honestly, I always hate when he comes near me after practice. Nothing against him, but his buddies. They're rude, and I have no clue why such a sweet person like Chris hangs out with them.

I look over at him and force a smile, "Hey Chris!"

"What're you doing with her?" One of his friends asks.

Jonathan. I hate Jonathan. He's the rudest. Someone very unworthy of Chris' precious friendship. Ugh, pisses me off to my very core. And that's not something that happens often!

"What do you mean? She's my best friend..." Chris scrunches up his nose, clearly confused about the question he had just been asked. I bite on the inner of my cheek, knowing exactly what he means.

"Just look at her and look at you. Best friends? Nah," Jonathan states, my self-esteem dissolving with every word. "We're your best friends, man."

"Uhm.. You should go Chris.." I whisper to him.

Penny walks over, shaking her head, "I think they should go before I skin them both alive."

Chris chuckled and held Penny back, watching the way the two of the boys step back from Penny. My posture straightens, and I stand stiffly. My stomach becomes queasy and I am feeling pretty embarrassed.

"Let's not kill anyone now," Chris says as he puts Penny and me behind him.

The embarrassment seeps in, and my cheeks are burning red. The amount of embarrassment I feel at this moment almost makes me wanna throw up. I clench my stomach and close my eyes, hoping this is all just some bad dream. But when I open them back up, I come to the unfortunate realization that it is not. This is actually happening. I'm so weak I can't even stand up for myself.

"Best friends? We're just teammates, you guys. I hang out with you because the coach says I need to in order to be a good leader." Chris says.

I sigh a sigh of relief and all of sudden, Trevor steps in with Natalie and Donatello, "Looks like these guys wanna pick on Talia. What we do to people like them around here?" Trevor asks Donatello.

"Don't be cringe, Trev." Donatello sighs.

Both of the tall boys loom over Boden and Jonathan in a terrifying way. Boden and Jonathan look up at Donatello and Trevor, and clear their throats at the same time. Donatello isn't as combatitive as Trevor is, but he's willing to fight for his friends.

Donatello clears his throat, "Okay, I think it's time for you two to leave."

"Says who?" Boden scoffs.

Jonathan gets confident and steps up to Donatello. "The little loner wanna taunt?"

His words are definitely intended to provoke Donatello, and it works, because after that, he lands a firm punch on Jonathan's face. There's a punch causes blood to drip from his nose, and he lets out a pained groan as he holds onto it.

"I did. And I'm pretty sure we both know that I won't have a hard time knocking you out. Don't test me," Donatello warns them both.

Boden goes to strike Donatello for hitting his friend but Trevor grabs his fist before he could. He pulls him back from Donatello, then throws him against Jonathan. Both Boden and Jonathan stumbled back, letting out noises of pain as they collide with each other.

"Ugh—let's just fucking go." Boden says and just like that the two boys walk away.

"Thanks guys." My hands shook as I turned around and looked at my friends.

"No problem, Tals." Trevor says as he hugs me tightly. "You're my little sister after all."

We pull away from each other, "Did you guys already grab your stuff?" I ask them as I slide my backpack over my shoulders gently.

"We just need--" Melanie walks over before he can finish his sentence, causing him to chuckle. "Well now we just have to grab Wes, he's at the baseball field."

"How do you know that?" Asks Melanie.

Chris looks at his shoes and just blushes a little, "Uhh..."

"Cause someone has a little crush," I giggle.

"Oh?" Trevor raises his eyebrows, very interested.

"Anyways, let's go!" Chris says loudly. He walks away so quickly, it's like he's escaping prison.

We all follow him, and I dread the fact that the entrance to the baseball field is all the way across the school. One foot in front of the other though, all in the name of friendship. We can't do this without Wes, or else it wouldn't be with all of Chris 'best buddies in the whole world'. I do like the idea of being called that, seeing as how I have never had many friends. Not until Trev introduced me to all of them.

We all walk together, and finally, after what seems like hours, we arrive at the baseball field. Sometimes going to such a prestigious school absolutely sucks when you take into account how huge it is.

I look around and spot Wes, who is standing right at home base. He has his bat in one hand, and his helmet on the ground, allowing his dark brown hair to be free. Chris stands there for a moment, so Penny pushes him forwards.

"Hey!—" He yelps, accidentally catching the attention of Wes. His face turns red the moment that he and Wes make eye contact. And I might be crazy, but I'm pretty sure Wes is red too.

"HI WES!!" Melanie shouts at him, waving her hands around.

He waves back and jogs over to us quickly, "Hey guys."

I look at Chris, and he looks like he's about to pass out. When I look back over at Wes, he looks like he's about to pass out too. I decide to not point it out, concerned about embarrassing either of them.

"So, y'all lovebirds ready?" Trevor asks.

Wes clears his throat, "Lovebi- Wha- Yeah, uhm, ready."

Wes abandons his baseball gear, shoves it in his bag, then slings it over his shoulder. We all exit the field, then exit the school.

[3RD PERSON—THE ABANDONDED POWER PLANT]

"Do we even know where we're going?" Penny asks.

"Believe it or not, yes," Chris says.

Trevor looks at him, almost like he's trying to telepathically tell him that he doesn't believe him. Not for one second. Chris glances over at him.

He furrows his brows, "I do know, Trevor."

"Okay, I half believe you," says Trevor, inflicting an eye roll out of Chris.

After all their efforts, they make it. Only to be stopped by a fence. Chris sighs, not knowing what to do. He didn't see any form of protection when he looked at it online, so he felt like he let down his friends. Disappointed.

"Well great, what are we gonna do now?" Trevor asks.

Chris walks up to the fence and presses on it, testing the stability. He wipes his hands on his pants, just to make sure he doesn't slip or anything. Because we all know that if he slips, he breaks his neck. Or at least that's what his thought process is.

He puts up one foot, and everyone watches, praying to God that their friend doesn't get electrocuted because he can sometimes be reckless. To their surprise, he makes it all the way up, not burnt to a crisp. He stops at the top, wobbling a bit, but is able to keep his balance.

"So, will you guys come now?" He asks.

"Get to the other side," Trevor says, shoving his hands into the pocket of his fleece-lined jean jacket.

Chris sighs then he hops down from the top of the fence and lands on the ground safely. "See?"

The rest of them follow after, one by one. First, Wes climbs up, and hops down, landing in front of Chris. Chris puts his arms out, even though he knows that Wes doesn't need any help. It was more just because he wants to hug Wes. The brunette takes the initiative, embracing Chris in a warm bear hug. Next up, Natalie. Penny walks over and boosts her up, then climbs over herself. Melanie and Donatello climb up together, then Trevor helps out Talia, and follows her soon after. Now, they're all on the other side of the fence. No turning back now.

Slowly, they walk toward the building, being cautious and aware. Just in case there is any kind of booby traps. It's a sight that has a fence around it for goodness sake, booby traps are bound to be there.

Melanie has an intense grip on Donatello's hand, but it wasn't anything he isn't used to. To be honest, it radiates a lot of comfort for him. It was just her holding onto him like that, it made him feel safe.

In a shocking turn of events, they made it to the door, not coming in contact with any sort of trap. The door's rusty, as well as the whole building. It's probably about 50 years old. They never knew about this place until now, but maybe that's for a reason?