//------------------------------//
// Chapter 5 - Friendship is Lies Part 2 
// Story: Strange Town 
// by general_bad 
//------------------------------//

Strange Town 005 part 2


Chapter 5 - Friendship is Lies (Part 2)

By the time I reach the cafeteria it's already flooded with students who have formed there own little groups around tables. Cutting to the front of the lunch line I grab a meat sandwich before paying for it and heading to find a table. I wasn't particularly aware of what sandwich I bought as I didn't care. Right now food was food and I just wanted to take my mind off my latest problem of finding a friend... Unfortunately I just couldn't.
My problem's only seemed to keep coming as I realized all the tables were taken.

Still frustrated, I approach an occupied table where Three people are currently sitting and eating there lunch, two boys and a girl. I stop just before the table once one of them notices me.
"this seats taken... Were saving it for a friend." one of the boy's informs me.

Looking down at the boy with a scornful expression I reply.
"Move!"

Not expecting such a aggressive response he nervously replies as he looks to his friends for encouragement, only to find none. "you want me to move?"

"Leave him alone! He was there first!" his friend chimes in with false bravado.

"No" I casually reply before retaking my hostile tone. "I was talking to all of you!"

By this point we had gained a bit of an audience. I was used to this as everytime I started trouble, people who had no intention of getting involved tended to watch.

"No!..." the boy with false bravado replied as he slowly stood up. "you walk around here thinking you can do whatever you want at our expense! Well we've had enough of it!

"We?" I boardly question. This isn't the first time I've heard a speech like this, and it won't be the last. Every so often someone forgets their place and tries to go against me... Although it has been awhile. I haven't actually had a proper school fight in around 3 months.

"That's right! We! Me and my Frien..." his speech is cut short when he realises his friends ditched him the moment he started his speech. Their currently waving to him from another table calling out encouragement.

"Play dead! He only goes after you if your moving... Or is it his more savage when you stop moving?" the boy he had been sitting with called out.

The girl was no better as she waved her mobile phone in the air. "I've dialed 9-1! When you hit the ground I'll dial one again!"

There advice was useless... But it was still something.

The boys bravado quickly disappeared as he realised what he got himself into. But it was too late for him to back down as random people from the crowd began to egg him on.

"F-Fine... I don't need any help... I can kick your ass" he nervously says as he gives one final look back to his friends, hoping they'll reconsider.
However there smarter than that and remain at a safe distance.

With a board sigh, I place my lunch tray on the table before once again facing the boy with zero enthusiasm. While I usually love introducing guys like this to the ground, I just don't feel it. He's some random nobody who I don't care about and I have my own things to deal with.

Looking the boy up and down I'm pretty confident the mystery meat in my sandwich is tougher than him.
It's obvious to everyone I'm underestimating him, which seems to annoy him somewhat. But he knows I'm right as he looks around trying to find a way out.

Not even slightly interested in the boy before me I look around the Cafeteria. I spot Flash Sentry watching from afar. Usually he would step in by now but I can tell he's choosing to stay back, he'll only get involved if things go bad. The kid started this after all.

As I extend an arm in front of me the boy flinches while the crowd continue to cheer for him. I raise a finger as the crowd settles down a bit. I can tell they think I'm telling them to wait but that's not the case as I speak up.
"One hit"

"...What?" the nervous boy replies, not understanding what I'm trying to say.

In a board monotone voice I elaborate. "I fell sorry for you but it's to late to turn back. So I'll give you the first hit, one free hit!... Just try to make it count. Because after that-". I pause as I adjust my hand so that it's now pointing to the ground before continuing. "...I'm putting you down."

The boy takes a step back as he now appears more hesitant than before. However, unlike a moment ago there's now a glint of hope in his eyes. He's just been given a chance. He could end this in one hit... He can end this in one hit!

While still hesitant, the boy begins moving towards me as his false bravado finds it's way back to him.
"I-I always wanted to k-kick your ass you b-bastard!... you'll regret looking down on me." he Shakely says, either for himself or the crowd.

"You poor bastard" I snidely reply. While I'm quite board I'll still play my part as the villan, even if I'm not really feeling it Today. "Your delusional if you think you stand a chance. No one here's dumb enough to think you can actually beat me, they just like a good show. Your friends on the other hand were smart enough to ditch you."

The boy becomes more hesitant as he listens to the crowds cheers. For the most part it's positive, but it's just to egg him on. They don't want to see him win, they want to see me lose. No matter how bad it gets for him, they just want to see someone stand against me.

"I can do this!" the boy angrily snaps at me. As he quickly steps towards me as he brings his fist back, ready to strike. Fueled by anger, determination, and the crowd behind him, the boys eyes light up with hope. Right know he feels like he can do anything.

The moment he's within arms lengths my board expression drastically changes. Becoming much more viscous and blood thirsty. For the two of us it's as if time slows down. The boy can feel the pressure as our eyes meet, all the confidence he had gained vanishes in an instance.
More unfortunate for the boy is that he had already thrown his punch, a punch that lacked any confidence as it slowly moves towards me.

Everyone loves an underdog... But no one likes to see a dog put down.
The crowd goes silent, they stand there anticipating what happens next. No one expected him to win... But it's nice to dream.

The moment he had stood against me I knew how this would end, Just like every other time. The moment he hit me was the moment he lost. It was like putting a gun to himself and pulling the trigger... It would be over.

Except that wasn't the case. I never felt anything. All I can see is the boys fist in front of my face as the crowd begins to murmer.
(why'd he stop? did he wise up at the last mome-)

Before I can finish my thought, a familiar voice can be heard as I suddenly figure out what has happened.

"you really shouldn't lower yourself to his standards." said the familiar regal voice with confidence. "some times it's better to just walk away. Don't be swayed by the moment."

Taking a step back I see what has happened. The boys arm had been grabbed mid punch by an all too familiar alabaster figure who's dressed much more formally than most students. Blueblood.

(Blueblood? What's he doing here? I know he doesn't eat cafeteria food as he prefers to bring his own. He must have been informed by one of his other cronies that I was causing a scene and rushed over to play hero.) I thought as I moved back a few steps, giving him some space.

The crowd I had gathered settled down as soon as Blueblood stepped in. While there response was mostly positive, there were a few who were disappointed at not seeing me get hit. Even though I would wipe the floor with my opponent directly after, they like to live vicariously through those dumb enough to do things they have enough commonsense not to.

(sigh... I just wanna eat my lunch... Guess I better play along). I disheartenedly thought. Depending on how Blueblood decides to play this I may have to leave.
"It's just like you to show up when things are getting interesting!" I stated loud enough for everyone to hear. "You think your some kinda hero or something!"

Blueblood slightly turns his head to get a glimpse of me. With a confident expression he turns back to the boy who's arm he's holding as he lightly push's it away.
"For your sake, it was quite fortunate I was walking by" Blueblood said, ignoring me. "You shouldn't act so rash, consider your situation. Do you even realise you were doing exactly what he wanted?"

"What are talking about!" the boy angrily snapped at Blueblood. He had lost control of the situation but had too much pride to admit it in front of all these people. Not wanting to lose face he doubled down on his false bravado. "Get out of my way Blueblood! I have Cross right were I want him!"

At the boys defiant words I saw a slight change in Bluebloods body language, one I had seen many times, annoyance. Blueblood was annoyed that this boy wasn't gonna thank him for saving his ass and let him be on his way.

Truthfully, Blueblood hated having to deal with those of a lower class then him, and by lower class I don't mean by grade at school. Blueblood is from a very wealthy family, absurdly wealthy. His family owns a wide variety of properties and companies. North Star Industries, best known for owning just about every source of transportation around. You'll find the North Star Industries logo on just about anything. The guys literally owns the railroads.
This of course means Principle Celestia, as well as Vice Principle Luna are incredibly wealthy as well. However, Blueblood had once told me they prefer to live very modest lives, working to earn while helping to contribute to society. hence why they chose to become educators instead off living of there family's fortune.

Despite being agitated, Blueblood was good at hiding it. Living in high society had made him more accustomed to hiding his true nature, the only reason I realised it is because I've seen the real him. The person who wants to benefit at the cost of others, the person who doesn't care who he has to step to get whatever it is he has his sights on, no matter how trivial!... That's something we have in common.

Without showing his annoyance Blueblood calmly tried to talk the boy down. "I understand that you've had enough of this ruffians uncouth behavior, but you shouldn't have to lower yourself to his level. Like I was telling you before gu-"
There was a slight hesitant pause. I could see blueblood expression make another slight change and quickly figured out what the problem was.

In his ruse to make it look like he understood the students of this school he was trying to refer to people by their names. Instinctively he was trying to that now... However he paused as he realized he didn't know the boys name. 

Luckily for him I was quick to fix that issue as I loudly interrupted him just a second after he froze up.
"Hey Hey Hey! Are you two done confessing your love for each other! I was kinda in the middle of something! How long are you gonna make me wait to kick the crap out of Bulk Biceps!" I know that wasn't his name, I just said that knowing someone would correct me.

"He's Lucky" the girl he had been sitting with called out.

"Lucky Blueblood stepped in!... Just give it a minute, I'm sure that luck's about to run out" I replied to the girl, annoyed I hadn't gotten the boys name.

"No, his name is Lucky, Lucky Clover" she clarified.

Hearing what he needed Blueblood continued, once again ignoring my interruption. "Lucky. Do you know how many fights Cross has been in at this school"

"What?... I don't know, a lot?" the boy apparently named Lucky Clover replied.

"more than anyone else at this school" Blueblood answered, he wasn't looking for a precise number as the question was mostly rhetorical. "so then, doesn't it seem odd that despite his bad behaviour no punishment seviourer than a few days suspension is all his ever received"

"I never really thought about it" Lucky replied, unsure as to what Blueblood was getting at.
But unlike lucky I knew exactly what he was saying, and it pissed me off that he was just gonna say it. Although it's not like it was a secret or anything.

With a confident smirk Blueblood changed his focus from Lucky to the crowd before continuing. "Cross has never thrown the first hit! He goads people into attacking him first. After that, everything he does is simply self-defense."

There was a moment of silence as the crowd has a look of realisation plastered on their face. No one really ever bothered to analyze my behaviour. Blueblood knew this fact as he had asked me about it once.

"I think his right!" One of the people from the crowd called out. "on Monday he stole Flash Sentry's drink and it looked like a fight was gonna break out... But Flash walked away, so he didn't bother."

"Don't forget about Tuesday." another member of the crowd chimed in. "after Derpy slammed a door in his face in the morning he was gonna beat her and Doc up. They assaulted him so it could be seem as self defence. Luckily Blueblood was there to stop him."

"actually, her names Ditzy" a girl in the crowd corrected.

"No! It's Derpy. I should know, she's been in the same class as me since primary school" another faceless member of the crowd argued.

The crowd continued there discussion as new people joined in, some even argued Derpy's name. But one thing was absolute, Blueblood was right. Not only had he stepped in and stopped a confrontation, he also helped prevent future ones by informing people on how to avoid one with me. His goal was to be a hero and boost his popularity, and I'ld say he succeeded thanks to his little performance.

"Your right" Lucky Clover said to Blueblood as he calmed down. "I could've taken him anyway... But thanks."

"No problem" Blueblood replied. "although I would also suggest distancing yourself from Cross. Even if he won't do anything unless provoked, he's still not pleasant to be around." With that Blueblood walked off, making his way out of the cafeteria.

With the show over the crowd quickly dispersed. Lucky Clover went and joined his friends at their new table, giving them a piece of his mind for not having his back. I on the other hand claimed my new empty table for myself. I was glad this was all over and I didn't have to leave, I really needed a break. Although I was slightly annoyed at Blueblood giving away info on me like that. Even so, there will be people who won't trust it or won't care.

Finally, I was alone. Sure everyone else was around me, noisily eating their lunch and talking amongst themselves. But I was pretty good at ignoring those around me and blocking them out.
As I go to take a bite from my mystery meat sandwich I'm disrupted as a figure ruins my solitude by taking a seat across from me.

The figure is of someone I recognize. A boy, roughly my age with long blonde straight hair that goes past his shoulders. An over confident toothy smile shows his braces as he faces me.
It was Valkyrie, some random nobody from some of my classes, someone who's easy to push around. He's a talkative loser who likes to stay up to date on school gossip from what I could figure.

(Valkyrie?... What the heck does he want? Didn't figure him the type of person to approach me given how I pus-... Oh shit!)
My thought is cut short as I realize why Valkyrie would approach me so bravely. He had never seemed brave to me before which only meant one thing... This wasn't Valkyrie.

I had been so distracted by the recent event with Blueblood that I didn't even feel the lighter heat up. Quickly placing a hand against the left of my chest, I push the lighter in my jacket pocket against my heart to confirm what I thought.
The person confidently sitting across from me wasn't Valkyrie but in fact.... Valkyrie?....
(What?....)

I hadn't not felt the lighter warm up because I was distracted. The lighter hadn't heated up because there was no reason to. The person across from me was who he appeared to be... Even if he did seem oddly out of character.

I just idly stared at the seemingly overconfident boy. Despite my best efforts I couldn't figure out what it was he was after. After a moment he broke the silence.
"Yo" Valkyrie greeted me in an overly familiar fashion.

Taking a deep breath I regained my composure as I replied... Spoke at him.
"Didn't you see what just happened literally 30 seconds ago!"

"yeah, you made it way more easy to approach you" Valkyrie over confidently replied to my annoyance.

(I don't know what he wants and I don't care. Right now I have other issues to deal with.) I angrily thought, just wanting to be left alone. Thanks to Mr Freerights I had a seemingly impossible problems to figure out.
"Valkyrie!" I angrily said as I looked him dead in the eyes with a cold expression. "You caught me at a bad time, so whatever it is your gonna say, it better be important. Because if the next few words that come out of your mouth aren't life changing, I'm gonna drag you to the beach and drown you!" I stated rather than threatened.

"But... were not a beach town?" Valkyrie replied, loosing some of his overconfidence to closer resemble how I remember him.

With a scowl I replied. "I don't mind taking a trip! It's just a few hours away, we'll make a day of it! We can pack some towels, lunches, a volleyball and just spend the whole day at the beach. Heck, you can even bring some friends. And at the end of it all I'll grab you by the neck and hold you under water until the bubbles stop!!... I'll drive."

"Hold up Cross..." Valkyrie replied as any confidence he had left was replaced with panic. "What I have to say could greatly benefit us both... Although... I will say that just up until the end, it kinda sounded fun." 

I didn't have to say anything to get him to continue as my ever intensifying scowl was all the incentive he needed.
"Straight to business then.... So I recently heard you were in the market for a friend."

(what? How would he know that unless...!) I quickly realised how he knew.
"You were spying on me!" I angrily stated.
During my counselling session I knew i had closed the door when I entered the room, But by the end of it the door was slightly opened. Valkyrie had been listening in on the other side.

"w-well... Yeah" he nervously admitted. "But I didn't plan on doing it. You have your sessions in our homeroom and I accidentally left something in their from earlier. When I went to get it I opened the door and saw you and Mr Freerights in the middle of your... Session. I was just gonna wait outside but then I accidentally overheard somethings."

"Somethings?... How much did your hear exactly!" I questioned Valkyrie.

"...I know you and Mr Freerights haven't really been giving the counselling a real go... And that you've been giving fake reports to the principle to make it sound like your improving when your not" Valkyrie blatantly stated.

"well, shit... Looks like it's not either of our day." I say as I stand up and menacingly look down at Valkyrie.

"Wait Cross! Like I said, I have a plan that could benefit both of us." He quickly said to me.

"And just what would that be!" I replied.

With a nervous smile he continued. "You need a friend to make good on your lie to Celestia, even though you don't actually want one. Well what about a friend who's not actually a friend? Someone who's just willing to play the part... Well, I could be that friend."

Taking a deep breath I calm down and sit back down, for a moment we just quietly sat there. At first I thought I might had misheard him because of how crazy that sounded, but the uncomfortable look of uncertainty on his face made me realise I had heard him correctly.
Despite being the one to suggest it I could tell he was having doubts, right now he was having second thoughts. 

However, the more I thought about it the more... Crazy, it sounded. I mean, sure I would benefit greatly from this in that my lie becomes creditable. But I just couldn't figure out what he wanted. Why would he do this? What does he gain? Was he planning to charge me cash to go along with this? If so... It was a good plan. I'm decently wealthy thanks to the odd jobs I do for Blueblood. And since my hobby of being an ass hole doesn't cost a thing I've got quite a bit of cash saved up.

Having enough of Speculating, I decided to take a much more direct approach and simply ask him his reason.
"What the Hell is wrong with you?" my question however didn't come out as I had intended. ...Force of habit.

"what?" Valkyrie questioned, unsure of what I was referring to.

"I mean... why would you suggest that?" I quickly clarified. "I get that it would benefit me, greatly... But why would you want to? What would you get out of this."

Looking around to see if anyone was listening, Valkyrie moved his head closer to the center of the table before replying in a hushed voice. "Simply put, I wanna make a deal. I give you something and you give me something in return."

(why the Hell is he trying to be all secretive now? Just a moment ago he was blabbing on about me and Mr Freerights lie to Principle Celestia. Was he trying to act cool?) I thought before replying. "So your offering yourself in exchange for... What? Money? It can't be popularity, just by associating with me practically guarantees you'll be disliked by the school. Your friends will probably all ditch you."

He had a thoughtful look on his face after hearing me mention money. Perhaps he had never considered it. Either way, after a moment he shook his head and replied.
"I don't want money, and I only have one friend so it shouldn't be much of a problem. What I want is something else."

(something else?... Besides money, what else did I have of value. Also, I had seen Valkyrie sitting with another boy alongside Slowdancer on Monday, yet he claims to only have one friend. Maybe I'm being overly cautious but I would feel more comfortable knowing who that other guy was if that was the case.) I thought before replying.
"before you tell me what you want in exchange for playing my friend I want you to clarify something for me. You said you only have one friend which I assume is Slow Dancer. Then who was that other boy both of you sat with on Monday during Recess?"

"Monday?" he replied, confused as to why I was asking. "wait, you must be talking about Silver Bullet. But that was ages ago, I'm surprised you would even notice. Even more surprised you would remember such a small detail. Either way, that guys an ass! He's no friend of mine."

It was odd that I recalled such a small thing, but that's how I was. Unless something grabbed my attention I tended to ignore it to the point of it not existing to me. I've only started remembering people's names because I'm actually focussing on things around me for once, and In this case it was cause I thought there was a contradiction to his story. While it was unimportant, it reminded me of how I noticed the fake Flash Sentry. Even a small detail could be important.

With that out of the way Valkyrie continued. "What I want is immunity!"

"Immunity?" I questioned.

"That's right!" Valkyrie continued. "immunity from you. Whatever little stunt you feel like pulling, I want to be left out. Whenever you feel the urge to mess with someone, I get a pass."

"seriously? Is avoiding my antics really equivalent to the secondhand discrimination you'll face by claiming to my friend?" I asked, suspecting there might be more to this.

"well, not exactly. I also want immunity from all the other assholes at this school." Valkyrie continued... To my confusion.

"other assholes at this school?... Besides me?... Do you mean like Flash Sentry" I asked, not sure who he was referring to.

"What?... No! Flash Sentry's a good guy. I'm talking about dip shit jerk faces like Spear Wing, or LimeStone Pie... You do realise your not the only bully in the school, right?" Valkyrie clarified, Although I still had no idea who he was referring to. He must have noticed the confused look on my face as he continued.
"I kinda get that your not the most observant guy as you don't remember the names of people as you have a habit of referring to others by an aspect of theirs. Example, all of last year, to you I was Brace Face... But you must know Spear Wing?" my continued confused look answered his question as he continued. "I guess it's not important if you do or not."

"I don't get why you would think that associating yourself with me is gonna keep these other supposed bullies away from you. But I guess that sounds fine-" I began, only to be cut off by Valkyrie who apparently wasn't finished.

"There's one more thing" Valkyrie interrupted, suddenly becoming much more serious. "and this is the most important one. If you don't agree to this then there's no deal!"

I had humourd his request for quite awhile, and honestly, this may be my only chance to gain a friend. Granted I don't actually won't one nor would he truly be my friend. But it was something I could show to Celestia to make it look like I was progressing. So I let him continue.

Seeing me patiently waiting for his final term he continued. "your car-" before he could finish he was suddenly distraced by my hostile glare. Becoming nervous, he quickly clarified. "what I mean is. You have a car, and should me... your friend, need a lift somewhere, you wouldn't be against the idea."

"So to clarify, you will pretend to be my friend in exchange for me leaving you out of my antics and free lifts when you need" I asked for clarity, to which he seemed to agree. And in all honesty it sounded decently fair, however. My pride wasn't gonna let me just agree to this, not this easily anyway.
"No deal!"

"What? Why not?" Valkyrie asked, confused as to why I'ld refuse his offer, and he had all rights to be. This deal wasn't a bad deal, and no matter how you looked at it you would expect me to take it. It was mostly fair for both parties involved and gave me the one thing I could never acquire, a friend. But being who I em, I refused. We were on equal terms, something I hated. I didn't want to be equal.

"Are serious?" I sarcastically asked. "why the Hell would I agree to that? Your clearly getting 2 to 3 things out of this deal while I get-" briefly pausing, I look Valkyrie up and down before continuing. "That!... Unless you have something to sweeten the deal, I refuse."
This was a pretty stupid gambit I was taking as there wasn't anything he had that I wanted. The only reason I was doing something this stupid was because of my pride. Unless I was in control I wouldn't be satisfied.

Grabbing his chin in thought, Valkyrie looked down at the table and began to think about what else he could offer. I feared he had nothing and would walk away. Luckily for me that wasn't the case as Valkyries attention returned to me, a spark of hope in his eyes.
"I'll throw in my friend Slow Dancer. You don't need to give him the same benefit as me though"

Before I could reply another familiar voice from behind Valkyrie interrupted us.

"WHAT THE SHIT VALKYRIE!!!

Valkyrie moved slightly to his left and turned to see who it was, also giving me a look at the person behind him.
The person who had interrupted us was none other than the aforementioned Slow Dancer, who didn't look to pleased that he was being used as a bargaining chip by Valkyrie.
He was just a table over and had seemed to have been enjoying his lunch.

With an annoyed expression, Slow Dancer got up from his table and made his way to ours, taking a seat just next to Valkyrie.
"the Hell do you think your doing?" Slow Dancer asked Valkyrie in a hushed monotone voice. "your not really going through with that stupid plan of yours?"

"trust me" Valkyrie un-convincingly replied in a simular tone. "it might take some time but it'll work out."

While they were talking in a hushed tone, it wasn't too quiet to the point I couldn't hear them. In fact, I could hear them just fine. I didn't really understand what they were talking about though, but it was probably just something stupid, like an ulterior motive. Although honestly, I would be more worried if they hadn't had an ulterior motive.

I was partially worried that someone may had been overhearing our conversation to this point. Luckily for me however, it seemed after the earlier incident with Lucky Clover, everyone lost interest in my actions and were now busy doing their own thing.

Finishing their private conversation, Valkyrie turned his attention back to me while Slow Dancer didn't look too pleased. Clearly whatever he had to say was ignored.

"So, Cross? Do we have a deal?" Valkyrie asked.

I had already planned to agree, but not wanting to look desperate I take a moment before replying.
"well, I was gonna say no... but after watching you throw your friend under the bus like that, I think I see you in a new light. You've got a deal!... But one last rule. I'll only give you a lift if you call me on my mobile phone. Even if your standing next to me... I don't like talking to people face to face" I lied as I put my hand out to shake on the agreement.

Without hesitating Valkyrie replied. "Deal!" before extending his hand to meet mine.

And just like that, a probelm I thought unsolvable was resolved. Mr Freerights lie to Celestia about me making friends, against all odds, was suddenly credible.
(Valkyrie, a guy who wants and tries to be part of popular society. And Slow Dancer, who seems more grounded and down to earth. These were my new friends... Even thinking it in my head feels weird. Oh well, it's just a temporary solution.)