Survival Of The Fittest

So Kara was a tad tipsy, it would seem. Her words had only the slightest bit of a slur, and she stood up well enough, but Andy knew that the girl could hold her alcohol, too. Finally she turned towards him, directing him to speak about what he wanted. He decided to just repeat what he said to begin with, thinking the girl hadn't heard him the first time. Brushing his blonde locks from his face with one hand, the boy launched into the conversation, only half-wary of the drunk football player a few feet away.

"I had wanted to talk to captain and co-captain, but I don't guess you know where Serenity is, do you? Practice starts in three weeks, and I think we should get started with the try-outs. We need four replacements for the seniors that graduated last year. I mean, who can replace Amber Iverson as a flyer? No one that I've seen in the school," at this part of his energetic rant he had to pause for air before continuing, "Plus, I doubt a freshman could do it. If we're going to competitions this year, we'd better have a damn good routine and get some practice in. I know it's really early in the year, but I just want us to have a great senior year."

Knowing full well that Kara wouldn't want to talk about it, Andy just waited for her response patiently. He had spent many a night out with the cheerleaders as they got drunk off their asses and needed a friend to hold their hair back in the morning while the puked the daylight away. If she drank any more, the boy doubted the captain would even remember the talk at all. Deciding he could just wait for an answer later, he cut the girl off from what she was clearly about to say.

"You know what? Don't worry about it. You guys should have fun before the year starts. I'll just go look for Serenity. She might not be having the best time right now. Enjoy the night, girly." he said, waving to the girl and walking past her towards the water's edge. Praying that he could get away before a fight got started over nothing, Andy was startled out of his thoughts at a loud outcry from Troy McCann, one of the more wearing of the student body.

"What the fuck are ya doin' to Tyson?!" was the bellow coming from the tall black basketball player. Looking over to where he was staring in anger, Andy watched in horror as Bobby Jacks stood with the aforementioned boy in the air, suspended by his shirt collar. They had caused a wild scene, and most of the other partygoers were watching the scene half-drunk or buzzed. There wasn't much the blonde, brown eyed boy could do now. It was between Troy, Tyson, and Bobby now. Glued to the spot, Andy's eyes remained on the confrontation, not noticing the sound of quiet hissing and the smallest slither from the water's edge.

"Yeah, you're drunk Gabe, quite funny actually, but instead of focusing on how drunk you are, or how your girl has run off with another dude for the time being, lets just sit back and enjoy the show." Steve said, indicating to Gabe the scuffle that was happening.

Tyson would have breathed a sigh of relief that Troy had managed to spot his predicament, but he was too busy trying to breath around Bobby's fist which was grabbing at his collar and throat. Damn, he hadn't realised Bobby was quite as big as he was. Troy was the same height but the boxer had the "gangsta" dead to rights in the muscle, even if Troy wasn't quite so scrawny as he used to be, Bobby looked like he hit the gym every day of his life since he was seven. Which he pretty much had.

***

Bobby turned his head slightly to fix his angry gaze on Troy. "Mac" was just as tall as he, but Bobby knew that he was a lot bigger in terms of overall muscle. He could expect Troy to be a bit faster, but not as powerful. Bobby knew how to analyse somebody in this kind of way, and he reckoned he could deal with his weaknesses and play to his strengths. Bobby's main disadvantage here was numbers, he didn't expect Tyson to stay out of things, coward or not. Bobby readied himself for a fight, shifting his stance and getting his muscles into the right position.

Go on McCann, make a move.

"CUT IT OUT, ALL THREE OF YOU!"

Few people in Southridge had ever heard Darnell Butler yell, in fact it seemed like he had never raised his voice to anyone as far as most of them knew, but once he noticed what was going on between Tyson, Bobby, and Troy, he had offered Evelyn a quick apology and made a beeline for them, determined to stop the fight before it started. This was one of the last times they'd ever be together outside of a classroom, he didn't want a brawl to break out and stop things. Thus, he had forced his way past the people already forming around the fight-to-be (including Anderson) and between Troy and Bobby. Pushing out one muscular arm, he held it out in front of Troy to show he wasn't intent on letting him pass by, while maintaining eye contact with Bobby. He was waiting to see how the boxer would react to Darnell's interference, and the football player readied himself for anything Jacks might pull. He hoped his wrestling training would come through if blows were thrown.

"Bobby?" This quiet voice came from behind the group before any response could be made to Darnell, "Cool down and let Tyson go, or I will break your fucking arm."

Looking over Bobby's shoulder, Darnell saw who the newcomer was. Erick Rischio, the new kid. He had moved into Highland Beach the past summer, and always seemed to be withdrawn, and a bit nervous. Of course, the cold confidence as he threatened Bobby Jacks (who, as far as Darnell knew, was the best boxer in Highland Beach, if not all of California) showed none of this. Erick stood tall behind the black men, his lack of a shirt showing the many scars on his body. Most of them just appeared to be faded scrapes and the like, but there were a few that drew particular attention. There were a few circular scars with what appeared to be burns around them on his right arm and gut, and during one second where Rischio turned around for a second due to hearing something behind him, Darnell could've sworn he saw a dark diagonal scar in the centre of his back. Rick brought a hand across some of the stubble on his face as he waited. Did he know what he was getting himself into?

"Come on, man," Darnell urged, wishing to break the tension, "Just let Tyson go, let's relax and enjoy ourselves. This is a fuckin' party, don't need to brawl here. Have a damn beer or something, just chill."

He found himself wondering if he was capable of "ejecting" Jacks from the party if the boxer was still intent on causing trouble.

Paul Smith, liked sex. He (unlike the rumor spreading that he had lost his virginity at twelve years old) had lost his virginity at sixteen and ever since then he has been connected to at least twelve girl's, but he maintained that the thrill in sex was truly being satisfied in a good chase. This girl offering him sex for a cigarette just didn't provide him that, in fact it kind of disturbed him that she would be this willing to
offer up the most intimate part of her physique for a cigarette.

Paul then made a shocking conclusion: She was to inebriated for him to take advantage of.

Shocked that such a level of "fucked-up" ness could exist, Paul simply backed away slowly.

"Maybe later, Adwin." he mumbled under his breath and walked away quickly, before heading to his car.

Well after that the only thing I can really do in good conscience is go pick up a disease infected hooker and participate in a night of intravenous drug abuse and unprotected sex, along with taking the Lord's Name in vein.

And with that...Paul drove off.

((Continued in Pre-Game!))

Troy Mac was already cracking his knuckles when Darnell suddenly shouted out and moved directly the line of fire. Butler's sudden appearance caused him to recoil back a step, and his face cringed as if out of frustration at the interference. This was a new twist to a plan that could have either resulted in either Bobby, or Tyson and Troy getting beaten down. If he didn't do something now, the fight could turn into a real whirlpool, and even the consequences to Troy (i.e. Troy's reputation) alone would be disastrous.

On the other hand, he didn't want to drop his gangsta attitude just yet.

"Back off, homie, this ain'cho fight," Troy growled. As much as he could respect Darnell, he wasn't about to let up an opportunity to get some real respect himself. "I'm just stickin' up for Tyson here."

"And it is your own fight for exactly what reason McCann?" Bobby snarled as Troy directed his words to the sudden appearence of Darnell Butler. Darnell was tough, there was no doubt about that, but Bobby felt that if push came to shove he would be able to take him on but it wouldn't be easy. Darnell was on the wrestling team and football team and Bobby had seen some of the things he had done to much larger guys. No way in hell was Tyson getting away from him after what he'd said.

Bobby returned his attention to Darnell, but also directed some of his words to the new guy; Erick. As he spoke he hefted his captive up a little to give some emphasis to his words. If they thought for one second he was going to back down then they were sorely mistaken.

"Do either of you have any fucking clue what this little bastard even said to me? Have either of you even fucking noticed just how neatly McCann's little bit of interference fitted onto this incident? Most importantly, did either of you see the so-called "injured party" give our resident gangsta a fucking thumbs up?"

A lot of words from Bobby, a lot more than he would usually say at any one time. On the other hand, Tyson had him seriously pissed, and the interference from Darnell and Erick had made him even more so. Bobby was very close to snapping, and he had no idea what he would do then. The boxer rarely lost his temper, and Bobby tried to force himself to remain calm. He waited for Darnell's reaction.

"Actually, yes, I saw all of that. Hell, I heard the two of them planning to jump you. Don't know what Tyson said to you, though."

Darnell didn't know if Bobby, who was clearly angry about the entire incident, and Darnell and Erick interfering seemed to make things even worse, would be expecting the football player's response, but it was the truth. Darnell had actually been planning to warn Bobby, but hadn't expected Tyson and Troy to get to the boxer so quickly. Darnell looked over at Erick again, seeing that the new kid was still calm and analyzing the situation, but seemed to have tensed up a bit.

"Had no idea about any of that, I just got here," Erick admitted, shaking his head and moving a bit so that McCann could see him more easily, "This true, what Darnell's saying, Troy?" Erick sounded annoyed. At what Darnell didn't know, but the emotion was still there.

"I know they started it, man," Darnell said to Bobby, still placed to hold Troy back, if for no other reason than to stop either him or Bobby from attacking each other, while making eye contact with the boxer, "but come on, just let it go. You know what the cops would do if they saw this? They'd break up the party and arrest all three of ya! This is one of the last times we'll be together as a class, and I'm not gonna let you three ruin it. Just calm down, this isn't worth it."

Darnell was hoping that he could appeal to Bobby Jacks' sense of reason and get him off of Tyson, but he didn't know if it would work. He just hoped Bobby would drop it so the party could return to being just that, a party.

Walking along the beach, she kicked the sand, and occasionally water as it crawled up the beach, ahead of her in little swinging steps. She'd tried to get a ride, well, sort of anyway. Elizabeth had sat at her computer and tried IMing a few people. Nobody who was going would take her, though. Probably because they had already left. Well, it was a nice night out, and even if she didn't make it to the party before half of everyone left, it would have been a nice walk.

Soon enough, however, she could see the light from the bonfire and heard a loud shout. Apparently somebody was being rowdy. At least that meant people were still there. Hopefully they were people who wouldn't mind her being there. It seemed that there were plenty of people still around, actually, and it also seemed that plenty of them were either involved in or watching a potential fight.

Elizabeth suddenly remembered that she'd tucked the hems of her purple skirt into the waistband. It had been just a tad too large for her, and fell down on to her hips, letting the bottom drag in the sand. Elizabeth also took the hair clip out of her hair and shook out the red mess, a very controlled and designed mess, but a mess nonetheless. She bounced in her step a bit and spun. The skirt floofed and twirled. She giggled at the skirt. It was a good thing she'd remembered to fix the skirt, too. She was close enough to see people easily now, one in particular at the water's edge, closer to her than the others. She didn't recognize who it was, but they looked male and blond, and there was a live thing nearby. It appeared that he hadn't noticed it yet.

She skipped up to whomever the person staring up the beach was. "what ‘cha lookin' at?" She didn't really wait for an answer. The answer would have been fairly obvious anyway: same thing a bunch of people there were looking at. "Is anyone bleeding yet? it would be horrible to get sand in a gash. By the way, there's a thing just behind you. It looks alive and kinda wet."



((AAAAPH! you better like this post. I'm awake far later than I wanna be, just to post in here 'cuz you told me to! =P ))

"Look man, I don' know what'cho talkin' bout with this thumbs up," Troy replied exasperatedly. He really didn't notice Tyson giving any signal, partially because he wasn't really paying attention. "All I know is Bobby here was gonna beat up on Tyson, so I gotta get his back. We don' need this to involve others, and the cops don' have to know about it."

Fortunately, Darnell had managed to calm Bobby down just about enough to stop him from starting something with everybody. Tyson and Troy though... well, that was another matter. Bobby was pissed enough about what Tyson had said, now that he knew Troy and Tyson had been planning to go after him... Hell he didn't even care why they were going after him, but nobody was going to get a cheapshot on him and get away with it.

"That's bullshit McCann, and you ought to know that I trust Darnell a hell of a lot more than I trust you," the boxer snapped to Troy. "But if your boyfriend means so much to you, I guess you can have your little fuckbuddy back," Bobby shoved Tyson away from him and sent him sprawling to the sand.

***

Immediately the dimunutive runner got back to his feet and was about to try and charge past Darnell, but thought better of it. Angry or not, Darnell would kick his ass in a fight. Tyson knew he wasn't much for brawling, which was precisely why he'd roped in Troy to help him. Troy would help Tyson, by getting to grips with Jacks, Tyson would help Troy by giving him the idea and improving his so-called street cred. It had looked so easy on the figurative paper...

Nothing meant more to any man than their own manhood, and this was something that Troy recognized when Bobby insulted him. It was probably the fact that he viewed Bobby as a bit of a dumb jock that he didn't snap on the spot. Instead, he decided for a little of provocative wordplay himself.

"Fine. If you're too chickenshit to fight, hell, I'm game when you're ready," Troy replied before side-stepping Darnell to head over to Tyson. "You okay, man?" He kept an eye on Bobby, just in case.

====

Eduardo's arm trembled a bit as he lifted a bottle of some fairly strong stuff from the cooler. His scrawny limbs weren't as "insulated" against the cold by layers of jock muscle and/or fat, and it didn't make it any easier that some chilly sea breezes were quickly blowing in. Then again, it would definitely help to numb the sting from Melina's bitchslaps.

The cap came off the bottle of beer with a cool hiss-pop, and in one fell swing, Eduardo started to chug it. Compared to the cold, the stuff felt like ice, and he shuddered a bit as it raced down his esophagus. He could probably pass for acting drunk if he kept up his pace, but for now he was content to find somewhere to sit.

Bobby shot Troy a grin which had utterly no humour in it whatsoever. The boxer hoped that the would-be gangster knew that he was treading on thin ice right about now. There was only so much insult that the presence of Darnell and Erick could alleviate and that allowance was pretty much drained by Tyson. Now that Troy was adding to it the pile, the ice was starting to creak...

"Troy, you're the guy that needed backup to even work up the guts to come over here and try and take me on, so save it for somebody who might have the slightest inclination to believe you. And unless you've forgetten it was you and your pal here who started the whole damn thing. Don't even try to make it look like I'm the one after a fight here,"

***

Tyson brushed himself off as Troy came over to him. Fucking Bobby Jacks, what an absolute son of a bitch. Thought he was so damned clever and cool, total loner was the truth.

"Yeah I'm fine, just give me five seconds with this guy with a knife or something and I'll sort him," it was a joke, a poor one, but then again it was one of Tyson's. None of his jokes were ever remotely funny, especially in serious situations.

***

Chris "Average" Joesi was extremely out of breath as he arrived at the beach for the scheduled beach party/bonfire. He was late and he knew it, but he'd gotten way too wrapped up in his workout earlier. Chris just kept thinking "one more set," "ten more repeats," and before he knew it the party had already started without him and he was virtually triple-timing it down to the beach. Chris just hoped he hadn't missed anything.

The fight was turning out a little bit uneventful, but Andy was still frozen in the same, squishy place. Out of his peripherals, he noticed someone coming towards him at the water's edge. Turning towards the person, the blonde saw the stranger as a face from the hallways at Southridge over the past years. It could have been that his attention was much too focused on the other scene, but the boy just wasn't paying much attention to anything else, particularly the water behind him. Andy recognized the person skipping to a halt towards him as none other than Elizabeth Esser, a bit of an oddball but a nice girl nonetheless.

The taller girl's mass of fiery red hair flew out with the windy breeze as she danced about in a cute purple skirt. Before the blonde could even open his mouth to speak, the girl was already half-way through her first sentence, inquiring chirpily as to what he had been looking at. Upon realizing the obvious, however, the girl kept going, saying something about getting sand in a bleeding wound. It wasn't until she said something about something squirming behind him that he even started listening.

"What...," said Andy, snapping out of his momentary daze, quickly
looking behind him and noticing the snake that was creeping towards him. "Holy shit." The boy was scared out of his mind. He had never liked any reptiles, but he had particularly despised snakes and alligators. The blonde whimpered in fear as the snake slithered menacingly towards his open-shoed foot. Standing as still as a stone, Andy waited for an opportunity to move away. The creature advanced even further, but the blonde boy had already had enough. He saw his chance coming in a hermit crab creeping over the sand.

Shrieking ever so slightly as the snake turned the other way, Andy took his chance and began running away from the scaly, demonic creature. Pulling Elizabeth with him as he ran, he flew across the sand, sending the sand into his flip-flops and in every direction. Not caring about a destination, the boy found himself speeding towards Eduardo Trinidad-Villa(the geek of all geeks himself) and unable to stop. Letting go of the redhead he had been dragging from the shore, Andy braced himself for a collision. 'Crap,' he thought.

Eduardo was far too focused on the beer going down his throat to notice that there were other people on the beach at all, let alone that there were two heading right for him. By the time he took the bottle out of his mouth to notice, they were almost upon him.

"Oh shi-"

Eduardo didn't go flying when Andy and Elizabeth crashed into him, despite his build. Still, the 'geek of all geeks' always seemed to take impacts with extra voracity than others, and he found himself being flung to the ground, the beer bottle flying out of his hand and onto the sand where it landed with a dull whump and spilled its contents. Eduardo didn't break anything either when he landed...but it did knock the breath out of him.

"Urrrgh...ma...ri...con..." Eduardo groaned out of frustration. As if getting pounced by a(nother) queer and getting bitchslapped by a girl didn't already strip him of whatever manhood he had left. He got himself to sit up and get a better look at the people who crashed into him.

====

"Man, I don' know what he said, but it ain't his fault you up and wanted to lay the smackdown on Tyson," Troy retorted before turning his attention back to his friend.

"Look, I still got yo' back on this," he added, clenching his fists.