Survival Of The Fittest

O.O.C: This is a topic regarding the boring-ass misadventures of the friendly, well-known janitor CJ and his sidekick Bryan. This is happening during class, so if anybody wants to say hi to CJ they should feel free BUT keep in mind class is in session. I will RP as CJ, but he doesn't have a gun or anything so I don't have any advantage over anyone. Shall we then?

((continued from How many ways can you define the word "cow"?))

The bell rang a second time, clarifying that anyone who wasn't in class better get to their damn class. CJ pushed his supply cart along slowly, checking the side bucket to see if he'd forgotten anything: Ajax, Look, Speedball, See, Shine, Checkitout, Surface, Mama Clean's Shiner, and anything else with a cheesy moniker used to get rid of handprints left by some kid trying to push on a door that says "pull". He chuckled. There was no job like it. No sir. Sometimes it was a good thing, other times...

Bryan hucked his backpack into his locker and slammed the door shut awkwardly with his heel. The clang didn't satisfy him as it usually did; Bryan had been deprived of a good brawl with a fellow Muay Thai practicioner and needed some cheering up. He sighed. Fistfights were enjoyable enough, sure, but there was just something about trading shin-skin with another Thai boxer that just fuckin' blew it out of the water. It was like an art or something. Basking in the kickassness of Muay Thai, he threw a mock one-two at his locker, pitting himself against an imaginary opponent. Bryan smiled; he felt better already. He sidled the lock in place, snapped it shut, and headed off to find CJ. Chuck was his real first name. Bryan didn't know what the 'J' stood for, but hey who cares about details anyway, right?

CJ was well-known and well-liked by most of the students at Bathurst, probably because he was laid-back and easy to talk to. He did his job well, but was never so wrapped up in his cleaning and maintenance duties that he'd snub a student saying hello. You'd think he'd be intimidating, having a hook for a hand and all, but really it just made for good conversation as he didn't mind regailing students with the story of his missing hand. He often referred to the students he knew by their last names, sometimes throwing in a 'Mr' or 'Miss' for good measure. Bryan didn't know about other students, but he appreciated it; the surname made him feel more like an adult. You couldn't talk to any of the other faculty like you were equals, but CJ was different. You really got the feeling he respected you. Didn't see you as some dumbass kid. This way of addressing people had rubbed off on Bryan, although his version of it was something of a way of alienating the other students even more. Either way, Bryan admired CJ, almost as much as he admired old Neilson. In a sea of stuck-up, conceited pricks it was hard to find someone that, even if they were better than you, put you on the same level as themself. CJ was one of the few people Bryan considered a friend.

So, every day during his double-spare he would help the custodian out. Things that cut minutes off the routine like trailing the dust mop with the wet mop in the hall, or handling the urinals while CJ was busy with the toilets. And sometimes he'd need to make up for lost time spent scrubbing EDDiE iS a FaG and FucK u TreVor off of various walls. It can be assumed that Eddie and Trevor don't like eachother very much.

Bryan met up with CJ halfway down the hallway and stopped him. "Hey Ceej," he said.

"Well-well-well! Calvert," CJ popped him in the shoulder lightly. "Gussie told me there was a test. How'd you do?" The test? Ohh, the test. Bryan's run-in with Mattlock and the Thai kid had wiped it from his mind. "I did ok," he lied.

"Good man," CJ nodded. "You gotta do well. Highschool education's an important thing."

"Yeah, yeah..." Bryan didn't see what the big deal was; it's not like it was incredibly difficult or anything. He'd just encountered a slight dilemma is all. "Let's get to work."

"Alright," CJ replied, "you can start by following the cart with the dust mop. Someone's been leaving a lot of dirt on the floor. Get to it, bud." Bryan grabbed the mop and they made their way down the hall towards the first row of washrooms.

just around the corner stood Tori Jefferson, at a towering 5"3. Nervous on her first day school, she found it very hard to find her way around the hallways, and was now late for class.

Looking around occansionally, trying to spot someone that might be able to help her, she noticed two guys standing in the hall, and one of them was holding a mop.

"Excuse me?" she said as we walked closer in their direction.

"Hi! I'm Tori"

"I'm looking for my homeroom, do you know where it is?"

(Continued from: Something's Getting in the Way...)

Ali Grayston had left the cramped confides of the nurse's office several minutes ago, directly after the nurse had patched up the nasty bite wound she'd received to her wrist from the boy who had to be the school's biggest retard, Mitch Gunther.  For most people, the tense situation she had found herself in with Sofie de Wilde a while before would leave them frustrated and angry.  Ali, however, still held her content smile as she meandered down the empty hallways of Bathurst High School.

As she rounded the corner, the Senator's daughter was taken aback as the figures of that nasty old school janitor named C.J., the loud-mouthed and hotheaded Calvert boy, and a short girl that she didn't recognize came into view.  Tilting her head to the side curiously, she wandered closer, the sly and smug grin never vanishing from her painted red lips.  The brunette that seemed to be talking with Calvert and C.J. seemed a bit nervous, and considering Ali didn't recognize her, and let's face it, Ali Grayston knew everybody, the brunette could only imagine that perhaps the girl was new to the school.

She's certainly doing a good job of getting mixed up with bad company already...

This girl certainly had bad taste, that much was for certain.  C.J. was a creepy looking individual, what with having a hook for a hand and all.  Ali had always been weirded out by the old janitor, and had never exactly taken an interest in the circumstances surrounding the loss of his hand.  Then again, Ali had never taken much of an interest in talking to C.J., either.  She often went out of her way to avoid the old janitor.  Especially since she and the other girls of the Sisterhood had decided long ago that the strange old man was probably a pedophile.

And then there was Bryan Calvert.  The boy had a short-fuse and martial arts training, and so he was, apparently, not one to be messed with.  Not that Ali cared.  In fact, all she saw when she looked at him was a raggy boy in what could easily be called a half-baked excuse for a gang who desperately needed to go home and do his laundry.  Apparently he'd never heard about things like laundry detergent... or body odor, for that matter.  Ali laughed internally at the thought.

This girl, though... the vivacious brunette cocked her head to the side a bit in amusement.  She wasn't a bad looking girl, really.  Granted, she was certainly no Carmen Somerset or Karah Lawrence, nor could she hold a candle to Ali Grayston, in her own humble opinion.  Sisterhood potential?  Perhaps.  Probably not, though.  This girl had the "look", but did she have the personality?  Somehow, Ali doubted it, especially given her present company.

Then again, the girls had been looking to fill the void that had been made when Mileena Saint had moved away several months prior and put a dent in the social clique known school-wide as the Sisterhood.  Like sisters, they were.  At least, that's what the Vice Principal, who just happened to be on good terms with Ali's father, had dubbed them.  It was a cute name, it personified the girls, and it just seemed to stick.

As she continued to approach the group at a snail's pace, the brunette folded her arms across her chest lightly.  She could always extend a friendly hand to the new girl, offer to show her to her class and all that jazz, but Ali had never exactly been known for her graciousness and hospitality.  In fact, given her reputation, she'd probably send the poor girl in the wrong direction just for kicks.  Instead of addressing anybody in particular, she simply passed by the trio, casting a half-hearted glance at Bryan and C.J. in the process.

"You missed a spot," the girl mused, her finger trailing up to point at the tracked in dirt and mud that seemed to form a trail behind the new girl, "Somebody could slip in that mess."

(Continued in: Lunch Room)

Tori, surprised to hear anyone elses voice in the empty hallways, looked up at the girl walking past.

Though the girl was walking past slowly, by the time Tori looked up, all she saw was her back. This tall girl standing at what looked like 5"6ish had hair that Tori envyed! with an aray of different colours, she impressed with how natural it looked.

As Tori turned back around to talk to the two strangers she had just met, it dawned on her. One of the men doesn't have a hand! How could she have not noticed that before?

Suddenly, kind of grossed out by the fact, Tori tried to regain her composure and hoped that neither of the two men hadn't seen the face she made.

She looked behind her again, towards the girl who was walking past, and wished that she had waited just a couple more minutes and asked her for directions instead.

As much as Tori was outgoing, and loved making new friends, she hating starting at a new school. Highschools were where you basically had your role in life handed too you. If someone popular thought you were a dork, then for the rest of the year (or atleast until you left) you were known as a dork. an... untouchable.

Not wanting to be an untouchable, Tori's plan for this highschool was to get along with the popular kids and hopefully be brought into one of the cliqués. She had always loved the idea of being a 'pink lady' just like in the movie 'Grease'... but hollywood isn't highschool.

So there was her problem. Does she turn around and walk towards the cool girl who could help her potential of being popular, or does she wait for the not so cool, kind of bad smelling strangers to help her?

assuming, but more so hoping that she'd see that girl later that day, Tori patiently waited for the two janitors to help her.

Bryan and CJ exchanged glances at Ali's comment. Bryan was irritated and looked like he wanted to slug her. CJ was cracking up at Bryan's pent-up rage. "Bitch," Bryan mumbled when she was out of earshot. CJ passed him the dustmop, chuckling softly and using his good hand to wipe his nose. "Don't let her get to you, Calvert," he said. Bryan rolled his eyes and grumbled as he tended to the floor, noticing Tori out of the corner of his eye. He'd never seen her before; she was cute.

CJ had noticed Tori's revulsion at his hand, and threw it in his pocket so's not to scare her away. It was ok, it happened all the time and he was used to it. Besides, she seemed polite (unlike certain nameless individuals) so he smiled and said, "sure thing. What's the room number?"

"I'm not to sure" Tori said. "I think it's Ms. Gussie's class, 131? Sorry about the dirt, I had to walk here this morning and I've been lost ever since."

"It's ok," CJ waved his hand. "It's not my problem." He chuckled and Bryan looked up from his work. "Nyeh-heh-heh..." Bryan wrinkled his nose and mock-laughed bitterly in a high-pitched voice.

"Well Gussie's room is over that-a way," he said, pointing down the hall from whence Tori had just come. "Third door on your right. Better hurry up, you're..." he checked his watch. "A period and a half late. In fact, you've missed the class entirely."

"mmmmmmmmmpph! But, what do I do now then?!" Tori whined

Bryan snorted at her eccentric little display. "God, what a baby," he teased.
"Well," CJ concluded, "I guess you should check your timetable for your next class and head there. Course, you missed your first class and you're late for your next one..." He pulled out an admit slip, took a pen from his pocket and scribbled a couple things down on it. "Here. This should do fine."

A little insulted by the smelly boy's rudeness, Tori thanked the janitor for the slip and headed on to her next class.

Where ever the hell that one is. She thought to herself.  this just wasn't a good day for her. Tori figured that if she walked around long enough, the bell would ring for lunch to begin and she'd meet someone worth while talking too.  

"Thanks again," She said while turning to walk away.

"Oh, by the way, I didn't get your names."

"I'm CJ," he said. "This is Calvert. Say hello, Calvert."

"Don't go anywhere near that Grayston chick, she's a bitch," Bryan said, finishing up with the dustmop and finally making eye contact with Tori. To be honest, he was kind of shy because she was nice (a rare trait for girls at this school) and really cute. "I'll see you in class." He paused, then added, "uh--we're in the same homeroom. I'll see you tomorrow." With that he and CJ continued their trek down the hallway to start on the bathrooms.

Tori watched at CJ and Calvert walked down the hall. Odd, she thought, for someone who seemed shy and would barely look her in the eye, he was very straight forward with what he thought about people.

Tori turned and walked down the hall, outside and sat at a picnic bench, waiting for the classes to end and lunch to begin.

((Continued in: Lunch Room))

They got to work on the first set of bathrooms. Ahh, highschool bathrooms. You can clean them every day for 3 years and they can still surprise you sometimes. Today fortune smiled on our heroes; the toilets in the boys' room were clogged as usual, someone had shit in one of the urinals...as usual...(sigh)...there was some interesting graffiti on the inside of one of the stalls depicting a woman being raped by a huge-organed giant. The giant was titled 'The Dominators' and the woman 'Debs of the Lords'. It seemed like the artist had taken great care to make the woman's face particularly ugly, and there were some names of girls he had never heard of written all around her hideous visage. Also there were some ugly little men scattered around them with their tongues hanging out; they were titled 'The Lords'. Bryan paused for a second and eyed it over, tilted his head to one side, then shrugged and started scrubbing at the stuff with some corrosive solution and a wet rag.

After the daunting task was complete (the girls' room wasn't great either), they started down the hallway toward Gussie's room.

"Hey Calvert," CJ said on the way there, "I saw you makin' eyes at that girl. She's cute, eh?"

Bryan scoffed. He hadn't been making 'eyes'; he'd barely looked at her. "I think she's a little young for you," he snorted.

CJ grinned. "Hey, all I'm saying is, you should make a good impression on her. I know you have a hard time getting along with some people..."

"What're you getting at?"

CJ gave him an indignant look. "Just promise me you won't hork in her food, ok?"

"That was the one time," Bryan grunted.


~~~


45 minutes later, the two heaved the last of the trashbags from the days rounds into the dumpster outside. CJ grabbed a rag from his pocket and squinted into the afternoon sun as he wiped his brow. Then he pocketed the cloth and checked his watch. It was lunch time. "Thank you sir," he smiled, shaking Bryan's hand. "Makes my job a hell of a lot easier."

"No problem."

"You're a good man Calvert," CJ said, patting him on the back. "Now go get some food. I'll see you later."

Bryan gave him a nod. "Later." He headed off to his locker to get his lunch; he couldn't help but smile a little. Good man...

((continued in The Ropes))