"Forcing a Strait"

The bike ride to my school is the same as any bike right before it. Exiting my apartment complex through the front gate brings me to a quiet neighborhood street that immediately becomes a busy boulevard with a left turn. Heading left is my destination, and the many cars I witness are all heading toward their many destinations. I bike northward following the traffic as I keep myself on the sidewalk. 

Over the years I have become a master of the art of riding a bicycle. From my very first pedals at the age of three, to my confident ability to bike while standing and to bike with one hand to give each of them a break from the long job of grasping the handle to maintain control. These kinds of actions take minimal effort for me now, back in the day they were much more strenuous.

I arrive to the school, I hop off my bike just as the horde of students begin to make their entrance toward the front gate and I taxi my bike to the rack that sits just near the front steps. I lock my bike into place with a key lock, and I place the key back on my belt buckle where I keep my house key and bike key together on a carabiner. 

I walk away from my bike and adjust my backpack as I do it. I then look up to see Gerardo not too far away. Considering my thoughts this morning about staying disconnected from other people, I take the initiative to speak with him.

"Hey Gerardo." I call out for him as he walks toward my direction.

Gerardo looks at me with surprise and continues to walk toward my direction. He then stops before me, "Hey," he begins with his usual reserved tone, "what's up?"

"Nothing much, how have you been?" I reciprocate the formalities.

"Honestly, I have something to talk about." Gerardo explains in an ominous tone. We then begin our journey up the front steps into the opening gate.

"What is it?" I question as we walk with each other.

"Every since the Franco incident, I've been getting threats from Xiao Kai." Gerardo begins his explanation, "He's been threatening to me that if I rat to anybody information about the club and student council he'll try to kill me." Gerardo says with a near whisper, clear anxiety in his voice as he emphasizes the threat.

"What the hell?" I respond with some disbelief.

"I'm most likely seen as a traitor to Siephus and ultimately Venustiano," Gerardo grows more frantic as he attempts to talk more softly, "they were very weary of me from the start, and now that I messed up so badly with Josef, I'm probably on some kind of hitlist."

I make an attempt to calm Gerardo's nerves, "If you were on a hitlist, why haven't they dealt with you by now? It's been two months since the incident, I would expect them to act quicker." I express.

"That's the thing," Gerardo counters, "it's psychological warfare, they are more interested in seeing us crack under the idea of being targeted." Gerardo presents his claim.

"Do you know how Venustiano usually deals with these kinds of situations?" I ask for insight.

"Despite what you saw with Franco, Venustiano usually blackmails students as a way to keep them loyal and to punish them for any actions. If he really wanted to deal with us he would probably blackmail us." With this realization, Gerardo speaks more collectively. It seems his nerves has died down knowing the probable reality of our situation.

It was now after my second period class. Nutrition time was a short fifteen minutes to kind of take a break from the long hours spend in the classrooms. This part of the day didn't feel significant since fifteen minutes is barely enough time to accomplish anything, however it was way better than having to go straight to the next classes. 

I am walking through the hallways on a mission. I want to speak to Josef about Venustiano. Gerardo raised a lot of curiosity for me, and since Venustiano himself has said he would 'see' Josef after the Franco incident, I know that I have more answers for how Venustiano carries his authority in this school. Josef is most likely in the same spot that we found him last time. That is most definitely his spot in this school where he does his bidding. This building is known not to get visited very often by anyone who works with Venustiano, thus it is the safest place in the school for someone like Josef.

I continue my way through the buildings, I'm only one building away from the D-Building as of right now, thus I skim through the many repetitive and lonely lockers in order to reach my destination. I have already passed way too many familiar lockers, all through familiar hallways, and by distinct classrooms which can stick out like sore thumbs. 

This stretch of the school is rather lonely. A desolate wasteland where not many students hang around these times of day. Some of the classrooms here are unused and empty. The bathrooms here are hotspots for drugs and gambling. The depressing nature of being in a public school is on display right here in the C-Building to D-Building stretch. The highlight of this section of campus are the random teachers who hang outside their rooms and the couples making out without worry of many passersby taking notice. 

Reaching the D-Building I come across an intriguing but worrying sight. I recognize a person sitting in a fetal position at the end of the D-Building's lower level corridor. There is nobody here except for one, that is to be expected since Josef likely hangs out upstairs. Yet, that figure in the distance causes me to slow my pace as I lean my head in curiosity. Who could this be? I have an idea on who it might be...it cannot be them...or can it? Upon closer inspection I confirm my suspicion.

It's Jennifer...what the hell is she doing?

Examining her, I notice she is sitting in a fetal position with her head between her knees. This is an unusual way for her to present herself. She's always so apathetic about everything, including the way she sits. Maybe she's tired? That can't be right, sure Jennifer always looks tired, but she isn't the type to just find a place to nap alone, especially not when we only have fifteen minutes to do so. I watch her movement as I slow down even further to examine her before I dare try to approach her. She makes a sudden jolt which signifies she could be...crying.

Jennifer doesn't cry, does she? I mean, everyone cries right? 

For a person who acts like they are an empty shell, it's almost uncanny to witness them showcase any kind of emotion. Though, I don't really know for sure what is happening. I'm only speculating the possibilities at this point, however that jolt gives me hints that this could be more straightforward than I initially imagined. Jennifer isn't the emotional type, however there are many things I don't know about many people, I cannot throw away the possibility completely.

I have two options as of right now; find out what's going on with Jennifer or continue to search and speak to Josef.

I want to be a friend to Jennifer, however if she is in an emotional state, I am completely unequipped to dare try and comfort or help her. I also want answers about Venustiano, I'm obsessed with learning more about the structure of this school. Josef may be a great tool for insight about how this school works and how Venustiano conducts his authority. I need to know if I'm in any kind of danger, I need to know how to survive in this system, and I need to know if there is any way I can topple this system.

Franco...I'm so sorry.

I don't know what Jennifer is doing. Is she crying? Is she sleeping? Is this how she normally spends her nutrition? What if Jennifer is upset and doesn't want to talk about it? She did come to this part of the school which is infamous for being sparsely populated during breaks. I can't figure out what to do in the moment. If I ditch her for Josef, will I receive some kind of bad karma? Will she see me avoid her? What the hell will happen? 

My slow pace has come to a gradual stall, I now stand in the middle of a hallway staring at a sitting girl because I can't figure out what to do. 

What should I do?