Have Spacecat, Will Travel: And Other Tails by John Hartness (top ebook reader .TXT) 📕

will come to a better understanding of the Code before you do something you’ll regret.”

“Don’t worry, boss. I promise not to regret anything.”

She shot him a grin and skipped all the way to the picnic table set up with box lunches. She grabbed a veggie sub and took a seat apart from the other students. No point setting herself up for abuse. If Lance and Max weren’t going to be there, she might as well just eat alone. Gwen pulled out her phone and opened the e-reader app. The new Jim Butcher book was out, and she’d made sure to download it before leaving home. A few moments later she was immersed in the world of Harry Dresden and his talking skull Bob.

“What’cha doing?” the small voice jolted Gwen from the world of dark wizards and noble, if flawed, heroes.

She turned to see a small boy kneeling on the bench across from her, his elbows on the table. He was a cute kid, she thought, with his straw-blond hair and blue eyes. He smiled at her and waved, dimples appearing in his cheeks when she looked at him.

“Hi there,” Gwen said. “I’m reading.”

“My mommy reads to me every night before I go to sleep,” the boy said. Gwen guessed he was about five or six from the looks of him.

“Do you like her reading to you?”

“Yeah. She reads big books. I can read. But not big books. I can only read little books.”

“That’s okay. Someday, you’ll be able to read big books, too.”

“You’re pretty.”

Gwen felt a rush of warmth to her face, and she ducked her head to hide her watering eyes. “Thank you. You’re a very handsome young man.”

“I like your hair. It’s funny.”

Gwen smiled and looked up at the boy. He pointed to her pigtails, long dark hair with vibrant streaks of pink and blue intertwined throughout. Her smile faded as she heard footsteps crunch on the gravel behind her.

“Beat it, kid,” a deep voice came from over Gwen’s shoulder. She recognized the voice as Jared Forman, the third in her mental Unholy Trinity of eleventh-grade assclowns. The little boy got down from the bench and ran off to a pretty blond woman, who swept him up in a big spinning hug. Gwen watched him go with a little regret. She certainly had a better chat with the kindergartener than she would have with Jared and his pals. Sure enough, Liam and Scott came around either side of Gwen and sat on the bench opposite her. Jared sat down beside her, way farther inside her personal space than she’d normally allow, but the short picnic table didn’t give her any room to scoot away. Besides, she was tired of running from these dicks.

“What’s up, G?” Jared said, reaching over and plucking an apple slice from the zip-lock bag on the table in front of Gwen. “You don’t mind sharing a little dessert, do ya?”

“Not at all, Jared. Just like we used to do in elementary school. Wasn’t it Ms. Howell that taught us all to share in second grade?”

She hoped by reminding Jared that they’d literally known each other since first grade that he might back off a little, at least for a day. School wasn’t easy on her best days, but away from her safety net of teachers she could count on to cover her, and friends she could vent to when it got to be too much, the field trip was way harder on Gwen than most days.

“Yeah, those were the good ol’ days, G. Back when you knew what was what. You know, line up to go to the bathroom, boys on one side of the hall, girls on the other. Freeze tag at recess, boys against girls. It was all easy then, wasn’t it?”

“Not for everybody, Jared,” Gwen said in a rare moment of honesty with the jock. Fuck it, she thought, let’s see if we can make this a teachable moment. “I knew I was different even in second grade. I just didn’t have a word for it. I knew I wasn’t like you. Or Scott. Or Lance. Or any of the boys. I knew that something didn’t match. Didn’t fit. But I was a kid, and I didn’t know the words for what I was feeling.”

Scott looked at Jared, and for a second, maybe two, she thought she saw a hint of the little boy she used to play on the swings with back at Winterfield Elementary. Then he opened his mouth, and everything went downhill from there.

“What you were feeling, Gareth, is that you’re a freak. Because you are. You’re just a freaky little sexual deviant that oughta be locked away from normal people, and never be allowed around little kids. What were you doing with that little boy? Telling him it was okay to wear dresses? Play with dolls?”

“Worse, Scotty. I was telling him it was okay to read. You’ve heard of that, right? Not that you’ve ever done it. By the way, how are your balls?”

“How are yours, Gareth? They shouldn’t even let freaks like you go to school. You oughta be locked up.”

“You gonna lock me up, Scotty-boy?” Gwen stood and stepped back from the table. “Come on, asshole. Let’s let the whole class see you get your ass beat by a girl. Again.”

“I’d feel bad about breaking your face if you were a real girl, bitch. But come on, let’s do this.”

Scott got up and came over to Gwen, getting chest-to-chest with her. Gwen was almost tall enough to look him in the eye, but her slight frame gave up significant weight.

“Scott…” Jared

“Nah, bro. I’m tired of Gareth here acting like a girl when he wants to be a girl but acting like a dude when he wants to scrap. You want to throw down with me? Bring it. But I’m not going to fight like you’re a girl. I’m gonna beat your ass just like I did back in seventh grade gym class.”

Gwen gave him a