Chapter 176: Making A Statement
It was the middle of the day, a time when most students were supposed to be sitting in classrooms, heads buried in textbooks or pretending to pay attention. But storming down the street with exaggerated huffs and puffs was one particular student who clearly had other things on his mind.
"A job just for me," Joe muttered under his breath, kicking a stray pebble down the sidewalk. "If they say it like that, do they really think I’m gonna be happy about it?" His voice was full of frustration. "I know those two tricked me. Why couldn’t they send Jay? Oh, what, because he’s too scary? He’s the big pink giant? No one’s scared of him?"
Images flashed through Joe’s mind, visions of Jay effortlessly lifting students into the air and slamming them onto the floor as if they weighed nothing. It wasn’t a stretch. He had seen it happen.
"For a so-called friendly giant, he sure seems to enjoy hurting people," Joe grumbled, shaking his head as if trying to clear the image away. "And those two are the worst at convincing anyone of anything."
He mimicked their voices in a mocking tone. "You can have the day off school, Joe. It’s totally fine." Then his tone shifted into irritation again. "They make it sound like I even study during school hours. And since when did Max get so buddy-buddy with the teachers that anyone could just skip class whenever they wanted?"
Joe sighed, his shoulders sagging. The declared bout was scheduled for tomorrow, which meant someone had to deliver the message today, and of course, that someone was him. Which also meant venturing into enemy territory alone.
Clapton High.
They weren’t exactly fans of Joe or his school, especially not after the chaos Jay and Max had caused during that infamous attack. Tensions were still high, and Joe knew full well he’d be walking into a lion’s den.
Still, orders were orders.
A few blocks away from the school, Joe stood by a lonely bus stop on a nearly deserted street. This was his next checkpoint, one more instruction he had to follow before completing the actual delivery.
As he waited, a sleek black car pulled up in front of him. It looked expensive. Too expensive for a place like this.