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Category:
Young Adult/Teen
Publisher: Flushed Hamster Publications
ISBN-10: 1456423312
Pages: 222
Copyright: Nov. 22, 2010
ISBN-13: 9781456423315
Connor has crossed paths with Zack, the school bully. To make matters worse his best friend Wade has been drawn into the mix. Connor could make this all go away if he would just play the scared little kid like everyone else does, but Connor is different. He resents Zack's iron grip of terror on the school and he refuses to back down, even in the face of a certain beating.
Nick is new in school. He also crosses paths with Zack, but with a far different outcome. Nick's secret is the answer to Connor's problem. Why is he so hesitant to share it with his new friends?
A great read for young adults and pre-teens alike, Tales of a Teenage Ninja tells the story of a young man who stands up for himself and, in doing so, stands up for everyone else who has endured bullying at the hands of the school tough.
Humorous and suspenseful, the characters are likeable and the story believable. A great read for the YA set.
Excerpt
The three stood in the middle of the street.
“You got an awful big mouth, turd.” He said it mockingly, not really taking the two of them seriously. “I’m gonna shut it for you.”
Zack seemed almost serene, as if he couldn’t care less about matters at hand. The look on his face was deceptively calm, and then…
Zack seemed to close the distance with one step as he grabbed for Connor’s throat. Connor side-stepped him as Wade fell off to the side to avoid getting crushed. They were much smaller than Zack and therefore much more agile. This would not help them forever, however. Connor wasn’t running, and Wade wasn’t going to leave his buddy to face Zack alone.
“Come on, ya’ freakin’ moron. What’s the matter?” Connor began to taunt him, a move Wade saw as not very smart.
“Dude, think you can lay off the trash-talk somewhat?” Wade said with a hint of irritation.
“Why? We’re gonna get creamed either way.” He turned back to Zack. “Come ON, you pussy!”
That got Zack’s attention. This time he took one step and leapt, catching Connor by the pants. Zack flung him into the street. Connor landed in the middle of the road, scraping the elbow on his right arm. It burned as rock and sand ground into the abrasion.
Connor got right back up, wiped the wound on his pants, ready to tackle Zack. Wade came ‘round to his side, but Connor was already running. He yelled as he lunged at Zack, intending to punch him in the head as he leapt, but Zack just put a leg out as he moved to one side, tripping Connor, who landed in the street again, making the abrasions worse.
At this point Wade saw his opening. Zack’s back was to him and his attention was focused on Connor at the moment. Wade ran and took a flying leap onto Zack’s back, wrapping his left arm around his neck, punching him in the head with his right.
Zack, caught unaware, let out a yell. “Gahhh! You frickin’ ass wipe...!” Zack grabbed the arm around his neck as he attempted to block the other arm from raining blows down upon his head. Unable to pry the arm away, he fell backwards landing on Wade, knocking the wind out of him.
Zack scrambled to get up, quickly getting to his feet. Wade just lay there, trying to catch his breath. He had never had the wind knocked out of him before, and it was a terrifying experience. For a minute he really thought he was dying. Finally his breathing returned and he clambered to get back to his feet, but Zack was already on top of him.
This time it was Connor’s turn. Zack’s fist was at the top of its trajectory, ready to smash into Wade’s face as Connor made like a kicker going for the extra point on Zack’s rear-end.
The pain exploded in the small of Zack’s back as Connor’s shoe said hello to Zack’s posterior. The kick was so forceful it launched Zack about a foot off the ground and over Wade’s outstretched body. Zack landed face first on the pavement, asphalt and rock shredding the right side of his face.
Wade hastened to get back up and to his friend’s side. This fight was escalating into something very nasty and Zack, now having sustained an actual wound, was sure to be even more enraged.
A tiger was a dangerous thing. A wounded tiger, that was a dangerous, unpredictable thing.
Connor and Wade were breathing heavily, but they were physically fit which was playing to their advantage here. Zack had size and strength, but Connor and Wade had agility and endurance, not to mention a healthy desire to live.
Connor was fighting for something more than just being able to walk away in one piece. He was fighting for the right to live without the fear of having to look over his shoulder constantly. Not just for him, mind you, but for his friends and classmates as well. He was pissed, and if he went down fighting, so be it.
Zack got up, turning to face his adversaries. His face was bright red and twisted with rage. There was a large abrasion on his right cheek, blood trickling down his jaw line to his neck which was wet with sweat and blackened with dirt.
He started walking towards them, pointing. “I am so gonna rip your head off and turd down your neck! You should have never tangled with me, turd!” He was looking directly at Wade.
The two took up defensive positions once more, the best fighting stance they knew how: fists up, knees bent, left foot in front, right foot slightly back. They were as prepared as they could be for the coming onslaught even though neither had ever been involved in a fight.
Suddenly a small figure appeared. He was about 4’6” tall, somewhat slender, and could have been Chinese, or perhaps Hawaiian. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you, Zack.”
Zack stopped dead in his tracks, turned, and couldn’t believe his eyes. Neither could Connor and Wade. It was Nick.
He had appeared out of nowhere. Connor thought that was weird but then they had been concentrating on the fight, hadn’t they?
Nick walked up to where Connor and Wade were standing, all the while keeping eye contact with Zack. His normally cheerful demeanor had disappeared. He looked almost…angry. No, angry wasn’t the right word. There was no emotion on his face at all it seemed. The look on Nick’s face gave Connor the willies.
Connor came to his senses. Come on, he told himself…Nick was just playing brave. It was easy to do now that there were three of them.
“Nick, what are you doing, dude?” Connor said it quietly but matter-of-factly. “Get out of here.”
Nick kept his eyes locked on Zack. “It is time someone put Zack in his place. I am here to do that.” He said it loud enough for Zack to hear.
Connor could not believe his ears. Neither could Wade. They couldn’t believe what they were hearing. Was he serious?
Zack started to smile, then giggle, and in a few seconds he was all-out laughing. “You…are here…to put ME…in MY place? You and what army?” He laughed a few more seconds and then regained his composure.
He straightened himself up to his full six-foot height, replaced the maniacal smile with a scowl, and stared straight at Nick. “I don’t think so, re-turd.” He punctuated the ‘’-turd” as he always did with his favorite insult.
“Nick…” Connor tapped his misguided friend on the shoulder.
“Yes?” Nick never turned, keeping his gaze fixed in Zack’s direction.
“Get…out…of…here. Now. You are going to get us all killed. You are not helping matters, you are making them worse. Now please, just go while you still got legs…K?”
Wade chimed in: “Yeah, dude…you’re not helping. Nothing personal, we just don’t want to see ya’ get your rear kicked.”
Nick never took his eyes off of Zack. “Look you two. I really, really appreciate you looking out for me. I appreciate you trying to protect me from the big, bad bully. There is a lesson you both need to learn…right here, right now.”
“This isn’t exactly the best time for lessons, you know?” Connor was more than a tad irritated.
“The lesson is this: Do not judge the book by its cover. All is not as it seems, and for you to assume that I am incapable of taking care of myself is arrogant and insulting.”
This caused Connor and Wade to feel like a couple of ass-bags. They had never thought that they were insulting their friend, they had just assumed that…ah, yeah. That was the rub now, wasn’t it? They had assumed.
Connor began to fumble for an apology, even though this really wasn’t the time for it. “Hey, look man…I’m sorry if…But I mean, just look at ya’! What were we supposed to…”
Nick cut him off by holding up his hand. “Never mind. Not the right time or place. We have business at hand, yes?” He stared into Connor’s eyes for a moment with that blank, emotionless gaze…and suddenly flashed a huge smile.
“Don’t worry, my friends…I got this.” He patted their heads, and as quickly as Nick had shown off that grin of his it was gone again, rendering his face emotionless and distant. That face…something about it just made Connor uneasy. He felt a shiver run down his spine.
Zack could still not wrap his brain around what he was seeing. This…this…pipsqueak was daring to challenge him. And he looked serious! No matter. He would make short work of him and then finish off the other two.
“Hey, rodent…don’t think I’m gonna show you any mercy just because you’re a runt! You understand me? You’re dog meat!” He glowered at Nick, his face contorted in a twisted mass of anger and evil. “I am so gonna kick your ass, runt!”
Nick slowly stood upright, bringing his 4’6” frame to its full, totally unintimidating height. He faced Zack, the big, bad bully, stepping out to the middle of the street, eyes fixed on his nemesis.
He did not display any particular stance. As a matter of fact Connor and Wade thought he looked somewhat…relaxed. An odd defensive posture if ever they saw one.
Zack sensed easy pickins. And that was his first mistake. He started towards the skinny little kid in the middle of the street with every intention of wiping the asphalt with Nick’s face. This was gonna be fun.
And then it was on. Dude.
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