Calvin

I like this. The writer requested to remain anonymous.

Calvin stared at the clock. Tick-tock-tick-tock-tick-tock...it would never end. That last five minutes of school every single day.....Nerve-racking. Calvin would swear that highschools existed outside of time and space. Tick....tock....tick...Calvin snuck a glance to his right. Vanessa Hutchins was staring blankly at the chalk board as the teacher explained some property of physics or another. Calvin hated physics. He loathed them with a passion that he lacked for anything else besides Joe. He loathed Joe too. As his mind wandered, he wondered if somehow Joe was the bastard son of the God of physics. If there was a god of physics. The Greeks believed in Logic as a divine concept, so maybe physics was the son of Logic. That would make Joe the illegitimate grandson of Logic. How would that be possible, though? Joe was stupider than a retarded colobus monkey. Calvin shook his head and the tangent fled from his mind. Damn. He liked tangents. They kept him sane. Which was funny, because they were always so insane. He snuck a glance to his left. Susie Derkins was staring at the clock. Susie. Damn life had changed since first grade. Calvin remembered a time when he and Susie couldn’t stand the thought of being around each other. Susie still liked to shove the messy scrawl of a contract that a six year old Calvin had written demanding that she never talk to him again. Strange choice for a girlfriend. Two minutes....Calvin reached under his desk to his backpack. School was hard for him, but today was Friday, blessed Friday, when he would have an entire weekend to be shiftless. One minute....there was a rustling behind him. Joe. Crap. Calvin had forgotten that Joe planned to get back at him today. Sneaking into science class early and sticking a picture of Joe on the “Evolution Billboard” right behind a monkey hadn’t been Calvin’s brightest idea. He hadn’t gotten a detention, but with what Joe was going to do to him, detention was probably preferable. Joe would kill him. Ah well, had to die for something. Ten seconds...nine...eight....seven...six....five...four...three...two...DIIIIIIINNNGNGGG!!!!! The bell went off as if it were the trumpet of every angel in heaven. Calvin sprang up, swung his backpack onto his back, zipped up his hoodie, and took off for the door. The teacher was mumbling something about a test on Monday. But tests did not matter. It was Friday, it was spring, and Calvin’s life was in peril. He brushed past Susie, kissed her cheek, quickly blurting out that he was about to run for his life, and took off out of the hall. Classes were letting out everywhere, but Calvin didn’t care. He had nothing he needed in his locker, he had a good head start, and the flood of people coming out of their classrooms would slow Joe down. Life might not have been good, but at least it was. He reached the front doors as a horde of kids pushed them open, and, seeing a break in the crowd, he took off like a comet. Glancing behind him, he saw Joe exit the school and take off after him. Calvin grinned, made a rude hand gesture, and continued running. Joe might have been a good sprinter on the baseball team, but it was cross country skills that mattered. Calvin thought to himself that he had done himself a disservice by not trying out for the cross country team. Thomp. Thomp. His hightops were not made for running, and they made a loud noise as they hit the pavement. As he reached Maple Street, a stitch formed in his side. Suddenly, from behind him, he heard a yell
“Stop runnin’ you punk! I’m coming for you, you...” Calvin didn’t hang around to pay attention to Joe’s string of expletives. Time was of the essence. Tearing down Maple, Calvin looked for the street sign....Elm. Home stretch. He could hear Joe and his gang of thugs behind him. He estimated that they were maybe fifty yards behind him. He better hurry. If he didn’t, he’d be killed. Green house...red house...blue house...brown house....there it was! White house! His house! Calvin tore up the front stairs, noting the distinct lack of cars in the driveway. His parents weren’t home. He fumbled for his key. Joe and his pals were probably at thirty yards. The key slipped into the lock. Twenty. He turned it, and slipped inside, pulling the key out of the lock and slamming the door, locking it as he did so. He made it. He breathed a sigh of relief. Home. Where nothing would hurt him.
POW!!!!!! Calvin was thrown off his balance as a mass of orange and white collided with him. He wrestled with the figure, but it was no use. He lay on his back, pinned, as Hobbes glared down into his eyes.
“And what did we do today that pissed of Joe?” The tiger’s voice carried an air of disapproval. It occurred to Calvin that it had been eleven years and the tiger could still down him. The tiger’s glare intensified. Calvin realized he hadn’t answered Hobbes’s question.
“I...might have stuck a picture of him behind Australopithicus on the Evolution scale.” Hobbes pulled his paws off Calvin’s shoulders and let Calvin up. Calvin rubbed his shoulders and examined his hoody. A hint of his white t-shirt showed through his red and black-striped hoodie. “Your claws put holes in my favorite hoodie!” Calvin complained. Hobbes gave Calvin a dignified look.
“I most certainly did not. I can’t be accountable for you wearing a hoodie that has holes. Maybe you should get a new one.” Calvin got up and dusted himself off. Ah well, Susie could mend the hoodie.
“Where’s mom?” Calvin followed Hobbes, who was padding into the kitchen. Hobbes opened the fridge and pulled out a plate on which sat two sandwiches. Placing these on the table, Hobbes took out the milk. He closed the fridge door and sat down at the table.
“I believe she went to visit your grandmother at the zoo. Do try the tunafish sandwich, I found a new recipe.” Calvin sat down and took his sandwich. He didn’t take milk, as the combination of flavors wasn’t something he liked. Hobbes downed his tunafish sandwich and drank a tall glass of milk. Calvin took a bite of his sandwich.
“It’s not a zoo, it’s called a retirement community.” Hobbes reached for a magazine and shot Calvin a glance. “Zoo, retirement community....all the same. Old people in homes where people come and look at them.” Calvin sighed in exasperation. The older Calvin got, the grumpier Hobbes became. Finishing his sandwich, Calvin took out his phone. Hobbes glared at the phone. He didn’t like cell phones. Calvin poked his tongue at Hobbes and flipped the phone open. He texted Susie to come over at about six. “I assume you were texting Susie?” Hobbes asked, a sly look in his eye. Calvin rolled his eyes. Since he had first started dating Susie last year, Hobbes had never let up about it, claiming prophetic status since he had predicted the union since Calvin was four.
“As a matter of fact, I was, she and I are going to a movie tonight.” Hobbes raised his eyebrows, putting his paw to his forehead.
“The scandal! The scandal! The dictator-for-life of G.R.O.S.S. DATING a GIRL!!!! WOOHOOOHOOOHOOO!!!!” Calvin rolled his eyes, refusing to take the bait. Having amused himself, the tiger wiped his eyes and hopped down from the chair. “Shall we go and engage in the ritual of de-education?” Calvin snickered.
“To the television!”