Bound by a Prank

Dude we're gonna be late"

"I'm walking as fast as I can right now. Don't push it"

Hunter scoffed at Josh who was waddling like a penguin, his geeky glasses slightly askew on his face, a sheen of sweat glistening on his face.

Josh had a thing with neatness, he couldn't bear being dirty. He didn't play like normal children, act like normal children or ask questions like normal children.

Like yesterday, he asked his mother why the lightning glared across the sky before the horrid thunder stroke.

The puzzled mother told him it acted as a warning so we would know if thunder was gonna strike soon.

Josh, his best friend since seven was a little overweight and wasn't helping matters at the moment.

"Hurry up. Look Zoe's waiting". Sure enough Zoey Chase was waiting impatiently for them.

"What are you guys? Ducks?" Zoey asked, tapping her foot on the sidewalk.

Zoey was shorter than Hunter, had hazel colored eyes and was African Asian. 

"Josh caused it"

Josh huffed and panted his way over "Was...late...sorry"

"Whatever. Let's just go, the buses is gone now"

Hunter, Josh and Zoey trekked silently under the few rays of the sun and made it to school six minutes before the bell rang.

They all went to their lockers, Hunter's and Zoey's were three lockers apart while Josh had his near the end of the rows of lockers in the hallway.

Josh took out his Biology notes and the project he spent all night working on, and shoved his backpack inside his locker. As he slammed the locker shut, he could sense someone or something behind him.

He gulped.

He didn't need two guesses to guess right.

He turned around and towering over him was Brent and his clique who did all his biddings and all but worshipped the ground he stood on.

"If it isn't little smarty pants"

"I wanna ge...get to class ppl-ease" Josh stammered 

"Hey, whats that?" he asked,.pointing at his biology project.

"My science project" 

"Gimme that" Brent snarled as he snatched it away from his hands.

"Nooo" Josh pleaded "please, I need it for class"

Brent handed the handwritten brochure to Cory, one of his minions.

"Here, read it to me". Cory launched into a self acclaimed speech about frogs and their oscillatory behavior of their pharynx producing special sounds and signals vibrating inside the water to attract mates for reproduction.

Brent yawned. "Boring. But, I'm keeping it."

Josh whined. "That's not fair, then what will I submit in class?"

"Make do with this". Another disciple, Jake, thrust a ratty piece of paper at him.

At that moment, the bell rang for first period, and the boys ran away. At first, hr thought it was because they were eager to get to class but looking back, he was wrong.

So Josh did what curious kids do best and he opened the paper thrust forcefully at his hands, he was dumbfounded.

"Clear the halls people. Principal coming through". Sure enough, Principal H. Rockwell (Nobody knew his first name but they were guessing it went in the ranks of Dicky) barreled through the few lingering students loitering the halls and stood beside Josh, brandishing a megaphone.

Then he yelled in Josh's ear. "Why aren't you in class!!" through the mega phone.