Patience, or Lack Thereof

Summary: Jodi has little patience for jerks. Tranquility High learns this quickly when Jodi makes a splash.

"Alright guys, wait for the person in front of you to get out on the other side, then go at the whistle. Okay, first swimmers at the ready!" The shrill blast of the teacher's whistle echoed across the room, then twin spashes as the first two swimmers launched themselves into the pool.

Jodi stood about five slots back, arms crossed along her middle with her fingers buried in the thin black cotton of her pilfered T-shirt. Not that Riley would mind that she took it to begin with.

It was the first week of school and apparently Tranquility High School students were required to take swimming at least once in freshman year, and being a junior new to the district she was automatically enrolled to the first available swim class. Oh, joy.

Not that Jodi couldn't swim, because she could, at least efficiently, if not strongly. When she was little, it was one of those things both her parents insisted she know, especially when she took after her dad when it came to natural bouyancy. Or, rather, his lack thereof. If they stopped swimming, they both tended to sink like rocks.

"We aren't like rocks!" her dad's voice drifted up from her memory, back when she was still small enough to be carried on his shoulders. "We're lobsters! We just scuttle along the bottom, ain't that right princess?"

Jodi smiled slightly at the memory as she shuffled forward as the line moved up a space.

So, no, Jodi could swim just fine. Her problem was actually the about the swimsuits the school provided. Not that they were bad, being a one piece and all, but the design of it left her whole back on full display.

Since she started living in the Tanaka household Jodi had become much more comfortable with her damaged body these days, but she was under no illusions of how bad they looked. While completely healed, the energon burns on her back had settled into a darker pink than the one on her arm, the surface looking raw and shiny. The slashes across her back were raised and angry looking, lined with tiny little divots where the stitches had held her flesh together post-spinal surgery.

In other words, her back looked grotesque. She had already made it a point to change for gym in one of the bathroom stalls instead of the main locker room. When swimming had been due to start, she had presented her problem to her teacher and had gotten his permission to wear a T-shirt over the swimsuit.

There had been some light teasing from the other students, all freshmen, when she had entered the pool area with extra clothing, one boy being so bold as to actually tell her that she was too damn skinny to be hiding her body. The only reply she had graced them with was a raised middle finger and an eye roll.

The whistle blew again and the line scooted forward until the girl in front of her dove in. Jodi eyed her progress, and pointedly ignoring the hushed conversation behind her, she stepped up to the lip of the pool once she hit the halfway point.

Before the whistle could signal her turn, Jodi was given a firm shove from behind just as someone grabbed the collar of her shirt, yanking up as she tumbled feet-first into the water. Unable to take a proper breath before she was submerged, Jodi coughed and sputtered as she broke the surface, taking several deep gulps of air as she treaded water.

She noticed the cackle of unrestrained laughter, she turned and saw that the boy behind her was holding her shirt. Once he realized she was glaring at him, it sent him on a new fit and he laughed even harder, leaning on his friend for support. "Hey, man, it's not my fault you fell in!" he lifted up the shirt, gesturing with it. "Tried to catch you and everything! You slipped right out!"

Irritation flared up as she swam up to the edge and held up her hand, struggling to keep her voice as neutral as possible. "Give me my shirt."

"Get out and come get it. Or are you too afraid to show us your ribby body?"

That little shit.

Yes, Jodi was on the thin side. Last year she had been a waif, the stress of living with her uncle and the amount of time she spent on the streets certainly hadn't done her any favors. But these days she was thin the way her father had been thin, with very little body fat and a surprising amount of strong, lean muscle. And thanks to her house mates, she now knew how to utilize it.

"Fine."

Steeling herself, Jodi hauled herself out of the pool and stalked her dripping wet self towards the jackass, ignoring the gasps as the first of her peers noticed her scars. She stood before the punk holding her shirt, arms spread out. "Can I have my shirt back now?

"Nah, I think I like you better like this." The look he gave her was borderline lecherous

Oh, eww.

"Even with these?" Jodi rotated her wrist to display the straight burn on her arm, and used her other hand to slick her dripping bangs out of her eyes. "I can dig scars."

"Oh really? You sure about that?" Unprompted, Jodi gave a slow pivot on the ball of her foot, giving her audience a full turn. There were more gasps, and one muffled "oh my god" from a girl who sounded like she was going to be sick. When she finished the rotation, the boy was sheet white and his eyes were doing a fabulous impersonation of a goldfish. She gave him a vicious smile. "Thats what I thought." She snatched her shirt from limp fingers and turned to walk away, but the irritation was still sizzling beneath her skin and it made her pause.

Oh, what the hell.

She spun, planting her feet firmly like Prowl taught her, and swung a right hook right at his slack jaw.