Disclaimer: I do not own Recess or any character their in. I own nothing recess related although I did attend recess as a child ^^.
Chapter 1: The Wrong Side
Spinelli had woken up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. It wasn't very often that she was in a bad mood from the start of the day but it did happen and when it did it was legendary. Last time it had happened she'd found a good outlet in creating a blacktop masterpiece but today was worse than that. Today all she wanted was to hit anything and everything in site.
She shook her fists at passerby's as she shifted her backpack strap to the other side. She was almost glad that today was a school day; otherwise she'd probably have to talk to her parents about feelings and junk. Instead she was looking forward to her friends being able to cheer her up, they were usually good for a laugh or two. Besides at recess she'd get to cream Lawson and his goons, at least if they played a decent sport like football.
Feeling marginally better she entered class and slipped into her chair by the window. Her other friends were settling in. Laughing and talking like usual. Spinelli didn't want to say anything quite yet so she drummed her fingertips against the desk trying to get rid of some of her agitation. It grew more when it seemed that no one in her group had even noticed.
'They're too busy talking about some lousy invention that Gretchen made to worry about me.' She thought glaring in their direction.
Thankfully class started soon after so she was able to ignore them during that time as she doodled angrily in her book.
When the bell for recess rang though Spinelli was the first one of the door. Finally she'd get a little time to blow off some steam. Preferably by hitting people…Lawson or Randall would do just fine.
The air was cool on her face as she walked around looking for a good target. Eventually the rest of the group caught up with her and noticed that she was a bit off,
"Hey Spinelli what's the rush?" TJ asked as he kept up on her right.
Spinelli waved her arm dismissively,
"Looking for a target, I got to tell you Teej today I just cant shake my mood."
"Target? What does that mean?" Gus asked the group.
TJ frowned,
"Nothing good that's for sure. Look Spinelli I know you're in a bad mood and junk but its not right to take it out on another kid."
Spinelli's head snapped in his direction,
"Any kid I pick will deserve it trust me, anyway what exactly is it your trying to say Teej?" she questioned him half glaring.
"I'm just saying that usually when you get like this its pretty bad for passerby's unless you start making a masterpiece or whatever. How 'bout we get you some chalk and you can blow off steam that way huh Spin?" he said patting her arm.
Spinelli pushed his arm off glaring at him,
"I don't feel like it." She said gritting her teeth.
Just then Lawson walked over carrying a kickball and smirking at them,
"Hey fourth graders you playing today or what? Maybe your just scared of my awesomess right?"
Spinelli's eyes flashed dangerously before she launched herself at Lawson,
"Why I oughta-!" she started as she tackled him to the ground and he started screaming.
"Spinelli stop!" TJ called as he, Mickey, and Vince pried her off of him.
Lawson screamed,
"Not again!" before he and his crew ran off.
Spinelli was still struggling to free herself when they disappeared from site,
"Let me go! Let me at 'em!" she said ferociously as she kicked and waved her arms.
"Stop it Spin."
"Yeah Spinelli your acting like a jerk." Vince added in.
Spinelli pushed all three of them back away from her glaring at them,
"You're always calling me that! And your always telling me to stop doing things that I feel like doing!" she said stomping the ground hard.
"But Spinelli I think TJ and Vince were merely pointing out the extremities of your behavior patterns, trying to keep you from doing anything you might regret." Gretchen entered reasonably.
"That's just it I wouldn't have regretted creaming Lawson or anybody I'd have probably felt better that way. You guys are just embarrassed by me is that it?!" she yelled.
"Well I have to admit it is a little embarrassing when you go around pounding guys for no good reason." Gus piped up.
"Yeah Spinelli we are just looking out for you we wouldn't want people misconstruing your spunkiness for bullying." Mickey added trying to be helpful.
"Oh so now I'm a bully am I? I see what's going on here. Fine if I'm such a bad person then obviously you don't want me in the group anymore. Well I don't need you, I don't need any of ya!" she said kicking dust towards them and storming away.
"But Spinelli wait-!" TJ cried as he moved to go after her but Vince blocked his path shaking his head.
"You know the drill Teej she'll blow off some steam and then come back as usual."
TJ frowned,
"I don't know Vince she seemed pretty mad just now and not normal mad but on top of her bad mood bad."
"Nah your just imagining things," Vince said waving his hand, "lets just go play some basketball we have a five man team."
With that he and the others headed towards the basketball court. TJ's eyes followed the direction, which Spinelli had disappeared from,
"I don't know Vince, I don't like this feeling I'm getting. Something tells me this isn't going to be so quickly solved." He said but he too followed after a few seconds.
"Stupid lousy best friends," Spinelli said kicking the big trash can at the back of the school, "embarrassed of me are they well I'll give them something to be embarrassed about!"
Having said that she kicked her boot into the side of the trash can making a little dent,
"Who needs them when they think I'm a bully anyway, ain't they never noticed I don't hit kids littler than me? Guess that doesn't matter much. They're just looking down on me because I'm not a complete goody two shoes like the rest of them. You'd think the prankster prince would be a little understanding about a girls need to punch things but he's just as bad. Ugh I'm so mad right now I could just-"
She let out a loud growl, which sent some nearby third graders running in the opposite direction.
"That's quite a growl you've got there." a voice said from the corner of the building on the other side of the trash can.
Spinelli frowned curiously as she peeked around the corner only to come face to face with Greg Skeens aka Graffiti kid,
"Skeens what are you doing here?"
Skeens backed up from the wall and used his hand to indicate his latest masterpiece. It was vividly colored with the words 'Skeens Rules' painted against the red bricks.
"Isn't it a little obvious that its you who did that if you put your name?" Spinelli asked as she looked it over.
Skeens shrugged,
"Yeah but what's the point of doing something bad if I don't get the credit for it?"
"If you say so," Spinelli said looking at it closer, "you know Skeens your art isn't as bad as I thought it was, from up close it actually looks pretty cool. I mean Finster will have your head but its not like anything else was up on this wall right?"
She had never really had the opportunity to see Skeens graffiti before because she hadn't ever stopped to care. But with her mood as it was and her adrenaline waning away she figured looking at this painting was the only thing to do at the moment.
Skeens looked around as if waiting for some more people to pop up, when they didn't he turned to Spinelli and asked,
"Detweiler send you here on some kooky mission or somethin'?"
Spinelli scowled smacking her fist into the brick wall in front of her,
"Don't. even. mention. him. right. now." she growled causing Skeens to lift an eyebrow.
"You guys get into a fight?"
Spinelli refused to speak for a few seconds as she fought with her temper but finally she came out and told him what had happened.
"Ah," Skeens said knowingly, "so they don't like your tough attitude? I always though that's what they wanted you for you know to be the muscle or somethin'. Otherwise why have you around? Eh, but then again I never got why you were in that group anyway, such wasted talent."
Spinelli's eyebrows raised,
"You think I got talent? At what?"
"Why you're the toughest kid in school. I bet if you even wanted to you could beat up Gelman and Kurst the worst. Not that I'd want you two since them are my friends and all. But you know if you were in my group you'd be able to blow off all the steam you wanted to. I wouldn't be embarrassed or nothin' if you wanted to cream a couple of punks. Plus it might stop some of those rumors I've been hearing lately.
"Rumors? What rumors?"
"Eh nothing with any merit I'd guess but word around the street is that your TJ's girl."
"I'M HIS WHAT?!" she half yelled.
Skeens shrugged,
"I only tell 'em how I hear 'em Spin."
Spinelli looked away from him as she thought. She had to admit that some of the things Skeens was saying made a lot of sense to her. It would be nice to be able to use her strength without people telling her she was a bully or something like that. She'd be able to hit whatever and whomever she wanted without being ganged up by her group about how it was wrong and all. Plus those rumors had to stop and if she started hanging out with a different group of course they would. Besides hadn't he told her that she had talent?
When she stopped to think of it she realized that she had more in common with Skeens then her old friends. Like her he knew some mechanical things, which he learned from family who had gone to jail. Spin's brother Joey had been in jail for a while now. It wasn't something she brought up a lot because her old friends couldn't really relate. None of them had family in the joint. Plus Skeens enjoyed making art, which was something she'd realized she was into last time she was in a bad mood. Like his graffiti, her masterpiece had been washed away. She hadn't really thought too much about it and he didn't seem to mind as many times as his graffiti was covered up, he simply kept on doing it. A girl could respect that kind of perseverance.
When she thought about it she couldn't really figure out how she and TJ's group had gotten along. They were all so different from her. TJ had played on those skills to conduct elaborate plans. She wondered if they'd get along in a car together when all they could do was talk the whole way. Spinelli was pretty sure she could get along with Skeens in the car though. He understood her better than the others. Skeens would never call her a bully or a jerk.
It was then that Spinelli looked up at him,
"You know what I think I will try your group for a while but if I don't like it I'm leaving."
"Fair enough," said Skeens, "being bad isn't just a job it's an art. Besides when your bad you do things the way you want them to be done, you don't answer what you don't want to, you don't do what you don't want to."
Spinelli's lips twitched a little into a smirk,
"Being bad is sounding better and better."
Skeens waved her over to him,
"Come on then Spinelli I think it's high time you were introduced to the others."
Spinelli pulled down her ski cap to a better position on her head and then nodded with a look of fiery determination,
"Bring 'em on Skeens."