Oh joy, Frank is involved in this story

John was convinced that whoever invented the school bus secretly hated children.

First of all, the thing had no suspension or shocks to speak of. Every bump or pothole on the road went straight through to John’s spine, and while his new Gamer’s Body skill did ensure physical damage was taken as HP damage rather than actual harm, it apparently didn’t stop soreness or damage that was just low enough to not hurt but still annoy.

Secondly, no seatbelts for students. Not that most of the intellectual deserts on the bus would use them, but still. One would think a bus full of children should have some form of safety measures for the kids in the event of an accident.

And then there was the upholstery on the seats. Not only did it manage to be somehow always cold as ice in winter and hot and sticky in the summer, but it also seemed to be the perfect material to get that eau de unwashed student locked in. Which, considering the meatheads on the football team, it usually smelled something like ball sacks and nachos.

How did John know this? Well, maybe he didn’t quite know what the stench of ball sacks and nachos was, but he did know what the seats smelled like quite well. Especially now that Frank was shoving his face right into one of them.

“Fucking dweeb! Move your scrawny ass before I kick it off the bus!”

“Good morning to you too…” John grumbled, and as Frank let his head go, he picked himself up and marched his ass to the back of the bus. The bully gave a laugh as he did, high fiving one of the gorillas also on the football team that they managed to pick on someone half their size and got him to change bus seats. Truly only the greatest of accomplishments could be completed by Frank “my IQ is room temperature in winter” Dickinson.

John had known Frank since middle school, and even back then the man was more meat than mind. He was good at sports, and apparently managed to get some rather hefty accomplishments as a quarterback for the high school team. John had foolishly hoped that Frank would be off to some sports college to pursue a career in the NFL, one that would hopefully be cut short by an injury and leave the bully with little more than a few dozen concussions and a question of where it all went wrong. But no, apparently Frank’s dad also went to Ashcroft Academy, and if it was good enough for him, it was good enough for his boy! Plus, Ashcroft was pretty well known for the sports stars it could churn out, so really, it would have been foolish on Frank’s part to not go to this prestigious finishing school.

And apparently Frank could only be foolish in terms of studying or basic intelligence, not in finding new ways to make John’s life more miserable.

John let out a defeated sigh. He had no idea why he thought his new powers would instantly propel him to newfound stardom. All he had were a couple of skills that gamified his life and the ability to look at people. Real top of the line magic powers there! Maybe if he looked at them more he could somehow level up Observe and look even harder! Oooh, how wonderfully exciting.

Well, it was better than sitting here and stewing in self loathing. So he might as well try.

-

Craig Green

Class: Geek

Level: 3

-

Greggory Swanson

Class: Running Back

Level: 5

-

Celinya Pict

Class: Diva

Level: 4

-

Wait, that was how Celinya spelled her name? John thought for years it was spelled normally. Who in the hippie loving crap were her parents?

John rolled his eyes and continued his little information gathering.

-

Courtney Shannon

Class: Student

Level: 2

-

Jacob Gates

Class: Theater Kid

Level: 4

-

‘What the target thinks of me? Like in the moment or in general?’ John pondered, and tapped the pop up to learn a bit more.

Relationship Points (RP)

A numerical representation of the target’s opinion of the user, on a scale from -200 to +200

-200 RP: This person loathes you. There is nothing about you that they enjoy. **** would be considered a kindness if granted to you, as they would prefer to see your existence brought to a torturous end. Everyone that associates with you has been tainted by their hate of you, as you are by far the worst person to ever exist.

-150 RP: This person despises you. If you were to suddenly up and disappear, you would be improving their life. However, their hate of you goes far enough that they will make it an active part of their life to torment you.

-100 RP: This person hates you. Thinking about you puts a frown on their face and they can find very little positive about you. They would prefer to never spend time with you and will try to get you to leave if they are in the same vicinity as you.

-50 RP: This person does not like you. Maybe you just have a face they don’t like or have a habit they hate or do something that annoys them, but they don’t like you. However, they do understand you have some reason to be kept around and can see some good in you. But they will by no means choose to spend their free time with you.

0 RP: This person is unaware of your existence or has no strong feelings about you one way or another. They would describe you as “probably a person who exists.”

+50 RP: This person likes you. It can be budding romantic or platonic feelings but this person actively enjoys having you around. They wouldn’t call you a friend, but an acquaintance seems too dismissive.

+100 RP: This person cares deeply for you. You are a good friend or a crush that has blossomed into true friendship. This person will actively like spending time with you and seek to do more of it. They feel they can trust you and that you won’t let them down.

+150 RP: This person loves you. Whether in terms of a familial bond, a bond of romance, or a bond of deep friendship, this person would never think to betray you. You are a solid foundation in their life, and to spend time with you is an improvement on their day.

+200 RP: This person is devoted to you. You are this person’s everything. They love you deeply and their heart is yours. Nothing could shake them from their devotion, and you have a true bond for all time.

Well, that went from potentially terrifying to potentially amazing real quick. John really hoped there was no one out there who managed to already have -200 RP with him, but there was also a part of him that wondered just what he would have to do to get someone to hate him that much. Based solely on descriptions, he didn’t even hate Frank that much, and that man had tormented him since middle school.

Actually, speaking of the monosyllabic wonder, John decided to use a quick Observe on the man to see how strong his opinion of John was.

-

Frank Dinkinson

Class: Quarterback

Level: 7

RP: -157

-

Yeah that made sense. Frank hated him and actively sought him out to torment him. Based on the descriptions, the fact that he actively hunted John throughout the day meant he had to have at least -150 RP.

But then what about Frank’s friends? Or his girlfriend, Vanessa? Granted, Vanessa was nowhere to be seen on the bus as she probably had enough money to buy an entire fleet of luxury cars if she so desired, but John could at least check in on Tweedledum and Tweedledummer of Frank’s little entourage.

-

Lyndon Maddox

Class: Halfback

Level: 6

RP: -124

-

Harvey Preston

Class: Running Back

Level: 6

Rp: -102

-

Huh. Neither of them were high enough to seek John out, but just generally disliked him. If Frank weren’t around, they probably wouldn’t chase John down just to bully him. Maybe they would still pick on John whenever their paths crossed, but it wouldn’t be something they sought out to do.

Good to know that John could continue to place the blame of his torment solely on one person. John already had enough to do with hating Frank, he didn’t need to add some guy with as rich of a last name as “Preston” to his hated people list.

Just as John was about to give the bus another once over, picking the people he hadn’t used Observe on yet as well as checking his relationship status with the already Observed, John realized that the bus was making the final turn to get into the school parking lot. As Ashcroft came into view, John could feel excitement filling his body once more. Sure, this morning wasn’t great thanks to Frank, but that was just a fluke! John woke up with magic powers! His life was like a video game! He surely had at least decent chances of something exciting happening! He had a chance for his life to finally turn around and become an amazing adventure!

---

Ashcroft Academy. Founded long ago as a special finishing school, designed to take the best of the best and prepare them for a far greater future than what high school could do. College classes were taught by some of the best teachers in the country, sports teams that gave college teams a run for their money, and a lineup of some of the most prestigious alumni in American history.

Yeah, John still wasn’t sure why they didn’t just form a college. Or do all this in high school. But it helped John prepare more for his future and he would get to skip most of the pointless freshman and sophomore classes that most students had to take. Plus, the counselors were really good at helping students figure out what they actually wanted to do in college, so that was helpful too. It used to be a private finishing school for only the most prestigious and rich students, but apparently there was some big trial decades ago during the civil rights era that opened the school up to any eligible students in the Springfield area.

John’s family was one of the ones who profited from this change, as his single mom would have not been looked on kindly by those old acceptance boards. John looked over his right shoulder as he entered the building, seeing all the photos they had of the graduating classes. For some inexplicable reason, before the trial that opened the school, every graduating class was full of rich white assholes. Oh, and was that a former high ranking member of the Klan in one of the photos? One who was prestigious in the school up until that trial and now his involvement in the school was scrubbed away? Huh, weird!

Who would have thought a prestigious finishing school that can deny people for any reason would also happen to be very VERY racist?

John rolled his eyes, passing the dark past as he walked over towards his locker. It was on the other side of the school, giving him plenty of time to look around his school. Students from all walks of life made their way to their lockers or classes, and the halls were filled with everyone from jocks to geeks to preppy girls to goth outcasts. What once would have had a max class size of 25 now sported over 300 students per class, which now filled the remodeled halls of the old building.

Additionally, John could see a few of the teachers either monitoring the halls of the school or standing near the doors of their classrooms. John briefly contemplated making his way past the art room to see if he could catch a glimpse of Ms. Summers, the hottest teacher in school as well as one of the instructors that actually seemed to like him. But he would see her later anyway, and his class being on the opposite side of where his locker was really did cut him short for time most mornings.

So John ignored the temptations of lust and hedonism, walking over to his locker to swap out his books. Mentally he went through the classes he had for the day and started pulling books. Chemistry, art, English, a study hall then lunch, programming, and finally world history. All for college credits, of course. Plus, in half of the classes he was already caught up with the work so he would basically have the class period to mess around with his newfound powers. Maybe if he did some more Observing, it would level up again. Ooh, what if another member of the school was magic too! He could see if he could find them and they cou-

A heavy hand slammed against the locker next to him, causing John to almost leap out of his skin. John slowly turned, and much to his chagrin, Frank Dinkinson seemed to have not been satisfied with his bus-based tormenting of John and came back for more.

“Morning, dipshit,” Frank said, his smile dripping with contempt. “Did you know it’s the season of giving?”

“Frank, it’s September. Christmas is the season of giving and isn’t for another few months,” John deadpanned.

Frank shook his head. “No no, see, there’s this new charity going on and this season they really need some help. It's the “Give Frank your Money” fund. Really, it's going to help out people in need.”

‘Oh, great. He’s gone from pushing my face in a gross seat to shaking me down for my lunch money. Soon enough he might graduate to Indian burns and wet willies.’ John thought to himself, slowly closing his locker. “Frank, I really don’t have any mo-”

“Now, see, the charity only works if you give them some money. And if you don’t have any money to give, they’ll have to take something else.” Frank held up a threatening fist and shook it a bit. “So how about you give to those in need, Newman?”

Now, if John were to look back at this exact moment with the power of hindsight, he probably would have just sucked it up, pulled out a $5 from his backpack, and lied about not having more. This wasn’t the newest thing for Frank, and John had been dealing with it for years. But that day, that moment, something snapped in John. He woke up this morning with magic powers, and still Frank was a problem in his life. Why should he have to put up with Frank? Why should he have to give that dumb meathead the satisfaction of ruining his day again? Why should John Newman have to deal with FRANK GODDAMN DICKINSON?!

So John turned to Frank, and before his brain could tell him to shut up for his own safety, said, “Oh, I’m sorry, Frank! I didn’t know you were in need of money! What, did your rich girlfriend finally cut you off when your steroid-infested baby dick managed to leave her disappointed again? Or did she finally move on to something that could offer a better conversation, like maybe a sick and drunk gorilla?”

John didn’t really have time to revel in his elaborate takedown of Frank, as his attention was quickly stolen by Frank grabbing his head and slamming it into the locker with the **** of about 10 semi trucks.

-10 HP!

“Oh, you FUCKED up now, Newman. I’m gonna pound you so fucking hard that you’re gonna look like HAMBURGER MEAT when I’m through with you. You’re gonna-”

“Hey, what’s going on down there?” a teacher yelled out from across the hall.

Frank quickly let go of John, as it was a known fact that Frank was pretty close to getting kicked off the team if he got in trouble again this semester. But that didn’t stop him from leaning down to John, who was still seeing stars, and saying, “After school. By the soccer field. Be there, Newman, or else I’m gonna find you off school grounds, and what I do to you will be even worse.”

With that, Frank stalked off to go fail another test or whatever, leaving John to realize just how much he messed up. And as if to tell him just how badly he did, the universe seemed to remember it with a small popup from his powers.