"Waaah... Henry, does he... does he think baby's gift is a joke? Baby put her whole heart into it... and he's laughing at her..."
"The hell did you just say?"
Henry exploded. He shoved the athletics captain hard. "What pens our class uses is none of your damn business. Who asked you?"
The captain stumbled back and fired up in return.
"Are you out of your mind? I was trying to do you a favor! When the scanner can't read your answers, don't come crying about it!"
"Nobody needs your advice."
Our classmates closed in around him, united in fury.
"Exactly. We want to use them. What's it to you?"
"Clearly never seen anything beyond his own backyard. He wouldn't understand our class tradition!"
A fight was about to break out when teachers rushed over and pulled the two sides apart.
The students from the other class looked at us like we were certifiably insane, shook their heads, and walked away.
But our classmates rallied from that little skirmish feeling more united than ever, morale sky-high, as if they'd just defended some sacred honor.
I leaned against the wall and watched it all with cold detachment.