The Hermit

Chapter 3

Gray honestly didn't know how on earth he survived the school day but he managed it.

With 5 shoves, 8 foot trips and a handful of 'pixie' calls.

It wasn't the most eventful day but it sure wasn't the worst.

Gray headed down to his locker to put his books away when he was approached by a small group of freshman girls. From their short skirts and over the top makeup, Gray was sure they were trying their best to 'fit in' with the cool crowd.

Sometimes he wonder why they even try to impress people when their opinions are not even worth twelve cents.

They sashayed over to Gray, noses held high before stopping in front of him. 

Before he could ask if he could help them, a girl kicked his crutches and tripped him over. He fell to the floor in shock and without another second, the other girl dumped a pink slushy over his head.

Blinded by the water, he could barely make out a flash of a camera and the girls cackling in high pitched laughter.

"Awesome! Never thought you would actually do it!" Gray heard the voice of Jeff, loud and clear from across the hallway.

"Pink's a nice colour for you, pixie!" He heard a jeer followed by a guffaw from Andy. A clap sounded and Gray could make out Jeff giving Andy a high-five.

He wiped the drink from his eyes and squinted, only to see Andy handing the girls money, smiling as though they did a job well done. A dim flicker of light in his head and Gray instantly burned.

It was a dare. A cruel and thoughtless dare.

That just showed how low Gray was in the food chain. He was officially the school's dare dummy. 

Ignoring the smiling faces and murmuring from the growing crowd of students in the hallway, he picked himself up with his crutches.

Keep your head down. Keep your head down. He spoke his mantra in his head.

His crutches slipped from under his arm from the spilt slushy and he fell on the floor again. The crowd roared louder at his feeble attempts to stand up and it became an insufferable drone in his ear.

He took a sharp breath. He can do this. He didn't cared what people did to him. They can't break him. He's stronger than this. Stronger than them. Strong enough to ignore all of them.

With another breath, he picked himself up and grabbed his books. He gave a sharp glare at the crowd but he knew they couldn't see it from under his glasses. He muttered a soft curse under his breath and headed out of the university.

Calm down. Calm down. They're not worth it. They're not worth it. Gray told himself in his head. He brushed past the laughter and smiling faces of the crowd until he reached out of the university.

Ignoring the stares from passerbys, he headed straight home to take a shower and clean out the sticky drink from his hair. 

He ignored his apartment's security guards perplexed look at him and closed the door to his apartment with a slam. 

He was angry, sick of everyone stepping on top of him as though he was their personal door mat. He was human, he didn't deserve to be treated this way.

Gray remembered Mark telling him that everyone had their own reasons for doing what they did but he was starting to think that that wasn't a good enough reason to let everyone walk over him like gum.

He hated the torment and more so, he hated the fact that nobody gave him a helping hand. Was it so hard to help others or was their reputation not worth risking over a bespectacled boy like him?