A 12-year-old boy closes his locker, hearing footsteps behind him. He spins his head around to see three older boys standing there.
"Hey there, Peterson!" One of the boys with chocolate-brown eyes says, in a not-so-friendly way.
Luke, the unfortunate boy, sinks his head in defeat. These boys have been picking on him for three weeks now.
"Can you. . . go away?" Luke pleads, wanting to be left alone. "Ooooooh!" The boys say mockingly.
"You think we'll listen to some scrawny seventh grader?" The leader of the boys darkens his eyes at Luke.
"You're even dumber than you look, aren't ya?"
Luke tries to quickly walk away, but the boy grabs the collar of his shirt, throwing him to the ground.
"Un-huh. We're not done with you yet, Lukey." The boy slams his fists together, making a loud crack. Luke can feel the colour drain from his face.
The boys come closer to him.
"Hey!" A shrill voice screeches from behind. They all turn to see a smaller boy with violet locks, and periwinkle eyes to drown in.
"Leave him alone!" He yells. The leader snickers. "What if we don't? What are you gonna do 'bout it?" Luke shakes his head at the smaller boy, warning him to back away.
The periwinkle-eyed boy grins. "Aren't you guys on strike two with Principal Davis? I could just tell her what you're doing and, you three could get expelled." The boys' once confident faces fade.
"So? It's not like she'd believe you anyway." The smaller boy chuckles. "Really? She'd believe the worst troublemakers in the school, over me, the one student that's never done anything wrong before?"
The threat was enough to make the boys shake in their boots. "Now, go away." The boys scurry off into the distance. Leaving Luke on the floor, baffled.
The smaller boy walks up to him, extending a hand. "Here," He says with a sweet tone. Luke takes his hand, getting to his feet.
"You didn't have to do that," Luke says. "I would've been fine." The smaller boy smiles. "I believe you. I just figured that you wouldn't want to get your butt beat."
Luke returns a grin. "Thanks, um. I didn't quite catch your name?" Luke admits sheepishly.
"Oh, I'm Alexzander. But, I guess you can call me Zander if you'd like." Zander smiles. "I'm Luke," Zander nods, unsure of how to continue their conversation.
"Well, bye," He says awkwardly, beginning to walk away. "Wait!" Luke calls after him. Zander stops his scurry to see Luke chasing after him.
"Do you, maybe, want to be friends?" Zander smiles graciously.
"Sure, Luke."
