Dungeons & Disappointment

Chapter 2: Bad Bullies

As I tossed my now empty nugget box aside, I noticed that there were little snowflakes that began to fall all around us, very, very gradually accumulating on the ground.

"Hey, it's the first snow of the year," James said, catching some of the snowflakes. "You think they'll cancel school?"

"Maybe if there's like forty feet of this stuff," I replied. "Now, I'm cold, let's get the hell home."

"Not so fast!!!"

That voice came from behind all of us, and the moment that it hit us, I stiffened up in fear. That scratchy, rather deep voice belonged to none other than the school bully, Brennon Perrett, flanked by two of his idiotic friends, Miguel and Tania. Brennon was a rather shorter kid, with this stupid, messy crop of brown hair that hung like an ugly mop over his head. Miguel Chester, the kid next to him, was much taller than him, with a rather ferrety face that was always, somehow twisted into a scowl. And finally, on the other side of Brennon was Tania Scott. She was one of the tallest, strongest, and meanest girls at the school, and truthfully, was one of the only ones that I feared, besides Brennon and Miguel.

"Heya there, Squeaks," Tania said, pushing past Brennon as her eyes locked on me.

God, I hated that name. Have your voice crack in front of bullies one time, and this is what you get. Just an awful, stupid nickname that sticks with you over the years, like old gum to the bottom of your shoe.

"Just get out of here, Tania," I said, trying to keep my voice intact. "Just leave us alone for

"Nah, we got some bones to pick with ya," She said with a big, toothy, and ugly grin. "Especially with you, Squeaks."

And with that, she grabbed me by the back of my shirt and nearly effortlessly hoisted me straight up off my feet. I kicked at her, trying to force her to let me go, but my weak hits were doing nothing against her.

"Dude, Squeaks, how the fuck are you so tiny?" Tania said as Brennon and Miguel laughed. "Did you never get past puberty?"

"Just let go of me, Tania!!"

"Oooh, I'm scared!" She said as Brennon and Miguel began harassing the rest of my friends. "What the hell are you gonna do? Cast one of your stupid little nerd spells?"

All of the bullies started laughing, and I felt my cheeks going beet red from the embarrassment. I began to wildly slap Tania's hand behind my head, but my weak hits still did nothing against her as she only tightened her grip on my back. Truthfully, I hated my stunted stature and lightweight form. I longed to be as big as Tania, just for the opportunity to fight back against those stupid bullies, but wistful thinking would do me no good as I slapped and kicked, trying to have her loosen her grip on me.

"Yeah, come on Squeaks, try and fight me!" Tania said. "If you wanna go, I'll beat you straight to the dirt!"

I kicked and kicked, and finally, I kicked all the way out, then swung my leg and heel, like a sledgehammer, straight into Tania's stomach, and this time, all of the air was forced out of her lungs with a loud oof, and she collapsed to the ground, dropping me as I scampered away on the wet ground. I looked back over at my group of friends, and I saw that Brennon had taken Ron's glasses and was holding them in a clenched fist as if he was about to break them. He had his hand planted on Ron's chest, still holding him at bay as Ron pleaded for the glasses back, and Miguel was holding back both James and Hannah as the bullies laughed maniacally. Brennon shoved Ron down into the dirt as Tania got up, and I scampered to my feet, balling my fists to prepare for the fight ahead of me.

"I'll crush you to a pulp, Squeaks!!" Tania said, trudging forward as she tried to get the air back into her lungs.

I backed up on the cold, wet ground, the surface of the dirt almost freezing me through my skin and down to my bones. Tania made another lunge at me, trying to grab me by the shirt again, but she missed, and she grabbed me around the mouth by accident, her hand nearly crushing my jaw as she squeezed against me. But, as she squeezed my jaw, I slammed my teeth down onto her hand, nearly tearing her hand. Instantly, Tania screamed, trying to yank her hand out of my mouth, and I let her go, wiping the blood from my teeth as she nursed her hand.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?!!?" Tania screamed, backing away in disgust. "God these guys are fucking weird!!"

She kept backing up, trying to get away from all of us, and I saw Brennon and Miguel let go of Ron, James, and Hannah, and they both flanked me, holding their fists up as they readied themselves for a fight.

"Guys, get the hell out of here!" I said, eyeing both Miguel and Brennon. "Just get out of here!!"

My friends all nodded, and I saw Ron grab his glasses while James and Hannah booked it, trying their hardest to get away from what was happening. Tania had retreated farther and farther away by now, but as I brought my eyes back to Brennon, both he and Miguel charged forward, and Brennon planted his fist right into my face as Miguel tripped me from behind, sending me falling straight down into the dirt below me. I hit the ground with a crash, and I heard both Miguel and Brennon laughing yet again.