Bullied

Three

By the time Justin recovered from the blow, I dashed past the small group of people near me and opened the door. To my surprise, no one tried t o stop me. It all happened so fast. The teacher came in and after witnessing everything, called others. Justin had lost the strength to fight back and just stared at Fred, who spat on his face as the gym teacher pulled him out of the classroom.

I got some small stitches on my chest since I was bleeding a little. Justin, along with the group that helped him with the plan were questioned. Justin's friends confessed to everything, adding how none of them knew how far it was going to get this time.

Justin's father, Jake the butcher, was called in by the principal. Less than an hour later, Justin was kicked out of school for everyone to see. Some were satisfied, some were disgusted and some were angry that this didn't happen sooner. I felt relieved. It was only a few days later when he felt hate. Hate at how far and how bad everything got.

"Are you okay?" I asked Fred as he sat on our bench.

"It's... It's okay. Just..." he stuttered, and then stopped. His uncle was going to get him in a few hours. For now Fred sat still. It dawned on me that Amy was gone too. I was the only one left to give him any company. Fred's friend group came after the first period but he didn't talk to any of them. I don't blame him. They knew what was going to happen yet didn't warn him.

"I'm sorry, I..." I say to comfort him but he shakes his head.

"Don't be. At least you came to help," He sighed. "You've been here for like a month right?" I nod. "Yet I must say, you did not struggle to grow a pair of balls. I've been imagining how big your balls must be," Fred tried to lighten the atmosphere despite everything that had happened.

"You're not that far off yourself. He had your throat yet you kicked him in his tiny balls. If you think my balls are big, you're sitting on bean bags under you," Fred smiled and even if temporarily, seemed relieved.

"This is far from over," Fred said. "He planned this. All of it. He was going to make this much worse. He might even try to do this again. He's far more capable than I expected. One of these days, he might even be waiting for us outside," the thought made both of us uncomfortable, especially because it can actually happen and it has.

"On the bright side, Justin's father will most likely give him the beating of his life," I said and Fred nodded. I can't say what he was thinking but I know what I did. I thought of the time I had complained about Justin to the principal. Justin and Fred were in a fight that only they knew how to start. Justin had taken his payback by throwing rocks at me on his way home. I hadn't actually seen him throw it but I knew for a fact it was him. Luckily I escaped with a few hits on my school bag and arm.

Ever since then I rarely messed with him or even talked to him, and now he was out. Meeting him outside was still a real possibility, a risk I didn't want to take since I played a part in getting him out. Justin won't have to fear the teachers outside. I hoped his father would just move to a different city or something. Once I returned home, I changed and got to thinking.

Of all of the students in his class, he always picked on Fred. He hated Fred and Fred hated him back, yet he almost always went out of his way to taunt him. One a bully and the other a loud mouth who didn't think twice before speaking or in many cases, even lying, what else could have been the end result? The constant sabotage they did to each other was infamous; to the point they even had their supporters. Justin's supporters were forced to exist by him, or so Amy claimed. But then she was a Fred supporter throughout herself. Supporter being a nickname for crush.

I laid on the bed and closed my eyes. I had closed his eyes for what felt like a minute, before mom woke me up. Time for dinner. I was on my way to the kitchen. Mom had already arranged all the plates and dad was helping. I got there and sat looking down at my plate thinking about the conversation I had with Fred earlier.

"Are you okay son?" Dad asked, concerned. The news of what happened in school had reached home.

"I want to leave this school," I blurted out. Neither one of them said anything. "I think I should go to some other school. One with a school bus so I won't have to look over my shoulder for rocks," I looked up at them. "Surely the budget isn't that bad that we couldn't afford to get a better school," Dad nodded.

"I have already checked for other schools but you'll have to wait for them to consider it," Dad told me.

"How long?"

"A week maybe."

"I'll wait. I don't want to go there."

"I understand. I'm sorry. I should've done more research over what kind of school it was."

"It won't happen again," Mom added.

"Yes. It won't. We'll both make sure of it," Dad reassured.

"One with a school bus," I added.

"I've heard of a few but we'll discuss it later. For now, let's just eat and try to forget what happened today," Dad knew this time it was serious. After dinner I left for my room but as I left I heard them discuss it.

"To be honest, I still don't understand why that kid would do such a thing," Mom said but she didn't know what I did. Justin hadn't just wanted to beat Fred but also humiliate him and send a message, a statement. The whole thought itself was more than enough for me to leave the city if I could.