Rusty's Secret

8. Stephanie Inu

Thursday, April 20th, 2023

Norma walked into her 5th grade classroom. She sighed as she looked around. She had no friends. No one to talk to. She sat down and stared at the teacher as she began her lesson.

During recess, she sat on a bench alone. She noticed a group of boys walk up to her. "Hey, bitch!" One of them shouted with a smile. "Leave me alone, Apollo..." Norma told him. "Or what? You'll just cry and hide under the playscape again!" He cackled. Norma sat there looking at the ground. "Give me your lunch money" Apollo demanded as he held out his hand. "No!" Norma refused. "Alright" Apollo shrugged. His friends stepped forward and yanked Norma off of the bench and pushed her onto the ground. She dropped her bag of money onto the wood chips. She tried to grab it, but Apollo got to it first. "Thanks, loser" He laughed as he walked away with her money. "Fuck you!" Norma screamed. Apollo and his friends stopped moving and turned around to face her.

"What did you say?" He said sternly. "You heard me, bitch!" Norma yelled. "You're going to regret that..." Apollo said with a vicious grin. He walked up to Norma and pushed onto the ground. He kicked her in the gut a few times as she cried on the floor. Apollo picked her up and slammed her against the playscape slide. "Don't call me that again!" He screamed as he left. She sat there, bruised up, and sobbing. She got up and limped away. She hid underneath the slides and kept crying.

She heard someone walk up to her. She looked to her side. There was a Shiba Inu standing next to her. "Hey, are you okay?" The Shiba Inu asked as she sat down next to Norma. Norma shook her head no. "What happened?" The Shiba questioned. "T-The group of boys b-beat me u-up...." Norma explained as she tried to wipe her tears. "Hey, it's okay..." The Shiba said comfortingly. "My names Stephanie, Stephanie Inu" She said with a smile. "My names Norma" Norma sniffled. "Nice to meet you, Norma" Stephanie said nicley.

"Now, who did you say beat you up?" Stephanie asked. "A-Apollo and his friends..." Norma answered. "Ah, I've gotten bullied by them too...I think I know how to help" Stephanie said with a grin.

Norma followed Stephanie onto the blacktop. They saw Apollo and his group playing basketball with the hoops. "S-Stephanie, I'm not sure about this..." Norma hesitated. "It'll be fine" Stephanie reasured. Stephanie dragged Norma onto the courtyard. "Hey, Apollo!" Stephanie shouted. Apollo turned around. "What do you wa-"

Stephanie punched him the face before he could finish his scentence. She watched him fall onto the hard concrete with a smile. "Hey!" His friends shouted. One of them tried to grab onto Stephanie. She bit them in the arm, and they started to bleed on the ground. She tasted the irony taste of his blood. She didn't mind it.

Norma watched everything unravel from behind. Stephanie kicked another one of Apollo's friends to the floor. Apollo stood up from the ground and stared Stephanie in the eyes. Stephanie backed up a little. Apollo walked closer to her. He grabbed her and threw her onto the ground. "Ow!" Stephanie screamed as she fell.

"Norma, do something!" Stephanie shouted from the ground. Norma didn't know what to do. Apollo walked closer and closer to her. Apollo stood in front of her, tall and intimidating. Norma punched him in the stomach and kicked him onto the ground again. She jumped onto him on the concrete and bit him in the arm multiple times. Her teeth peirce through his skin, causing him to bleed out everywhere.

Stephanie looked up as a teacher walked towards them. "What is going on here!" She yelled. Norma jumped off of Apollo's limp body. The teacher looked around at Apollo and his friends on the ground, hurting, bleeding. "You two in the office now!" She demanded.

They both walked towards the school as the teacher helped Apollo off of the ground. "That felt good" Stephanie said with a smile. "Yeah..." Norma agreed. "But what if we get in a lot of trouble?" Norma questioned. "It's alright. It was worth it, wasn't it?" Stephanie laughed. "Yeah..." Norma said silently.

"Why are you like this?" Norma said with a smile. "Well, I guess I just hate bullies. No one should ever make anyone feel like they're less than. Every bully should just go die in a ditch" Stephanie laughed. Norma laughed with her.

"Welcome to my world, Norma" Stephanie said with a wide grin. Norma chuckled as they walked into the principal's office together.