"Gah!" The black-haired girl cried as she fell onto the pavement, her books spilling out of her arms all over the ground. "Ow..."
"Heh! That's what happens when you mess with us!" Standing over her was a tall boy with short brown hair and a solid build. He was grinning, showing off his perfect white teeth. "Isn't that right, Todd?"
"Absolutely!" Standing next to him was another more muscular boy with messy blonde hair. "Thought you could shut us down just cause you've got a good standing with the teachers, huh? Well, too bad!"
"Ugh..." Struggling to her feet, the girl turned around, facing the two boys. "You two think you're so tough, don't you?" she said, glaring at them through her square glasses. "You really think that you can just do whatever you want, whenever you want, don't you?"
The blonde boy, Todd, grinned. "Of course we do!" he said. "Because we can!" He turned to his friend. "What do you think, Bill? Who's going to stop us if we keep on going after her?"
"Well, let's see..." Bill looked around, seeing the terrified faces of the kids around them. "Well, not the other students, since they're clearly to scared to move... we've got a pretty good reputation with the teachers, too, so probably not them, either... our parents would just be proud of us for "asserting ourselves," so they're out..." He grinned once again. "So yeah, I'd say nobody. Which is rather unfortunate for Kayla here, isn't it?"
Realizing that nobody was going to help her, Kayla turned to run away. But she had barely even made it two feet before her arms were pinned behind her back. "Sorry, girl," said Todd, holding her back. "But you're not going anywhere." He turned to his friend. "Bill?"
Still grinning, Bill walked over to where the Kayla's books were lying. "These are some pretty nice textbooks, aren't they?" he said. "It would be a shame if something happened to them, wouldn't it?" He grinned wickedly, before walking over to the river that ran next to the school... and throwing the textbooks in.
Kayla's eyes widened. "No!" she cried, struggling to get away from the two of them. But Todd's grip held her firmly in place, and she could do nothing more than watch as they were carried away by the river's current... floating further and further away until they were gone.
Bill turned back to her. "Poor girl," he said, smiling. "I suppose this will teach you not to mess with us!" He tilted his head, and Todd released her. As soon as he did, she began running over to the river, trying to recover her textbooks... but they were long gone by then. Even if she could get them back, they were likely ruined beyond repair. What was she supposed to do now? There was no way her family could afford to pay for new books for her!
As the people around her began to disperse, she lowered herself to the ground, sobbing quietly. This was the kind of thing she had been living with ever since she had started high school, just a few weeks ago. From day one, Bill and Todd had established themselves as the schools monarchs, ruling with an iron fist. Bill was the really dangerous one; he was clever, athletic, and completely ruthless, a terrifying combination. And his father was absolutely loaded, and a major donor to the school's budget... hence why he never got in trouble for anything. And Todd, his large-muscled, small-minded sidekick, was an absolutely spectacular football player, having been responsible for taking their schools team to the championships for the past three years. So of course, he never got in trouble, either. Because football is totally all that matters in school, Kayla thought with disgust.
She slowly walked home, tears still falling down her face. Why did her school have to be like this? The total imbalance of power was driving her crazy... especially since she seemed to be on the bottom of the scale. Sure, she had a good standing with the teachers, since she was a bright, hard working student... but that didn't help her much in the long run. She even tried to get the teachers to stop giving Bill and Todd so many free passes, hoping that her influence would help her get her way. Of course, it didn't, and when word got out about what she had tried to do... well, things got ugly. And her textbooks ended up in the river.
