“I had a hard time growing up. For a good part of my childhood, I knew I was different from other kids, I was introverted, depressed, let alone the fact that I knew I was gay. I’d have to say that one of the main reasons that I ever knew the difference was because there were always other kids pointing them out. I managed fine for a lot of my school life, but when I went to high school, I was not accepted.
“When I had first started, I hoped for so much. But all my hopes fell. I was already getting picked on for being nerdy and unsocial. In an attempt to be more outgoing, I started going to the school’s QSA club. I don’t even know why we had that club; few were brave enough to go to it and those that did got targets painted on their back. But I didn’t know that when I first went to the club. That was when the real bullying started.
“I couldn’t walk down the hall without people sneering and shoving me. I wasn’t tall or strong; I didn’t know how to protect myself. That’s why I got beat up a lot. Other guys would corner me in bathrooms and flush my head in a toilet. They would get me down a deserted hall and punch me. They called it fighting, I called it abuse. No matter how bad things got, no one seemed to notice. That baffled me. Even though I hid scars and bruises from my parents, they never asked why I would wear long sleeves when it was burning up outside.
“No one ever thought anything was wrong until I was hospitalized my senior year. That finally got my parents attention, not to mention the school’s attention. The people who had punched me in the stomach, brought me to my knees and kicked me while I was on the ground, who broke 18 of my bones, were still barely punished. Oh sure they were all suspended for a week maybe, but they didn’t see any real punishment. After too short of a time period, they picked on me again. That’s why I was so excited when I got accepted into an out-of-state college. Because there was no way I was ever going to stay and be surrounded by people I hated.
“Those four years of high school were hell. I don’t know how I survived, but somehow I did. I pulled through, granted with both visible and invisible scars, but I made it out. I made it to college, hoping that I’d leave that past behind,” Daddy smiled grimly. “I just want you to see that you shouldn’t take bullies and definitely not alone.”
I nod, realizing how serious this is. I never knew what Daddy had to go through. Hopefully, I ask, “Was College different?”
“College was,” Daddy paused then shook his head, “But I wasn’t....”
YOU ARE READING
Impossible
Fiksi PenggemarWhat if science progressed and everything we thought about nature could be changed, right down to how new people are created?
