Up, Up and Away

1 // mad world

chapter 1: mad world (garyjules)

        All Walt wants to do is go home and finish watching the eighth season of How I Met Your Mother. He feels a ball forming in his throat at the thought of being safe and having awkward small talk with his mom, watching his dad eat dinner like a pig or even asking his little sister, Masie, about how her day went.

       Dave always reminds him of a hungry bear, and it makes him laugh, most of the time. But when the bear is hungry for your blood, you run. When he won't stop saying, "wait until I kill you, you fucking nerd," you develop superpowers and sprint, because your life does depend on it.

        Walt's breathing worsens when he starts running faster. He isn't and will never be good at sports. His legs are burning and the pain in his side is hurting him more than ever possible. Beads of sweat are making his uniform stick to his neck. His tie feels like it's choking him more than ever, he wants to tear his clothes off, because they're weighing him down.

        He gets to the back of the school and stops. There is no longer a sound of footsteps behind him, so Walt can hope that Dave gave up. Just when Walt takes a breath, a snarling Dave appears in front of him. The jock's posies individually start appearing, one by one. They look angry, but their fury is just related to their alpha's. Some of them are sometimes nice to Walt, but their team's ties are held together by Dave. If any of them wants to sniff a scholarship to university, they need to kick footballs and be poster boys of the school.

"You got my project late, now I got an F. What did my teacher say would happen if I got another F?"

        Walt can feel his knees buckling, but he doesn't want to surrender so easily. His heartbeat is felt throughout his body, sounding like an alarm. Dave has never looked so angry before. Walt knows that when Dave leaves, his body will be aching all over and the bruises will start to form. This isn't the first time this has happened, it's a monthly affair now. Ever since fifth grade, when Dave grew six inches taller than the rest of the kids and discovered human punching bags, he grew to love torturing Walt, who, at the time, was a midget.

        Dave steps closer and Walt backs away, but he is met by the brick wall of his high school. Running more would only result in collapsing on the ground and at this second, this won't advantage Walt.

"What did he say, Nerd? What did he say?" The quarterback's breath stinks of burgers and onions, but Walt figures it wouldn't be a good idea to tell him that. (Last time he did, he was forced to swallow a hundred Tic-Tacs—simultaneously.)

        "T-that you would be off t-the team," says Walt, his mouth shaking. His ounce of self-pride is crumbling, but he can't help it. Dave's height and weight can crush Walt; he is the elephant and Walt is an ant.

        "That's right," smiles Dave bitterly, "I'm off the team. How the fuck do you expect me to get into college now, huh? This is all your fault."

        Walt feels tears forming in his eyes when Dave picks him up by his collar and slams his back into the wall. His bully takes his new black-rimmed glasses and throws them on the floor, crushing them with his big feet. This is the second time this year that Dave breaks Walt's glasses.

        Please, God, I don't want to die, thinks Walt.

        Five guys, including Dave, start to kick Walt so hard he can feel his insides screaming in pain. They hurt him everywhere, from his head to his feet. Walt wishes he can be numb, for just one minute so he can get sixty seconds of relief. They seem to never stop. They punch him and twist his arms. One guy even holds Walt's leg in a way that feels like it can, in a second, break his left leg.

        "Get off him! You bastards! Get off him!" screams an unrecognizable voice.

        Walt's conscience is betraying him. All he sees is a hazy girl with short hair, pushing the boys away from him. He closes his eyes. The hurting has stopped, but Walt hopes it isn't because he's dead.