1992

chapter one

graham

there is nothing more exasperating than having to go back to school. there is nothing more exasperating than having to be humiliated in front of everyone by your bullies and being called stupid nicknames once again.

jack macquoid is one of them and he always liked to be a pain in the arse. he's like one of those popular guys who wanted to draw attention everywhere they went because they didn't get it when they were younger. poor guy.

he always found a way to molest me and everyone who was part of his stupid unit. well to be honest, they didn't really molest me, they only did what jack would tell them to do and they applauded him for his actions.
it almost seemed like they were only being his friends just to fit in.

fortunately, we weren't in the same class but after school or in lunch break, his mates and him would always look for me and give me smacks on the head or leave rotten food in my backpack.
but i'm not letting them do that this time, i'm just planning on hiding somewhere and avoid them. i'm too much of a pussy to confront them. i don't have the balls to do that.

of course, i was the opposite of being popular. i was very timid and barely talked to anyone and that's why i didn't really have friends. i was reserved and i didn't need other people's approval.

it was lunch break and miraculously, jack and his group hadn't showed up.
everyone on lunch break would talk to their friends, or play sports or whatever they'd find interesting.
i always liked to spend mine drawing on my sketchbook. i'd draw some people that were in front of me, imaginary ones or just stupid sketches.

'hey weirdo, how's it going?'
i heard someone behind my back and i knew it was one of these dickheads and when i turn around i see jack macquoid, of course.

i didn't say anything and just looked up a little since he was a bit taller than me.

'oh yeah, i forgot you can't talk' he said.
then, i see his other friends walking towards me and one of them grabbed my backpack and throw my books all over the floor and then snatch my sketchbook that i was carrying so he could give it to jack.

'look what we've got here' he said this as he was flipping the pages.
'well, well, well, turns out that now you have talent. amazing' i know he didn't mean that.

'please, don't do anything with that' i thought to myself. my hands began to sweat and my heart was pounding really fast.
then, just when he was about to rip a page i heard a loud voice.
'oh fuck off macquoid, would you?!'

jack turns around to see who had the audacity to tell him that.
then, i see this boy with pale skin, blonde hair and with the most gorgeous blue eyes. i don't think i have ever seen him before. he must be new at this school.

'what did you just say to me?' jack said.
'you heard me right' the blonde boy repeated once again 'fuck. off.'

then jack proceeded to walk slowly towards him.

'oh, so you're now defending the weirdo, i see. listen, you little shit, i don't know who you think you are, but you need to know, you don't mess with people like me.'

'oh, so that means i should be scared of you? pathetic. i'm not scared of you nor any of your pitiful friends'
this boy's confidence amazed me, i don't think anyone has ever gotten the balls to confront jack before. apparently, he's the first one.

'well, you should be, because i could beat you up right now.'

the next thing i see is jack trying to give him a punch in the face but the blonde guy made a quick move and shoved jack, he made him stumble so then he could fall over and finally, snatch the sketchbook from his hands.

everything went too fast. i was shocked just like everyone else. everyone, including me, couldn't believe what had just happened and the principal had to intervene to prevent the situation from worsening.

jack didn't have other choice but to give up.
'you're dead dude!' he exclaimed.

when it all ended, the blonde guy came up to me to ask me if i was okay. i can't believe the new student just defended me from my biggest bully. no one has ever done something like that to me before.

i looked at him in awe.
't-thanks' i said, very quiet, almost like whispering.
'no problem. don't think i did all of that to defend you. i just don't like it when numbheads like mcquoid pick up on "weak" ones.' then he made a short pause.
'i'm damon, damon albarn.' he held out his hand to shake mine.

damon albarn. sounds funny but interesting at the same time.
he was only three centimeters smaller than me, but small enough to shove Jack and defeat him. he truly didn't seem scared of him.

'i'm graham, graham coxon. i-i think you must be new at this school r-right?'
'yeah, it sucks. i have to change schools all the time because i always get expelled for being "problematic". i must be a pain in the arse for everyone, just like macquoid. so i might just as well, end up being expelled in this school. i'm a senior now, i wouldn't care if they decided to do that anyway.' he giggles.

so he's older than me huh

'well, this is macquoid's last year of school and he has been problematic since freshman so...'

we both laughed.
he really seemed like a pain in the arse but he also seemed like a very kind and intelligent guy.

damon, damon albarn...

A/N
ok guys so this is my first ever fic and ughh im sorry if the redaction is really bad i seriously suck at writing stories but im trying my best lol. thank you for reading 🥺