The scene is Parker's middle school, circa 2006. It's a beautiful day out, not a cloud in the sky, around 73 degrees out. Most of the fourth grade class is out to recess, enjoying the weather, but I'm in the bathroom getting beat to hell by my bully. Sorry. Terrible way to start a story, I know. Anyway, have a look at the scene; it's not pretty.
"Please, just stop," I pleaded. Nothing I ever did stopped the constant onslaught of abuse. I had been bullied my entire life, even before I entered grade school by the other kids at day-care. It wasn't until around first grade that I started facing physical abuse along with the teasing. I tried everything to stop it. I told my parents, my teachers, and my principal. No one ever did anything. My parents just didn't care, and everyone at school said that they couldn't do anything unless they caught the bully in the act.
"And why should I?" the boy, Sam, taunted. I didn't have an answer. Why should he stop? Because he was hurting me? Yeah, like that would stop him. He knew he was hurting me. That was the point. Because I was asking nicely? Don't think so. Instead of answering, I just continued to plead with him. I begged and begged, but he just kept going until he heard the teacher blow the whistle outside. Finally, his onslaught stopped.
"Next time, nerd," he sneered, running out of the bathroom. I laid on the bathroom floor for a minute or two before I finally found the energy to get up. I somehow managed to get back to my class before the teacher noticed that I was missing. Honestly, I should have kept laying there until someone found me. At least then they would see what Sam kept doing to me. I could show them the bruises on my stomach and back, but the last time I did that the teacher blamed it on my parents and called CPS, and I had to spend a little while in foster care because my parents didn't care enough to deny it.
Now you're probably thinking this is another story about a sad, lonely child that manages to become popular or overcomes their past and becomes the Valedictorian of their class. Sadly, that's not the case. I continued to get bullied all the way through high school, and I graduated in the middle of my class. I did manage to do well in college, but not "finally got away from the shitty people in life so I can thrive" kind of well. Just, you know, well.
This story does get kind of weird, though. There's, like, aliens and super powers and evil masterminds and secret societies. Just kidding! None of that is real. Or is it? Spoiler alert: some of it is very real.
