Chapter 8: The Old School Bully

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My friends and I parted ways. Trevor and Scott went down the same road since they lived next to each other, and Charlie had to go to his part-time job. I headed to a bookstore to buy the books required by my literature teacher. I'd usually read the summaries online since it was an easier and quicker process than flipping through an entire three hundred page book (oh, don't act as if you've never done it), but the teachers at Ivory High were more diligent than my previous ones. They asked specific questions that you could only answer by actually reading the book.

I bought everything on my list and spent some time wandering in the comic and fantasy section before going home. The sun was setting, and it got cold. I dug my chin into my jacket as the autumn wind brushed over my cheeks. I continued to walk down the block that led to my street, but stopped when the pedestrian sign turned red. Loud music and laughter from across the road caught my attention. A group of boys were drinking and smoking, disturbing by-passers with music blasting through their Bluetooth speaker.

My eyes widened when I saw a familiar face amongst them. He had dyed his hair bright red and had styled it into a fierce mohawk. His left eyebrow had two slits, decorated with ornaments of piercings. The distinct scar across the bridge of his nose — the one I had left him during one of our fights — was how I recognized him. Rick was an old classmate, but they expelled him for vandalizing school property.

The pedestrian sign turned green, and I lowered my eyes, digging my chin deeper into my jacket in hopes to remain undetected. I turned around the block, sighing in relief when I was out of their sight, but my body stiffened when I heard someone call my name.

"Desmond!" Rick shouted again. Panic coursed through my body, but I ignored him, quickening my pace.

Remember Desmond, you promised Mom you would stop fighting. How many of them are on my trail?

When I turned around the next building, I glanced behind me and counted.

1, 2, 3...6 of them?!

I didn't want to bring trouble to my house, so I ditched my usual path home and walked down an unfamiliar street, scurrying past opening bars and convenience stores to get them off my trail. I found myself in a dark alley where the city lights barely reached. I turned around the corner but froze in my steps. It was a dead end. I turned around, but Rick and his gang were already walking towards me, blocking the only way out. They trapped me like a rat in a cage. I knew I had shitty luck, but this was really pushing it.

"Desmond!" Rick exclaimed with a crooked grin. He had a strange walk and his shoulders hunched like a cat ready to pounce on its prey. "I've been calling your name for the past ten minutes. I thought I had the wrong guy."

I glared at the malicious smile slithering up the corners of his wry lips.

"Oh," was all I answered.

"Oh?" he snorted. "That's all you've got to say? I missed you, y'know. You've gotten more handsome too," he mused, wrapping his fingers around my jaw.

"Don't touch me with your filthy hands. Who knows where they've been?" I snapped, slapping it away.

"Aw, c'mon, Desmond, don't be like that. We used to go to the same school. Don't you remember me?"

"How could I forget the guy whose nose I broke?" I snorted. "Richard, isn't it?"

Rick's nose flared so wide, I thought I was going to get sucked into his nostrils. His friends let out a taunting 'ohhh' from behind. Rick snapped his head towards them, and they quickly quieted down, trying to keep a straight face. I held back an eye roll. He was still so uncool.

"Richard, Ricardo, Renaldo, no, no, that's not it," I mused, pretending to be deep in thought. "Oh right, Rex! It's Rex, isn't it?"

Rick, who obviously didn't like my sense of humor, roughly pushed me against the brick wall with a snarl. I looked at him with a raised brow.

"Come on now, I thought you just wanted to talk?" I chuckled half-heartedly.

"You haven't changed at all," he muttered. "You think you're better than us because you go to a swanky school for stuck-up rich kids?"

"I think I'm better than you, period," I retorted.

"You still think you're so-"

"Utterly handsome? A genius? A total womanizer? Why yes, yes I do," I smiled, which just made him boil with even more anger. He raised his fist, hitting my right cheek before I could dodge, and the fact that he was wearing big metal rings didn't help at all, the copper tang of blood staining my taste buds.

"Now that's just playing dirty," I chuckled coldly. "I felt bad for breaking your nose since you already look so ugly, but it seems like I have no other choice but to do it-"

I clenched my fist, slamming it against his nose and hearing a loud "crack". He fell to the ground, howling in pain.

"Again." I grinned in satisfaction. Rick's posse flickered their eyes from Rick to me.

"What are you waiting for? Get him!" Rick bellowed, pinching his bleeding nose. I wasn't the strongest guy in the streets, but I've been in a fair number of scuffles, so I knew how to throw a punch or two. Who needed boxing gloves when you had bare fists and survival instincts? I took out two of them, but the other three shoved me to the ground and kicked my stomach and ribs.

I bared my teeth at the piercing pain but reached out, grabbing one of them by the ankles and jerking it towards my chest. The boy lost his balance and fell back, creating a minor distraction that bought me enough time to get back on my feet. I punched another to the ground. But the odds were against my favor. They outnumbered me. Before I knew it, they had all gotten up, including Rick, and approached me with hungry eyes and sardonic grins.

I knew it was an impossible win, but I stayed to fight. I blinked away the black blobs that darkened my vision, and with one last effort, I pounced on the boy standing closest to me with a war cry, clinging onto his back and relentlessly beating my fists against his head like a crazy person. He screamed, scratching at me, desperately trying to get me off, but I pulled at his hair and held on. I probably looked stupid from afar, but I was doing the best I could.

Two pairs of hands seized me, and I fell to the ground with a yelp. After that, everything became a blur, and all I could remember was wincing as they beat me up all at once. I laid on the dirty ground, wheezing and gasping to get air through my lungs while trying not to lose consciousness. I didn't know how long it lasted, but eventually, they stopped.

"Hey, maybe we went a bit too far?" I heard one of them whisper.

"Tsk, it's fine. Look, he's waking up," I heard Rick say.

"He looks like he's about to piss his pants." Smirked one of them, breathing out a puff of smoke right in my face which made me cough. Rick picked me up by the collar, my head tilting slightly back as I slowly gained consciousness.

He shook his head in disapproval.

"Oh, Desmond, you've always been like this. You're always putting on a mask and acting tough. But look at you, you're pathetic. You're weak. You've got nothing going on for you, but you keep acting like you're invincible. One day, you're gonna break. Why don't you just admit that you can't handle it?"

Why didn't I? I suppressed the question deep into the back of my mind.

"You, you really think that I'm, I'm scared of you?!" I cackled, involuntarily spitting blood on his face. "You're nothing but a coward who can't face me on your own! You act like you're the one who beat me up but sorry to break it to you, Rex, but it's the five other idiots standing behind you who did all the work. Talk about pathetic!"

I watched as his lips curled and knew right away that I was done for.

Oh Desmond, you really don't know when to shut up, do you?

His hand balled up into a fist as he raised it to a perfect angle that would most likely knock me out clean. I held my breath, waiting for him to hit me.

*CLICK*

We all looked towards the sound that came from above, our eyes widening in shock.

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