Present

In one classroom, the seniors of secondary school were preparing for their last year. They were chatting lively. All of them but one. He was reading a textbook even though it was the first day of the new semester. He had a long-sleeved blazer, the school uniform, neatly buttoned up, covering the scars and bruises he had. Despite being in his senior year, this boy still looked young. He was small, had big brown eyes and full lips, which made him look cute, but his face never smiled.

"Hey. What's with that guy?" One of the new kids pointed to this boy and asked his classmate, who slapped his hand.

"Let him be. He is a weirdo. He has never talked to us. He is only studying." He whispered back. And proceeded to ignore this boy.

He knew he was a weirdo for the rest of the school. He never wanted to be like that. But he was beaten every time he did not listen to his widowed mother. So, he stopped caring. He stopped rebelling. He stopped living.

***

In the other classroom, all the classmates were happily chatting with each other. Their senior year just started, the first day. But one boy was not included in any of the groups that were created. He was sitting alone. His blazer over his chair and shirt was unbuttoned, showing his forming chest muscles. He was stern-looking, with dark hair and black slanted eyes. His face was more mature than his classmates', so he looked rough and wild.

"Who is that?" One of the giggling boys asked his friend. He looked at the boy, the other one was pointing at with his chin, and his eyes clouded with jealousy.

"He is the best-looking guy in our year. Every girl from other schools wants him. He is good at studying, always in the top three. But he is wild. Nobody can tame him." The boy said, dreaming about being him.

The boy knew he was wanted by a lot of girls, leaving all his classmates jealous. But he wanted none. They will all leave him. All women left him, even his mother. And they wouldn't stop. They thought of him as a weirdo. Freak. And he was one. But he did not care about others. He cared only about his family. Because they were the only ones keeping him alive.