Sadness

After the death of Ashley Martinez, Scott was nothing but full of sadness inside of him. The person who was his first best friend and someone that he looks up to has now died in front of him. His optimism became sadness and his body became so frail that he couldn't be himself.

A few days had passed since Ashley's death and Scott was in a state of depression. His mother tried to cheer him up when giving him his lunch in his room. However, nothing can help him as Scott was always crying in his bed curbing his body. He never got out of his room and his body started to decline as he wasn't taking care of his hygiene and diet causing him to lose a few pounds and his hair being greasy. 

When it was the school week, Scott never went to school as his depression was worsening and was horrified by what happened on Sunday. However, Scott's mother had no choice but to drag Scott out of bed and drive him to school. She didn't want him to miss any more days of school as she feared that he wouldn't graduate if he missed any more days.

Scott's mother drove him to school at the front entrance. "Here we are Scott. I hope things start to go well."

But Scott didn't reply. He left the car and looking at the school he started walking slowly to his first class.

During class, Scott laid his head on his desk still feeling upset as the only class that Scott had with Ashley was the class he is in right now. His mind was nothing but in the abyss. All the noise around him was muted and couldn't focus on the lecture that the teacher was teaching on the front board. 

Meanwhile while Jimmy was focused on the lesson, Troy was just behind him spitting spitballs at Jimmy's head bothering him.

"HA WHAT A NERD!" Troy kept spitting his spitballs

Jimmy was bothered to the point of telling the teacher about it. "Mr. C-Cheung, Troy k-keeps spitting his wet papers at me."

Mr. Cheung stopped and looked at Jimmy. "Jimmy, leave him alone and focus on my class."

"YEAH NERD. JUST KEEP DOING YOUR NERDY THINGS!" Troy kept shooting spitballs at him.

The whole class laughed as the students in the class were making fun of Jimmy's voice and his work ethics as he treats school like a temple.

Suddenly, the bell rang and the students got out of their seats and headed out. The bell woke up Scott as his head was finally up. Most students, except Scott, left the classroom with Troy constantly bullying Jimmy.

"Yeah nerd, keep moving." Troy kept kicking Jimmy in the back while they were both leaving.

Scott was also going to head out until Mr. Cheung stopped him.

"Mr. Smith, can I see you for a moment."

Scott looked at Mr. Cheung walking towards his desk.

"Scott, ever since the beginning of the school year, I see your grades declining after midterms. Not to mention there's an exam that will be part of your final grade. Are you aware of this, Scott."

Scott still never talked and never cared about his grades as there was nothing left for him to lose. 

"Don't care." Scott looking at Mr. Cheung.

"Oh you should care. You're a senior and you need to at least get a C in my class if you want to graduate. So tell me why can't you focus in class? I even saw you laying your head down on the desk." Mr. Cheung was worried about Scott's study habits.

However, Scott still didn't reply as he was in this state of sadness.

"Scott, please tell me. As your teacher, I need to care for my students and their wellbeing. So what's going on Scott."

Scott really didn't want to tell him about what happened with Ashley as he wouldn't believe him. Instead, he wanted to criticize Troy as he was one of the suspects from the other day.

"It's about Troy Mr. Cheung."

"What about Troy, Scott?"

"Why is it that every time Troy bothers the class, you never care about it, but when someone else bothers the class you easily get disturbed."

"Troy is the best football player on the team so he has to be respected in this school."

"Respect. RESPECT!" Scott started to get a little angry. "So you're telling me that Troy can just bully Jimmy everyday and copy answers from his work. How can somebody like that be respected? I mean Troy was in the wrong when spitting his spitballs at Jimmy and you say it was Jimmy's fault. So why are you protecting him!"

Mr. Cheung looked at himself as he questioned his action. "Like I said Troy needs to be respected. He's the best football player for crying out loud. He did help us win against the Blue Buffalos."

Mr. Cheung brought a paper out of his desk and wrote something that Scott did see.

"Mr. Smith, if you are talking about Troy, then I feel like you're just making an excuse to slack off." Mr. Cheung gave Scott a paper that was folded. "Here's a study guide that you need to study for the exam and the things that you missed. Nice talking to you Mr. Smith."

Scott left the room still depressed to the point where he never went to his Physical Education class. Instead he ran out of the school knowing that he was terrified by the school. Out of the door he ran so fast from the school that he tripped on the sidewalk and fell on the pavement.

After he fell, Scott curbed in a ball and kept crying as there was nothing left for him in this town. 

"Ashley, Ashley." Scott kept thinking about her.

Slowly opening up, Scott turned his body looking at the gray sky. "Why does this happen to me? No matter what I do or where I go, I'll always lose the things that I love. My old neighborhood, my father, and Ashley."

Scott brought out the paper that Mr. Cheung gave it to him. "Well let's see what I missed. Whether I pass or fail, I have nothing to lose."

When Scott opened the paper, he expected a study guide to appear. But it wasn't a study guide. It was a message saying:

[Mr. Smith]

Please meet me at 1050 N Parkinson Street at 4 PM. There's something urgent I need to tell you

Sincerely,

Mr. Cheung

"A message?" Scott looked at the paper "What are you trying to tell me?"

Until four PM, Scott had waited at Mr. Cheung's house for hours as he didn't want his mother to be suspicious about him missing school. The sun was slowly coming down and Scott had still wired for Mr. Cheung to come back home. Suddenly, he saw Mr. Cheung in his car getting ready to park next to his garage. Once he finished parking, Mr. Cheung got out of his car and saw Scott sitting near his entrance way.

"Mr. Smith what are you doing in my doorway!" Mr. Cheung walked towards him.

"Mr. Cheung you told-" "For your punishment, you will be staying with me young man," Scott being interrupted as Mr. Cheung took Scott's arms and brought him to his house.

Once they came to his house, Mr. Cheung brought him down to his basement where there were white puffed walls with a couch, mini fridge, a television, and a small window.

Scott looked around as if he was curious of where Mr. Cheung had brought him in. "What the hell?"

Once Mr. Cheung had let him go, he locked the door behind him and  went back towards Scott.

"Mr. Cheung, what is this place?" 

"A safe zone." Mr. Cheung went towards the mini fridge to get himself a beer.

"A safe zone?" Scott giving Mr. Cheung a confused expression.

Mr. Cheung sat down on the couch opening his beer. "Come Scott, sit next to me."

With curiosity, Scott sat next to Mr. Cheung being a few feet away from him.

"So Scott, tell me what's going on."

"Before I tell you that, why won't you tell me why am I here?"

"Well you're in my basement."

"That doesn't explain anything."

"You're in my basement that is enclosed by my soundproof walls."

Scott looked around him as they weren't walls filled with insulation, but were soundproof.

"You see. I never really wanted to be a teacher. I just want to relax and live my life to the fullest."

"To the fullest, I thought you liked to be a teacher."

"What oh hell no. what kind of guy in his mid-thirties wants to be a teacher."

Mr. Cheung made a small smile as he drank his beer. "As I was saying, before I came to this town, I used to serve in the military and fought in the Iraq War. While I was there, my wife missed me a lot and wanted me to come back home after serving for five years."

"Really Mr. Cheung, I didn't know you fought in the Iraq war."

"Yep sure did, I've destroyed a lot of tanks and equipment, and took down three hundred terrorists."

Mr. Cheung looked at his beer remembering the old days.

"After the military saw my results from the war, they decided to send me back home as I did enough for my country. Once I got home from their planes, my wife was already there and gave me a hug. But what I didn't realize is that instead of coming back home to New Jersey, she told me we were heading somewhere that we can enjoy our lives more than in the city. Somewhere called Sunshine Valley. Since then, we packed our bags and moved there."

"So that's how you came to Sunshine Valley. But what happened to your wife?" Scott looked around the room.

"That's where I'm going to tell you why I built this room. We got to Sunshine Valley and my wife had already rented a house for both of us to live in. Surprisingly, it was very cheap for a one story house. Once we unpacked, I was planning to just relax on the couch until something slipped under our door."

"So I guess I wasn't alone." Scott interrupted Mr. Cheung.

"Wait, it also happened to you too?" Mr. Cheung looking at Scott.

"Yeah. When my mom ordered pizza, there was a letter that came with it and it was about my enrollment at Sunshine High."

"Yours is an enrollment letter. Mine is a teacher position." Mr. Cheung felt a connection between each other.

"When I got a letter for a position as a math teacher, I declined it and threw it in the trash outside of my house. With me settling at our new house. I decided to go to the store to get some beer, leaving my wife at home. But that was the day when I regretted my actions. It was dark after I finished getting some beer. I was approaching my house until something had happened. I dropped my bags and my eyes were wide open. My wife. Was hanging on the front porch with her neck being choked by the rope."

"Oh my God." Scott was feeling a bit scared.

"Not only that, I remember John had a machete on my neck threatening me to be his teacher for his 'perfect story'. I didn't have a choice. It was to be a teacher or be killed. Since then, my will to relax was taken away and now I'm stuck in this loophole slowly making me insane."

"Mr. Cheung, I didn't know that. I'm sorry." Scott showing some empathy towards Mr. Cheung.

"Thanks Scott. Since then I've turned my basement into a safe zone as I felt this is the only place where I can fully express myself. That bastard took my wife away from me and I won't let that slide." Mr. Cheung finished drinking his beer, crushing the can with his grip.

"So Scott, tell me what happened for real this time. Don't worry I soundproof the whole basement, so John or his friends won't be on to us."

Scott took a deep breath knowing that Mr. Cheung will have a better understanding. "It wasn't about Troy. It was instead about John and his friends. They murdered Ashley, I saw them last Sunday laughing at her dead corpse. She was my only best friend and they took her away from me. Someone who was important to me was taken from me."

"Wow Scott, I'm sorry to hear that." Mr. Cheung got closer to Scott. "Listen, I'm sorry for what happened to Ashley. I can tell you were upset from the start of class and the few days you missed. I understand as they also took my wife away from me."

"However, my wife told me I should spend my time relaxing as I fought hard for this country."

"What are you trying to tell me Mr. Cheung."

"What I'm trying to tell you is they'll care for you no matter what. Although they are dead, their spirits will always care for us even if the place we live in is a shit hole. Even if my wife is dead, she still wishes me to relax after this hell is over. And I think Ashley still cares for you even if she is gone. I see you both caring for each other at class so I know she'll still be with you forever in your lifetime."

Scott thought about what Ashley told him.

"You are not meant to be an angry person Scott. I know you are more than that and I'll be there for you during your growth." Scott remembered what Ashley told him.

"You're right Mr. Cheung. She does care for me. I can be more than this angry reputation that I have. I'll keep working hard no matter what."

Mr. Cheung smiled as he knew Scott finally got out of his sadness. "Alright Scott. I'm happy you got out of your depression. But what I said at school, you still need to catch up on some assignments for my class. I recommend finding a tutor to help you catch up on the missing assignments you have."

"Yeah Mr. Cheung, but aren't you going to tutor me like this after school?"

"Hell no, I'm busy with my own shit. I can't handle tutoring a teenager."

"I see." Scott looked a bit disappointed.

"What about Jimmy Wilson? He seems to be very good at precalculus so maybe you should talk to him, as well as be friends with him."

"Sure Mr. Cheung, but he seems to be bullied a lot from Troy. How can I get help from him if he's constantly getting bullied."

"Well Scott, that's where you come in. You should protect him from Troy. I know we both hate that son of a bitch, but if you help Jimmy with his bullying issues, then I think he'll pay you back by helping you raise your grades."

Scott looked at himself knowing whether he can handle Troy.

"Although I'm scared of Troy, I'll do everything that I can to help Jimmy. He doesn't deserve to be bullied. Thank you for the talk Mr. Cheung"

Scott got up from the couch and started to walk towards the door. 

"Also Scott, another thing."

Scott looked back.

"Please free me from those evil bastards. They had imprisoned me, killed my wife, and forced me to teach them something that I hate. I know you can end their madness."

Scott nodded his head yes towards Mr. Cheung and left the door.

"That kid has a lot of potential."