Chapter 1: The Cool Kids

I was in middle school in Pennsylvania when I got my first best friend. She was just a puppy, a grey and white, with fluffy ears and blue eyes husky. Our eye color matched as I also had light blue eye color, with black hair.

It was summer and my birthday was just around the corner on July 13th. Dad and mom wanted to surprise me with an early birthday present and I was thrilled. I had fallen in love with the her. She licked me a little bit on my lips, then my cheeks. I was thinking of a name that suited her. A really good name.

My birthday was coming in another three days, and I still hadn't thought of a name for my little princess. I was stuck between if I should just call her Princess or Flora, as she was beautiful, like a field of flora's.

Later that day, I went out for shopping for some groceries and an ice-cream cone. It was very hot, so cooling off with an ice cream didn't sound like a bad idea. When I got all my groceries for mom, I searched for a store.

I noticed the recent filth that had been gathered on the streets. I was a part of The National Cleaning Organization that basically cleaned up streets and mini forests. The kids in the organization that picked up the waste from these filthy streets (including me) were bullied by the "cool" kids that smoked around all day long and threw more trash the moment they spotted us.

We couldn't do anything, as we were weak: We were defenseless. Some of the "cool" kids used to pick on a few obese kids, or even one skinny girl. I had heard rumors about the obese kid being tortured by these "cool" kids. After they had smoked, they used to use his tongue to end the smoke, then made him swallow it. I decided to pay him a visit with my bag of groceries as I hadn't visited yet.

I went to the obese kid's house, I wasn't really a friend of his, but we used to talk. I never asked him his name, so it was kind of awkward to confront his mom at the front door. She let me in, with a smile, but at the back of the smile was a worried expression, because she hadn't met me and didn't know if I was one of the guys that tortured him.

She guided me to his room, where he was lying on his bed, he was coughing a lot, so she gave me a mask to ever before I entered the room. He was red, like blood red. I could sense the steam coming from his head. He looked at me and took a moment to process my face. He then smiled at me, welcoming me. His mother gave me a chair to sit. I looked at her and thanked her. She then left the room shortly after.

"Are you alright?" I asked him, staring directly into his eyes, while holding my bag of items.

"Yea…I am very sick…" he then looked at the ceiling, then continued "The doctor said that my lungs and stomach was getting damaged too much, leading me to have permanent scars on throughout my stomach."

"I am so sorry…" I said, looking at the floor, about to cry. I didn't know why I was about to cry, but I couldn't control it. I cried silently, trying to control the sound.

He looked back at me, then placed his hand on my shoulders. I looked up in my crying state and realized how much thinner he had gotten. Usually when we talked, his shoulders would feel so much heavier, but now they were feeling as light as a feather.

"I will try to avenge—"

He stopped me, then said "No. Please promise me that you won't mess with those kids. They are bad. They are evil. And adults won't care."

"But—"

"No buts. Promise me."

After agreeing to his promise, his mother knocked on the door. She walked in and asked me to leave as he had to rest now. She explained that his doctor told him to rest as much and not go near cigars.

I waved side-to-side and then exited the room. His mom then escorted me outside the door and thanked me for coming, as none of his other friends came. After chatting with her for a few more minutes, I left. I no longer had an appetite for ice cream.

As I was walking home, which was about a mile or so from the skinny kid's house, I noticed a bunch of people following me, they seemed to be possibly in the same grade as me, height was quiet similar. I turned back a few times, where they would just become a statue to confuse me. I noticed two girls and four boys. Then I saw one of the boys' face and realized who it was.

I remained calm and started to think. I had seen in too many manga and manhwa's where the protagonist lost his control and got brutally beaten up for acting in fear.

I stayed calm and thought of the best possible ways for them to lose my tail, because as far as I was concerned, they didn't know where I lived.

I looked at the watch and realized I could take a bus ride that should be arriving in another five times. So, if I just increased my walking pace, I would reach the bus ride in time and then contact my father to pick me up at the stop, where a few people would be nearby.

I increased my pace and looked back slightly and realized they had started to catch up and the bus wouldn't be arriving in another two minutes, but then I realized if I did run and got to the bus stop, I would ask someone for help, and they could help me reach home safely.

I ran and heard them running right behind me, I took a right turn and then a left turn, crossing the road, as it was safe to run on the zebra crossing, they were still right on my tail.

I had always loved to run, so I was naturally selected in my middle school teams running competitions and got either 1st or 2nd place. So, me already having enough stamina and also out running them, helped me a lot.

As I had almost got to the bus stop, I was so focused on escaping them and running away from the kids, that I didn't notice the signal light and a speeding car hit me directly in the ribs. I looked at the driver's face when it happened and then everything turned black.

After a few days, I opened up my eyes, slowly and in pain. I had fractured my ribs, my legs and my arms, other than that nothing else. I had a few scratches, but nothing more than that.

My parents were sitting right beside me, sleeping as I woke up at 3 A.M. My dad opened his eyes but didn't notice me right away. He rubbed his eyes and fully woke up and cried laughing and then my mother woke up and she repeated the same thing.

I tried to smile, but my body was numb. My birthday was also just a day away and I would have to spend my 14th birthday in the hospital getting better. Then I saw Flora, she was licking me on my cheeks and mom took her away, as it did hurt a little bit.

The next day, the doctor told me and my parents and Flora that I would need to stay in the hospital for about two to three months for my ribs, leg and hand to get better. My parents agreed and also settled the payment for my injuries. My dad somehow paid the bill, even though we didn't have enough money to pay for it. He didn't take a loan, he didn't ask his friends, he just paid via check.

I was paying with Flora when the door opened, and I saw my mom with her happy face walking towards me and telling me that she brought some kids from my school with her. I didn't know anyone from my school except for that skinny kid.

They appeared before her and I was horrified, I told her to come closer and tell them to go away, but she didn't listen, insisting it would be a good change for me to talk to some kids from my school. She quickly existed the room, making sure no one came in other than the doctor or the nurse.

"So, you got his big room to yourself." Trevor, the leader of the "cool" kids said while looking around.

"What do you want…" I said in a scared voice. I was shaking a bit, because I couldn't run, couldn't fight back, all I could do was suffer.

He looked at me with his devilish face: He was evil; he was Lucifer himself.

"I know you visited that fat four eyed bitch. So, what did he tell you?" Coming closer to my face.

"Nothing. Nothing related to you." I was now furious. He could see that.

He straightened and chuckled, then he looked at one of the other boys, who had blond hair and green eyes, with a bit of an obese build. They whispered to each other something, then they both looked at me, piercing my soul.

Trevor then finally said "We are going to see you every soon," then he changed his tone to seriousness. It felt as though he was releasing his anger at me, "so rest up as much as you possible can, while you still have the chance, because now that the obese fuck face is gone, we would need a new person to "hang" out with and chill with."

I was terrified again, I had wished that I had died that day, I didn't want to constantly get tortured after I recovered. I had wished I was better and stronger like Trevor but wasn't possible.

As they left, one of the girls pressed against my fractured leg and I screamed. My mother walked in, and those kids left. The nurse then walked in and calmed me down and gave me something to relax on.