For a tense few seconds, the school halls drowned in silence. It was Aspen that broke it. “Fine. Fine! I’ll leave him alone!”

Slowly and cautiously, the new kid began to get off of Aspen and stand up.

As soon as the bully had enough room to move, he shoved the new kid off him and scampered away - stopping as soon as he’d gotten some good distance from the boy that had just beaten him. “…you’ll regret this, you know. Once you find out what that kid is really like.”

“Yeah, yeah…” The new kid rolled his eyes as Aspen ran off. “You alright there, uh…”

“Cedric…” Cedric stared reluctantly at the hand his savior had extended to help him up. After a short deliberation, he decided to draw back and stand up on his own. “My name is Cedric.”

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“I’m Dyllan! My dad transfered here yesterday.” Dyllan beamed proudly, and straightened himself out - trying to look as tall as possible. “He’s in the army.”

“Oh.” Cedric paused, considering how to respond. “Cool.”

“I know right!” Pride radiated off of Dyllan. It was clear he practically worshiped his dad. Then, he paused, a mixture of hesitation, curiosity, and concern on his face. This was the moment Cedric had been dreading. “What was his deal, anyway? Why was he picking on you?”

“Uh… because…” Cedric tried to think up a good lie, but quickly gave up. It didn’t matter what he said, Dyllan would find out the truth soon enough, and he’d be even angrier if Cedric lied. “I’m good at… knowing things.”

“So it’s just because you’re smart?” Dyllan heaved a sigh of relief. “I shoulda known. He talked big about what you were ‘really like,’ but it was just something dumb like that. Bullies are just bullies, after all.”

“No… you don’t understand…”

Dyllan raised an eyebrow. “Don’t understand what?”