“Can anyone solve 2x+y3=50?” A fat man with graying hair, dressed in flannel and jeans, stands at the front of the class. Looking at the students his brows begin to furrow, squeezing his fist the chalk breaks.
As they sit at their desk, none of the students are paying attention, half of them are on their phone and the others are talking to each other.
In the second to last row sits a boy holding his phone. He has dark brown hair, so dark that if you didn't see it just right in the proper lighting, you would mistake it as black. He looks to be around 6’0’’ and overweight, but not to the point one would call him obese.
Using his thumb he scrolls through his phone. On the screen in the latest chapter of One Piece.
“Yes!” filled with excitement he jumps to his feet “1.5 billion!”
“No Patrick that's not even close to being right" taking the outburst as an answer, the teachers finally finds someone to take his frustration out on. “Are you even paying attention, how you would even get close to that number is beyond me! Thanks to Patrick over here I want you to all do pages 362-394 in your workbook tonight for homework! And you better show your work! And don't think about not doing it because this will be worth a test grade!!”
As the teacher goes off on his tirade spit flies everywhere and the other 29 students send Patrick death glares. With an apologetic look, he glances around the class.
One group of 3 boys in the back corner look especially upset. They begin to mouth something in his direction. Taking but a moment, he reads their lips and finds out they want him to meet them after school.
Embarrassed and scared he quickly sits back in his seat. The joy from the Big Mom arc finally ending and Luffy’s bounty vanishes.
“Fucking loser. Because of him, we have extra work now.”
“Geez, Mark are you that upset~?”
“Sara, you don't have to sit directly next to this freak. He reads porn all day and he smells strange!”
As he hears the conversation of the person next to him, combined with the teachers continued yelling he becomes crestfallen.
Suddenly the bell rings, indicating the end of the school day. Everyone, Patrick included, rush towards the door.
Seeing this the fat teacher becomes more irate. “The bell doesn't dismiss you, I do! Now sit down!”
Not a single student even hesitates before rushing out the door. Seeing this the teacher slams his fist against the chalkboard.
“Ahhh!”
Grabbing his bag Patrick moves with a swiftness uncommon for his body size and quickly exits the door.
The hallway is decorated with a dirty green carpet, the walls are made of a creamy white brick, and along the walls are rows and rows of lockers. Moving down the hallway classrooms are located between the lockers at certain intervals.
As he enters the hallway students from other classes pour out, quickly crowding the hall.
“It's not my fault my eczema medication causes my body to smell, asshole" disgruntled he makes his way towards the end of the hall. As he does a wider hallway comes into view.
The main hallway has rows of diagonal lockers on one side near the branching hallways. On the other side is a large railing one can use to look down to the first floor. Getting ready to turn right towards the staircase leading to the first floor he feels a hand grab his shoulder.
“Trying to run off somewhere?”
“Hehe the little bastard tried to run"
His entire body stiffens as he turns around and sees Jeff, Bill, and Jeremy. The three boys from his class.
“Haha guys, long time no see" awkwardly scratching the back of his head he looks at the delinquents from his class. Jeffrey or Jeff for short is the son of a congressman. With his backing, the school does nothing to him out of fear of his father. Bill and Jeremy are just his goons because he's rich and has a nice house, or so Patrick thinks.
“Uh, guys, what can I do for you?” with a wye smile he looks at Jeff.
Jeff has a solemn look on his face as he looks at Patrick. Not even bothering to answer his question he walks past him, heading for the stairs.
“I know you read my lips earlier, trying to run from us, tsk tsk tsk. You know what happened last time you tried to flee, and yet you did it again.”
“Hehe, maybe the freak is a masochist, always reading porn in class and shit."
As they finish speaking the begin to push him towards the stairs.
“It's not porn...it's manga"
*Wack* Bill slaps him over the back of the head. “Fuck! You have the balls to talk back!?”
Clenching his fist and biting his lips he heads towards the stairs.
As they arrive on the first floor a wide area comes into view. To the right leads towards the front of the school. And the left towards the cafeteria. Along the far wall are more branching hallways leading to more classrooms, and on the wall near the staircase are the faculty offices.
With a shove, they continue to follow Jeff and the general flow of the crowd towards the cafeteria.
Looking around he tries to find a teacher that can help him out of this situation, but every teacher he sees turn their head after noticing Jeff and his gang.
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Letting out a breath, he resigns to his fate. As they move through the cafeteria towards the back exit that leads towards the buses people give him mocking looks.
In this school everyone knows him, but not in a good way. During freshman year he was reading Manga on his phone during class. One of the most beautiful girls in the grade happened to sit behind him and saw what he was reading. Taking it as porn she made a big deal about it and complained to the teacher. His name spread through the whole school shortly after the incident as a pervert, even the police were involved.
But looking back he wasn't without fault, as reading Queen's Blade in class probably wasn't the best idea.
Eventually, they exit the school using the double doors in the back of the cafeteria. As he exits the sunlight momentarily stings his eyes.
Taking a second to adjust, he feels a shove moving him towards the left, away from the buses.
“Guys I live pretty far, if I miss the bus it will take me forever to get home"
As the voice leaves his lips, Jeff immediately stops and slowly looks back over his shoulder. “Did you say something?” a deep voice escapes as his brows begin to furrow.
Seeing the look on his face a cold shiver runs down his spine, bumps begin to form on his arm, and his hairs stand on end. Jeff doesn't talk much, but when he does, it's never good.
There was one boy who tried to hit on his younger sister, it was ok at the beginning because Jeff just told him to leave her alone. But the boy, in all his bravery asked him who he thought he was to tell him who he could and couldn't chase. The next day the boy was beaten with a baseball bat, his leg shattered, never able to recover.
The look on his face now Is the same one as when the boy questioned him.
“Ah nothing, nothing, I was just mumbling to myself" panicking he quickly answers as sweat begins to roll down his back.
Silent for a moment, Jeff continues to walk towards the back parking lot.
“Dumbass dared to question the boss" With a wack, he continues to push Patrick.
“Hehe, maybe his balls are bigger than we thought?”
Look up at the sky he contemplates his life. He feels no joy from living, the only thing that gives him even a bit of happiness is anime, manga, and light novels. Without them, his life would have no purpose. His family feels foreign to him, and the love he feels is more out of an obligation than actual familial love. Thinking about how he doesn't belong, they finally reach their destination.
A navy blue dodge challenger sits in front of them. Jeff reaches into his pocket and pulls out a set of keys. Unlocking the door he rummages around the back seat before pulling out 3 workbooks.
Pushing the workbooks into his chest Jeff looks him in the eyes “I'm not going to make things difficult for you, just do the work" slapping him on the cheeks a few times, he leans on the car.
“Yea, and make sure you show the work!”
“Hehe, you got lucky this time.”
*Whew* Taking a sigh of relief a smile blooms on his face. “Thanks, guys, no problem. I'll get the work done, don't wor-"
A foot connects with his solar plexus, completely knocking the wind out of him. The workbooks fly out of his hands as he tumbles towards the ground.
Seeing their boss take action a strange glint flashes through Bill's and Jeremy’s eyes.
Looking at him on the ground bill steps forward. His right leg pulls back like he's about to kick a ball. “Hurrah!” swinging his leg at full force, he kicks Patrick as hard as he can in the chin.
Patrick's head jerks up causing a sickening crunch to emanate from his teeth as they crack from being smashed together. As the side of his head scrapes against the ground, a trail of blood is left behind from his face. As his neck bends as far as it will go, he throws up a mouth full of blood and shards of teeth.
“Fuck that felt good!”
Tears stream down his face, one moment he was happy thinking they would let him go, and the next his teeth have been smashed. Before he can even cry out, another foot makes contact with his gut.
“Ooooh" his entire body slides back a few inches from the impact.
“Ok, one hit from each of us. Let's go, my sister is waiting.” Jeff looks at Patrick crying and twitching on the ground. As he does a sick smile forms on his face. Looking for a few more seconds he enters his car. Bill and Jeremy climb into the back seat as the engine starts up. As the engine roar, Bill rolls down the window. “Make sure you do the work and don't let us catch you reading that faggot shit again” as his voice fades the car pulls away.
The car peels out of the parking lot, leaving Patrick to silently sob on the ground. They weren't the only students in the parking lot, as a lot of students drive, but not a single person moves to help. Some show looks of pity, but it's not worth crossing Jeff.
Tears continue to fall as he sobs quietly, the pain coming from his mouth is worse than anything he's ever felt. Blood continues to seep from his gums and spill to the ground as cars drive past, abandoning him on the ground of the parking lot.
“Why?" a shaky, desperate, and pleading voice comes from his bloody lips. “I just want to read, I never bother anyone, yet people find trouble for me.” Tears flow out faster, even more so than when he was kicked in the face. “I don’t choose to smell like this, why? Why? Why does everything bad happen to me!.” tears stream down his face mixing with the blood from his mouth and snot from his nose. As the fluids mix, it makes a grisly scene.
Not wanting his mom to find out, he knows he has to leave. Rolling to his knees, he pushes himself off the ground, a line of blood flows out of his mouth. Rising to his feet, his eyes look dead. The right side of his face has been scraped and covered in specks of dirt and gravel. Blood and mucus continue to pour out of his orifices. Looking back he sees the buses are already gone. Glancing at his backpack and workbooks on the ground, he walks off.
Walking down the back road he uses his shirt to wipe his face, leaving a messy blob on his grey shirt. As he moves down the road he pulls his phone out of his pocket. Opening his internet browser he looks at forums discussing the Latest chapter of one piece. Seeing people discuss if Luffy is an emperor now, he feels slightly better. Reading the post he walks down the street.
Turning right he finally arrives on the main road. Cars whizz by as he walks in the grass on the side of the road. Pulling up his manga app he looks for any new chapter, trying to forget the pain from his mouth.
“No new manga, I guess I'll check on anime and light novels when I get home…..Ah, how am I going to fix my mouth? If my mom finds out I'll just be the one getting in trouble. She's never trusted me again after freshman year...not believing her own son”
After walking for over 20 minutes he finally sees a gas station. Heading towards the store he wants to buy some water to rinse out his mouth.
As he enters the building the cashier looks at him funny. Ignoring his look he just nods his head before walking to the refrigerator area. In the store, besides the cashier, there are 4 other people. A young woman holding a 3~4 year old child, an older man in his 70~80s, and a middle-aged man.
Ignoring them he heads to grab a bottle of water. As he grabs a bottle a loud screech is heard. Quickly turning he sees a black SUV parked outside the door. A man in a black mask rushes into the store brandishing a gun.
“Get down everyone get down!” the man waves the gun around the store.
Pointing the gun at the cashier “Quick quick quick give me all the fucking money!!”
Patrick drop to the ground “Why?? How is this happening? Am I doing something wrong? How can so many bad things happen after I felt such joy earlier?”
“Hurry it up! Give me the money!!”
“Ye-yes, sir! Right away!!”
Seeing this a strange light flashes through Patrick's eyes “Power? Authority? Is that what I lack? Why people push me around? Why I can't be happy?” thinking to this point he rises to his feet, a crazed look in his eyes. “I'm weak, so people can just push me around...if I had power no one can bully me again, NO MORE!”
Hearing the yell the man swings around, pointing his gun at Patrick. “Get down! GET DOWN!”
“HAhaha YOU CAN'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO ANYMORE!” smiling, his cracked teeth are exposed giving him a sinister look. Breathing heavily he rushes towards the gunman.
*BANG BANG BANG* three shots are fired into his chest. The world begins to spin and a burning pain envelopes his whole body. As the lights begin to fade he uses the last of his strength to tackle the gunman. Falling on top of the man, he dies.