"Hey idiot, think fast." Brian Lynch, the typical class bully shouted as he hurled a heavy book at the unsuspecting scrawny kid.
*BAM*
The book landed squarely at the back of his head, comically pushing him forward and into a bunch of desks which caused Brian and his goons to burst into laughter.
"Hey cut it out…jerks" The class belle reprimanded the bullies, disgust apparent on her face as she softly muttered out the last word.
Crouching down to help the victim, she couldn't help but ask, "Trev why don't you ever fight back. You know they won't stop if you keep being passive right?"
Rubbing the back of his head, Trevor turned to look at his saviour who also doubled as his girlfriend and asked with a tired smile, "What's the point? I'm weak and they are strong.
Even if I decide to fight back I'll still be beaten and that'll only make things worse for me, besides I believe in Karma. Everyone will get what they're due."
Hearing Trevor making excuses for himself and his cowardice made Sasha feel sick, she had always loved the bad boy type of guy, all her exes could be said to be photocopies of one another in both character and stature, not that she had a problem with that.
She believed that true men should solve problems with their fists, not drone off about some divine principle of equality which in her opinion, was utter bullcrap.
Still, a girl's gotta look good and be treated like a princess, even if it meant feigning love and happiness with her least preferred type of guy.
'The plan will finally be executed today. I'll let the guys jump us, rough him up a bit and hold me at gunpoint asking for money. This poor sod would give it to them since he loves me so much then I can finally break up with his sorry ass. Nothing could possibly go wrong.'
Seeing the faint look of disappointment Sasha didn't bother to hide, Trevor threw caution to the wind and did something he never expected himself to do, at least certainly not because of a girl.
"Hey Brian!! This right here is a dictionary and not a football, you'd have a better chance of going to college if you spent more time with it instead of that old football you've always got tucked under your arm", Trevor loudly stated after picking up and dusting off the book which was thrown at him earlier.
The room fell silent, daily chatter fading to silence as the class stared dumbfounded.
'What the hell just happened'
A single question bounced about in everyone's minds, uniting them in their confusion.
Just as it seemed like their curiosity was going to be left at that, the recipient of the unwarranted advice spoke up, asking the question on the class's behalf- "What?"
Feeling a sense of courage whose source only he knew about, Trevor scoffed before replying, "Oh my, it seems that you're short of hearing, or maybe you're just slow. Probably a side effect of bashing heads and ramming your body into other people, calling such senseless violence a sport."
Not missing a beat, he continued, "Head trauma and brain damage are serious things you know, you've probably gotta book an appointment with a neurosurgeon, that's basically a doctor who works with the brain- in case you were wondering."
An even louder silence than the first one settled in.
Mouths were left open, silent prayers were said and even the usually noisy ceiling fan couldn't help but spin soundlessly as if all of creation were still trying to digest what just happened.
Trevor, the scrawny quiet kid who looked like he could barely fend off a rat if his life depended on it had finally decided to stand up for himself.
Against a 6'3 wall of muscle, physical retaliation was clearly not on the table thus he had chosen a different approach which also served as the most dangerous way, attacking a bully mentally and publicly, undermining his authority and tarnishing his reputation built on fear.
Stunned was an understatement for the majority sentiment of the class as one question after another spammed in their heads without being given the chance to be answered.
Did Trevor take drugs, was he high?
How could he forget his place, how could he forget all his past beatdowns, and for what– pride? honour??
Fuming at the humiliation he was experiencing, Brian cracked his knuckles menacingly, the scowl etched on his face doing its job of enhancing his terrifying appearance.
"Brian wait don't–"
Completely ignoring the class representatives' attempt to dissuade him, Brian kicked off, the short distance between he and his target blurring in under a second as his fist found its mark deep in Trevor's gut.
*BAM*
Failing to stop the air in his lungs from rushing out, Trevor was left panting on the floor, his lip movement akin to that of a fish as he tried forcing air back into his system.
As sad as the scene was, majority of the class felt relieved.
The world hadn't changed overnight without warning, actions still had consequences and the quiet kid who decided to retaliate.... got beaten down.
That was just the natural order of things.
The strong ruled and the weak served.
Right as Trevor was about to receive a second helping of Brian's knuckle sandwich, Sasha covered his body with hers, fulfilling her role as a caring girlfriend as she stared straight at Brian.
The class rep also came to stand between them, not trusting Brian to remain rational enough not to hit a girl.
"Tsk. You're lucky you've got such a pretty girl to protect you, perks of being rich I suppose. Too bad money can't bring your parents back from the dead."
The class went silent again, though it wasn't out of shock, rather out of disgust they didn't dare to show. Brian had just carelessly mentioned one of the taboo topics of the class- the death of Trevor's parents.
Yes, Trevor was an orphan.
And although it wasn't uncommon to find an 18 year old orphan, it wasn't really common either, especially when one considered that Trevor was a single child who had been conceived in his parents' mid 20s.
What made the topic a taboo was the situation surrounding their death.
Tortured, then murdered in their matrimonial bed by a psychopath who recorded the whole thing before releasing it on social media.
The videos were difficult to pull down, the culprit never found and all investigations and clues ended up cold and useless.
The state compensated Trevor with a not so small sum of money and personal therapists, feeling partly responsible for their deaths.
They had once again failed in protecting the sole witnesses who were willing to testify against some big time criminal corporations.
Feeling the accumulated pain, hatred, confusion and much more that had been allowed to brew within him since he was 10 years old rushing to him all at once, Trevor cursed silently and crawled out from under Sasha, reaching into his bag.
"Huh, seems like you've recovered well enough to receive a second dose of my fists", Brian snickered, influencing some in the class to do same.
Seeing Brian easily push the class president aside as he strolled towards him, he quickly removed the object from his bag and lifted it in the air.
Instantly the class quietened and everyone's blood chilled as they saw the items in Trevor's hands.
"Umm Trev- is that a bomb." Someone stammered.
"No it can't be. It must be a toy or something. Yeah I'm sure it's just a toy." A girl reasoned, even though her whole body was shaking.
"Trevor Alexander Sinclair, put the explosives in your hand on the desk beside you and step back slowly." The self righteous class president's firm voice rang out as he walked towards Trevor.
Fed up by the stupidity of his command Trevor retaliated , "Or what, huh? You'll report me just like you have been doing to Brian. Newsflash. They won't get here in time. You won't even leave here, at least not in one piece" Trevor said with a deranged laugh.
"B- But babe. What about me, what about us. We had planned a fun night out after school today, do- don't you want that?" Sasha said in a quiet voice, hoping to sway Trevor's mind with her feminine wiles.
For a moment she thought it worked since she saw a bit of conflict in his eyes, but he just smiled at her and said, "I'm sorry my love, but it is a risk I'm willing to take."
With that he began chanting the words the Being who appeared in his dreams asked him to say, " Lachreal vutu skeki hunsay. Accept my humble request oh Eldritch beings who govern the Void."
With a few final incantations spoken, the floor lit up in a pale white light as gravity lost its hold over everything in the room, interfering with the secret escape plans some had formulated.
"It's working. It's actually working. Ha haha hahaha." Trevor's full on deranged laughter resounded in everyone's ears as they tried grabbing onto anything to steady their wild floating.
"Am I tripping or is that an actual Magic circle on the floor?" Marcus, the class dweeb and Eedyot's assistant on the bullies' list asked, looking all excited.
"Tripping, how can you trip in midair brother. What next, are you going to trip over a wireless connection or how about a reddit thread huh. I'd like to see you try?" Morgan, Marcus's twin brother who also happened to be the self proclaimed class clown asked, laughing at the joke only he found funny.
"Now for the final act. Guide our souls to the Beyond. Lattom."
*BOOM*
With a flick of his finger, the bomb went off and the whole class was enveloped in a soundless explosion.
The last sounds they heard were the class door kicked open and a familiar voice shouting, "I made it, just 5 minutes late."