Bane High School ch1

Bane High School ch1

I struggled desperately against my attacker but a large pair of arms were already squeezing the air out of my chest. Kicking my legs out blindly, I hoped to somehow fight off the two other attackers standing in front of me. This wasn’t a very smart move on my part because the instant I lifted my legs to retaliate they were grabbed and held up in the air.

I instantly knew what was going to happen but had no time to brace myself. The third attacker raised a fist and smashed it into my body. To be specific, the part of my body that is every male’s weak point. I yelped in pain and was dropped onto the dirt floor of the woods besides my school. Almost instinctively I curled up into a fetal position, my lower regions throbbing from the blow. My three classmates laughed and high-fived in triumph at my groans of pain.

Even if we fought in a fair one on one battle I would’ve lost anyway, not just because I’m so tiny but also because I’m a terrible coward. I always freeze and become unable to move at the first signs of a fight. The only reason I struggle is because my classmates want a reaction. I might as well give them one and get the beating over with.

As I lay there in the dirt, my eyes stinging with tears, I could feel a hand reach into my back pocket and pull out my wallet. I didn’t dare to move in attempt to get it back.

“Let’s see,” said one of the boys standing over me by my legs, “10 bucks?! Jeez, what happened to the 30 you used to carry around?” I stayed silent until I got a swift kick to the small of my back.

“Y-you took it all…” I muttered quietly. It was the truth too. My parents trusted me with the money for school lunch. Of course, the next day these same three took it all. That happened last week. I had been able to get some more money from my mom after I told her I “misplaced” the 30 dollars.

“I guess it will do for now,” sighed the boy holding my wallet. He pulled the money out and shoved it into his pocket before tossing the wallet at my head. Before I knew what was happening he picked me up in a headlock and started to speed walk towards the school.

I had to practically run to keep up with his long stridden march. His henchmen flanked him from either side; snickering to themselves. We reached the back of the school on no time. He had led me to the back of the gym where the large green dumpsters where located. I had a sinking feeling in the pit of my gut and I knew exactly where I was going to end up.

“Well, since you’ve gotten cheap on us, guess we should just throw you out,” snickered the boy who held me captive. His friends cheered in agreement and the leader quickly released then shoved me towards his friends. One grabbed my arms and the other pulled my legs out from underneath me. They opened the top of the dumpster and I was literally tossed in.

I couldn’t help but yelp as I hit the squishy bags of old cafeteria food. This wasn’t the first time I’ve been in a dumpster but this time I was lucky. Once my arm was sliced open by a broken glass bottle and I had one heck of a time explaining what happened to my parents. This time, I only got covered in old pizza and soaked with warm, rotten milk. The lid was slammed shut, trapping me in the dark, nasty-smelling pit. Once the sounds of laughter and slapping of high-fives disappeared, I slowly sat up.

This is a normal day at school. It drives me crazy some days and on others I just take all the abuse as normal. Today, I was just happy we didn’t make a stop at the bathroom because the bathroom means one of two things. Either it’s my head being flushed in the toilet or I’ll be the target for pissing practice; when they see who can stand the farthest away and still piss on me. Sound nasty? Trust me, it is.

I should probably introduce myself. My name is Damian Karas, and at the moment I’m a freshman in high school. Unfortunately, the reason I’m being treated like crap isn’t because I’m a freshman. For some reason people have been teasing me since elementary school. I don’t remember when or why this started but by the beginning of the third grade I had no friends and was excluded from everything. So, for a good portion of my life, I’ve been an outcast and friendless. My parents found out about the bullying even though I tried hard to hide the truth and promptly pulled me out of school and enrolled me into a private school. So, in the fifth grade, I went to another school, made friends and I loved it. But as they say, good things never seem to last that long, especially for me.

My mom got fired from her big-time lawyer job for a large company. Our family hit hard times and there wasn’t enough money to keep me in the private school. So, I was thrown back into the same public school where all the problems started. By the seventh grade I lost touch with my friends from private school and I thought I was going to go crazy. I pleaded every night with my parents to do something to help me but it was like talking to a wall. They felt awful about pushing me back into public school but they insisted that I could “brave through” it. So after weeks of begging, I gave up.

That was when I discovered the magic that is the internet. Even without needing to meet personally I gained many online friends through games, chat rooms and forums.

Well, enough about me for now. After all went silent, not including the flies buzzing frantically around my head, I stood up to push open the lid. The bag I stepped on was slippery and I fell forward; face planting into the uncovered garbage. Sitting up again, I couldn’t help but pity myself and my pathetic existence. I couldn’t even get out of a dumpster without falling and making things worse for myself.

After a minute of mixed feelings of self-loathing and self-pity, I resumed my escape from my smelly dungeon. This time I stood slowly and steadied myself with a hand on the wall of the dumpster. Reaching up I shoved the black lid open and winced as the sun beat its hot, bright beams down onto me. My eyes had adjusted to the darkness and weren’t ready for more light. I lifted myself up and out onto the scorching hot pavement. The last thing I wanted to do was return to class, especially when covered in garbage so I decided to go home. I would’ve gone and tried to find my backpack but it probably was in the possession of the three bullies by now.

I crept around the gym and headed towards the front of the school where the bike rack was located. I hid behind a large bush to check if the coast was clear of any teachers or adults that could catch me and send me back to class. When I was certain no one was there, I rushed over to the bike rack and unlocked the chain holding my bike to the metal bars. Jumping on, I quickly pedaled off and out of sight of the school. Once I was a safe distance from the school I slowed to an easier pace. It was a beautiful day out without a cloud in the sky but the heat and humidity was almost unbearable. The heat made the smell of dumpster ten times worse and the humidity was making me sweat profusely.

My house is only a mile and a half from the high school, so I rode my bike every day. School had started 4 weeks ago and I was already tired of it. A person can take only so much pressure and stress before they snap. Something I’ve always told myself was to never end up like one of those kids who bring a gun to school. The scary part is how well I understand those kids. How they must feel when they finally get revenge on their tormentors. But, as I said, I’m a coward and there’s no reason I should stoop lower then the people who bully me.

I spend a good portion of my time thinking of ways to improve my school life in some way but it seems what I try fails. Nothing changes no matter how I struggle in the jungle that is school. I made a mental note to ask my online friends for more advice.
I reached my little grey house and rode up the short, gravelly driveway. I hopped off and pushed the bike into the small shed that we used as a garage. Entering the house through the side entrance I stopped in front of the fridge to read the usual sticky note attached to it.

Working late. Meatloaf in fridge. Heat in microwave. Love, Mom and Dad

I opened the fridge and pulled out a Coke before shuffling out of the kitchen. At the end of the hallway I bounded up the stairs, turned left at the top and entered my room.

The first thing people notice about my room is the mess and then the ridiculously high stacks of books, comics and manga that are next to my desk. I was going to put them into a bookshelf, but I still have to get around to it. The desk is in the right corner of my room and has my laptop sitting on it. My bed is in the opposite corner and takes up a large portion of the left wall. The rest of the left wall is blocked by my dresser with a medium-sized TV sitting on top of it facing my bed.

Placing my coke down on the nightstand beside my bed I grabbed some clean clothes from my dresser and walked across the hall into the bathroom. Once inside I removed the reeking clothes from my body and threw them into the laundry hamper.

I’m not exactly a big person. I’m a mere 5 feet and really scrawny for a fifteen year old boy. Since no one seemed to care about me at school I didn’t put much effort into how I looked. Even if I took pristine care of myself, it wouldn’t improve my social life so I didn’t even try. My dark brown hair has grown to jaw-level and easily covers my face when I look down. Clothes are the same story. I wear plain tee-shirts or sweatshirts when it’s cold and blue jeans. I’d thought I wouldn’t stand out because of my plain wardrobe but it seems to attract more attention than ever.

After taking a quick shower I changed into a pair of plaid, blue pajama bottoms and a plain black shirt. Shuffling back to my room I grabbed my Coke and sat down at my desk. I opened the laptop and turned it on. The machine hummed to life and the light blue ‘Welcome’ screen popped up. I signed onto my instant messenger screen name, Raito13, and sure enough the one person I wanted to talk to was online.

Raito13: Hey, what’s up? B)
PhoenixTear: NM, just chillin’, u?
Raito13: NM either, but I’m still having school problems… =(
PhoenixTear: That really sucks. Wish I could help more… =/
Raito13: Well, WWUD if u had no friends @ school and was bullied every day?
PhoenixTear: …uh, make friends? idk
Raito13: Tried that and failed. X(
PhoenixTear: hmm… good Q… =/
PhoenixTear: y don’t u remove urself from the situation? If u can’t solve it, leave!
Raito13: u mean stop going 2 school?! O.o
PhoenixTear: sure, y not? As long as it makes the bullying stop.

Phoenix had a point. If there was no way to improve the situation then I might as well ‘remove myself’ from the problem. I thanked him for the advice and logged off. The plan was already formulating in my head and I could hardly contain my excitement.

‘From now on,’ I thought gleefully, ‘I’m never going back to that school!’