A boy, barely eighteen, lay sprawled on the cold, damp dirt behind the school building His hair was matted with sweat and grit, and fresh blood oozed from a cut above his brow, dripping into his eye and staining his cheek His clothes, were streaked with mud and torn at the seams.
Above him, laughter echoed.
"You sure did a number on him today, Mark," one of the boys Said, nudging David's side.
Mark, tall, smug, his hair styled like he thought he was a movie star, gave a grin, He wiped a bit of blood from his knuckle and inspected it as if it were an annoying stain.
"That's what he gets for not listening to me," Mark said, his voice dripping arrogance "All I asked was for him to tell that stuck-up girl to hang out with me, But no, David's got a spine, huh? Thought he could say no to me."
One of the peered closer, uncertainty flickering in his voice "Uh, Mark… I think David's out cold."
But before he could check, David's eyes fluttered open, two dull pools of brown, unfocused and clouded with pain, He could barely make out their blurry shapes standing over him like hyenas.
A harsh shadow fell across his face as Mark lifted his foot and drove it straight into David's chest.
"Ugh"
Mark turned away, bored already "Let's go, guys."
Their laughter faded down the alley, replaced by the rustle of wind, For a long time, David didn't move, He just lay there, staring up at the wide sky.
When he finally tried to sit up, his arms gave out, Pain shot down his spine, He slumped back down, blinking at the tear that slipped from the corner of his swollen eye.
"Come on…" he whispered His voice cracked. "This isn't the first time, You've been through worse Just… get up."
But he didn't, His limbs felt like dead weight, his body refusing every desperate command his mind screamed at it, So he lay there, half-buried in dirt, staring at the sky.
No one's waiting for me anyway, he thought bitterly, He tried to smile but it twisted into a grimace, No friends, No one wondering if I'm late for dinner, Just… me.
"I hate myself," he croaked, his voice Cold "I hate this world, I freaking hate it, From middle school to high school… same shit every day, Same walls, Same punches, Same silence, No friends, No future, Nothing."
It was like saying it out loud made it feel real for the first time, A cold numbness seeped into his bones, dulling the pain as he dragged himself to his knees, then to his feet.
---
A few days later…
The classroom hummed with idle chatter and the scratching of pens on paper, David sat in the back, his bruises half-faded, He stared blankly at his textbook, words blurring into black smudges he didn't bother to read.
Mark swaggered up to him, dropping his bag on David's desk with a loud thud.
"Hey, David," Mark drawled, his grin wide and cruel. "Do my homework, I've got plans tonight."
David didn't look up, He didn't even blink, He just kept staring at the same word in his book.
"Hey, jackass, I'm talking to you," Mark's voice sharpened, louder now, Other students froze mid-sentence, eyes darting between them "Wasn't the last beating enough?"
Slowly, David lifted his head, His eyes were hollow, empty of fear, Just empty.
"Do it yourself."
The classroom fell silent, A pen dropped to the floor somewhere near the front row, Mark's grin vanished, replaced by a snarl, He grabbed David's collar, yanking him up from his seat.
"You got a death wish, huh? You think you're funny, you worthless piece of—"
He pulled his fist back to swing.
But this time David moved, Instinct, Rage, Something snapped awake, His hand shot up, catching Mark's wrist mid-swing, For a second, they just stood there, Mark's eyes wide with shock, David's hand tight like iron.
Then David's knee slammed into Mark's gut with a dull thud.
Mark's breath left him in a choked gasp, He crumpled backward, clutching his stomach, eyes wide in disbelief.
"You… You!!" Mark wheezed, voice cracking "I'll kill you! Boys, cripple him! Break every bone!"
Three of his friends lunged forward at once, David didn't flinch, The first swung a wild punch, David caught the fist, twisted, and with a sickening crack, snapped the attacker's wrist backward, The boy screamed and crumpled to the floor.
The second came at him from the side, David pivoted, driving his foot square into his chest The air whooshed out of him as he toppled over a desk.
A third grabbed David from behind, an arm snaking around his throat, then he dropped his weight, elbowed backward, driving his bony joint straight into the attacker's sternum, The boy folded over, gagging for breath.
David turned and slammed his fist into the side of his jaw, The crack of knuckles meeting bone echoed through the stunned classroom.
Mark scrambled backward, bloodless and shaking. "M-My father… my father will ruin you! Do you hear me?! You're finished! You'll regret this, you pathetic piece of—"
David stepped forward, His shadow fell over Mark, who now looked smaller than ever, crawling on the floor like a rat.
"I'm not scared of your threats anymore, Mark," David said, his voice frighteningly calm. "You can't ruin someone who has nothing left to lose, I had no future from the beginning, but I kept pretending, I thought if I endured enough, it'd change, But people like you never change."
He grabbed Mark by the collar, pulling him close enough that Mark could see every bruise he'd left behind, David's fist crashed into his face, once, twice, until Mark slumped limp against the desk, out cold.
Silence swallowed the room, No one moved.
David stood there, fists still clenched, chest heaving, His shoulders felt lighter than they had in years.
When he finally let go, he didn't look at anyone, He didn't need to.
He walked out of that classroom, out of that school, out of the broken life that never cared if he survived...