In the middle of the chaos, people were shouting, screaming, asking for answers to this nonsense, for the reason why their peaceful life's were to become shaken by a strange event, but one transparent screen, the reason of all this mayhem, stood firmly above each and every heads, clearly stating:
YOU ARE NOT TO ACT ON YOU'RE OWN ACCORD ANYMORE. THIS WORLD WILL BE NOW SUBMITTED TO NEW RULES. YOU ARE EXPECTED TO STAY WHERE YOU ARE UNTIL THE RULES ARE SUBMITTED TO EACH INDIVIDUAL.
Ellen stared blankly at the screen. What in the world was happening now?
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It was a normal day. Nobody could have recalled a more normal day than this. Ellen was, as usual, preparing his ham sandwich for lunch. He still have the money his parents sent every month for school lunch, but it was no use bringing it as Harold, a typical school bully, always snatches it from his spindly hands.
Ellen was a tall 16 years-old high school student with long dirty blond hair that always falls on his almond brown eyes and glasses. He also have the appearance of a boy that grew tall in such a short amount of time, so he had not one ounce of meat on him anywhere.His countenance was of a quiet boy who always leave his thoughts to himself or to people close to him. He usually lives alone in his home because his parent's always have some errands to run elsewhere abroad.
Ellen put his not-so-good-looking lunch in a box then put it in his back-pack, saying to himself that a bad tasting meal is at least better than an accouter with a bulky bully. Suddenly, the school bus came.
"No time for breakfast,I guess…" Ellen thought.
He heaved a sight, then rushed to the door before that the bus goes away without him.
"Damn, again a D-?"
"What do you want, that pesky idiot refused to give me the exam answers. He regretted it, thought, when I showed him what we do to snotty children!"
"That Davidson geek? Oh, so that why you beaten him into a red pulp. Almost knocked out the living out of him, you did."
"He deserved way more than, I assure you. Actually, it was a laugh compared to what I would have done to him if we were outside."
Ellen turned around. Harold was just next to his locker, talking to his friend ,Mark.
"Actually,I forgot something very important today." Harold loudly said. "Can you guess what is it?"
"Oh, I don't know. " Mark answered playfully. "Perhaps your history copybook?"
Ellen tensed, because he knew what Harold has "forgotten" .It was school lunch money.
"Oh no, something more important than that" Harold replied. "It's money. How will I get lunch without it? "He sad in a fake sorrowful voice. He eyed Ellen. "But my generous friend here might help me by giving me his"
"Get lost, Harold, I don't have any money. "Ellen retorted .He was getting nervous .It was true, he didn't bring any with him, since he had made his own lunch, but now he sees how bad of an idea it was.
"Oh, don't make me laugh." Harold snarled. "Ellis Miller, son of a entrepreneur and an actress, has no money? It's as believable as flying pigs. Come on, don't waste my time and give me the money."
"I'm not lying, I didn't bring any. "Ellen said, feeling nervous. If Harold doesn't get what he wants, he'll probably beat him up. Ellen looked at his bony arms. They are no use in a tussle against Harold's gorilla-like hands, And if he doesn't escape quickly, he might be transformed into soup.
"I don't care. Bring me my money or you will eat this for lunch."Harold growled, showing his fist.
Ellen gulped. How is he going to escape from this?
"Harold, I hope you aren't fighting with Ellen!"
The supervisor, Ms Nolan, appeared. She always strolled through the school's corridors, with her tatty cardigan and notepad. Her hair was forever tied in a tight bun, and her hawk like eyes were now looking sharply at them.
"What's the meaning of this?" Ms Nolan said.
"Oh, nothing, Miss. I was just talking with Ellen."Harold responded.
He whispered to Ellen "Guess you are lucky, scum."
He nudged Mark then went away.
"Ellen, are you being bullied by Harold?" Ms Nolan asked.
Ellen shook his head fiercely .
"It's nothing to be ashamed of. If you talk, we might do something about it."
Ellen considered that for a moment. Then he said.
"No, it wasn't anything like that. The conversation just got heated up a bit. "
Ms Nolan looked doubtfully at Ellen.
"Very well then, if you're sure. Have a good day." She finally said
"Have a good day too, Miss."
Ms Nolan headed upstairs.
Ellen recalled the discussion he had, and wondered if it was really the good choice he did. But It wasn't as if he could talk about it freely. If he did, not only Harold would smash him like a beetle, it would mean that he's too weak to deal with his own problems. And anyways, it was his fight, so nobody should be concerned about it.
The rest of the day passed without incident.
However, as Ellen left school, at a narrow alley he found the last person he'd like to meet there; it was none other than the infamous Harold.
" 'can't believe my luck." Ellen grumbled under his breath. He halted to the opposite direction when Harold said:
"Well well, look what we have here. It's none other than famous Ellen! What brings you here?"
Ellen run as fast as he could, but one of Harold's friends, Mark, was blocking his way. He grabbed Ellen in his arms, holding him.
"Why are you running away? Did I scare you?"Harold said in a baby-mock like voice.
Ellen stood there, frozen by fear. "He's gonna kill me, and I can't even scream for help, nobody is here."
"I'm sure you know what happens to who doesn't obey to my orders. Since I'm in a good mood I won't knock off your teeth."
"The only thing that would be knocked off is your smile, git" Ellen snarled.
Harold's posture changed so radically Ellen regretted instantly what he said. But the damage was done.
"I see. So you're asking for a death wish, I 'spose. Well, I'm gonna grant it for you."
Ellen tried to wrench himself from the grasp of the enemy, but he wasn't strong enough.
Harold landed the first blow on his face. Stars erupted behind his eyes, and he could barely stand from the impact.
"Does it hurt? Well this is just a taster. Here comes the main dish!"
Suddenly Harold's phone rang.
"Damn, you're lucky. Consider this a break."
He went farther to answer the call. Ellen saw this as a chance to escape, but Mark's grip on him was too strong.
"What? But you said… Okay, okay, I'll do it."
He turned back to Ellen.
"Just release that idiot. Mom wants me to fetch her something, and anyways he's not worth our time."
Mark released Ellen's sore arms. Harold shoved Ellen on the dirty floor in his way. Ellen waited until Harold and his croon were far then stood up and brushed the dirt off his pants. He took out his phone and, to his unpleasant surprise, he found its screen shattered. He sighted, then looked at his reflection in the back cover. One of his eyes was red and a bit swollen, and his bottom lip had a cut. He suddenly remembered that poor Davidson who was also bullied by Harold.
"My bruises are a laugh compared to what Davidson endured." He thought
He arranged his fringe to hide the bruise, then went back home. It was a shame because he was planning to visit his aunt's house, but he can't come to her in the mess he is. He searched his phone for signs of life, but it was officially destroyed.
"Yay, I'm in the middle of nowhere, reduced to a mess, and now I can't even contact my aunt."He muttered."Well, I'll just call her by laptop when I'm back"
On his way back, he felt like everybody was looking at him. At last he was home, and relief washed over him.When he went to the bathroom, he noticed that his eye wasn't swollen anymore and had turned a subtle shade of purple. He suddenly remembered that he should call his aunt. She wouldn't be satisfied until she at least saw him on camera. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his family's picture on his nightstand. It was taken when he was just six. Back then his father's business was still small so he would always come home at night. His mom was also not as famous as now so she would spend more time with him than now. She looked at her face. She looked beautiful there, even when she didn't wear makeup there.
He suddenly had the idea of taking his mom's concealer. He went to her room and rummaged through her makeup bags (she had so many she couldn't be bothered to take them all).He found one close to his skin color and applied it to his face. Never in his wildest dreams did he think he'd do that—he was no fan of makeup.
"That's not perfect, but anyway my camera's resolution is low," he thought. He opened up his laptop and called his aunt. She answered instantly.
"Hi. Why didn't you pop up at my place?"
Her face was looking reproachful. She was a short and jolly woman in her forties, with raven black hair and the same almond colored eyes as him. When his parent's weren't around, she was the one who took care of him when he was young. And even now that he can take care of himself just fine, she sometimes invited him over her house.
"I was planning to, but our math teacher said out of the blue that we have a test tomorrow."
"Huh, so that explains it. But why are you calling by laptop? The resolution's awful."
"My phone's wasted," Ellen said apologetically, while showing her the remains of his phone.
"Oh dear, how come it's in this state?"
"I tripped and my phone fell with me. I was at the library then, so everybody was looking at the noise I made. It was embarrassing," he fibbed.
"You sure had a busy day. Well, it's a shame you couldn't come. I've prepared lasagna just for you."
"Maybe another day. Take care."
"You too. Oh, and I almost forgot. You better tell your parents that your phone's broken. They'll go nuts if you don't pick up."
"Will do."
He hung up, then threw himself on the bed. His head was pounding, he felt sore everywhere and couldn't muster the energy to make dinner, even though his stomach was screaming hunger. All he could do was type to his parents that his phone was broken and that's it.
"If I don't somehow magic up my dinner I would starve."
He was too lazy to call the delivery man, so, reluctantly, he went to the kitchen and heated up some canned raviolis. Then he went to bed. Before he switched off the lights he found that his pillow sheet was smudged with make-up.
"Ugh, I forgot to wear it off" he groaned.
He went to the bathroom, washed off the remains of the concealer, then laid on his bed. But even though he was so tired, he couldn't sleep.
"Well, darn it."
He took his laptop and watched some stupid videos. At midnight, he heard a strange sound of ringing above his head. He looked up when he saw this. A floating screen. Ellen was seriously thinking that maybe he had a concussion, but the message stayed.
YOU ARE NOT TO ACT ON YOU'RE OWN ACCORD ANYMORE. THIS WORLD WILL BE NOW SUBMITTED TO NEW RULES. YOU ARE EXPECTED TO STAY WHERE YOU ARE UNTIL THE RULES ARE SUBMITTED TO EACH INDIVIDUAL.
Ellen stared blankly at the screen. What in the world was happening now?