I had just gone to the washroom when I saw Rylan there—with his two elder brothers, Julian Ross and Zayn Ryder, standing on either side. In the middle stood those four shits who had beaten me earlier. But now, they were already dealt with by Rylan and his brothers, pressed helplessly against the wall.
Rylan shouted,
"They beat you in the classroom. Is that right??!"
I answered quietly, almost whispering,
"Yes."
Rylan shouted again,
"Don't you feel anger or embarrassment by getting beaten all the time? Why don't you fight back? Bro, this world is cruel. You need to face these challenges, and if you don't respond, the problems will take over you and you'll live in fear your whole life. Be brave at least once. AND BEAT THESE BASTARDS!"
I just stood there trembling, unable to speak because of fear.
Rylan suddenly burst out again,
"Beat them with all the strength you have, let your anger out… But you know what, sometimes violence isn't the solution… like when your parents are scolding you… But for now I don't think it's bad to fight for yourself. BEAT THEM!"
Something snapped inside me. I burst out all my anger and started punching as hard as I could. But deep down I realised my punches were weak—I didn't even know how to punch properly. Still, for the first time, I was finally letting it all out on them.
Rylan firmly stopped me and said,
"Fine Bryce, fine. You did it right. That's all it takes. Now you can fight for yourself."
Zayn shouted,
"How can he? He's weak. He's got to be stronger."
Julian silenced Zayn and said,
"It's fine bro, he'll grow stronger… I'll train him!"
Rylan then said,
"No need guys, I can teach him myself. I'll train him. You guys can go now. And Julian… how the hell did you even come inside the school? Weren't you in another school? Ah, leave it. You can go now."
Rylan then extended his hand towards me, signalling me to take it and stand up. I grabbed it and got up.
He told me we should go back to class together since there was another class after the short break.
We went back, but the teacher had already arrived—and we were late. The teacher started scolding us, but then noticed blood on Rylan's face. The teacher asked how he got hurt. (Of course, it wasn't Rylan's blood, it was the blood of the guy he beat) Anyway, Rylan calmly replied,
"STRAWBERRY JUICE."
And strangely… the teacher believed it.
After that, we had two consecutive classes, and then lunch break arrived.
We ate lunch at the school assembly ground, while the girls had their lunch in another ground.
Usually, I used to eat near the slide beside the assembly stage. But today, I stayed with Rylan. He was friends with almost everyone in the school except the girls. So I sat with him and some other students—mostly seniors.
A while later, a kid came running to Rylan and said some seniors were mocking him. Rylan turned, saw the direction the kid pointed at—and noticed the seniors already running towards us.
Rylan instantly stood in front of the kid and pushed him behind himself. Then he ran straight at the seniors. He grabbed one by the face and slammed him onto the concrete ground, then punched another in the stomach.
But one of them was Jackson, who had MMA training from his elder brother, so he was strong enough to take the hit. Jackson struck back hard. Rylan staggered back two steps, and blood started coming from his nose.
Rylan shouted,
"Ahh F*CK! You seem to be strong!!"
Then he gathered all his strength and punched Jackson's face, knocking him down.
Rylan sat on top of him and kept punching his face, while holding his neck with the other hand. Ben, one of Rylan's friends, tried to step in and stop him, but Zayn held him back.
Zayn said,
"Rylan is psychotic right now, it's better you don't interfere."
After a few seconds, Rylan suddenly calmed down. He stood up, came back to us, and told the kid,
"Be brave buddy. You're free now."
His face had a small blood patch and a few drops still visible. He asked his friend Sean (NEW CHARACTER! our classmate) to bring water so he could clean his face and hands.
After washing up, Rylan went back to those seniors and said,
"Come on man! You're grown up now. Can't you wash your face on your own?"
And with that, he threw the water bottle towards them.
That day felt terrifying… but strangely also exciting. A new kid had learned that strength isn't for bullying—it's for protecting others.
But that wasn't the main incident of the chapter. There was something worse coming.
Later that day, after school ended, Rylan and I were standing in the line at the very back. Behind us were students from the upper class. And guess who it was?
It was STEVE.
This time, Steve behaved normally. He didn't even dare to look into my eyes.
Steve even had a girlfriend standing behind him, and she already knew he had been beaten by Rylan that day.
Now… here comes the twist.
After we came out of school, suddenly a group of bikers stopped right in front of us, blocking our way. They looked older—around 20 to 25 years old.
Rylan and I immediately realised he couldn't fight so many grown men. There were six of them.
So we ran back to the school gatekeeper. Rylan asked for his phone.
I didn't understand why, but he called someone.
We both went back inside the school.
After a few moments, we heard more bikes approaching.
It was another group—the biker gang "Knight Rider Crew". This crew had many members, all 18+. One of their leaders was Jonathan Parker, Sean's elder brother.
That's when I realised Rylan had called Sean using the gatekeeper's phone.
Seeing the KRC (Knight Rider Crew) arrive with their leader, the earlier bikers got intimidated and left.
But we—me, Rylan, and Sean with the KRC squad—stayed behind the school, near the park.
The squad leader then asked Rylan to treat all of them since they had come leaving their own work.
Rylan agreed and treated them to ice creams, cold drinks, and even park tickets for everyone.
Honestly… I think Rylan had seriously deep pockets.
But the moment we came out of the park, everything changed again.
We saw people surrounding us—some on bikes, some holding metal bats, and one even carrying a taser. All of them wore black jackets with a logo on the back.
Jonathan recognised it immediately. It was a gang called VK. Their leader was VINOD KUMAR.
FUN FACT: NO F*CKING MAN KNOWS WHO THIS VINOD KUMAR IS, NOT EVEN HIS OWN GANG MEMBERS.
Jonathan shouted and warned everyone that we were surrounded by VK.
The situation turned terrifying.
I had no idea what VK even was or what we were supposed to do next. I was shaking, completely overwhelmed with fear.
Then one of the VK members made a call to someone and said,
"Sir, should we finish them?"