The act of vengeance_(2)

Chapter 1

I had been really excited to go to high-school. I wanted nothing more than to finally abandon my boring primary school and join the grown-ups. In primary school I would usually stroll down the hallways, having only but my thoughts as occupation. I was fairly smart for my age, at least smarter than most of the other kids attending the school. My patient teacher tried to repeat as much of the curriculum as possible. He probably just wanted to give the slow learners a fair chance, but for me it had been dreadful. I only needed one lesson to comprehend his teachings and consequently I struggled to keep my mouth shut at the others. One day he finally had enough. After school hours he pulled me aside and told me I didn’t have to attend repeating classes anymore. However, I still had to stay on school grounds doing something school related. And so I did absolutely nothing of worth. I had friends; sure, they just all existed of slow learners. I craved for something new, something refreshing. So when it was time for me to go I was filled with joy.

My delight was quickly turned to ash in my mouth as I clumsily trudged through my first year of high-school. I had been told it was normal for seniors to bully the juniors, so I just ignored them. After a while they were getting more and more skilled in making my life miserable. My classmates had been victims in the first year as much as I was, but as the years progressed they began to aim all their firearms at me. I quickly understood why. While my classmates grew taller and more masculine each month, I pretty much remained the same: A wimpy kid looking no more than thirteen years old. My outstanding grades didn’t help either. I didn’t wear glasses and neither did I wear old-fashioned clothes, but that didn’t stop them from calling me a nerd. They would insult me, harass me and even hit me whenever the opportunity presented itself. I can say with complete certainty those were the most agonizing years I’ve ever experienced.
Finally, after several years of torture, fate smiled upon me. My body entered a rapid succession of improvements. It was as if my whole body was given a highly concentrated dose of testosterone. Over a period of seven months I grew about seven and a half inch, making my length a total of six feet. My muscles were only too eager to grow, especially after I had decided to work out every few days. Due to all the abuse I had suffered, my face grew harsh and frigid. Furthermore, I always made sure that my dark brown hair wouldn’t grow too long. All it would do was add one more weakness to the bullies’ list. After all these changes I finally looked like my age, perhaps even older (I was about nineteen). Despite my reputation, girls started to give me quick glances as I slowly paced past them. Even the bullies became more hesitant at my beat up sessions but continued nonetheless. They outnumbered me seven to one after all.

It didn’t take long for something extraordinary to happen. During my favourite subject, which was chemistry, a teacher by the name Rivers gave us an assignment.

“You are to write an essay on polymers. You can either focus on the broad aspect of polymers or go in depth about just one. It is your choice. You can do whatever you want with the subject, as long as you keep it structural and informative. You’ll have to hand it in the next month. ” He checked if he still had the attention of the class.

“However,” he continued, “this assignment has to be done in pairs.” The class `burst out in excitement. I just sighed and was already preparing myself to convince him to let me work alone.

“Yes?” Mr Rivers raised his eyebrow.

“I have a question,” I began, “is it poss-“

“We would like to work together on the assignment,” A girl sitting behind me butted in.

Her words had penetrated my ears, but my mind didn’t progress them.

Mr Rivers seemed surprised as well. He knew I wasn’t beloved and was wondering why one of the most popular girls of the school had spoken these words. Her friendly freehearted nature combined with her stunning beauty, were enough to drive the boys nuts.
He quickly snapped out of it and nodded.

“Very well, if Alan is ok with it I don’t mind.” Everybody’s eyes were locked on me, none of them believing what just happened.

“S-sure.” I stammered.

“That’s settled then.” Mr River turned his attention back to the class, “anybody else that has already formed groups?”

What had she planned? There had been no doubt in my mind that this was a trick, a trap designed to utterly humiliate me. It still surprise me though, Lena had always been the girl that did whatever she damn well pleased. I found it saddening that even she was sucked in by the bullies. Ian must’ve convinced her to join the dark side. As I knew too well he could be quite persuasive.
I furiously clenched my fist. He had been responsible for all this. The others were most likely just scared of him. Somehow I had to deal with him. That however, would have to wait. First I had to unravel Lena’s intentions. I decided to confront her as soon as possible.

Unable to further concentrate myself on class, I descended into my realm of thoughts. Time flew by and before I knew it class was finished. I had barely packed my stuff when she suddenly appeared next to me.
She leaned forward and whispered in my ear: “Meet me at 8 pm tonight at school.”
Her breath gently engulfed my ear causing me to gasp. Before I could answer she walked off.
I followed her every step without moving an inch. What had just happened? It took me nearly thirty seconds to regain control of myself. I finished up packing and braced myself for Ian. Ian and his gang would always wait for me near the exit to remind me who was in charge, but this time they were no were to be seen. Instead of being relieved like I should have been, I grew suspicious. It was too much of a coincidence. I carefully made my way to my car, expecting trouble any minute. It never came.

I never told anything to my parents about the bully sessions. There was simply nothing they could do. Moving was no option, because that would require my dad to find a new job. Furthermore, contacting school would only work counter-productive. Knowing that my parents would insist on doing something about it I left them in ignorance. After a while they had noticed my lack of social activities, so I told them we used the internet to hang out. An advantage of living in the 21th century.

I hadn’t even loosened my shoes yet when my mother came rushing down on me.

“Dad finally got that deal we’ve so been struggling to get!” She exclaimed.

“That’s fantastic!” I tried to match her enthusiasm. In truth I didn’t even know what the deal was about.

“It is! We’ll be going out to dinner tonight to celebrate,” her smile reached to her ears.

“Awes-” I stopped midway. I had totally forgotten about my ‘appointment’ with Lena.

“I-I can’t tonight.” My voice hurt a bit speaking the words. I knew she loved to go on family trips, even if it was just dinner. “I’m meeting some friends at school. We can’t use Skype this time. You see we are doing an assignment together and-”
“Fine, fine. I’ll just postpone it then,” she sighed, “it’s going to be a huge pain to persuade your dad to cancel his meetings again.”

“I’m sorry,” I apologized.

“Don’t be, you go have fun with your friends.”

I spent my entire afternoon researching polymers for the small chance that this wouldn’t be a set up. It was better to come prepared for every scenario. Besides if it was to be a set up, I would still have to produce the essay. I had been working until mom returned home with some pizzas. I expressed my gratitude and devoured my meal. I looked at my watch to see if I still had some time to work out. It was half past seven. I rushed upstairs and took a quick shower. Not sure whether or not I was ready I stepped inside my car.

I didn’t notice her at first, but she quickly caught my attention. She was leaning against the school, waving her hands above her head. I sighed letting out my accumulated tension. At least she was here without Ian. It wasn’t until I drove next to her that I was struck by her sparkling beauty. Evidently she hadn’t considered this as a study meeting. Her red dress reached up to halfway her knees and her make-up was more on display than usual, highlighting her blue eyes beneath her long brown hair.

“So where are you taking me?” she asked while getting in the car.

“I-I…” I couldn’t find the words. I was beyond embarrassed by appearance. Compared to her I looked like a beggar. I had absolutely neglected the possibility of this being a date. I felt like the stupidest man alive and wanted to hit myself with a rock.