The scorching sun bore down on Evergreen High School, casting long shadows across the courtyard. Behind the classrooms, a scene of torment unfolded.
"I know you got more money on you, twerp. Give it. Now!" yelled Dexter while stomping on Marquis. The tall, broad-shouldered boy with piercing light brown eyes, dark brown skin, and shiny curly black hair was the undisputed leader of "The Untouchables," a notorious group of bullies who ruled the school. His muscular build and confident swagger made him appear invincible, but it was his cruelty that cemented his reputation.
Marquis lay curled on the ground, his thin frame trembling as Dexter's polished black boots stomped on his ribs. His glasses, cracked and askew, did little to mask the fear in his black eyes.
"Come on, Dex," Ethan chuckled, yanking Dexter back. "Don't kill the little guy. We wouldn't want to commit murder on school grounds, plus school would be boring without our little punching bag." Ethan, with his pale skin and spiked blonde hair, was second in charge of the group, Dexter's shadow and best friend. His sharp jawline and constant smirk gave him an air of mischief, but his humor only masked his equally sinister nature.
Dexter scoffed and pulled a few crumpled bills from Marquis's pocket. With a mocking grin, he turned to Chloe. "Here, get yourself something nice, beautiful," said Dexter, his voice smooth but laced with arrogance.
Chloe, a member of the group, a girl with long, silky light blue hair that almost seemed white and striking blue eyes took the money without hesitation. Her radiant beauty complete with a flawless smile and a confident demeanor, belied her venomous nature. "Are your parents going broke or something? Pathetic," she sneered, tossing her hair over her shoulder.
Chloe split the money in half and handed the other half to Nia, her best friend and another member of The Untouchables. Nia's ebony skin glowed under the sun, and her braided hair cascaded down her back like a waterfall. She was tall, elegant, and breathtakingly beautiful, but her sharp tongue and cold gaze could cut deeper than any insult.
"Is that all he had? Why do we even waste our time with this roach?" she said dismissively.
Before Dexter could say more, the last member of the group, Kareem, came sprinting from the far end of the school. "Yo, guys! The teacher's coming! Let's go!" Kareem was the fastest of the group, with orange eyes and long afro hair that stood on end, the sides right above his ears trimmed to a nice fade. His lean frame and athletic build made him the star of the school's track team, even though he stopped doing sports after joining The Untouchables.
Dexter grabbed Marquis by the shirt, lifting him off the ground. "Say a word to the teacher, and you're dead. Got it?" He shoved Marquis back down, laughing as the group scattered.
Kareem hesitated, his orange eyes staring at Marquis, and for a second, he saw himself on the ground where Marquis was. He scoffed and followed the rest of his group.
Marquis gritted his teeth, tears welling in his eyes. Mr. Maruza, who was passing by, saw Marquis slumped on the ground and ran to help him up.
"Are you okay, young man?" he asked, offering Marquis a helping hand.
Marquis, filled with anger, refused his help and got up on his own.
"What happened? Who did this to you?" asked Mr. Maruza, but before he could finish, Marquis spoke. "It's nothing. I fell while running." Then he started limping away. Mr. Maruza looked at him walking away, feeling sorry for him, but he couldn't do anything if Marquis didn't want to tell anyone about what had happened to him.
The bell rang, and all the students went back to class.
As soon as Marquis entered the classroom, a voice echoed. "Hey Marquis, what's up with the bruises? Did someone bully you, buddy?" asked Dexter with a smirk on his face. The others—Chloe, Nia, Ethan, and Kareem—laughed behind Dexter.
Marquis gritted his teeth in anger, then responded, "I fell while running." Then he went to sit in front of Dexter. That was the seat given to him by Dexter so he could write exercises and notes for him.
The teacher then walked in. The first thing she noticed were the bruises on Marquis. She had been noticing these bruises for weeks now, and they seemed to be getting worse. Marquis locked eyes with her, and he could see that she knew he was getting bullied.
She started walking between the desks while teaching. "Today, I'm assigning you group projects," said Miss Chiedza. When she reached Marquis's desk, she put a note on it without anyone noticing and continued walking. Marquis looked at the note, and it read: "Come see me in my office after class." Marquis quickly hid the note before Dexter could see it. Miss Chiedza continued, "Quickly, get in groups of six, and the people you sit with are the ones you are going to work with to complete the project."
Kareem then lifted his hand, but Miss Chiedza, knowing that he was one of the troublemakers, ignored him.
Marquis noticed Ann looking at him. Then she waved her hand, asking him to join her group. But when he was about to stand up, Dexter pulled him down and whispered, "If you leave, who will do the project for us, twerp? Don't make me angry, kid." Then he slapped the back of his head.
Dexter then looked at Ann. "Sorry, but Marquis is already in a group, little lady." Ann thought she could help Marquis get away from Dexter. She wanted him to join her group that was full of like-minded people—the kids in her group were the bullied and the nerds. She was about to ask Dexter to let Marquis join her group when she noticed him staring at her, his eyes moving around her body like a predator looking at prey. Dexter's eyes went down from Ann's eyes to her bulging bosom, then stopped at her beautiful legs. He was staring like his eyes were about to stretch out and go up her skirt. Feeling uncomfortable, Ann moved her chair and faced the other way with her friends.
Dexter then smirked. "Not bad, for a nerd." From beside Dexter, Ethan's voice echoed, "I know, right? She's kinda cute." Then they both started laughing. "Ha ha ha ha!"
A few minutes later, the whole class started laughing. Miss Chiedza looked around and noticed that they were laughing at Kareem waving his hand like a madman. She finally gave in to the class clown, then let out a little laugh while shaking her head and sighed. "Yes, Kareem, what is it?"
"I really have to go to the toilet, ma'am."
"Just hold it, Kareem. Class is almost over," answered Miss Chiedza.
"Brrrr puff!" Kareem let out a loud fart. "Please, ma'am, I can't hold it! I'm torturing—ahhh!"
"Ha ha ha ha! Bro, just do it in your lunch box," said Dexter while laughing.
The rest of the class continued laughing.
"Okay, fine, go. Get out of here," said Miss Chiedza. Kareem then took off running from the back of the class, skidding to a stop at the door. He was about to let out another fart, but Miss Chiedza noticed and threw a chalk like she was pitching in baseball, hitting him in the buttocks.
"Ahhhh!" he screamed and continued running out of the classroom, leaving the entire class laughing. Marquis looked at Miss Chiedza, and she was laughing. She winked at him, and he couldn't help but let out a little laugh too.
"See you next week, guys, and don't forget your projects. I want them on Monday," said Miss Chiedza, then she left.
Marquis waited a few minutes, then he stood up, looked at Dexter, and asked, "Mr. Dexter, may I please go and use the restroom?" Dexter smirked and responded, "I will let you go if you cluck like a chicken."
Marquis looked around, embarrassed, and he knew if he didn't do it, he would be forced to do something even more embarrassing. Ann looked at Marquis, feeling sorry for him, but she couldn't do anything. Marquis gritted his teeth and squeezed his fist in anger, then, "Cluck cluck cluck," he clucked like a chicken. Dexter and his group of friends laughed. The rest of the class felt sorry but had to ignore it if they didn't want to get bullied too. After a little while, Dexter finally stopped Marquis. "You did good, twerp. Now go."
Marquis turned around and walked away, gritting his teeth with anger.
He walked out of the classroom, looking down, thinking that he was going to spend his entire high school life getting beat up and working for Dexter and his friends. "Why? Why me? I hate this. I wish I could just die. Just a little more. I need a little more depression, a little more sadness, and I will finally be able to end this suffering. I will end it all," he thought to himself. He walked for a little while, then stopped in front of Miss Chiedza's office door. Imagining what The Untouchables would do to him if he told on them, his heart started racing. His fear overwhelmed him. He threw the note Miss Chiedza had given him into a trash can and left without seeing her.
While walking in the hallway, about to reach his classroom, he bumped into Kareem. He quickly moved out of his way.
Kareem took a deep breath and looked at Marquis. "Yo, Marquis, look here. I'm sorry about..." But before he could finish, Ethan walked out of the classroom. Kareem's demeanor quickly changed. "Did you just bump into me, twerp? Watch where you're going before you get stomped on," said Kareem while pushing Marquis, slamming him into the wall. He then walked toward Ethan and high-fived him before walking into the classroom.
After a few more hours of class, it was finally time to go home. The Untouchables were the first ones out the door, already making plans for their weekend.
"Yo, Marquis, don't forget our project, you little b*tch," Kareem shouted, and the rest of the group started laughing.
A beautiful, shy girl then walked out of the classroom. Dex, Ethan, and Kareem instantly started whistling. Her voluptuous body never ceased to amaze them.
She instantly locked eyes with Chloe and Nia, their eyes screaming murder. She looked down and quickly walked away, scared. She saw Marquis up front. Even though The Untouchables denied everyone from ever speaking to Marquis, she gave him a soft, "Marquis, have a great weekend. I'll see you next week," before bolting away. Marquis let out a faint smile, but the smile quickly disappeared after he heard Dex and his friends laughing behind him.
Marquis went home, and when he got there, his parents were arguing again and didn't even notice him. He walked past their bedroom, and when he was about to walk past his dad's office, something caught his eye—a weird old book. He decided to ignore it and went straight to his room. He lay on his bed, looking at the ceiling. "I hate this life. Just a bit more sadness and depression. I'll be able to do it soon. As soon as this dim little light of hope goes off, I'LL KILL MYSELF," he thought to himself while slowly falling asleep.
At Dexter's house, Dex was in his room lifting his weights. He stopped and wiped the sweat off himself with a towel and drank some water to cool down. He opened a drawer on his shelf, and in it was a bunch of his childhood toys. Below them, he pulled out a picture of Chloe. He lay back-first on his bed and couldn't help but smile while looking at Chloe's beautiful picture.
He was disturbed when he heard footsteps heading toward his room and quickly pretended to be asleep. It was his brother, Brandon (Bran).
"Asleep, huh? I'll have some fun when you wake up," Bran said with a smirk on his face.
When Marquis woke up, it was already midnight. He went downstairs to get himself some food. His parents had already eaten and went to sleep. On his way back to his room, he noticed his father's office door was open. He peeked inside and noticed the old book again—this time, it was shining under the moonlight and was opened. He walked in to look at it, and the title of the book instantly caught his attention: The Ancient Orb of Power.