Heeeey! It's the day one of the Flumptober challenge. I know I'm late but school had me down for a few days. BTW for you readers some Flumptober candy!  🍬🍭🍬🍭

Prompt: Inspired by a funny meme or book quote.

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"There is nothing better than a friend – unless it's a friend with chocolate."

— Linda Grayson

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Seven year old Lloyd nervously chewed his lip as he peeked inside his How To Be Bad – Grade 2 textbook. He made sure Mr Dakota was busy yelling at Sammy and quickly skimmed over paragraph two of Chapter 1.

He had forgot to learn the basics of bad behaviour last night. His classmates had learned it off by heart while he was stuck in the bathroom since someone had locked him inside. The woes of attending a school for bad boys.

For the life of him, he never understood why you needed an entire school to learn how to be bad. Just do whatever the people don't approve of – duh. He could just make up a few rules himself but that meant getting the cane from the teacher. And no, it wasn't a candy-cane. Mr Dakota wanted every answer as it was in the book. Word-to-word.

Mr Dakota called everyone by their names one by one and asked them to recite a specific paragraph. After Sammy, it was Brad's turn, then Neil's and finally Lloyd's. His hands were getting sweaty as he desperately tried to cram up all the points in his mind.

Sammy sat and Brad stood up.

Lloyd tried to hide behind the standing figure of his dorm mate so that his teacher couldn't see he had his book out. Neil, who sat in front of him, turned around in his nervousness but stopped as he saw what Lloyd was doing.

"Are you crazy?!" Neil whisper-shouted, pointing at the book. "Mr Dakota's gonna kill you!"

Lloyd rolled his green eyes and snapped, "Mind your own business!" He then resumed his frantic skimming. He panicked as his teacher's voice grew louder. He had moved one seat closer. Brad sat down and Neil got up.

Lloyd absentmindedly kept reading the same sentence, not understanding any of it. As soon as Neil sat down again with a breath of relief, the blonde moved like lightning. He quickly shoved the book into the compartment under his desk and sat up straight.

"What do we have here?" Mr Dakota asked in a sarcastically amusing voice. "If it isn't the son of the legendary Lord Garmadon." He looked at Lloyd with contempt.

"Let's see if your learning skills are all that legendary," he announced, grabbing Lloyd roughly from the collar of his uniform and pulling him into a standing position. "Recite the fourth paragraph, you little cheat!" He yelled in the boy's ears, snatching out the textbook from under his desk.

Lloyd whimpered as the teacher shook him. Fourth paragraph?! He could barely remember the one he learned just now. He racked his brain, hoping to find something suitable to say but he had nothing. The fear of the cane weakened his ability to think properly. Moreover, he could see the other boys smiling tauntingly at him.

His heart skipped a beat when he saw that his dorm mates (who were kind of his friends or "allies" as this place liked to call) were sneering at him as well. They were supposed to be his friends, right? They should be looking sympathetic.

He looked over to Sammy and then Neil, taking in their insulting smirks. His eyes roamed to Gene whose glasses seemed to flash menacingly. Finally, his gaze rested on Brad – the one he thought was his best friend. He stopped as he saw that there was something peculiar about the way Brad was looking at him. It was a taunting smile of course but it looked fake – forced actually.

Then he understood. Friendly looks in this school automatically meant punishment. He didn't know much about the others but he was sure that his "allies" were just acting in front of the teacher. He observed each of them again and found a reassuring look hidden under the fake sneers. His heart lightened at this but quickly started racing when the teacher yelled at him again. "What are you? Deaf?!" He screamed. "Tell me what's in the fourth paragraph?!"

The blonde winced as Mr Dakota's loud voice almost shattered his eardrums. He decided to lie through his teeth. After all, he was here to learn how to be bad, right? Wasn't lying a bad thing?

"I'm sorry, sir," he managed to speak. "I studied for hours last night but I couldn't–" He was cut off as the man's hand slammed his desk. "I find that very hard to believe, boy," he hissed. "Take out your hand!!"

An almost inaudible gasp rose up from the rest of the students. An order to take out one's hand only meant one thing: the dreaded cane. No matter how much pleasure it gave to sneer and jeer at the victim, all the boys would get sick to the stomach whenever a kid would get struck.

All of Lloyd's senses indicated at one thing and that was danger. His heart started beating faster and he almost cried for help when he saw Brad turn away with a fearful look on his face. Neither of the boys looked at the teacher or the blonde. They were all preparing themselves for the noise that would ensue.

"TAKE OUT YOUR BLOODY HAND, YOU IDIOT!" Screamed Mr Dakota at the top of his lungs. Lloyd panicked and quickly exposed his left hand. If he's going to hit him, it should at least be on the hand that wasn't dominant.  The teacher leaned forward and pulled out the right one.

The blonde looked down at the soft, pale skin of his palm, unhurt and undamaged. He closed his eyes and held his breath as the teacher raised the cane over his head. He brought it down and it made contact with the palm with a sickening thwack causing the other boys to jump and wince.

Usually when a kid would get struck, he would scream and cry till the teacher shouted at him to shut his mouth. Lloyd didn't do anything of the sort. For a moment he felt nothing but a split second later a burning, searing pain spread across his palm. The entire area became pink except for the thick strip of fleshy white where the cane had struck him.

Lloyd bit his lips so hard that small drops of blood displayed themselves. His eyes watered, his hand trembled, his legs shook but no voice erupted from his throat. No words expressing pain escaped from his lips.

Don't cry. Dad never cried. He would be ashamed if you did. You're the son of Lord Garmadon. You don't know how to cry. You shouldn't know how to cry.

He screamed these words silently in his mind. Mr Dakota opened his mouth to say something but fortunately the bell rang at that moment. It was time for recess. "Get lost all of you!" The teacher yelled as the students scrambled out of their seats and ran out of the classroom.

"You," he said, glaring at Lloyd, "get out of my sight!" He pulled Lloyd out from between the desk and chair and shoved him to the side. Mr Dakota then grabbed his coat and files and left the classroom as well. As soon as the teacher left, Lloyd whimpered in pain and slumped against the class wall. He slid down till he was on the floor and cradled his hand. His tears didn't fall; they just gathered in the corners of his eyes.

"Lloyd," he heard someone say in a nasally voice. He looked up to see Gene standing there with Sammy and Neil on either side of him. Brad stood a little way away from the group. Gene adjusted his glasses before saying, "We are here to learn how to be bad so comforting you is not gonna look good on our part."

"We're allies, remember?" Neil spoke up. "Not friends." Sammy nodded to that. "The least we can do is say sorry. Sorry this happened to you." He added. Lloyd gazed up at the trio hopefully. "But being allies mean you'll still help me, right?"

Gene smiled at the kid, replying, "Sure it does – but when we feel like it." He winked at the blonde mischievously and turned around, making his way towards the door with Neil and Sammy following behind. "Come, Brad."

Lloyd expected the black haired boy to follow as well but he stayed behind. The other three continued to walk on, oblivious of the fourth's absence. Brad walked over and sat down next to Lloyd. The blonde gazed ahead, not looking at his companion. Brad reached into his pocket, took out a treat and extended his hand towards Lloyd. "Chocolate?"

Lloyd looked at him for a minute before smiling and accepting the candy. "Thanks, B."

Brad reached over and took Lloyd's injured hand. The blonde winced at the touch. Brad grimaced before suggesting, "We should put some ice on that." Lloyd nodded, getting up. They both walked towards the classroom door but stopped as Gene poked his head inside.

"Brad, I thought I said no sympathising," he complained as Neil and Sammy appeared as well. The raven rolled his eyes. "We're just going to the school nurse. Lloyd can't be a great villain with an injured hand, can he?"

"Then why does he have a chocolate in his hand?"

"Pffft! That's not chocolate," Brad replied as Lloyd took a bite. His face contorted in disgust as he spat it all out. The blonde wiped his mouth with his sweater sleeve before glaring at the black haired boy. "Frozen dirt?! That's so low!"

Gene, Sammy and Neil broke out in fits of laughter. "Sorry . . . not!" Brad cackled, pointing at the fooled boy. "A bad boy's gotta do what a bad boy's gotta do."

Lloyd joined in on the laughing too despite the joke being on him. He was already feeling better. "I'm not even gonna ask you how you managed to professionally seal that crud up in a chocolate wrapper."

"A villain never reveals his secrets."

"You're still taking me to the nurse, right?"

Everyone looked at Gene, waiting for his reply. "Fiiiiinnneee," he sighed. "But if we're getting in trouble for helping another student, I'm gonna kill you all." He then began to lead the group down the hall.

Making sure the other three were busy with their own conversation, Brad placed an arm around Lloyd's shoulders. Guess it's true; even bad boys can be good friends.

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Sooo how was it? It got a little longer than I expected but . . . . oh well. The longer, the better I suppose.