“I hope you do well in your finals today,” my mom told me. “And for good luck, I made you some lunch today.”

I smiled. “Thanks mom. Now I don’t have to depend on the school food to keep my energy up.”

“Make us proud,” my dad said as he read the newspaper, and then snorted. “What am I saying? Of course you will.”

“That’s a lot of pressure you’re putting me in,” I told them.

He rolled his eyes. “A fail to you Naomi is called an A- to us mortals.”

“Don’t mind him,” my mom told me, “But before you go, can you do me a favor and deliver some mail for me? I think you pass by a mailbox on your route. I need it to be sent as soon as possible.”

I nodded and grabbed the stack of letters. “Alright.”

I left the house, seeing I was earlier than usual. The guys usually pick me up around 7:30 because Bennett needs to pick Jordan and Declan up first before picking me up last. I told Bennett that I need to give in some mail and that I’ll meet them at school. My phone had officially passed away after the disaster party, also taking my stereo with it. Jordan got me a temporary phone until I can buy myself a new one which he promised to update.

Now with the extra time to myself since I’ll be early to school, I can do some last minute studying in the library for my first few periods then study for the rest in lunch. I started walking with the mail at hand. I’m glad that I don’t take the school bus anymore. I mean sure, it helped me with my running, but I prefer carpooling with the guys instead. I found a mailbox a couple blocks away and inserted the mail into it. With that out of the way, I started walking to school that’ll take only a couple of minutes so I can have more time at the library.

With my thoughts on the notes I’ve went through the night before, I didn’t notice the limo driving up beside me. I did a near double take when I saw it. I’ve never seen a real one up close, only seeing it in the movies when the person is going to prom or just really rich. I don’t know what a limo would be doing here, but I ignored it and kept on walking. Then I realized it was following me, as I kept on walking faster, it matched my speed and drove alongside me. My first thought of course was Bennett.

I stopped walking and looked at the black tinted windows. “Bennett, did Jordan put you up to this? I know you can’t possible give in to him, no matter how persuasive he is, unless he blackmailed you. Why would you bring a limo for anyway? The last thing you are is flashy.”

The only reply was the door popping open to me.

I eyed it suspiciously. But it was a limousine. When else can I ever ride one? I took a cautious look inside the car before climbing inside and closing the door behind me. The car continued driving as soon as I closed the door. It looked like any limo I saw in the movies. But I was confused, Jordan and Declan weren’t here, it was only just the two of us, Bennett and me. He was looking away of me, looking into what I think is a mini fridge. Yes, a mini fridge. I mean, it’s a limo, why not add a mini fridge to make it more awesome than it already is.

“What’s going on Bennett?” I asked him. “Where are the others?”

He didn’t say anything.

Okay, I’m getting scared now. I eyed the door, the only exit here.

I tried again. “Bennett?”

“I hate to disappoint you,” he said, “but I think you’re confusing me for someone else.”

He turned around holding a Sprite and Coke in either hand. The guy looked like Bennett, scary alike as if they’re twins. But he had slightly shorter hair with his ears being visible to show he didn’t have earrings and had blue eyes that are darker than Bennett’s familiar bright ones. But beside those noticeable differences, the biggest difference was the smirk on his lips, something Bennett would never wear. Along with it, he was wearing what looked like a private school uniform. His uniform was a black blazer with a crest on it, over a white collared shirt and red tie.

“I’m terribly sorry for surprising you Naomi,” he said, saying my name so casually as if we’ve known each other for a long time.

“You know my name…” I said slowly.

He blinked. “Oh, of course, my name’s Bentley Frazier, Bennett’s younger brother.” He gave me a comforting smile. “Now would you like some soda with that shocked face of yours?”

I didn’t take anything, mostly because my shocked face didn’t want a soda. I mean, maybe an inhaler or paper bag to help me breathe, but no soda. I thanked him for the offer anyway.

“Bennett never told me he had a brother.”

“That’s not very surprising. He doesn’t talk about me or even notices my existence,” Bentley said with a chuckle.

“That’s so sad,” I said, not seeing why he would chuckle at that.

He waved it off. “It’s always been like that between us. Then whatever connection we had left was severed when he left to live by himself.”

“As much as I love to hear Bennett’s back story-” which I don’t because I respect his privacy, but was just saying that “-why am I here?”

“Well besides my father pissed off at him, it was about the last family… meeting we had a few days ago.”

I remember that, it was when Jordan and I went to go painting, and Bennett told me he had a “summoning” to go to.

He continued. “My father had enough of his rebellious phase and wants him to come back home, blah, blah, blah. But Bennett said no once again and even added “never” the sentence.” He looked at me. “I’m sorry for spilling family matters to you.”

“Um, no problem.”

“The thing is he says that he’s happy where he is with his friends.”

“Alright, where am I in this?”

“Well, my father wanted me to fetch Bennett, but if you know Bennett as well as I do, which I doubt since you might even know him better, he’ll never go with me. So I thought, ‘hey, how about I talk to one of his friends to help me out?’”

“Why not Jordan and Declan?” I asked him.

“They already know about me and won’t help me in any way,” Bentley explained to me. “But you on the other hand seem more open. I just want you to hear me out and try to fix your friend’s broken family.” He looked at me hopefully with pleading eyes.

“I like how you added the last part ‘broken family’,” I noted, leaning back of the seat. “But Jordan is way more persuasive than you, he can persuade someone to jump off a bridge if he’d like.”

Bentley burst out laughing. “Well you can’t blame me for trying, it was worth a shot.” He smiled at me. “I have to admit, you’re pretty sharp Naomi. But now that you know that I tried to play you, at least know that most of what I said is true.”

“Most?” I repeated in disbelief.

“Just that my father told me to get Bennett was the lie,” he told me. “My bodyguards are more persuasive than I could ever be. Though, they’re persuasion involves violence, I’m more peaceful and can always use my money.”

“Then why am I really here?”

“Don’t I have a right to get to know the people who took my brother away from me?” He asked me with a smirk. “And it’s just mere curiosity of course.”

“Well you know, curiosity killed the cat.”

He wagged his finger at me. “No, but satisfaction saved it. In this instance, I can only be satisfied once I know my brother is in capable hands.”

“Well let me save you the trouble,” I told him, “I can assure you he is.”

“No offense, but I’ll be the judge of that.”

So far, he’s been the total opposite of Bennett, talkative, confident and arrogant. I narrowed my eyes at him which he smirked, probably accepting the challenge. Suddenly the door opened. I glanced outside to see we were in front of my school. Curious students were staring at the limousine like it was a UFO, to them it is.

“Looks like this is your stop,” Bentley said, looking down at his watch. “And geez, I’ll be late to school. Oh, before I forget, can we keep our little conversation a secret, just between you and me? Bennett would kill me if-“

“Naomi?” A familiar voice called out and I saw Bennett had seen me from inside the open door.

“Whoops, too late,” Bentley said. “By the way, could you do me a favor and give a message to my brother? He’d never listen if it came from me directly. He’s been ordered to go to the Christmas banquet, whether he likes it or not, and of course you and your other friends are invited as well.”

I opened my mouth to say something, but didn’t know what to say.

He smiled. “It was fun talking to you Naomi, and I hope we can do it again sometime. Don’t worry though, we’ll keep in touch,” he said with a wink.

I made my way out of the limo to then watch it speed away. Bennett ran beside me, glaring angrily at the limousine turning smaller in the distance.

“That was Bentley, wasn’t it?” He demanded from me. “Why did you go into that limo? What if it was some kidnapper?”

“It’s a limo,” I told him. “I thought it was you.”

“Well you can’t blame her for that,” Jordan defended.

Bennett ignored him. “What did he tell you?”

I spilled out everything, from offering me some soda to his goodbye.

“Good job Naomi, you shouldn’t drink soda in the morning,” Jordan told me.

Declan made a face. “Yeah, I know from experience.”

“You shouldn’t trust a single word that comes out of my brother’s mouth.”

“So what he said isn’t true?” I asked him.

He paused then admitted, “No.”

“What about that banquet?”

“Banquet means party, and party means food,” Jordan said. “A banquet is rich people party, so I bet there’s a lot of food there.” He looked at Bennett in excitement. “Can we go? Can we go?”

“No,” Bennett said firmly. “I don’t see what the use spending time at the world I ran away from.”

“He’s getting pretty dramatic, don’t you think?” Jordan muttered to us.

Bennett shot him a glare, making Jordan look down at the ground. “C’mon, school is about to start.”

-

Jordan stretched his arms and let out a yawn. “Almost there!” He said cheerfully.

Declan didn’t look even half as optimistic as Jordan and looked like he was about to drop. “Just leave me here. Go on without me.”

“Oh don’t be like that,” Jordan told him, slapping him on the back. “This also the last day of school y’know, well until second semester anyway. Just a couple of more tests and we’re outta here.”

But we were all ignoring Jordan given he shocked Declan who was now clutching his shoulder.

Jordan blinked. “Sorry, I didn’t mean-” He looked down at his hand. “I didn’t know I was that strong.”

I touched Declan’s shoulder, being sure to be careful unlike Jordan. “You told me that your shoulder was getting better.”

“Well obviously I lied,” Declan grumbled. “I don’t want to be in bed all day, and we have finals.”

“But what about your P.E final?” I asked him.

He did a one shoulder shrug, using his good one. “I’ll wing it.”

“You’re an idiot,” I told him.

“That’s what I’ve been always telling him,” Jordan said in exasperation. “But does he ever listen? No.”

I ignored him, you tend to do that a lot. “Maybe you forgot, our teacher is Ms. Ramos. I know this is your first and thankfully last year with her, but take it from someone who had her for sophomore year too, she’ll make you think what we did this whole semester was a free day.”

“It can’t be that bad,” Declan said. “Can it?”

“There have been times kids were sent to the hospital after her finals.”

“How is she even a teacher?” Jordan asked in disbelief.

I shrugged. “There are a lot of theories. She pays her way out of these things. It’s because of her success rate of kids who have survived her class to be really good athletes. The school board is scared of her. That and…”

“And…” Jordan pressed.

I leaned closed and whispered, “She’s actually an alien. I find that the most likely.”

The both of them nodded in agreement.

“Why can’t Declan just tell her he can’t do the final?” Bennett asked us.

That was the first thing he said for a while. He’s been quiet the whole day since what happened this morning. Well, quieter than usual, I guess. Ever since this morning, the school has been buzzing about the limo that dropped me off. Obviously I’m not happy to be everyone conversation topic, but neither is Bennett.

“She won’t accept it,” I answered.

“How about she gives him a different final then?”

I opened my mouth but automatically closed it. “I never really thought of that.”

“I’ll go talk to her then,” Bennett offered, “I have P.E next anyway.”

“You don’t have to,” Declan told him. “I can-“

“-use your ‘I got shot’ card?” Jordan and I asked him in unison.

He glared at us. “No, I can play the ‘I have a broken shoulder and can’t do my P.E final’ card,” he snapped.

“Along with your card, I can use my own card,” Bennett said, flashing his wallet like some police badge.

Declan frowned. “C’mon Bent, I don’t-“

“-but you will,” Bennett finished before he started to walk away. “I don’t care either way.”

I looked at the other two. “He’s acting like this because of his brother, isn’t he?”

Jordan nodded. “Yeah, it’s weird. Usually it’s Declan who’s acting, once a month actually.”

Declan punched him on the shoulder. “Be serious for once.” Then he turned to me. “Bennett only mentioned he had a brother once, then that was it.”

“He’s got family issues, like most people have,” Jordan told me. “Once he said he wanted to change his last name, I’m still hoping he’s kidding.”

“That’s a bit harsh, don’t you think?”

Declan shrugged. “It depends on how you look at it, really. I’m going to catch up to him now. Hopefully he won’t max out his card.”

“Like your own card?” Jordan asked.

He rolled his eyes. “See you at P.E, Naomi,” he told me before walking after Bennett.

“It’s not like he’d ever max out his card,” Jordan said with a chuckle, but stopped. “I know Bennett hates his family and all, but I still don’t get why he uses his money so freely.”

“With Bennett, you can never really know,” I said quietly.

Jordan nodded his head and started walking. “C’mon, let’s go to our next class.”

“Chemistry final,” I said with a sigh. “Are you ready?”

“Nope,” Jordan said, I think proudly.

I blinked then explained to him like he was a little kid, “Okay Jordan, usually when someone isn’t ready for something, they’re usually stressed and freaking out.”

“Okay Naomi,” he said with the same tone as me, “that’s for people who aren’t really ready. I’m ready… ready to cheat.”

I punched him on the shoulder.

“That’s the same spot Declan punched me,” Jordan whined.

“You’re an idiot,” I told him, matter-of-factly. “You can’t possibly think that you’ll get away with cheating, especially after telling me.”

“So what? You’re going to tell on me?” He taunted.

“I hate you,” I said, knowing I won’t actually do that. “I hope you get caught.”

“Naomi,” he said with a grin. “Don’t you know me at all?”

I didn’t answer that. “Can you at least think this through? Do you know how many factors there are in order to escape cheating in this school? There’s been a lot of cheating in this school for the past years, so they came up a whole policy to make it cheating proof. You can’t possibly know-“

“Oh, I know that,” Jordan said, waving me off. “I’ve talked to a couple of kids, listened into teacher’s conversations, and found the file in which the process for the final is.”

I shook my head. “You’re evil.”

“An evil genius,” he said with a wink. “I know what they all do, especially going through the finals for my previous classes. All backpacks are stacked up in the corner far away from everyone, everyone is thoroughly searched for cheats and phones, and everyone is separated equally to not being able to look at anyone’s paper.”

“There had been too many kids who tried to beat the system and failed. You’re going to be one of them.”

“That’s where you’re wrong Naomi,” he told me as he opened the door to our next class for me. “They’re not me.”

I snorted. “Aren’t we all glad?”

“You know, I can always let you in on the cheat…”

“I’ll never do that.”

He shrugged. “Suit yourself.”

Just like Jordan had said it, all of the students had to put their books in a far, secluded corner of the classroom. We had to put any electronics in our bags. It’ll be pointless trying to sneak it in since the teacher will have you empty your pockets and pat you down. After that, you take your given seats, but instead the desks are moved to have an equal distance of each other as well as huge dividers to separate the students. Done being searched, I was walking over to my desk as it was Jordan’s turn to be searched by the teacher. It was a quick pat down that neither teacher nor student wants to do, so it ended quickly.

“Oh wait, I forgot something in my bag,” Jordan said as he got his backpack from the mountain of them, toppling the pyramid down.

Mr. Ford, the chemistry teacher, eyed him. “What is it?”

Jordan pulled them out of his backpack and tossed it back onto the top of the mountain.

“My glasses.”

“I didn’t know you had glasses,” Mr. Ford told him.

“They’re my reading glasses, but I only use them at home,” Jordan explained. “For vanity reasons.”

But the reason he has them is obvious.

Cheating reasons.

But Mr. Ford wasn’t going to let him get away with it, so he inspected Jordan’s glasses. Given its Jordan we’re dealing with it, he must updated his glasses to be really hi-tech or-

“Here you go,” the teacher said, handing back Jordan’s glasses.

Just like that, really? Do you know the evil genius (I know, I can’t believe I said it either) Jordan really is? You’re making a mistake! This will be your downfall!

“Downfall of whom?” Jordan asked me as he put on his glasses.

He’s even using proper grammar! “Downfall of humanity.”

He chuckled and started walking to his desk when Mr. Ford suddenly stopped him. “Wait a second.”

Jordan turned to the teacher. “What? What’s wrong?”

Mr. Ford grabbed Jordan wrist. “When you put on your glasses, your sleeve shifted down.”

Jordan smiled at Mr. Ford, but it’s not a smile I recognize, it’s a forced one. Jordan smiles are always sincere, even when making fun of Declan, especially when making fun of Declan.

“Yeah? What about it?” He asked as he slightly tugged his wrist from the teacher’s grasp.

“Well I think I saw something under it for a moment,” Mr. Ford told him calmly.

“This is against my rights,” Jordan said calmly with the same smile.

“All students signed a contract, accepting to be pat down and all stuff thoroughly inspected to stop them from cheating.”

The system prevails! I wanted to cry out, wishing I could have warned him better before. No one can beat it!

“Now if you don’t mind…” Mr. Ford pulled Jordan’s sweater sleeve down to show a paper wrapped around his wrist. “What the-“

The teacher then tugged on the paper and started to pull it out of Jordan’s sleeve. It wouldn’t stop, it was like one of those magician tricks where someone pulls out cloth, but it still keeps on coming. It was like you hit the jackpot of a game and the tickets seemed endless. Jordan’s clothes shifted the more paper came out of the sleeve and a pile was forming from it at their feet. Finally there was an end to it and its end dropped to the ground.

Jordan stretched. “Thanks, that feels so much better. It was like an itch I can’t scratch.”

“Yeah, maybe because it was all over your body,” I said. “With that much paper, a paper cut could’ve killed you.”

He shrugged. “Yeah, every move I made was a struggle.”

“So you tried to get away with cheating,” Mr. Ford grumbled, not amused.

Jordan chuckled awkwardly. “And I would have gotten away with it too if it weren’t for you-“

“Please don’t finish that,” I told him. “Not if you like to live.”

“Just because I don’t want to do the paperwork, I’ll let you still do your final, since you don’t have anything else to cheat…” He faltered.

“What is it now?” Jordan asked him.

“Just a hunch,” the teacher muttered as he grabbed Jordan’s sleeved and unrolled it to show that there was writing inside it.

I sighed. “Really?”

“It’s a back-up,” Jordan replied. “Or well, used to be.”

“How much of it is there?” Mr. Ford asked in disbelief.

Jordan rubbed the back of his neck. “Do you really want to know?”

Mr. Ford crossed his arms, thinking for a moment. “My laziness of the paperwork still stands. So if you still want to do your final for that grade, you better have a backup plan.”

Jordan smiled. “Oh I do.”

Before we could do anything, Jordan did what no one was prepared for.

He took off his sweater.

Yes, his answer to the situation was to take off his shirt. Girls gave him wolf whistles, drooled, and fanned themselves. The guys on the other hand looked as uncomfortable as I am or jealous he’s getting all the attention from the girls. Jordan later explained to me he put his sweater inside out and wrote down backup notes top to bottom. He can read the notes easily on his sleeps, collar, and hem of his shirt. For any notes further inside his sweater, he could’ve easily taken a trip to the restroom to take a quick peek.

“Jordan, put your shirt back on right now,” Mr. Ford ordered him.

“But I still want to do my final,” Jordan whined.

“Yeah, let him do it,” a girl yelled.

With that, other girls agreed and started to chant it. I set my head on my desk, ashamed of my gender right now. I mean, I don’t blame them, but why do they have to chant it?

“Alright, alright!” Mr. Ford exclaimed. “He can take the test. Maybe some public embarrassment will teach him a lesson.”

“Public embarrassment?” Jordan repeated with a snort. “I’m causing public excitement. Man, I got a fanbase!”

He started to flex for the girls as they cheered for him. It was when he stretched his arms to flash the class his fleur-de-lis tattoo. I didn’t know if he didn’t mean to or did it on purpose, but he did it. The moment everyone saw it, everyone just couldn’t take their eyes off it, well except the girls who stared at his chest more. If Bennett were to know about this, well when he did, he’ll have a long talk with him.

Jordan sat down on his desk next to me, basking in the glory of stares as Mr. Ford started to pass out the test while giving them instructions.

“You got this idea from Soul Eater, didn’t you?” I accused him, not wanting to look at him at all.

“It was so genius, it had to be done.”

“It didn’t work there, how can it work here? And you got caught anyway, you lost.”

“I don’t know…” Jordan said. “I think I won.”

“Now I’m think you only did this just so you can take off your shirt.”

“What gave me away?” He asked with a smile in his voice.

I couldn’t take it anymore, so I turned to glare at him. “You got what was coming to you. You don’t have any more tricks up your sleeve.”

“Maybe because I don’t have any?” Jordan pointed out, showing his wrists.

“Obviously you didn’t study, so how are you going to past the test now? You don’t have any other way to cheat… right?”

Jordan picked up his glasses from his desk and put them on. “Who said that?”

I don’t know what makes Jordan so confident with that.

Fast forwarding a bit, we only have a couple more minutes until class ends. We’ve already wasted enough time with Jordan, so now kids are panicking to finish their test. Like all of the other tests, half of them are multiple-choice while the other half is written. You can hear it from the fast scribbling of pencils, rapid page turning, curses and pleads to the teacher to have more time which he refused. Don’t worry about me, I’m doing just fine. It’s Jordan I’m worried about. Knowing I’m not supposed to, I glanced at Jordan to see he isn’t panicking like the rest of my classmates. Ever since the test started, he was engrossed with it, writing the answers while turning the pages easily. Though time to time he would pause for a moment, let out a sigh and looked up at the ceiling. He was probably taking a breather of the test, needing a second to clear his head before continuing, we’ve all done it.

You look down in desperation, up for inspiration, and left and right for information.

“I’ve never expected you of all people to be cheating Naomi,” Mr. Ford’s voice said behind me.

I stiffened at his voice and turned around to deny it. “I’m not cheating, I swear!”

He nodded. “Oh sure, of course. So you weren’t trying look off Jordan’s test?”

“Him? Out of all the people in this class, the people in this world, you think I’ll choose Jordan Wallace’s test?”

“Aw, you do?” He asked me, flattered.

“I’ll let you off this one time, but getting caught cheating-“

I hit my head on the table. “Oh, kill me now.”

“Well, it’s not like she’ll cheat from me anyway,” Jordan said.

“Thank you!” I said in exasperation.

“’Cause I’m already done,” he said as he held out his papers to Mr. Ford.

Mr. Ford hesitated but took Jordan’s papers. He took a quick look through them and frowned. “I don’t know why you bothered trying to cheat when you’re able to do just fine without it.”

Jordan shrugged and took off his glasses. “It was worth a shot anyway.”

I went back to my test, I mean, I’m done with it already. I’m just double-checking my answers to make sure I’m confident with my answers. Of course, I’m a bit confused on how he could finish before me, but he was probably guessing on most of the stuff. I closed my eyes and looked up for inspiration, just like Jordan had. When I opened my eyes, I only saw the light from the ceiling panel at me, not really a sight to see, so I looked down again.

I was about to go back to my test when I thought, why would he keep looking up like that every so often, the panel isn’t really a painting to marvel at. I looked up at the ceiling, but instead of the light panel in front of me, I looked at the panel on top of Jordan which is next to mine. The light panel was slightly dimmer than the rest, not too noticeable at first, and something you can ignore since the school is low on funding. It was because of the low brightness, I was able to see a pretty clear reflection of Jordan’s desk, despite the dividers that shielded the inside of the desk like walls. For everyone else’s panels, it was too bright to see any reflection, but for Jordan and my panel, it was slightly darker to see the reflection.

I raised my hand. “Mr. Ford?”

He came over to my desk. “Yes Naomi?”

“I’m done,” I said as I handed him my papers.

As soon as he left, I scooted my chair closer to Jordan, and punched him on the shoulder.

“Ow,” Jordan whined, and then hissed, “What did you do that for?”

“You cheated!” I hissed back. “You cheated on me! You used me!”

He’s been using the reflection of the ceiling panel to look at my own paper.

His eyes widened when he realized I figured out his process and then he said, “Don’t be so loud!”

“Ooh, you’re lucky I’m your friend,” I growled at him.

He smirked. “Yeah I am. So what are you going to do now?”

I narrowed my eyes at him and returned the smirk. “Think of the worst possible thing right now.”

He paused then said, “Okay, now what?”

“Now double it.”

He snorted. “As if you’ll do anything that bad.”

“Oh, I won’t,” I assured him, making him smile, but it vanished when I finished my sentence. “But they will.”

The thought of Bennett and Declan finding out that Jordan cheated the final on me, and even leaving them out of cheating, will be bad.

“You wouldn’t,” he challenged.

“Really? You’re the one who cheated on me in the first place.”

“Fine,” he said, crossing his arms and looking forward. “It’s not like it’ll be the first time I pissed them off.”

It was safe to talk normally now that more and more kids were turning in their finals.

“But how did you do it?” I asked him.

He smiled. “Only until you admit how genius it is.”

“You’re evil,” I grumbled before muttering, “I admit your plan is… pretty genius.”

“Alright then,” he said. “Well remember when you came over to my house and you learned I came home like in 3 o’clock in the morning from my mom?”

I nodded.

“Well I was late because I might have broken into the school.”

Cue the spit take.

“What?” I demanded.

“What?” Mr. Ford asked.

“What?” Jordan asked.

“What?” I asked.

We stared at each for a long time before we went back to what we were doing, Mr. Ford collecting finals and Jordan giving away his plan.

“Let me continue,” he told me. “I broke into the school with a bunch of mirrors and lightbulbs, as well as borrowing a ladder from the janitor’s closet. Then I broke into each of my classes and changed the lightbulbs-“

“How maybe Jordan’s does it take to change a lightbulb?”

“One,” he said with a grin before going back to the story. “-and changed the lightbulbs into these weaker ones. Then I put up these mirrors, these foggy ones so it won’t be that obvious, just clear enough to see the reflection of the person sitting next to me.”

“But what if that person has bad grades?” I asked him. “Only the teacher controls the seating- You did something, didn’t you?”

“Bingo,” he said. “First chance I got, after reading past grades of my fellow classmates, I flattered and persuaded my teachers into changing my seat with someone I want to sit next to.”

I huffed, crossing my arms. “Well… I’m flattered.”

“Aw, you should,” he said pinching my cheek.

“And now, I’m more scared of you.”

“Aw, you should,” he said again as he pinched my cheek.

The bell rang and everyone went to get their backpacks back to then leave to their next class. The girls paused to take their phones out to take pictures of Jordan and get his autograph before leaving.

“Put your shirt back on,” I told him, not wanting to stand next to a shirtless guy which all of the girls in the hall are gawking at.

“Why, don’t you like me like this?” He asked as he flexed which was like a switch to start a flood of drooling from girls.

“No, and the guys won’t either since you’re flashing everyone your tattoo.”

He frowned at that and sighed. “Fine.” He then announced. “Sorry ladies, but I gotta put my shirt back on.”

There were “boo’s” and “aw’s” from the girls. They took photos one last time, and gave him last-minute singles before he put his sweater back on.

“Why did want that backup plan with putting notes in your sweater when the plan you already have seems… foolproof.”

“For this,” he said as he winked at a group of girls who sighed in unison.

“You’re unbelievable.”

“No,” a girl said. “He’s hot.”

Jordan winked at her and turned back to me. “Well I gotta go. I need to go to the bathroom,” he said before adding, “but not for the reason you’re thinking.”

“So you’re not going to take a selfie?”

He blinked. “What? No. I’m going to rewrap my French notes all over my body like I did with my chemistry notes.”

“You’re actually going to do that just so you can take off your shirt? Wait, have you been doing this all day? No wonder you’ve been in such a good mood.”

Jordan grinned. “There are only a few girls in my next class, but it’ll be totally worth it.”

I rolled my eyes. “Sure. I’m going to go to P.E now, with my clothes on.”

“Ew,” he whined. “Don’t go into details.”

With that, we parted ways. Now I only had my P.E final left. I should be worrying about myself given I remember what’s to come since I had Ms. Ramos in my sophomore year, but I’m not. I’m too busy being worried about Declan, hoping that both of Bennett’s and Declan’s cards will persuade Ms. Ramos to develop the human emotion of sympathy fast enough.

I stood in front of the girl’s locker room, hoped I can get out of there alright. I’ve talked about what happens in the girl’s locker room only once for good reason. Going in there is pretty much a walking death trap. Being trapped in a room filled with girls who don’t want to be trapped in a room with me isn’t a good combination.

I don’t walk into the locker room, I sneak in. I’m sure everyone’s busy with their own business to mind me and I do the best I can to get in and out of there as fast as possible. I usually try to go to the locker room as fast as I can so I can leave their earlier. But it was always a struggle going there in the first place with the obstacle course of the hall and my chemistry teacher doesn’t let me leave early.

I entered the locker room, trying my best to not faint from the smell of perfume. A flash of memory when Jordan told me the story of when Declan and him snuck into the girl’s locker room to break into Hannah’s locker. He told me of what he imagined the girl’s locker room to be, but reality came in and crushed his dreams.

Girls already done changing shoved past me as they left out the door I came in. I hurried to my locker which the row is already filled with girls, most of them already done and just talking with each other. I made my way through the row, muttering out the usual “excuse me’s”, “sorry’s”, and mostly “get out of my way’s” which got shoves, trips and nasty words in return. I arrived to my locker, which is the different from any of the other lockers. It’s different because it’s covered with names sprawled all over in locker along with chewed out gum on it which I gave up trying to scrape off.

One of these things is not like the others.

I opened the lock with my code and grabbed my P.E clothes before making my way out of the row with the usual “excuse me’s”, “sorry’s”, and mostly “get out of my way’s” which got it’s shoves, trips and nasty words in return.

After that, I headed towards the restroom to change. In my early years I would change in the showers because there were girls who needed to actually use the restroom. But after one too many times someone turned on the shower while I was changing made me change inside the restroom stalls instead. Well as I was walking towards it, seeing that there was no line yet, I accidentally bumped into that person who pushed me back.

“Well if it isn’t Naomi,” Candice greeted with a smirk.

Great, it’s one of the girls, Jordan’s ex-fake girlfriend. After the guys broke up with them, they never stopped torturing me when the guys were away. I had Hannah for English, Abby passes by me in two of my routes to class, Candice has the same P.E period as me, and they all did their best to no let them forget how much they hate me. But like all of the bullying I suffer in school, I would tune them out and do my best to ignore them.

“Don’t act like I haven’t seen you in weeks,” I told her. “I just saw you yesterday and you said the exact same thing.”

She opened her mouth to interject but knew I was right. “Well whatever.”

“Well whatever,” I mocked, rolling my eyes at her comeback.

Candice ignored that. “I just want to know, how is my-“

“Jordie?” I finished before saying the rest of her speech. “I miss him so much, and I just can’t wait until our little time-out is over. Tell him that I’ll be always waiting for him-“

“-under the cherry tree at Valley Park,” she said. “But he hasn’t. Have you been telling him?” She demanded.

No.

“Yes. I guess he forgot. You know how busy he is.”

She frowned. “I always try to find him, but he’s just so good at hide-and-seek, I guess.”

“As much as I love our daily conversation of the same topic over and over again,” I told her, “I have to change.”

I was about to walk away when I stopped myself and turned back to Candice.

“What?” She asked me.

“I just wanted to tell you. Jordan just took off his shirt last period.”

“Are you serious?”

I nodded. “Yeah, and he’ll do the same this period. Maybe you can catch up to him. He has French with Ms. Edwards.”

Candice smiled. “I-I’m going to go now.” Then she took off running as if she found out there’s a sale in her favorite store.

Nothing Bennett and Declan can do will ever match what Candice will do.

I walked away to go into the restroom. I quickly changed inside the stall and walked out of it. An impatient girl shoved past me to go into the stall I left into. There were girls engrossed with the mirrors, putting on make-up that’ll just be ruined with the sweat they’ll be covered in. I glanced at one of the mirrors, looking at the reflection of myself on it. I pat down my hair and fixed my glasses the best I can. The girl using the same mirror as me got annoyed with having to share it and used her lipstick to give my reflection a mustache then wrote loser and pointed the word at me with the reflection. I glared at her reflection as she smirked. Then I walked over to her, grabbed her shoulders and had her walk back so she can be in my place instead. I smiled at my work of art then left the restroom and then the locker room.

The class was in its usual spot on the field. Everyone was last minute stretching for or praying to survive Ms. Ramos’s P.E final. I walked over to Declan who was pacing.

“So is she letting you take a different P.E final?” I asked him.

He shook his head. “No. She didn’t even blink with Bennett’s offer of the money and still refused.”

“Typical,” I grumbled. “So this just proves the theory.”

“That’s she’s rich?”

“No, that she’s an alien. Aliens are not capable of feeling sympathy and money doesn’t matter to aliens.” I looked at him. “What are you going to do now?”

“Isn’t it obvious? I’m going to call the Men in Black on her.”

“I’m serious, Declan. You can’t do the final with your shoulder.”

He touched his shoulder. “I’m just going to have to try.”

“No you’re not, I’m not letting you.”

“I’m sorry but you have no say in this Naomi,” he told me. “I need a good grade here.”

“No you don’t,” I said. “I mean, isn’t it Bad Boy 101 for bad grades?”

“Isn’t better in Bad Boy 101 for the bad boy to try?” He asked me. “And if I’m not getting a good grade for me, then I want to get it for my parents.”

I can’t stop him there.

“I can’t believe you’re actually-“

He ruffled my hair, smiling at me. “I know you’re worried. But c’mon, look who you’re talking to.” He gave me a comforting smile as Ms. Ramos’s whistle shrieked out to get everyone’s attention. “It’ll be alright.”

But it wasn’t.

“What? You can’t even finish your pull-ups?” Ms. Ramos demanded from Declan. “You’re pathetic!”

Everyone stopped what they were doing and watched the scene. We were almost done with the P.E final, from the obstacle course, one-on-one games, running of miles, and so much more. Declan was able to keep up with all of them the best he can. Despite his shoulder holding him back, he was able to barely pass each of the courses. But now he’s the last one to finish the final course of the P.E final, pull-ups. Everyone has already finished they’re 100 pull-ups in the given time which is up to Ms. Ramos’s mood of the student (I got 20 minutes, barely finishing), but Declan was still struggling with his last 10 pull-ups in his last few minutes. He was panting for air, his P.E uniform drenched in sweat, his arms trembling for carrying his weight.

He can’t do it. He can’t do anymore. I know it. Declan knows it. And Ms. Ramos knows it.

I looked at the other students in the class, all tired and sweaty as the next and doing nothing as they watched Declan struggle. They were whispering to each other, looking down at the ground, or just watching him. They did nothing, just like they did nothing for me as they watch me get bullied.

“C’mon Lynch, can’t do even one more push up?” She taunted at him. “You don’t want to fail P.E, do you?”

The fear of all bystanders, wanting to do something, but they can’t. I can’t blame those who couldn’t or just didn’t want to help me. It was every man for him/herself. But I’m not going to be like that, as I watch the teacher, a bully herself, talk like that to Declan, I snapped.

“Leave him alone!” I exclaimed.

There was a huge gasp from my classmates around me. Ms. Ramos whipped around and looked at me.

“What did you say?” She growled.

I unconsciously took a step back, but I straightened myself.

“You heard me. I said leave him alone.”

“I’ll deal with you later,” she said before turning back to Declan. “You better man up for your girlfriend there, Lynch.”

“S-She’s… Not m-my girlfriend,” Declan said with his voice strained as he struggled for another pull up, while I said at the same time, “I’m not his girlfriend.”

“Talking back to me, huh?” She sneered. “20 more pull-ups then!”

Declan and my eyes widened at that.

“What?” We demanded.

“You heard me, or do you want 30 more?”

Declan looked back at the bar, closed his eyes, and without another word began to work on his 20 extra pull-ups. Ms. Ramos continued to make fun of him, making me want her to just shut up. I ran toward them only for Ms. Ramos to stop me. Then at that moment, Declan couldn’t take it any longer and he let go off the bar to crash on the ground. I pushed past the teacher and knelt next to Declan.

“Can’t even finish your first set of pull-ups, you’re-“

“A bully!” I exclaimed, standing up to look at her in the eye. “You’re a bully!”

She snorted. “A bully? Really? The moment you opened your mouth to me, you just cost yourself and your boyfriend here a grade.”

“Do I look like I care about that?” I demanded, making her blink. “You’ve been treating all of your students like crap, and I’m finally sick of it. No one else will stand up to you along with me because they’re scared of you. Well, I had enough!”

“So what are you going to do about it, Lorraine?” She demanded.

“Not me, you,” I growled. “You’re going to let me take Declan to the nurse and you’re going to let us keep our grades that we worked hard for!”

Without her permission, I helped Declan back on his feet. When he was standing, his feet wobbled and I had to put his good arm around my shoulder to support him. I glared at Ms. Ramos, waiting for something from her, a threat, a suspension, I don’t care.

“No student, no person has ever spoken to me like that,” she told me. “Go to the nurse before I change my mind.”

I blinked. “What?”

“I said go! Or are you going to refuse direct orders?”

“No,” I muttered.

Ms. Ramos turned back to the class and told them to run a lap for just standing there like idiots. Declan and I looked at each other then began to walk towards the nurse’s office.

I kicked the door open and helped Declan into the office. The kid stationed in the nurse’s office in 6th period looked up from the desk.

“Naomi?”

“Harvey?”

“Starbucks barista?” Declan asked in confusion.

Harvey rolled his eyes. “I quit that job a long time ago.”

“I didn’t know you had service,” I said.

Harvey shrugged. “Not doing anything for a whole period and- What the hell happened to you?” He demanded, finally noticing Declan’s state. “You look like you came back from a marathon, collapsed on the spot and got ran over by a bus. And is your shoulder bleeding?”

Declan looked down at his shoulder. “Well, look at that.”

“Where’s Mrs. Matthews?” I asked him.

He shrugged. “I don’t know. She left to do some errand and had me to watch the office.”

I frowned. “Go find her.”

“Why?”

I waved my hand at Declan in exasperation. “Are you kidding me? Why else?”

“Right, right,” he said, panicked now as he got up from his seat and went around the desk. “Um where should I find-“

“How am I supposed to know? Just run.”

“Alright,” Harvey muttered. “I don’t see why you have to be so mean…”

Once again, I waved my hand at Declan in exasperation. “Are you kidding me? Why else?”

He grumbled something under his breath and left the office to try to find the nurse. I walked Declan over to one of those hospital-like beds and had him sit down. I raced back and forth in the room, trying to find a towel, ice pack and bandages through the cabinets and drawers. I came back to Declan who sat back up on the bed. I felt panicked and scared, just like the first time he was hurt like this. A few weeks had already passed and his shoulder was nearly healed up, but it’s been opened up again from the pressure of the P.E final.

“Naomi, calm down.”

I didn’t, how could I? I tried to wipe the dirt off his face with a wet towel.

“Naomi, calm down.”

I didn’t say anything as I tried to re-bandage his shoulder, but I kept fumbling with the bandages.

“Naomi, calm down.”

“I can’t calm down, do you get it?” I asked him. “You’re hurt. I have to take care of you.”

He grabbed my hand, stopping me. “No you don’t.”

“Yes I do,” I told him. “You guys took care of me. From the start you guys took care of me. So stop stopping me for trying to take care of you.”

I was about to restart bandaging his shoulder when he grabbed my head and set it against his. He closed his eyes, letting out a breath.

“I get it, alright?” He whispered to me. “If you know what I went through, wanting to repay back those people who took care of me, it’s the same feeling. The difference is they stopped caring or I did. I don’t mind taking care of you, or you taking care of me, or the rest of us. I just hope that it won’t be like those times before and neither of us would stop caring.”

I closed my eyes. “I won’t, I promise.”

There was a sudden sound of the door shutting. I quickly backed away from Declan and looked out of the room to see Mrs. Matthews.

“Naomi, what’s wrong? Why are you here?”

“Please help him,” I begged her as she walked into the room.

I was expecting a gasp followed by a demand of questions of how Declan got the wound in the first place. But instead, we got a frown.

“Not another one.”

I blinked. “What do you mean by that?”

“It’s not the first time I saw stitches from reckless boys, especially those in sports. Are you into sports young man?”

Declan nodded.

“A year back, a kid got hurt on his shoulder just like you,” she explained, studying the stitches on Declan. “He accidentally rammed into an iron fence and got cut by a broken wire when he was trying to catch a football. He needed stitches after that, and they opened up when he did the same thing again.”

The only difference is both how he got hurt and how the wound opened again, other than that, totally the same.

“It looks nearly healed, but the strain you put it through made it open again,” she muttered. “I need to put some gel on it, wrap some gauze…” She went on, muttering to herself of what to do, some actual medical help.

While Mrs. Matthews fixed Declan up with actual medical experience, Harvey and I stayed outside of the room.

“Hey, I know I didn’t say this earlier, but sorry about you and Parker,” Harvey muttered.

I looked away. “There’s nothing to be sorry for.”

He nodded slowly. “So I’ve heard. It was just a waste what you did for him at the game, especially with forcing yourself to wear that costume, don’t you think?”

I didn’t answer him at that.

Harvey shook his head. “I shouldn’t have brought it up.”

“No, it’s alright,” I told him, before turning the subject. “How were finals for you?”

Harvey groaned and hit his head on the counter repeatedly.

“I’m going to take that you didn’t do so well.”

He slumped in his seat. “It was like the test was specifically trying to make me fail.”

“I think that’s what all tests are trying to do. There are only a few lucky of us who can beat it.”

“Too bad I’m not one of them,” he grumbled. “Obviously you did well, I bet.”

I shrugged, hoping it answers his question.

“Perks of being a nerd, huh?”

I shrugged again. “That’s only one pro, but there are cons to it too.”

Harvey frowned at that. “You mean bullying, right?”

“Well, you know the feeling too.”

He scoffed. “Yeah,” he said, twirling a pen between his fingers. “I know the feeling. It’s just for a different reason than you though.”

“Bullying is bullying, but there are different reasons for it,” I said. “That doesn’t mean it’s always right.”

“To us, not to them though.”

“If you knew what it felt to be bullied, how come you used to bully me?” I asked him.

He paused. “I don’t know, ask your ex.” I felt a pang in my chest when he said that. “It’s just… You do what the others do, when in Rome, you know?”

I was quiet.

“I wanted to help, I felt bad doing it, please believe that,” he told me. “Yet if I was put on the spot like that, I had to do that, to save my own skin and try to get on their good side.”

Just like Evelyn.

He looked like he was about to continue trying to defend himself, but I stopped him. “Harvey you can stop, it’s alright.”

“No it isn’t,” he muttered. “People like us should stick together. We know what it feels like. We shouldn’t share it.”

“Well you get it now,” I told him, “You didn’t before, but you do now, so it’s alright now.”

Harvey was about to say something else when the bell cut him off, marking the end of school. He grabbed his backpack and told me to have a nice winter break before leaving out the nurse’s office. A couple minutes afterwards, Mrs. Matthews and Declan came out of the room.

“You alright?” I asked him, walking up to him.

He nodded, massaging his shoulder. “Yeah, I’m good.”

“Now don’t do anything stupid anymore,” Mrs. Matthews ordered him.

“Don’t even Naomi,” Declan warned me, shooting me a glare.

“I wasn’t going to say anything, I swear,” I told him, defending myself. “We need to go change and get our stuff from our P.E lockers.”

“Alright,” he said as he turned to Mrs. Matthews. “Thank you.”

“I’m just doing my job.”

We said our goodbye’s before leaving to our respected locker rooms, then reuniting with the other two.

“I can’t believe you released that demon on me,” Jordan growled at me. “Candice wouldn’t leave me alone.” He glanced behind him to see Candice hiding behind a locker, looking at Jordan.

I snickered. “That’s what you get for cheating.”

“Cheating?” Declan and Bennett repeated.

“You can get your revenge later.”

“But man, that Ramos really is an alien,” Jordan muttered, “I better call the Men in Black.”

“Maybe later,” I told him, “Declan should just go back home to sleep.”

Declan shooked his head. “No, I’m going back to the base. I don’t want my folks seeing me like this.”

“That’s the best thing,” Bennett agreed.

Suddenly I bumped into someone on the shoulder. I snapped my head at the person to only glare at him. I was already pissed off one of my friends got hurt, that I didn’t want to deal with Raymond right now. We’ve been avoiding each other ever since I punched him, since he was the one since he ran away with his tail between his legs and his hand clutching his face. Raymond and I were at a stare down when I held out my fist and feign to almost hit him, making him flinch. The guys behind me snorted.

I smirked and punched him on the shoulder twice. “Two for flinching.”

A crowd was forming around us. Kids who should be racing out the door with school ending are sticking around to see this. His friends stared at him in bewilderment.

“Why did you flinch?”

“What, are you scared of her?”

“First of all, I like my face,” he muttered, his hand touching his nose. “And it’s not her I’m scared of, just them,” referring to the guys.

“Sexist,” I called him.

“Nerd,” he said back.

“Yeah, I think I know that already,” I snapped.

“I just wanted to remind you,” he explained.

I smiled. “Well I just wanted to remind you that I punched you one, and I’ll punch you again. I’m not scared of you anymore, and I had enough of you and your goons.” I didn’t know where this was coming from. Maybe after I confronted Ms. Ramos, I thought I was able to confront Raymond too. “So let’s let the tables turn, you stay away from me, my friends, and anyone else you bully because you have nothing better to do.”

He snorted. “Finally grew a backbone Naomi?”

“No, I just misplaced it,” I told him, “but I found it now.”

Raymond eyed me. “Just because you have one doesn’t mean anything. You think with one lucky shot-“

I couldn’t take it anymore, I punched him again.

He shook it away and glared at me. He looked at the guys, Jordan, Bennett and Declan, and figured out he couldn’t return the punch back to me, so he continued. “Alright fine, two lucky shots. You think with two lucky shots, you can change how things are around here? I’m popular, you’re unpopular, I’m a jock, you’re a nerd, and I’m a bully, you’re the bullied. Nothing is going to change Naomi.”

“Yeah, I get it, you’re all of those things, and I’m all of those things. But so what? That’s just something you, others, society branded us. Now let’s think this? Who gives a crap? Who cares about whether you’re known or unknown, whether you’re smart or not, whether you’re athletic or not, and whether you put up with everything the people who have nothing better to do, do to you. I’m not saying I’m going to singlehandedly-“

Jordan coughed.

I rolled my eyes and couldn’t help but smile. “-with these three’s help, stop bullying here or anywhere. ‘Cause really, bullying can’t stop, especially with people like you-” I pointed at Raymond and his friends “- spreading it like the plague. But I can at least stop the bullying happening to me right here, right now, and hope others will do the same. And no, I don’t expect or even want people to be cliché and agree with for finally doing something or for us to hold hands and stand up to this idiot here-“ referring to Raymond “-I just wanted to point this out and make you guys think for once. A little last math question before we forget everything we learned this semester over winter break: bully plus bullied equals what? If you haven’t guessed it, it’s a pretty messed up story right there.”

There was a slow, half-hearted clap, coming from Raymond.

“What a cute little speech you had there,” he spat at me. “But what’s your point?”

“I’m years too late saying any of this,” I said. “I should have said this a long time ago. But like I said, I just found my backbone and doing something about it. To those who bully people, trying finding something called sympathy in your hearts, maybe you’ll find Raymond’s. To those who are bullied, try finding your backbones too.”

I straightened myself and looked at Raymond right in the eye, through my black-rimmed glasses.

“I just want you to know this one thing Raymond and to anyone else who’ll bother trying to keep on bullying me after this,” I told them. “I don’t care anymore, you can punch me, kick me, make fun of me, bully me, but I don’t care. You can bully as much as you want as you did for eleven years, but it won’t get to me anymore, I’ll ignore you and all of your attempts to mess with me, and soon you’ll just give up and move on to someone else. Then that person might do the same, then the next, then the next. Nothing can stop bullying, not words, not violence, but just surviving it, and those strong enough to survive it will watch as that bullying will give up and pass away like a stupid flu. That’s all you are, you’re a germ trying to spread the flu, but I just need to put up with you for a couple days and you’ll go away. I was just unlucky enough to get the flu for this long, but I’m finally getting better, I got a little medicine, drank some soup, and now I’m kicking you out of here.”

No one said anything, just like I expected. So all I did was made a dramatic bow and walked away.

“How long did it take you to write all of that?” Jordan asked me.

I shrugged. “A couple of weeks.”

Bennett looked at me. “Really?”

I shooked my head. “No, it just came out.”

Declan glanced back behind us. “You really think your bullying will stop?”

“Nope,” I said, popping the p. “It’ll never stop, that’s the inevitable truth of bullying. It’ll never stop.”

“So what then?” Bennett asked.

“You just survive.”

That seems like a really good way to end a book... don't you think? No, I mean, the book isn't done, if that's what you're worried about. But once again, you can't help but think, that's a really good way to end a book. To have the last words be said dramatically:

"You just survive."

Oh, stop whining, I'm not ending the book. How I'M ending the book is going to be WAY better than that. Ha ha ha... (Blinks) I just realized how much of a sadist I become here on Wattpad, especially with cliffhangers and messing with you guys. (Looks at the screen and mouths 'help me'.)

I got inspired of Jordan cheating scene with obviously Soul Eater and Naruto, you know the written test of the chinin exams when Tenten worked with Lee to cheat with strings and reflections, that's where I got my idea. Along with reading loads of articles, I know ways to cheat too. Also, it just hit me what a stupid name Bentley is. I mean, sure the car is awesome, but having someones name as Bentley? But honestly, I decided the name a LONG time ago (I think 13 year old me did), so I'm deciding on keeping it. It's an unofficial rule for my character's siblings to have the same first letter names. Like in IASWAJ (my other book, the book that had me create TGGBB) Autumn has a little brother name Adam, and in my horror story How Fate Binds Us, the main character, Colton, is the reincarnation of Castor. So yeah, if you read any of my future works, catch on to that writing quirk of mine. Back to Bentley though, he's a pretty rereshing character to bring, especially being a total anti-Bennett. And I MAY have exploded at the last part of the chapter, none of that was planned out, I just wrote and wrote.

Now before I go... make more chapters -stop worrying- I want to say one last thing. After writing this for two years (yes two years, I'm 14 people, it's freaking me out too), writing all of this bully infested book, this realization came to me.

Bullying will never stop.

Go ahead, tell me I'm wrong, shake you head at this, or yell at the screen "you're stupid!" Go ahead because BAM, that's bullying. After writing this for so long, you just come to this realization, this sad realization that it won't stop. You can make the campaigns, write the hashtags #StopBullying, tell the stories, but it won't stop. And I know, I feel like a total jerk just letting the depression radiate out your screen and giving you... bullying cancer, which is how I said it as the plague in this chapter. But it's time to face facts people, bullying won't stop, it'll always be there, from the time you're six with someone making fun of your hard worked on drawing to when you're an adult with your boss screaming how much you disgrace yourself and the company. 

So instead of trying to stop bullying, we should be learning how to survive it.

Look at yourselves-those who've been bullied- and see how much you've developed from the bullying. Sure maybe you guys are still in the dark, a few out of the light, and many at the grey (#JordanLovesGrey, #50GrayShades, #HadToSayGrey, #Don'tKnowDiffBtwGrey&Gray) where you're in between. But just imagine how much bullying can develop you as a person (this is a discussion I talked with another reader, this being a pro to bullying) how you won't become bullies, but how your bullying opened your eyes so you can be better than them. So you know you shouldn't make fun of someone, but compliment them. To not push someone to the ground, but help them up. For knowing what's it like to be at the other side of the fist and receiver of the words, or at least reading about what's it like that helps you opening your eyes (don't think I'm only talking to those who've been bullied, those who witness and reading about it should be reading as well) will become a better person. 

And as cliche and cheesy as this sounds (says dramatically) make the world a better and awesomer place to live in and give to the next generation who'll hopefully not screw things up.

I hope you enjoyed this little rant of mine. Also, I hope you enjoy the fanfic covers and banner above. Thank you ChuggiePie for the awesome Naomi drawing with brilliant shading, and GurlyAngel for her heartwarming banner, but I'm terribly sorry for losing the name of who made the cover at the right. If you were the one who made it PLEASE tell me so I can post your name next to your cover you so much deserve. Thank you, I feel so bad for losing your name. 

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