A cold, December breeze swept through Westside Junior High in the peaceful town of Norfolk, Nebraska. The sky was gray, hinting rain or a storm, but the town of Norfolk paid it no heed. The dismissal bell had just rung, and all the students started exiting the campus. The parking lot was crowded with buses loaded with students, parents picking up their children, bikers mounting their bikes and walking them out of the gates, and students on the sidewalk about to begin their walk home.
Leonard Moore, an average 8th grader, was one of the last people to exit the school, after escaping a confrontation with one of the worst bullies in the school, Alex Hopper. Leonard decided to forget about the incident and strode over to the bike racks. The hallways were really crowded, especially since school had just ended, so he let people pass and tried to get inside the caged bike racks. Leonard always tried to be nice to others to let them know that he wasn’t a bully like his brother, Eric, but that was pretty useless since Eric always bullied Leonard. People felt pity for Leonard, but he didn’t really care. Inside the bike cage, he saw a bike in the corner sprawled on the ground, beat up, covered in some white and yellow substance (was that egg?), with toilet paper all over it. Leonard stifled a laugh and looked for his Diamondback. With a shock, he realized that the bike in the corner was his bike! Instantly, rage surged through Leonard as his thoughts went to Eric. It had to be him, messing with Leonard’s bike.  A wave of red, fresh anger washed through his vision as he kicked off the disgusting egg yolk and toilet paper off of his prized Diamondback he got for his birthday, three weeks ago. Trying not to let others see his shameful bike, he walked it out. As he started out the gates, he saw people snickering at his bike. Leonard’s face went red from embarrassment, but he managed to bike home without being severely offended. Leonard immediately went upstairs as soon as he got home, where he saw Eric playing CS:GO on Leonard’s laptop.
“Get out of my room, you idiot!” he screamed immediately. Eric turned, obviously pleased at how quickly he got Leonard pissed. He started to get out of the chair, then suddenly struck out at Leonard’s gut. Leonard whimpered “ow” as Eric opened up his backpack, grabbed his math binder, tore out today’s homework, and ripped it up. He scattered the remains of the paper onto Leonard’s desk, and asked, “Did you like your bike?” Leonard suddenly got up and tried to punch him, but Eric merely kicked Leonard in the stomach, who sat down hard, breathing. Chuckling, obviously pleased, Eric left the room.
Leonard tried to fit together the remains of the paper, but it was torn beyond repair. Trying not to cry, he bit his tongue and sat down like a loser. Eric walked by his room, on his way to get a glass of Mountain Dew from the kitchen fridge. As he walked by Leonard’s room again, returning to his own room, he spit a good glob of soda onto the carpeted floor of Leonard’s room. Soda that sweet would, no doubt, attract ants, and Leonard would be responsible. Outside, rain started to fall. The sky was a gloomy gray, the color of Leonard’s mood. As rain thundered and pounded the house, Leonard put his head down in misery. He hated Eric’s guts and everything he ever did to Leonard. He wanted revenge.
The next day, school was the torture. When Leonard arrived at school, he was met by Alex Hopper, who gave him a good fist to the gut. Class was the worst, especially math. Ms. Lou forced Leonard to come up to the board and solve an entire page of equations because he didn’t turn in his homework, the subject of math Leonard was least proficient in. “Leonard, you are very behind the rest of the class. If you don’t turn in one more homework assignment, you are headed straight for the principal’s office. Am I clear?” Leonard only nodded.
During lunch, Leonard ate a cold peanut butter and jelly sandwich behind the library, when he saw two 7th graders walking toward him. The skinnier one who looked like a stick snickered and said, “‘Sup Leonard, eating alone? Where’d you get that food, huh? More scrap from the back of the church kitchen? Or, " he leaned in and whispered in Leonard’s ear, “Did you steal that very sandwich?”
Rage swept over him, but Mr. Stick continued, “I heard Ms. Lou was sending you to the principal’s office. How many times have you already visited? Just wondering.”
Leonard knew that if he talked too rudely, he would be in terrible trouble, but couldn’t restrain himself. “Why don’t you find yourself a better hobby than teasing eighth graders, cause I think I’m in a pretty good mood right now for you to ruin it, " threatened Leonard as he cracked his knuckles.
Mr. Stick looked a little scared, but his little friend took over, “No need to be threatening, loner. I have great plans for us to be acquainted.” He pulled out a Louisville Slugger, probably stolen from the PE shed, and hefted it.
Without thinking, Leonard struck out at him, knocking the 7th grade punk onto the ground and striking him in the gut. He turned around and swept Mr. Stick off his feet and slammed him into the wall. Mr. Stick shouted, “Ow! Ow! Stop or I’m telling the princip-” he stopped abruptly as his windpipe was knocked out. Leonard found a Cars lunch box, quickly opened it, and dumped the contents out. Some dried fruit, a granola bar, rice krispies, and  - chicken tenders! He grabbed them, gathered his backpack, and walked away, muscles still clenched. Leonard walked back to the cafeteria, avoiding stares from others, and sat in an empty corner. As he munched the stolen chicken tenders, dang, it was good, he thought about what happened. Leonard noticed he felt a lot better after he beat up those sorry seventh graders; it felt as if some of the rage and anger built up after all those years being bullied by Eric had been let out.
Light dawned on Leonard as he discovered a new path: he try to become a bully. Eventually, even Eric would bow down to him and do his bidding. With a smile on his face, he started walking to his 5th period classroom, cooking with Mrs. Eberhardt. Leonard walked through the cafeteria, deliberately missing when he tossed his sandwich bag into the trash can. He passed Alex Hopper and his gang in the hallway, but Leonard gave them a wolf stare. Alex looked back, his pride damaged, but Leonard was already gone.
That day after school, he went to the new portables, near Room J. He found a lone 6th grader, packing up, and decided to give him some treatment. “Sup man, what are you doing here?” Leonard asked while walking toward him very quickly. The 6th grader looked scared, and quickly zipped up his backpack and started to leave. Leonard said with amused patience, “Whoah, leaving already? I haven’t even introduced myself yet!”
“Stop, I don’t want to get bullied!” the 6th grader screamed as he quickly hefted his backpack and speed-walked away. With three long strides, he caught up with the little punk, grabbed him, and slammed him against the wall. Leonard thought of Eric, and strength surged through him as he ripped off the kid’s backpack and poured all the papers onto the ground. Leonard grabbed the empty backpack and easily tossed it onto the roof of the portable, then grabbed his Gatorade and poured it all over the 6th grader’s head. Leonard snatched the victim’s lunchbox, wondering if there would be any food left. He found an unopened bag of Flamin’ Hot Cheetos, which he grabbed. The 6th grader was still on the wall, standing in shock. Leonard spat, “A pleasure doing business with you, loser, ” as he walked away munching the Cheetos. Leonard felt as if a large amount of virtual stress and hate from Eric’s bullying had left him after bullying the 6th grader.
When he got home, Eric ripped up Leonard’s social studies reading notes, which was fine with Leonard because he never forgot social studies work before, so Mr. Young would hopefully cut him some slack. Leonard decided to put up with Eric for some time while he could enjoy his days at school, beating 6th graders up.
The next day, Leonard noticed a change in everyone at school. The word of the 6th grader being beat up after school had probably spread, because everyone looked at him like he was a bully and stayed away from him. Even teachers probably heard about it to some extent. Some glared at him as he passed. Leonard didn’t mind, because he was about to have more fun with those poor 6th graders.
In third period, language arts with Mrs. Hernandez, a new student arrived. His name was Kyle Lemarchin, and he was tall, probably 5’2 or 5’3, with blonde hair and blue eyes. Kyle introduced himself to the class, and Leonard noticed his friendliness, and how he smiled at everyone, but he decided that it wasn’t going to be a problem anymore once Kyle received his violent welcome ceremony from Leonard.
At lunch, Leonard cornered Kyle near the lunch line, intending to beat him up. Before Leonard said anything, Kyle greeted him with a smile and said, “Hi! You’re in my third period with Hernandez, right? I think I remember seeing you.” Leonard hadn’t been a bully for long, and he definitely felt a little compelled to give the new kid a tour. Then the thought of Eric shook him back to reality. Leonard started to talk, but Kyle cut him off again. “Oh hey, do you think you can give me a tour? I’m not sure where Ms. Eberhardt’s classroom is, but it’s cooking, right?” Leonard didn’t know what to do, but an idea popped in his head. Maybe I can wait for this punk. I’ll steal his chicken tenders once he gets his lunch, then I’ll beat him up, thought Leonard.
“Sure! I’ll wait for you at one of those tables. When you’re done grabbing your lunch, just come on over and I’ll show you around the school. By the way, the name’s Leonard, " Leonard said sweetly, putting on his best fake smile.
“Great! Thanks man!” Kyle never looked happier.
As Leonard went and sat down, he felt a little bad, planning to beat up a completely defenseless new student. Nevertheless, that was one of the pleasures of bullying. Still, Kyle seemed special. He could be a - caring friend? Leonard hadn’t heard those words in centuries. And he didn’t have any friends at the moment.
He settled on deciding what to do after he stole some of those chicken tenders. “Hey, could you help me with my water?” someone asked. Leonard looked up and saw Kyle walking over slowly, struggling with a tray loaded with food and a glass of water.
“Sure, " Leonard replied as he grabbed the cup and carefully set it on the table. He didn’t really care what he was doing, because Kyle was about to be beat up. Kyle set down his tray of food. Leonard was dismayed to see that there wasn’t any chicken on it! “Why didn’t you get the chicken?" Leonard asked a little too roughly and impatiently.
“Hey, I’m a vegetarian, " laughed Kyle. Leonard’s face darkened. He decided on beating this punk up right away. A person who doesn’t even eat chicken? Forget it.
“I’m going to grab my lunch real quick, be right back, ” Leonard said hastily as he strode to his backpack which lay near the wall on the side of the cafeteria. He opened it and reached in for his lunch, a plain old peanut butter sandwich. He walked back to the table. He and Kyle ate in silence.
After they finished eating, Leonard took Kyle on the tour. They walked past the portables, through a crowded hallway, and into the North Court where Mrs. Eberhardt’s classroom was. Thank god, it was pretty empty, Leonard thought. The beat up will be a lot easier.
He was just about to turn around and slam Kyle onto the wall when he felt something land on his back. He turned around to see a white mess (mayo?), but before he could register what it really was, something struck him and he fell onto the ground. Leonard looked up, half-dazed, to see Alex Hopper’s snickering gaze and his gang behind him, one guy holding an empty Craft mayo bottle.
“That’s for looking at me in the hallway yesterday, punk,” Hopper snorted. “How’s your new friend, huh?”
Leonard looked up a little to see Kyle running away, turning to a hallway, when he got kicked in the face again. He suddenly felt a wild surge of rage, and got up, trying to punch Alex in the face. Alex lazily grabbed his hands, and threw him against the wall. Behind him, his gang members laughed. One said, “Come on, Alex, you can’t have all the fun. Let me, just for a few moments.” Alex turned around and shot a look, and whoever said that said no more.
“So, Leonard, have you ever got in a real fight? Or is it all in your head?” taunted Alex. He punched Leonard again in the gut, who sagged down and collapsed onto the ground, breathing hard.
“Enjoy, punk. If you ever need more, I’m always available. By the way, Eric requested it,” Alex spat.
A sudden wave of anger washed over Leonard. Eric requested Leonard to be beat up? Alex must’ve noticed his expression. He laughed and said, “Unless you want it again, don’t even think about it.” He and his gang left.
When Leonard looked up again, he saw Kyle walking over to him. “You okay?” he asked softly. Leonard was too tired to even say “go away” or yell at him. Instead, he got up and stormed away. Kyle ran up to him. Jeez, how annoying is this little idiot, thought Leonard. “So where is the cooking room?” asked Kyle. Wow, he doesn’t even care about how much I got hurt. Little noob doesn’t even know what’s going on and cares about what class he’s in, thought Leonard.
“Are you a bully?” Eric cautiously asked. Leonard quickly looked at Eric, who backed off. “Sorry,” he quickly added, “I just heard some rumors from the 6th graders.”
Leonard closed his eyes and sighed. I want to be friends with this guy, but that means not being a bully. Eric would probably make fun of me, Leonard thought. Whatever, I’ll just show him the cooking room and leave. Leonard and Kyle walked in silence through the hallways.
“Well, that room over there is the Cooking room,” Leonard quickly said and started walking away.
“Hey wait up!” Kyle came jogging over. “Can I have your number? We can probably hang out this Sunday or something. Are you free?”
Leonard considered this. Eric would probably be nice if someone came over, but he didn’t want to ruin his reputation as a diehard bully. Eric would also think Leonard was a wimp, making friends when he was supposed to beat them up. Then again, he had no friends. Kyle had seemed so nice and sympathetic; what if Leonard told him about his situation with Eric? Surely Kyle would give some advice, maybe even a little help.
“Sure, why not? You can call me at (734) - 519 - 2338, " Leonard replied before he knew it.
“Thanks! I’ll call you. We can go to the movies. Did you know The Martian came out? It’s gonna be epic,” Kyle happily said.
Leonard walked away, feeling happy but wondering if he did the right thing. I can probably become good friends with Kyle, Leonard dreamed.
When he got home, Eric was waiting at the doorstep. “Eric, get out of my way, " Leonard clipped every word with controlled anger. Eric easily grabbed him with his iron grip and threw him against the wall.
“So you’re trying to be a bully now. Trying to be like me. Good luck.” He punched Leonard in the gut.
Leonard recovered, hand on his stomach, and pushed back Eric weakly. He walked into the house, slamming the door of his room and barricading it with his wardrobe (it had wheels).
That Sunday, he received a call from Kyle saying he would be picked up by noon. They would have burgers and watch a movie. He couldn’t let Kyle know that he was a bully, but if he stopped bullying Eric would think of him as a coward. Leonard just decided to have fun today and dwell on the topic later.
Kyle’s mom, Mrs. Lemarchin, drove them to the Norfolk Mall. She was a nice mom and made conversation with Leonard, who tried to be evasive, but Mrs. Lemarchin didn’t notice it at all. “I’ll pick you up at 5:00PM! Have fun watching your movie.” Mrs. Lemarchin exclaimed. Leonard thanked her for the ride, and he and Kyle got off.
Kyle started a conversation, “So what’s making you angry, you being a bully and all that? You don’t seem that mean.”
Leonard thought, I don’t try to be mean, I just can’t stop because Eric would think I was a wimp. He sighed and said, “It’s complicated.”
Kyle didn’t want to pry anymore, so he simply said, “Okay.”
“Let’s go to the food court first, I could eat a horse, " Leonard suggested.
“Sure, what do you want to eat?” Kyle asked.
“Let’s get some burgers, " Leonard decided. They headed for the In’N’Out, where there was no line. Leonard got a cheeseburger and Kyle got a veggie burger and they both got fries and soda.
While they ate, Leonard asked, “So which movie are we watching?”
Kyle slurped his Coke and said, “I don’t know, The Martian? Mission Impossible?”
“Let’s go see Mission Impossible, " Leonard said. Kyle agreed, and they threw away their trash and headed for the AMC theater. Leonard really wanted to tell Kyle his situation with his brother Eric, but decided it could wait. He was having too much fun.
Kyle went to pay for the tickets while Leonard walked to a nearby Coldstone Creamery and ordered two strawberry ice cream cones. He turned and went to offer Kyle one, who came back grinning. “Good news, I got us the best seats in the back for Mission Impossible, " Kyle said. Leonard grinned and offered Kyle a cone , who took it gratefully. They quickly finished their ice cream and threw it away as they arrived at the theater entrance.
“Welcome to AMC. You boys have your tickets?” the security guard asked.
“Yes, sir, " Kyle replied as he handed over the red tickets.
“Thank you, please go to the third theater on the left.”
Leonard and Kyle walked into the lobby, grabbed some popcorn and soda, and walked to the theater. They got their seats, but the trailers hadn’t started yet, so they just sat down and enjoyed their food.
Leonard thought the time was right, and before he knew it, he started to talk about his brother Eric when suddenly he felt something icy cold on his lap. “Oh sorry man!” wailed Kyle as he snatched a handful of napkins and gave them to Leonard. Leonard finally figured out what was going on - how could he not? Kyle had spilled his entire Coke on Leonard’s lap.
“WHAT THE HECK?! OH MY GOD, THESE WERE MY NEW JEANS! YOU WANT COKE IN YOUR UNDERPANTS?! JESUS CHRIST!” screamed Leonard. He threw the glob of napkins on Kyle, then stormed out of the theater, through the lobby and left the mall. Outside, he sat on a bench and started to calm down. What the freak was that, Kyle, thought Leonard. You just spilled an entire cup of soda all over my pants and you’re just like “Oh sorry man hee hee hee”.
“Um, Leonard?” said a small voice.
Leonard looked up to see Kyle, cautiously approaching. “Look, I’m sorry about how I spilled Coke all over your pants. Do you want to go home?” he suggested. Kyle being a good friend again, Leonard thought. Maybe I should just accept the apology and stop being a snob. But if I accept the apology, I’ll seem like a weak idiot, Leonard thought in his head.
“Sure. Sorry for being a jerk back there. I was just surprised, " Leonard apologized. A smile grew Kyle’s face.
“So what did you want to tell me back at the theater?” asked Kyle as they strolled through the mall. Leonard stopped, and decided to tell him. He told him about Eric, how he was a big bully, and all the times he ever bullied Leonard. He asked Kyle for some help. Kyle thought for a moment, and chose his words carefully, as if afraid if Leonard would start raging again. “I know this is going to be hard, but the best thing you can do is to just forgive Eric. After all, he is your brother and you shouldn’t be worst enemies with him.” Kyle said thoughtfully.
Mrs. Lemarchin gave them a ride back, and when Leonard started to get out of the car, Kyle stopped him and said, “Go apologize, Leonard. You can do it.”
Leonard smiled, happy to have a good friend. He opened the door, to find himself face to face with Eric and his sneering face. All thoughts of apologizing were wiped from Leonard’s brain, rage overtaking it. A wave of red hot fresh anger covered Leonard’s vision. Eric shoved him to the ground and punched him in the gut. Suddenly, all the experiences of being bullied and tortured by Eric came back to Leonard. He got up, and a fresh river of energy, mainly hatred, washed over Leonard. Leonard raised his leg, and with all his might, kicked Eric square in the chest.
“WHAT THE HECK DID YOU JUST DO YOU LITTLE IDIOT PUNK!” Eric suddenly howled, but Leonard felt as if an ocean of energy had just left him. Eric fell onto the ground, clutching his chest as if something might be broken. He started launching a rapid volley of punches on Eric. “You suck. I always put up with your BS. Have a lot of fun, Errriicccc," Leonard said with clenched teeth. He raised his foot and smashed it down on his chest one more time for good times sake. When he looked into Eric’s eyes, he could see regret, and a little fear in his eyes. Leonard stormed up the stairs and into his room, slamming the door shut and barricading it with his wardrobe. He grabbed his cell phone and dialed Kyle, explaining what happened.
“Dude, really? It would have been so much better if you apologized, " Kyle said.
“There was nothing I could do, okay?" Leonard replied.
“Whatever, I hope he doesn’t bother you anymore, " Kyle said.
Leonard hung up, never feeling better in his life. He felt as if a mountain of hatred, pain, torture, and rage left him. He had begun a new life, ceased of  Eric’s bullying, with a new, caring friend, Kyle. No need anymore to be a bully. Leonard smiled, the first real smile in many years as he envisioned his life ahead, clean and unpolluted from Eric as he heard him growl in pain in the foyer below.