Tags
basketball, books, bullying, computer games, He Was Weird, schools
Chapter 3: A Disturbing Discovery
There were no repeats of the playground incident over the next couple of months, at least not to that scale. This was mainly down to the fact that the Tye School playground provided many places to stay out of the way and hide. However, it didn’t stop the low level bullying inside the school. A couple of times, Tim tried to trip Sean up in the halls when migrating between classes and then there was the threat of Eddie walking in the other direction, stopping to deliver a punch or the threat of one. What was worse as that Eddie’s actions were getting noticed by some others who not only encouraged him further but thought it would be cool to join in.
If being on constant look out for bullies wasn’t bad enough, the lousy New Jersey weather deprived Sean and Jeremy of their hiding places in the school playground. Lunch breaks were now confined to the gymnasium where the main activity was basketball. The IT Suite was available but the demand for it was extremely high. Therefore, there was little opportunity for Sean and Jeremy to use it. Instead, the two friends spent most of the winter lunchtimes playing Top Trumps or other card games on the bleachers.
For a few weeks, they seemed to draw no attention from anyone. Then, one day, while Sean and Jeremy were engrossed in their game, they didn’t notice Eddie and his pals encircling them, ready for the kill. “Aren’t you a little old to be playing that game?” Eddie asked mockingly.
“What do you expect from two sweeties?” John chortled.
Suddenly, Eddie snatched the cards out of Sean’s hand. “It figures, it’s Star Wars,” he said patronisingly before he threw the cards into the air.
“They’re my cards!” Jeremy exclaimed in near horror.
“Well maybe if you didn’t hang around with weirdoes, then this wouldn’t happen,” laughed Eddie.
“Maybe they’re just a couple of homos,” John added.
After it seemed that the tormentors had finished with their fun, Sean got up to retrieve the scattered cards. As he stood, he felt a sudden push from behind, the force sending him stumbling over one of the benches and almost head first into another one. “Ah, enjoy your trip?” teased Tim who had obviously pushed him. Once the tormentors finished with their fun, they left their targets t to pick up the cards. Once every card was found, Jeremy pointed out to Sean, “Your lip is bleeding.”