Stephon's Short Stories

16: "The Boomerang Effect"

“Shut up! You’re just a wuss. Scrawny.” Samuel cried as he tried fighting back to no avail. Kicks and punches straight to the back, stomach, face. Once he managed to get away, he bolted out of the school doors. He then ran home to the already opened front door. There stood Samuel’s father. “Wh-what took you so long?” His drunken self slurred his words as he spoke to Samuel. “Nothing important dad.” His father instantly pulled him into the house by his collar, locking the door and instantly beginning to hit him. The cries from Samuel could be heard from miles away. Saved by the bell, was the policeman who someone had called, who Samuel now calls Dad. Yes, if you’re wondering, Samuel was bullied during his freshman year of high school while also being abused by his alcoholic father at home. His mother? He’s never met. This policeman who is rarely home did take Samuel in as his own, and Samuel’s father has been in jail ever since. 3 years later, Samuel is feeling the same as he did when he was fourteen. Alone and lost. Like he needs to do anything in his power in order to fit in. Feeling jealous of anyone who is happier than him. 
    Austin, fourteen, a freshman who was known for being one of the top students in his class, walked into the double doors of his high school. For once he feels more happy than he’s ever felt before. Although he suffers from depression, he hasn’t had a problem with it in a while, which is why it subsided.. He puts his black hood over his head as he begins his journey to math class. As he’s walking, he instantly gets shoved to the ground. “What the-?” He says lowly as he turns around to see Samuel hovering over him. Samuel laughs, “Sorry little man, you were in my way.” He kicks Austin in the stomach and walks away with a smile on his face. Austin groans as he gathers his things and struggles to get up. His thoughts are immediately What did I do to him? Who is he? He attempts to shake his thoughts off and continues his way to class, but he can’t help but to feel like it’s his fault that he got pushed down.
    “He’s happy and I’m not, I’m gonna ruin his entire life.” Samuel says out loud as he walks away from Austin, his hands shaking as he feels himself get angry. He punches the locker, leaving a large dent in it. “I SHOULD BE HAPPY!!” He yells as he walks to the lunch room, trying to calm himself down. Once the lunch bell rang you could instantly see Austin in the corner of the lunch room, eating his lunch from home while drawing in his notebook. Perfect opportunity. Samuel thought as he headed over to Austin. No one would stop him, because everyone is scared of him. One person steps to him and they could get into trouble instantly, because of his foster dad. Austin looks up at Samuel, then looks back down at his notebook. “Are you here to bother me again?” Austin said nonchalantly as he continued to draw. Samuel bent down, gripped Austin by his shirt, as he poured his chocolate milk all over his notebook and him. You could see the hurt in Austin’s eyes as he started to cry. Samuel smiled, it seemed that he got pleasure out of Austin being more sad than him. He let his shirt go, threw the rest of his lunch on him, and walked away. The entire cafeteria staring in shock. 
The bullying went on for months, Samuel clearly happier than before and Austin? His grades plummeted. You could visibly see how depressed he was, but he never spoke up. He was scared.  “Today is the day that I shall be free.” Austin repeated this softly as he found his way to the school’s rooftop. This was before school hours. Once on top, he looked down, and smiled. “Happiness.” was the last thing he said before he jumped. Samuel woke up for school, only to find out that he wasn’t able to go. As he turned on the television, his heart dropped. “A fourteen year old boy now identified as Austin Smith has commited suicide.” His breath quickened as tears came streaming down his face. Regret. Sympathy. He knew this was his fault. “ME! I did that!” He beat himself up about it. He cried so hard. “I’m sorry Austin, I’m sorry.” He said softly as he cried. Months went by and Samuel began to feel worse and worse. A voice in his head continued to nag at him. Guilty, guilty, guilty. It would say over and over. His battle with his emotions and mentally was too much for him to handle. This was the day that Samuel decided that he will be happy too. The school bell rang for the end of the day and he got into his car, driving out of the parking lot he headed into the freeway, on the opposite side of the road. His foster dad was the first on the scene of the accident.. By the time he arrived, it was too late. Samuel was already long gone, a note in his pocket which said, “Dad, I’m the reason Austin died. I couldn’t take the guilt. Now I’m happy. I love you.”

(Story lesson: Don’t do something you know isn’t right because you’ll never know what the outcomes may be in the end.)