Domino Effect

The weird kid

"So, tell me more about this moth you found" the boy smiled at the other, who was holding a small terrarium. "Well, its a luna moth, and its mostly known for the fact that its life span is so short. This is due to it not having a mouth or digestive track, so it pretty much just forcefully starves to death." The boy with the bug in his hand went on, handing the terrarium to his counterpart. "Interesting, so its pretty much born to die then, huh?" He turned his attention to the little creature. "Yep. Its a sad reality, but not much can be done about it. All it can do is sit there and enjoy its final week before its eventual passing." The boy sat down, as did his friend. "You know, i really enjoy spending time with you, _____. Im not sure where id be jf not for you." He smiled. His friend smiled back. "Oh, Jax, id enjoy spending time with you too, if only i were real." Jaxs smile faded "....uh...what?" "You know im not real, silly. This is all in your head!" The atmosphere changed, the plants around the two of them dying as the sky turned black. Jax realized he didnt recognize the other boys face. No. He didnt have a face. Just a black static blur. No distinct features. Faint laughter could be heard around him. "You didnt think any of this was real, did you? You have no friends. As if someone would pay attention to the town freak!" Jax backed up as the creature laughed. "A freak, a freak! A freak is all you are and all youll ever---"

Beep. Beep. Beep.

The young man groaned as he was awakened by his alarm. As he sat up he looked at himself in the mirror on his closet door that faced his bed. Jaxon Tempest. That was his name. Though, he preferred just. Easier to remember. He stood up, fixing his messy black hair in the mirror, throwing on whatever was closest to him on the floor before looking over at a small terrarium next to his bed. A little moth sat in there peacefully the he had caught the night before. "Good morning ares." He pat the lid of the terrarium, giving a small, tired smile to the little creature. "Ive gotta go sit in a building with a bunch of assholes for five hours or so, but ill be back. Then i can get to studying you. Youre such a pretty boy, i cant wait to learn more anout your species. Definetly one of my new favorites thus far." Jax grabbed a backpack off the handle of his other closet door, stuffing a sketchbook and a few more things in there before leaving his room. His parents, as expected, werent home. They never bothered to say good morning before leaving. His father liked to get to work early to chat with coworkers and his mother had her own stuff to do. It didnt bother him, though. He was pretty used to this. He just grabbed himself a juicebox before leaving for school. It was his first day back and he wasnt looking forward to it at all. The figure jn his dream was right, he has no friends. Being the only human in a school full of monsters, he wasnt exactly popular. Not to mention all the severe bullying. Last year he was in and out of the hospital nearly every week getting stitches due to it. He hoped maybe this year, now that it was his final year, things might be different. Calmer perhaps.

Or perhaps worse. Who knows.

He got there quite early so he could hopefully find his locker without being beat up, and that he did. He stuffed his bag in there, taking the books out and turned to leave before being shoved against the lockers by a familiar face.

"Well well well, look who decided to show up. Its been a loooong summer without seeing your face. I wish it could have lasted longer. You make me sick." A tall, cat-like creature with white hair and green eyes loomed over Jax. Jax simply glared at him. "Give me a break. Its the first day, venom. Jut let me go to class." He tried to push past the boy but was stopped. "Hey, we still got thirty minutes till the warning bell. I got time to give you a warm welcome back~" before jax could utter another word, venom picked him up by the shirt collar and slammed him against the lockers. Venom. He was the standard school bully, a complete and total asshole who hated everyone. There were rumors his home life wasnt the best, but nonody dared look into it. Whatever the case may be, jax was his favorite target. "--let me go, asshole" jax struggled as venom laughed, his tail swaying "oh please, faggot. Dont act like you dont deserve this. Nobody can save you now~"

One beating and 30 minutes of unconscious-ness later, and jax woke up a bloody mess on the floor of the boys bathroom. Fuck. He was late. He sighed and cleaned himself up enough to look presentable before showing up to his class. Everyone turned and looked at him as he entered the room.
"Mr tempest, i presume? Your 15 minutes late." The teacher eyed jax up and down. "Sorry. Slept in." He didnt look at her, he just sat down in the far corner of the room. He spent most of the day drawing and trying to avoid venom. It was hard, but he managed. If he had it his way he wouldnt have to attend this stupid school. All was well until after school. That was when all hell broke lose. Jax has tried to just quietly grab his stuff when venom cornered him again. He had three other people with him. Two friends, and his girlfriend "You should have just left early or something. Consider this morning a prologue to whats going to happen next. Ya see, fag, ive been looking forward to putting you in your place all summer." He pushed the smaller boy to the ground.  "Oof--seriously, do you get off on kicking the shit out of me? What the fuck is your problem, its like youre in love with me or something" that statement made venoms friends giggle behind him, causing him to go red in the face. Uh oh. Venom picked him up and slammes him against the wall again. "You listen here you sick freak. Im not like you, you hear me? You disgust me. When will you get it through your thick skull that you dont belong here? You should go back to whatever hell you came from. This town isnt for you.--" venom smirked as he got an idea. "In fact. Hows about i give you a little reminder. Maybe thatll convince you to just go drop dead already and relieve us all of the burden that is seeing your ugly face everyday." Jax looked confused before venom equipped a switchblade. He panicked and tried to get away but venom pushed him down and sat on top of him "hold his arms down boys, i gotta make a few artistic adjustments to are friend" his friends listened to him, but his girlfriend looked unsure "venom, maybe youre going too far agai--" "oh shut up bitch. Stay out of this." He snapped back at her. "g-get off me you oversized street cat!" It was no use. Jax wasnt strong enough to get venom off. He let out a small scream as he felt the knife dig into his arm. Carving letters deep into his skin as vemom and his friends laughed at him. When it was over, venom and his buddies got off him, vemom spitting on him one last time. "Let that server as a reminder of what you are. Know your fucking place." The group continued to laugh as they left jax alone, bleeding a ton from his arm. Jax looked down at his bloody injury. Freak. That was the word now permanently etched into his skin. Venom had done a lot to him, but never gotten physical with a knife before. It seems this year was gonna be hell. He quickly walked himself to the hospital.

After a few stitches and a call to his mother, jax was in the car on the way home. It was quiet until his mom finally spoke. "So, how was school?" Jax just glared at her. "You never ask that. Considering you just picked me up from getting a bunch of stitches, not good." She went quiet again for a few minutes. "I have to run by the book store tomorrow. I was thinking maybe youd want to come with me and pick out something for once." He raised an eyebrow. His mom never invited him anywhere. This was  definetly out of guilt. But nonetheless, he nodded. "Sure. Ive got nothing better to do." The rest of the drive was quiet. Upon arrival home, jax just went up to his room alone to begin studying his moth. He spent the night drawing it and writing about it, writing about his day in his journal aswell before laying down. His arm ached really bad, but the painkillers he was given helped a bit. Eventually, he was able to sleep. He hoped maybe tomorrow would be different. Maybe he'd just skip for once just to avoid venom all together. Venom was right about one thing though, jax was considered a freak, and thats all he'd ever be known for. It was too late in his school career to make friends, and even if he had the courage to try everyone thought he was weird because of how quiet he was and how different he looked. Humans function a lot different from monsters, and i think that scared them. The weird kid. Thats all he'd ever be.