Saving Chester Bennington

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

          “Hey watch it loser,” some kid snapped at him as he walked down the hall. Chester Bennington moved out of the way as a few more people passed by him. It wasn’t like he’d asked to be weird or different. His dad had told him that so that’s what he was. But these kids didn’t have to keep rubbing it in his face. Maybe they wouldn’t do it if Mike Shinoda hadn’t started doing it. Fucking dick. He wasn’t sure exactly why he’d started it. Was it just because he hadn’t had any friends? Or was it because he never wore what the other kids wore? Whatever it was that had made Mike hate him, had made the whole world hate him. But maybe they all had before and just hadn’t said so until Mike had gone and opened his fucking mouth.

          Mike didn’t work alone either. He was always with some other huge guys. Chester hadn’t bothered to learn their names. He really didn’t need to. What was the difference between one person who wanted to destroy you and another? The only reason he knew Mike’s name was because it was impossible not too. He was known throughout the entire building. People adored Mike Shinoda. If Mike was a king, then everyone would serve him and he would do every fucking thing under the sun and none of them would give a shit.

          Chester shook his head to clear it. He was sick of Mike falling into his head all the time. He had to stop worrying about him and focus on what he was doing in school. He didn’t need his dad to find out about how bad he was doing. It wasn’t exactly his fault though. He didn’t have a chance to do homework. Another reason why he needed friends. Friends were supposed to help you with that kind of stuff right? He’d seen it in movies. Guys would sneak each other assignments between classes and let each other copy if they hadn’t finished.

          He was glad it was the end of the day and he could just leave. He wasn’t going home that’s for sure. He tried to spend as little time at home as he could. His mom wasn’t around anymore but his dad was and his dad made that clear every night. He was the main reason that Chester didn’t dress like the other people at his school. Being told you weren’t worth shit seemed to have an effect on people after a while. Chester couldn’t remember the last time that he had worn a t-shirt to school. It’d been a long time. He didn’t wear shorts either but that was because long sleeves would look weird with shorts.

          As he tossed the last of his school things into his backpack he heard one of the things he was hoping not to hear.

“Yea well, I think they should have laws against having weirdoes come to this school. Or any school. They’re better off staying at home where no one has to worry about their issues.”

          Chester glanced down the hallway and saw where Mike and his group were standing. They were a good distance away but he knew they could move fast if they wanted to. He moved quietly from the wall and into the crowd of people leaving the school. By the time that they came for him, he’d be gone. If he managed to leave the school then today would be the first day in a long time that he hadn’t been bothered by Mike and his group. If people would move out of his way. He heard Mike’s voice again and it sounded closer. They must have decided to leave.

“It’s crazy you know? The people that they let come into schools like this? If I had it my way, there would definitely be some big changes. Like the removal of Bennington.”

          Chester flinched at how close Mike sounded when he had finished his sentence. It seemed like he was right behind him. That guess was made a fact when a hand grabbed his bag. There went his perfect day. He hoped that Mike would just leave. He didn’t want to be put on the spot on the way out of school. There were so many people and a lot of them were already watching them. He continued to walk forward until the hand on his bag jerked him backwards.