𝐟𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 | adam banks

ninety five | bullies

↳ foster gray

I SORT OF FELT LOST UP TO THIRD PERIOD, like I didn't know where I was, like I didn't belong here. I knew I really didn't belong here in the first place, but at the same time I did. My emotions were a complete wreck.

When third period came, I headed with Kade to his environmental science class. I hated the fact that I was stuck with him mostly because of his childish personality, but I knew this class would be entertaining because of that.

   I stood with him at his locker, the boy piling his heavy books in my empty arms almost causing my small and frail self to fall over. I got a grip on them while he piled more and more things up.

   "Conners, ya know, I love helping you out and all buddy, but this is a lot for one class, don't you think?" I hesitantly asked him with confusion. I knitted my eyebrows together.

   "I never know what book I'm going to need! It's always a shocker, jeez!" He loudly spoke sending me an eye roll. I let out a heavy breath and remained confused.

   "You're going to environmental science. I'd assume that you'll only need—well, I don't know—your environmental science book?" I questioned. He grew confused. He slammed the locker door shut, turning to me with his jaw dropped. The boy was clueless. I got a grip onto all of the books before we started to walk.

   Entering the second floor again where Kade had his class, I saw the two kids from Mrs. Turners homeroom, along with three other boys. I furrowed my eyebrows together and looked over at Kade. It was obvious the three boys were trying to cause trouble. The both of us stopped.

   "Who are they?" I asked. Kade glanced down at me.

   "That's Harley, Fos, and that's Mouse and Frankie, remember?" He questioned. My eyes widened. I haven't seen them for awhile, but of course, they were still the same idiots. "They give those two problems every day, they're stupid."

   I nodded my head. I walked over to the ledge of the stairs, setting all of Kade's books on it. I then walked down the stairs, my arms behind my back and a fake smile on my face.

   "Long time, no see, boys," I spoke up. The three boys stopped tormenting the other two. When they realized they weren't paying attention, they ran into the nearby classroom. It was just the five of us now. Kade stayed up on the stairs.

   When I got to the three, I stopped. They were all much bigger than me, aside from Mouse who was so small, but somehow, he was still bigger than me.

   "Foster Gray, is that you?" Harley cockily spoke, tearing the pick from his mouth. He threw it onto the ground without a care in the world.

   I nodded my head, "yes, Harley, it is."

He looked at me up and down, observing how much I had changed. He didn't change much at all, aside for how smaller his head had gotten from all of the brain cells he had lost.

"Well, I'm surprised you'd show your face here. I figured you'd be busy living your life of fame in California or Minnesota with that rich boy boyfriend of yours," he scoffed. "Nice jacket, by the way." I shrugged my shoulders and kept my smile, darting my eyes at him in a fierce way.

"I'm surprised your not busy living your life in Philadelphia with that police officer that walks you to your classes," I snapped back. The boy became silent, and quite obviously uncomfortable.

"Yeah, well.., well, no one wants you here anyways. It was so much better without you here," Mouse spoke up for Harley. I looked over at the shorter boy with my rotten smile still on my face. His cocky grin faded and he hid behind Frankie.

"It was only better because you guys got away with shoving everyone in lockers and being rude to them," I called them out. I crossed my arms over my chest.

"You'll be the next one to get a tour of my locker," Harley spoke up. I chuckled.

"Go ahead and try, Harls. I can handle you," I said with confidence. He looked up at Frankie before looking back at me. I shrugged my shoulders, "you can try too, Frankie, but I made the Varsity hockey team where I had to pull a four hundred pound boy around with a rope tied around my waist. I had to push every single player down that neared me with no defense at all. Let me remind you these boys were twice your size, triple mine. So if you want to sic Frankie on me, go right ahead."

   I saw Harley nod his head at Frankie. The boy pointed over at me and back up until his back hit the lockers. He crossed his arms over his chest.

  "Okay, Frankie, ya heard her. She's tough now, ain't she?" He joked. He started to laugh before looking back at me. He opened his locker door. "The pleasure is yours, Frankie boy."

The boys looked at me skeptically. I wasn't scared. I wasn't going to let anyone torture anyone like they were those two boys. I knew what I was doing was crazy, but I couldn't help myself.

Frankie walked forwards, getting closer to me by every second. Once he got to me, he reached for the back of my jacket. I grabbed ahold of his arm and twisted it with a rough manner causing the boy to groan loudly. I placed my hands on his shoulders, pushing him forwards easily with all of my strength. I shoved him harshly into lockers causing him crash and fall.

His two friends that stayed standing looked at me in shock. I turned my attention to Harley with my arms crossed over my chest again.

"When someone tells you to leave them alone, you do the respectful thing and well, leave them alone. You will not talk to the boys again, and you will not shove them in your lockers, you hear that?" I growled. My view shifted between the three boys, Frankie who was still on the floor sitting against the dent I had left in the lockers. They all stayed silent. "You've got it?" I shouted at them. Mouse and Frankie both frantically nodded their head. Harley had the same tough look he had in his face like he had no care in the world.

"You know, Foster, you're still the same bitch you were before you left-"

"-I've been through hell and back since then! I was bullied, I was beaten down, I was abandoned by my own mother, I had many things of mine destroyed that meant so much to me, even myself, so I will not hesitate to stand up for someone being bullied by someone like you. You never know what anyone is going through Harley, and I've tried so much to help you, to figure out what is going on in your head, but I've learned that your just a scared teenage boy that feels better when he beats on everyone else."

We used to be friends. We used to be best friends. He went to camp one year for the summer, and ever since, he had changed. He wasn't the sweet old Harley he used to be, he just hung with the wrong crowd. I wasn't scared to give him a piece of my mind. Even after all of these years of the abandoned friendship, I still trusted him.

Harley walked forwards. He helped Frankie up from the ground and turned away from me, soon disappearing down the hall with his two friends.

I slowly turned back to Kade at the stairs who looked at me with a mix of shock, proudness, and concern. I furrowed my eyebrows, walking back up the stairs. I grabbed his books from the ledge.

"Foster.., I know you're trying to find yourself and all and trying your best to become yourself again.., but don't you think that what you did was odd? Not like yourself?" He asked me. I shrugged my shoulders. I honestly wasn't sure.

Suddenly, I heard someone clapping. Turning the hall from the stairs above was none other that Lucas and Isaac themselves.

"No," Isaac said, "the old Foster would've done the same exact thing."