Episode 1 Alex

    There I laid, gasping for the very air we all take for granted, my heart pounded faster than the speed of sound, sending nearly all of the blood within me to that spot. My neck. Was there an afterlife? If there was, I'd like to transcend now. I just hope it's as serene as they claim it to be. 

    Sorry. Scratch that. Let's rewind to the beginning. I wasn't always gasping for air in a near death experience. What went wrong? 

    ***

    1 Day Prior

    It felt like every other day in Hancock High. The rays from the sun blasted their way into the classroom, through the windowpane, where I curled in comfort. I could hear the buzzing of a bee just outside, striving to get in but its efforts were futile since the windows were shut close. The aroma of fresh, moist sunflowers surged through my nostrils like teargas as I began to...drool.

    "Alex! "

    "Alexander! " Mrs. Ruffalo yelled.

    I awakened to the blaring laughter of my classmates. They all had their eyes on me like I was some sort of antique. No, not that. It was more like scorn.

    "I wasn't sleeping, " I countered as I abruptly got on my feet. The class rumbled the more in laughter.

    "What did I just say about the canine of a human teeth? " Mrs. Ruffalo asked with a mischievous squint like she prayed I'd get the answer wrong.

    I croaked. "It shouldn't be used to open up beer bottles?"

    Laughter filled the entire class again.

    "Wrong. " Mrs. Ruffalo gritted her teeth and then veered towards the rest of the class, pointing at me. "This is what happens when you sleep in class, "

    Chatter and murmur entwined.

    "Who will bail him out? " she said walking around in her red high heels as it frequently made a thump against the rugged, tiled floor.

    My eyeballs rolled.

    A girl stood, three columns away. It was Salene. She glinted at me, then Mrs. Ruffalo, and said; "Temporary canine teeth erupt around 16 to 23 months, and adult canine teeth replace them between 9 to 12 years. "

    "Correct." Mrs. Ruffalo commended as Salene took her seat, not without flashing her glamorous cream hair first.

    She was the last person I'd expected to bail me out, she never uttered more than two sentences to anyone in the class, and, socially, she sucked but she was damn gorgeous, and nearly all the boys in the class crushed on her, including me. Her lips looked so tender and cute, I'd prayed severally to be given a chance to smooch it. Her skin was as light as the petals of a daisy in spring. She wasn't all looks either, she was intelligent, the overall second best student in the 11th grade to be exact.

    "Alex, you can have your seat. Be sure not to sleep next time. "

    "Yes, Ma'am, " I said and reclined to my hard wooden chair sluggishly.

    I heard a familiar chuckle, it was coming from my right-hand side. It was from Victor, who sat at the distant end of my column. He kept at it and I gave him a middle finger.

    Today was boring as always and I'd wished I were on some long vacation in Miami. Trust me, I thought of truancy severally, but I really didn't have the stomach. I was happy though, I had just a couple of months to be done with the 11th grade, then I'll be a senior. After flaunting that and bullying a bunch of juniors for a year, I'll go find a job. Fuck college. My complacence aside, my foster parents probably didn't have the tuition to send me to college and I was okay with that. Now, don't get me wrong, my life wasn't miserable, it was just...pathetic.

    A feminine voice suddenly whispered. "How do you do that? "

    It came from Jacintha, who I'd thought to be a freak several times—no hard feelings. She sat literally beside me, by my right. She had her brown hair fastened into a ponytail and perpetually adjusted her glasses above her rosy cheeks.

    My face contorted. "Do what? "

    She snorted lightly. "How do you handle the entire class jeering at you without being disorientated? "

    "Simple, " I whispered back. "I don't. "

    "Mmm, " she said. "Beats me. "

    Mrs. Ruffalo's energetic voice lingered like the background in a defunct picture and everything, all sounds intertwined forming a unison; The knocking of our Biology teacher's red shoes. Victor, chewing on his pen. A couple of girls gossiping behind my ears. Stan, the class president, nibbling on a piece of gum while texting with his phone. My heart throbbing and so many others.

    I knew my lot well. After the closing period today, I'll be tormented again by the 'Scavengers', alongside, my closest of friends; Victor and Joe. Victor could take a few punches from the bullies but I feared for Joe, he didn't last 10 seconds at their hands the last time, I mean, how diabolical did they need to be? How did life become so unbearable for us, three? What did we do to deserve this?

    I caressed the bruise that had molded on my chin as I thought back to the incident that occurred between Marlowe, the top head of the 'Scavengers' and me. The pain had receded and left me with an unforgettable scab. Marlowe, the so-called senior had devoted his sweat and time to making sure defenseless juniors knew their places, but I was resolved. I wasn't going to be mistreated anymore by that clod.

    "Let's call it a day then. Make sure you study smartly for the upcoming C.A on Thursday. Hollow, " Mrs. Ruffalo called me by my surname. "See me before you go, would you? "

    "Yes, Ma'am. " My shoulders became weak.

    While the classroom vomited my classmates in fours and fives, Mrs. Ruffalo strode towards the teacher's table and I slowly paced behind like a kid about to be disciplined before his father at school. I could see Victor and Joe waving outside. Those punks. They'll wait for me even though their lives were endangered.

    "Alex," she called again, this time, damply.

    "Yes, Ma'am. "

    "Ummm. " she paused a little "Well, let's get comfortable, " she said gesturing towards a wooden chair for the students, while she sat on hers.

    "Oh, " I said breathlessly and sat.

    She cleared her throat mildly and stared at me with her rounded, skeptic eyeballs.

    "You have to be sincere with me, Alex. Is there anything you'd like me to know? Your life after school?–sorry–not that I intentionally want to pry but your case was brought up by Julia, your friend. "

    "Julia? " I asked still trying to connect the dots.

    "isn't Julia your friend? "

    I stuttered. "Y–yes. I mean, yes she is. "

    Julia was in the 10th grade and besides Victor and Joe, my best friend. Surprisingly, Mrs. Ruffalo reached out for my arms and looked me in the eyes, candidly. I could feel the aura my actual mother once gave me before she sold me off.

    "Bullying is such a great evil, you know?"

    My eyes dropped to our lightly knitted hands. "Yes, Ma'am. I do. "

    "Then why won't you talk? "

    I croaked almost inaudibly. "I never said I was bullied. "

    "Great. I never said you were bullied, " she said dragging the 'you'. 

    My pupils shrunk. Mrs. Ruffalo was really unto me, Unh? She absolutely had me cornered.

    "Alex, were you threatened? "

    My jaws twitched. "I don't know what you're talking about. "

    "Ok, then. follow me. "

    Our short stroll to the Principal's office felt like a hike. Too many thoughts, trying hard to find expression. Why were we headed for the Principal's office? I haven't been to his office for as long as I could remember. I heaved a deep sigh as I prepared to witness my streak being crushed. I imagined Mrs. Ruffalo stopping and grabbing my lifeless hands, apologizing for how she made a classic mistake, and taking me back. That didn't happen.

    She glanced at me as soon as we stood before the Principal's door.

    "Don't. Don't hold back. " she twisted the knob.

    A bright white light soon engulfed me as I found myself in the Principal's office. The tension there was so obvious and I immediately felt nauseated.

    Mr. Dallas, the principal raised his specs above his eyes for a second and I could tell, he never knew I existed before now. I veered around. Marlowe and Julia stood against the wall directly facing the principal.

    "Wha–Marlowe? " I said inaudibly as I stared at Mrs. Ruffalo. She seemed to have that victorious smirk on her face.

    Julia retracted from against the wall and shot me a pitiful glare. Marlowe's face brightened mischievously.

    The principal beat mildly against his table with his ring finger. "Alex Hollow, were you ever bullied by that senior? " he said motioning to Marlowe.