He sat Infront if the class with his perfectly ironed shirt and his perfectly ironed trousers. His hair looked a little bit rough and clean at the same time, with a side cut that made him look smart in his brand new uniform.
He was a new student, everyone could tell. The fact that his face had never been seen in the class before was enough reason to spot him as a new entry. And if that skipped your notice, the teachers brought it to air every time they get a chance to.
And that bothered me, not just because the girls were talking about his fresh and clean looks, or because the teachers highly praised his intelligence. Instead, it was because he was a show-off.
Every time a teacher steps into the class to give a lecture he would pay his full attention to them, and as if that was not enough when a question was thrown to the class, his always the one to answer. It was as if my hands brilliantly lifted in the air seemed to have magically disappeared or as though the universe cast a spell on me, making me only visible to myself.
I tried my very best to get the teacher's attention back to its rightful focus...me!
But with every single act I pulled, it seemed to be getting farther and farther away from me.
What was it about this boy that the teachers were just unable to break focus even for a moment? I kept asking myself this question as I stared at this intruder with the veins in my head bulging out.
I hate him... I concluded.
During lunchtime, I went down to the cafeteria. We were in a group, my friends and I, the school jocks, best known as the elite basketball team.
Down at the cafeteria, I was busy minding my business when this guy walked by, I noticed his sneakers, and they were the latest air Jordans! the limited edition!!. The whole football team stared at him with admiration and that was the last straw. I felt a flood of emotion rise up within me. I wanted to humiliate this guy, I wanted to out him as the fraud that he is. How can he just walk into my school and suddenly become the talk of the town? Nope .. not today.
So I approached him, arms swinging side to side like a deranged maniac, while my feet beat the drums of war. At this time the whole cafeteria suddenly grew silent, they knew what was coming.
I walked up to where he was sitting alone. Peacefully, trying to have a nice lunch and I said. " Hey, new kid you want to see a cool trick?". He looked at me as though he was staring at a movie he had already seen before pulling his tray closer to him to resume eating.
The fire in me burnt brighter, I needed this kid to know who is the boss, so I reached out and grabbed the glass of milk on his tray, and without hesitation, I poured it all down his body. From his perfectly rough hair to his perfectly ironed white shirt.
Ha!..that should teach him!!*, I said to myself.
He immediately flared back at me in retaliation, but just like on the basketball court, I quickly stole his bowl of spaghetti and meatballs, and stepped to the side, away from him. And then without a single thought, I dunked it on his head.
Good riddance perfectly rough hair, I said to myself with a smile on my face and a now calm and restful spirit.
"ta-da !!, I just made your whole ego disappear!", I screamed out loud as I watched the whole cafeteria laugh in unison.
But what was strange was that despite my provocation he just left..he just turned around and walked away. No tears, no fight back, nothing. He just walked out of the cafeteria with his body soaked in his lunch.
The rest of the day I didn't see him in class, victory seemed to be mine so I became proud and confident. Two months passed and there was still no sign of him until one day principal came to publicly address us.
He told us that we had lost a student by the name of Micheal, who two months ago had lost his parents to a ghastly motor accident before joining the school.
I stopped listening after the principal mentioned that he was from my class. My heart instantly began to beat heavily and loudly. I trembled a little bit before summoning the courage to ask one of my classmates who Micheal was?
My greatest fear was confirmed when he said, "Micheal is that innocent boy you bullied!"...
My body froze, and my heart skipped a beat. The only words left in my mind were, dear God! What have I done!!.
