Max sat in the abandoned faculty stairway at his school, letting his head rest against the wall. It was the next day after he'd almost drowned. His mother was warming up to him again, but it was still a little awkward. His friends and social life however, were still depressingly unchanged.
Max jumped as he felt footsteps thumping on the stairway. Who was that and why were they using the stairway?
A senior caught Max's eye, descending from the third floor. His lips moved, probably asking Max something. Max, embarrassed, pointed to his ears and shrugged.
The kid smirked. Max didn't like him. Something was off about how he was acting. Like he knew Max would be here. And who he was.
Max wrote "did you have a question?" On a sheet of paper from the notepad he always carried around now. He handed it to the kid, and he smiled.
He wrote for a second, then handed the paper back. "So your the deaf kid? Didn't you get run over or something? That's sad. I heard you were a good singer." Max grew red. He wrote furiously back.
"For your information, yes I am the deaf kid, and it happened however you wanted it to happen. And beat it. I don't care about people like you. Your just jealous of the attention."
When the kid read this, he smirked, and tore the paper up, stomping hard out the door.
Of course Max didn't appreciate the attention he got, but that was the first time he had got to blow off a bully since the accident. Not that there had been any other bullies. That guy had had nerve.
The bell rang then, and Max got up, heading towards his usual walking and biking route back home. He mounted his bike, riding off.
He was surprised to feel something hard hit his back. He looked behind him, and saw the same kid with a band of football jocks. They were riding right behind him. They were laughing.
Max sped up, turning down his road. The other kids were still behind him. They threw rocks and sticks, some hitting Max's head. They had caught up easily.
They'd stopped throwing things, and Max hadn't realized they were still there until he swerved off the road into the forest lining the shoulder.
One of the kids had pushed him, and he fell rather hard onto the grass, stunned. He hadn't ever expected any bullying like this. He'd never been bullied like this. He'd only been picked on.
A lump formed in his throat, watching the gang drop their bikes to the ground and walk over to him. A pang of fear ran through him. Would they just yell at him? Or would they beat him up? He'd never been in a fight before.
"P-please," he tried to say as best he could, scooting back on the ground in fear. One of them, big and muscular, grabbed the collar of his shirt, practically lifting him up off the ground to his height. Max had a death grip on his hand, terrified. But the jock had a much stronger grip than Max did.
Max swallowed hard, his throat constricted in fear. The kid watched Max closely. He asked his friend to write something on a notepad. He handed it to the kid, and he showed it to Max.
"Don't insult any of us unless you want to get hurt." It read. Max squeezed his eyes shut tight. He gulped, clawing frantically at the kids hand that was getting closer and closer to his throat. Finally, he let go, dropping max to the ground.
They watched him go, riding as fast as he could back to his house. When he got home, he came in quietly, resting on the couch. His mother came in a few minutes later, signing a hello.
He waved, heading up to his room. He grabbed a paper off his desk and furiously wrote about the attack from the upperclassmen.
He ran back downstairs and mounted his bike again, heading over to Adams house. He dropped the bike in the driveway, ringing the doorbell.
Adams mom came to the door, seeming surprised to see him. She seemed confused, but opened the door.
Max came in, running up to Adams room, and barging in. Adam jumped.
He said something angrily, startled, but then seemed to remember that Max couldn't hear him.
He looked awkward and sorry, handing him a notepad. Max sighed, pulling out the paper he wrote about the bullies.
As Adam read, he became angry. He made a fist with his hands after he finished, bashing an imaginary baseball glove. "I'll help you with your stupid bullies tomorrow." He wrote back to Max, smiling.
Max laughed, smiling at his crazy friend. "You better."