This event wasn't nearly as big as what happened to me when I was a child, but it was still a big event that led me to becoming what I am now. I was a lot different at school compared to how I was at home. At home, I acted like an emotionless husk and just did whatever it was that I wanted to do unless I was called upon by my parents for something. At school however, I wanted to make friends, and I didn't want them to treat me like the kids at the orphanage did, so I kept my story a secret and acted like my usual self, as if my tragic past had never happened.
Thanks to that, I made many friends one by one, but I had a select few that I would call my "best friends", and we had all formed a small group together. It's been so long since then that I don't even remember their names however. There were six of us in total, and we did everything together, from playing video games, to sleepovers at each of our houses, and going on adventures throughout the city. I had moved to a completely different city when I had gotten adopted, so there was much for me to do and see. I thought I could leave the past in the past, but life simply wouldn't be that easy for me.
My step parents were quite wealthy, and so they got me a variety of gaming consoles and other sources of entertainment for boys my age. I didn't notice it at the time, but this made my friends quite jealous, especially the "leader" of our group, who only had about half of what I had when it came to sources of entertainment. I was just happy to have such good friends, but he was happy with being in the spotlight. He wanted to keep it that way too, so, without my knowledge, he began asking my step parents about me, specifically what led to my adoption. With that knowledge, he began making up his own twisted story to turn the entire group against me.
On the day we all graduated and were set to become freshmen in high school, my friends asked me to meet up with them after school under the city bridge. I figured they were planning some kind of party to celebrate our graduation or something since the spot under the town bridge was a usual hangout spot for us, so I happily went to meet with them all. Once I arrived, only three of my five friends were waiting there. "Are the other two not here yet?" I asked.
"Oh, they're not coming for this. It'll just be the four of us." The leader of our group said with a coy smile on his face.
"What? That's a shame... You'd think they'd wanna celebrate with us as a group... Are they busy at home?" I tilted my head.
"Pfft! Ha! What, you think this is some kind of party or something Jeshan?" He snickered, the other two boys laughing along with him.
I instantly got a bad feeling, but I trusted them because they were my friends, so I just giggled nervously. "Um...are we not celebrating our graduation?"
The boy at the head of our group walked up to me and patted my shoulder, still giggling and smiling. "Well, I guess you could say we're doing something like that. And I guess you could say what we're gonna be doing is a real party..." The other two boys snickered before walking over as well.
"A-Alright... What are we doing...then..?" I asked nervously. The three looked to one another and nodded before the group's leader suddenly punched me right in the face. I fell to the ground with a yelp and dropped all of my belongings, the three boys instantly proceeding to repeatedly kick me where I laid. "O-Ow! Guys, stop it! It hurts!" I cried out.
"No way in hell! This is what you get for being such a spoiled punk!" Our leader yelled, pressing his foot against my head. I groaned in pain as the other two boys lifted me off the ground suddenly, practically tearing off my clothing from how forcefully it was removed before throwing me back onto the ground in my underwear. "Hot damn, so it really is true..." He mumbled.
"W-What's true..?!" I weakly shouted through my light sobs.
"Your dad tried to kill you four years back right? You actually do have a scar on your back and more on your leg... No wonder you wear pants even in the summer's blazing heat." He snickered.
"I-If you wanted to see my scars, you could've just asked!" I shouted furiously.
"Shut the hell up!" He proceeded to kick me in the face, making me fall back with a yelp again, holding the side of my face in pain as I held back sobs. "I wanted to do more than just see your disgusting scars! I wanted to teach you a lesson for being the selfish brat you are!"
"S-Selfish..?" I asked in a whimper.
"Yeah! I mean, your dad wanted to kill you because of how spoiled you were when you were just barely able to consider yourselves middle class! Your mom even said that she wished that you had never been born right? That's how bad you were! And now that you have a new family, you're making them spoil you too just because they're actually rich?! Of course I'm gonna teach a brat like you a lesson!" I was so confused back then. His voice and expression seemed so serious, so I thought he had gotten the wrong idea.
"Y-You've got it all wrong..!" I shouted.
"Don't even start! I know exactly what kind of person you are! You're a manipulator! A liar! A thief! People like you deserve punishment!" He ran over and kicked me in the gut, making me grunt heavily in pain.
And so, the three continued to pick on me for several more minutes after that, and then, the two girls of our group arrived. "Jeshan!" They ran over, looking down at me in shock as the three boys poured milk over my head.
"Oh, you're here. About time." The leader snickered. I looked up at the two girls weakly, my eyes bloodshot from how many tears I had shed.
"Wow... I can't believe you guys went so far... I still don't want any part of this, but like I said before, we're not gonna stop you." One of the girls shrugged.
"If you don't wanna join in then why did you even come?!" One of the other boys asked in annoyance.
"She wanted to see if his scars were real! Don't get mad at me!" The same girl shouted before the other girl, the youngest in our group, came over and poked the scar on my back, making me jump and scramble away.
"How gross... He's just like a bug..." The girl muttered.
"And bugs deserved to be squashed!" Our leader caroused, picking up a stick on the ground and preparing to swing it down on me.
"Please stop!" I yelled as loud as I could, making all of them jump. "I'm sorry okay?! I'm sorry for being such a spoiled brat! I'm sorry for showing off so much! I'm sorry for being born! You won't have to see me ever again after this! I promise I won't talk to any of you or come near you! Please just stop and leave me alone!"
None of them said a word, the silence deafening, until finally, one of the other boys spoke. "What should we do boss man?" He called our leader as a joke.
"Well, if he promises to stay the hell away from us, I think he's learned his lesson." He threw the stick at my head and I quickly covered my head with my hands, the stick bouncing off. "But don't you ever come near us again, you freakin spoiled brat." He scoffed, grabbed his things, and they all walked away, a couple of them bumping into me as they walked by. I just sat there for a second, a few more tears spilling before I put my clothes back on, grabbed my things that were thrown all over the place, and walked home.
By the time I got home, the sun was starting to go down. "Welcome home. We know you were probably having a blast with your friends, but we gave you a curfew you know." My step father said as I entered. When I didn't respond, he looked up at me, stayed silent for a moment, then sighed and shook his head. "Go get cleaned up. I'll have your mom patch you up when you're finished okay?" I nodded and just walked off to the shower.
I knew he wasn't concerned for me, just annoyed that he had to do something to actually care for me as a parent. I knew my step mother would most likely be equally annoyed, and I soon found out I was right when they lectured me as they patched me up, a bit roughly at that. They said I shouldn't get into fights with my friends and should always try to resolve things with words rather than violence. If they had actually cared, they would've thought to ask what had happened rather than just lecture me and think everything was all my fault. Once they finished with their lecture, I went to my room, curled up into a hall on the floor, and just began to cry. "I hate this stupid world..! I hate it..! What did I do to deserve this..?!" I sniffled, wiping away my tears as I cried as silently as I could manage. I believe this was when that being was fully developed inside of me.