Theo Carner looked like a normal kid from the outside. He would go to school and come back home with good grades. He seemed to have many friends at school and even when requesting to change schools he would always make new ones faster than anyone.
However, this was not the reality of Theo Carner.
It was the first day of 10th grade. Theo had decided to go to school this year, to see if things had changed.
With his torn bag on his back, he arrived to the front gates of Skylon High. As he walked inside and started to blend into the crowd of students also their on his first day, Theo started to hear chatter amongst the kids.
"Isn't that Theo Carner? I heard he didn't come to school all of 9th grade." Said one girl.
"Yeah... I think his parents forced him to come haha" Laughed another student.
People had already started to single him out. This did not surprise Theo however. He expected a little bit of ridicule and confusion, but in the end all he wanted was a normal school year without any major things happening.
As Theo was in thought, people started to make way for someone and started to crowd around Theo.
A person with a couple people following him showed themselves out of the crowd. The student in the middle had a devious look on his face.
At that moment, Theo's heart sunk into his chest. He started to become pale as he saw Kyle Harrod.
"Look! Its Kyle Harrod! I heard rumours that he wasn't going to come to school this year because he was moving! I guess I heard wrong." People started to say things in the crowd.
"Kehaha! I knew that rumor I spread would surely snuff you out you little rat!" Kyle laughed. His laughter was soon followed by most of the crowd and his goonies around him.
Theo thought as if he could see everyone revolving around him, their laughs were like swords stabbing him again and again.
Kyle Harrod, a student that bullied Theo his entire life. Ever since the start of middle school, everyone knew Theo as the dog of Kyle Harrod. Kyle would make Theo do horrible things like use him as a seat for the entirety of school or make him steal things from stores.
Kyle had made Theo's life a living hell. Once Theo heard the rumor that Kyle wasn't going to come to school this year, he decided to give school another shot.
Theo immediately regretted coming to school. He wanted to go home immediately. Before Theo could do anything, Kyle spoke.
"Hey dog! Kneel down for me..." everyone in the crowd recognised this line. It was used against the helpless Theo for as long as they knew.
Without much of a thought, Theo started to slowly get on his knees.
"Kehahaha! I guess you're still just a little bitch! I was worried you were going to change!" Said Kyle.
'He's right... Im pathetic! After all those months of wanting to change, I could do nothing!' Theo thought to himself as he kneeled down.
Suddenly, Kyle walked up and kicked Theo in the stomach. Theo was knocked back a couple feet and started coughing due to the pain in his stomach.
Kyle spoke as he walked closer to Theo.
"Why didn't you show up for a hear you dog?" Kyle kicked Theo again, this time even harder.
As Theo struggled to withstand the pain, Kyle spoke again.
"I really needed a little loyal dog last year ya know? Answer my question!" Kyle yelled out as he started to stomp on the head of Theo repeatedly.
As everyone saw what was going on, they all slowly stopped laughing. At that moment everyone realised that there was something actually wrong with Kyle.
One of kyles goonies spoke up awkwardly. "Hey Kyle I think that's enough you know... Heheh" He let out an awkward laugh to ease his situation.
Kyle looked back with a furious expression. "You some something you little fuck!?"
Theo started to bleed uncontrollably from his head, but Kyle didn't stop. Out of nowhere the crowd started to disperse.
"Hey! What's going on here! Everyone get outta here! Go to your classes!" A man with a teachers outfit came out from the dispersing crowd. Kyle and his gang had already fled the scene.
The teacher saw the state that Theo was in and immediately took him into the school E.R.
The situation could not be handled at school, so Theo was taken to the hospital. After 15 days at the hospital, Theo woke up.
While waking up, he had nothing on his mind. As he looked around the room, a nurse came inside.
She was surprised but tried to hide it as she didn't want to scare Theo. "Oh my! Hey buddy, how are you feeling?" The nurse said with a gentle expression.
Theo knew that face she was making. A face with both eyes closed and a smile stretching to both sides of one's face with no teeth showing. It was a fake smile, given to those who deserved the pity.
"I- Im fine..." Theo was not fine.
After the nurse left the room, the reality of his life truly hit him. Ever since he was young, the god of luck had deserted him. His parents died at an early age and he lived off the random money his uncle would send every couple months.
Living in poverty gave Theo almost no opportunities to make friends or any other connections. Because of this he was bullied constantly and it got worse and worse every single day.
Many people survive even when getting bullied at school because they had someone or something to turn to back at home, but Theo had nothing.
He didn't have anything to make him forget about what had happened that day. All he could do was think. Think about how he could have changed something or done something different.
His only form of entertainment was reading novels and manhwa. It was his escape from reality. He could truly imagine how his life would be in these novels and finally find a happy place.
But even these were limited due to his limited income.
After all these years Theo realized that he had been living a life that had no meaning. As he thought to himself in the 258th room of the 6th floor of the Senchuan hospital, he started to ask himself many questions.
'Why do I keep living my life? Why do I act like things are going to change? There's no point anymore. There is going to be no hero to come and save me from this hell, this is hell. No one is going to save me and nothing is going to change, so what's the point of living any longer?'
As he thought of these things, he found himself getting closer and closer to the small balcony next to his room. Looking down upon the large city below him.
Before he knew it, he had already jumped over the railing.
As he fell, he regretted nothing. For him, this was the right choice.
But then, as if someone had intruded his mind with another thought, he thought of something else.
'Wait... if no one will be there to save me, then I will have to save myself!' Instantly Theo started to regret everything.
'Why did I have to think someone had to save me?! I could have just saved myself! That's right! I have the power to control what happens to me and my life! Why didn't I think of this before I had jumped!'
Before he knew it, his entire life started to flash before his eyes, his pain, his suffering, but what poked out the most was his hatred. Not his hatred for those who did bad for him or those who didn't save him, but for himself.
For how he didn't save himself even though he had all the power to do so. His hatred in himself brought about something knew, a feeling that Theo had always wanted to feel, but had never gotten to truly feel.
A feeling of confidence to change! To change his weak and pitiful ways. Theo wanted to never be weak again!
Never again!
Theo did not want to accept his death, he was not going to come to peace with what his life had been.
'If I get a second chance at life. I swear, I will never lose to anyone, I will never be weak, I will never be used or mistreated! This is my sworn vow to myself! Not even the gods themselves can stop me!!'
Right before Theo fell onto the floor, everything he could see completely vanished into thin air. Now all he could see was darkness.