Luca sat up and groaned while holding his flank.
"Those bastards, what is their problem" he muttered with gnashing teeth, his face contorted in fury. He checked the time on his smartwatch, it was 3:30 pm, he had been asleep for about twenty minutes.
He stood up but he almost tripped up,
"Damn it, my flank muscles are all sore...
He complained as held his flank, suddenly Luca made a mischievous expression and grinned widely.
"So this is how it feels to be beaten...
..... but those fists packed quite a heavy punch"
"I should stop by the clinic, but I didn't expect this, is it that they have set their sight on me or what?"
Luca dusted his body as he pondered on his situation, he was just an ordinary highschooler and he hoped to remain so, perhaps that girl would look his way one day, the girl whose expectation he failed to meet, he planned to remain ordinary no matter what, but things seem to have taken an unexpected turn, being his first time being bullied.
"If it's that, I don't think I would fight back. Besides, three against one isn't in any way fair, but I guess that is how some bullies operate"
He used his right hand to brush back his hair, while the strands dangled over his forehead like a couple of stubborn spaghetti noodles.
"Fighting in a group just because each of them is too afraid to fight alone? how cowardly"
Luca had it in mind not to fight back, he didn't want to cause any ruckus, he was the type of person who based things on rational thinking, Luca came up with a theory; if he didn't fight back, no matter how they taunt him to fight, perhaps one day they would think of him as no fun and their gaze would shift away from him, after all, it's all fun for bullies when they are bullying someone else, they took pleasure in it. But would it?
Anyway, he regained his composure and started walking towards the school gate, off to the clinic to get some painkillers.
Passing by the school library, he could see Silvia, sitting by the window, still engrossed in her book as usual, he stopped and gazed at her for a while, as if on cue, she met his gaze, but something happened that Luca didn't understand, something Silvia wouldn't ordinarily do, as she met his gaze, some expression showed on Silvia's face, a strange one which she had never shown, it was a mix of concern and coldness, Luca continued his gaze trying to figure out the true one but Silvia averted her gaze immediately and turned back to her book, like she didn't want something to be exposed.
Luca's head hung low.
"She is as disappointed as ever" he muttered as he continued to trudge away, in Luca's view, he interpreted Silvia's expression as disappointment.
Passing through the school gate, Luca walked steadily, his hand occasionally pressing against his sore flank. After about ten minutes of walking, he reached the clinic at the junction of Silver Claw Boulevard and Crescent Moon Lane.
Luca made his way into the clinic, the cool air inside a welcome contrast to the warm day outside. He approached the front desk, where a lady in her mid-twenties was seated, typing away on a computer. She looked up as he approached, offering a polite smile.
"Hi, how can I help you?" she asked.
"I need some painkillers for my side," Luca replied, wincing slightly as he gestured to his flank.
The lady nodded, taking note of his discomfort. "Alright, I'll need you to fill out this form and then have a seat. The nurse will call you shortly."
Luca thanked her, filled out the necessary information, and took a seat in the waiting area.
The smell of medicinal odor was unpleasant to Luca and made him want to leave, although he had followed Uncle Silas to the hospital before, he hated the idea of entering hospitals, clinics, or pharmacies, but he didn't have much choice, being his first time going for treatment Luca was a little curious how drugs taste like, he knew drugs are meant to be swallowed but perhaps he would lick it a little.
Since Luca had never been ill or seriously injured since birth, he had no reason to visit a clinic, hospital, or pharmacy. However, whenever Luca told someone this, they would always laugh it off. As a reasonable person, Luca had thought about this a lot; maybe it was something he inherited. During this time, Luca's thoughts would occasionally turn to his parents; he had pestered Uncle Silas about this for as long as they had been together. At the very least, Luca had asked to see pictures of his parents, but Uncle Silas had never complied.
"This is the first time I would be beaten, I should savor this moment, perhaps I would use the drug in half doses to prolong the treatment" He mused, Don't get him wrong, it wasn't that Luca was some sort of weird masochist, he was just sort of curious, you could say he was stoic tho.
Luca had got into many fights in his middle school but he had never been beaten once in them, with his rational and logical mind, if he encountered an opponent he knew he couldn't beat, he wouldn't fight them no matter how much he was provoked. But if it was an opponent he knew he had a chance with, he would first sort to settle it with talk. That was how he had managed to avoid getting beaten, but now he had actually tasted defeat for the first time, and in this, he planned not to enter any fight again no matter how he was taunted.
"I must remain ordinary," he thought as he sat on the waiting chair, Luca wanted to achieve two things: he wanted that girl to look his way like before, perhaps he would be able to see her smile one day, the second was to test how unbreakable his spirit was.
What does it mean to be ordinary?
He mused
A few minutes later, a nurse called his name and led him to an examination room. After a brief consultation, she handed him some painkillers and provided instructions on how to take them.
With the medication in hand, he thanked the nurse and made his way out of the clinic.
"I should finish level 10 today, those online players are something else tho," he thought.