Reaching the class, he made his way to his seat, the students were gazing at him intensely, Luca knew what it meant, a bullied guy who came on the second day of resumption with muttonchops style,
how absurd!!
Luca screamed inwardly
Ten minutes remained for the second period to commence.
Luca sat, but something met his gaze, a sheet of paper on his desk with a pen beside it, he picked the note up, mesmerized by the beautiful handwriting before realizing it was a jotting, someone had jotted down the biology lecture they had earlier on a note for him.
"Excuse me"
The beautiful voice of a girl beside him said and took the pen on Luca's desk.
Luca's eyes followed the graceful movement of the girl's hand, her well-shaped and smooth fingernails seemed to glisten in their natural color, and her fingers were delicate and slender as she picked up the pen and placed it back on her desk. As she did, Silvia's face came into view—her expression as cold as ice. She stared ahead, seemingly checking something on the board. Her long raven-black hair flowed like a mermaid's, contrasting with her unblemished white skin and beautiful obsidian pupils.
Silvia was a mystery, an enigma wrapped in an icy shell. Unlike Luca, who was constantly bullied and ridiculed, Silvia was adored by everyone. Her beauty and grace made her the center of attention, and everyone wanted to be her friend. Yet, she chose solitude, making friends with no one and always sitting alone. Despite the admiration that surrounded her, she remained distant and aloof, never engaging with her classmates. Her icy demeanor was an unbreachable fortress, leaving those who admired her wondering what lay beneath the surface.
After a long moment of gazing at the beautiful figure, Luca finally regained his composure, not long again, he entered a state of thoughts.
Why did she help me, she is obviously the one, but we rarely talk, did Mr. Eric ask her or what? Even if he asked her, she would obviously refuse.
Couldn't believe Silvia did it on her own accord, Luca's mused endlessly—
"Hey! Weirdo! Mr. Luca MoonASS!"
A voice cut him off from his thoughts.
Here they come again
It's another academic year, Luca had already had his own share of trouble the previous day but it seemed another trouble had been found, Mason's henchmen, they were seated in the third row, the row in front of Luca the previous academic year until Mrs Brown separated them.
Despite the homeroom teacher's valiant efforts to separate them by relocating Luca to the back row, these bullies had an uncanny knack for finding their way to him, as if he owed them some ancient, unpaid debt.
Luca couldn't help but wonder if he had wronged their ancestors in a past life, perhaps by stealing a sacred sandwich or something equally absurd. No matter where he was moved, they pursued him with the persistence of a dog chasing its tail.
"MoonAss?, That is funny! That is funny! I thought It was Moonfire" Another burst into laughter, his crooked teeth obvious, Luca recognized him, he was the scrawny one among them who ate his apple and tricked him into a fight in ninth grade.
"Oh.. you get that wrong, his last name is obviously MoonAss, you have forgotten what his mom and dad call him?"
"I think it's 'LucAss MoonAss' ...
"You bet!"
In a sarcastic tone, the three bullies made fun of Luca's name, wait! "Luca's name" probably sounds like 'LucAss', (chuckles) pardon me. Luca didn't know his parents, the only one he knew was Uncle Silas, the one who took care of him from baby till the young age of ten, after his tenth birthday, Uncle Silas opened a bank account for Luca and disappeared, all he knew was that he is an archeologist, not his whereabouts.
Uncle Silas only sent Luca some money every month for a living allowance which he survived on since the day he left.
"Hey, LucAss, what is with these muttonchops, have you started doing model?"
"Model my ass, which company in their right mind will employ him as a model".
"Maybe an underworld one" another chimed in.
"Underworld indeed, to advertise hell huh?"
They burst into laughter, a cacophony of mockery that could be dubbed the "Bully Symphony." If ears could talk, Luca Ear would have filed a formal complaint by now, citing months of relentless abuse. From their seats, they shot Luca looks of ultimate contempt, their mischievous faces twisted in cruel delight.
But Luca wouldn't say a word, after all, he was now seated beside the one he longed for, the girl who wouldn't look at him, who wouldn't smile, how he longed for that smile, the beautiful smile young Silvia had five years ago.
Suddenly, a burly teenage boy—almost twice Luca's size—rose from his seat. It seemed the usual verbal jabs weren't cutting it anymore; Luca's indifferent demeanor was like an impenetrable shield. Unable to tolerate Luca's nonchalance any longer, the hulking figure marched over, grinning cheekily as if he were about to accept an award for "Most Persistent Bully."
Mason Jake, here he comes, the leader of the bullies.
He marched towards Luca with his muscular build body, his shirt was tucked out and strained, it looked as if it was holding on to dear life and ready to bust any moment like an overstuffed sausage.
"This thing kinda looks real," he said pulling at Luca's muttonchops.
"Ouch," Luca whined in pain.
Damn it, embarrassing...
Luca smelled an odd cream odor from the burly guy's hand, he contorted his face in an irritated manner.
The whole class gaze was on Luca, it wasn't like they enjoyed the view but no one dear to speak against Mason except Tessa Moonshadow who was engrossed in her phone, and the class captain who had reported the bully countless times was now fed up, in fact he was the reason Luca was moved back away from the bullies. Only Silvia was gazing at the whiteboard.
"For real? That artiste is a good one then" another agreed.
"Hey, you should probably introduce them to us, don't you think so? After all, we are your best bully buddies"