"Hurry up Elena, we're going to be late," a voice called out from the front door of the Kress family home.
The voice belonged to a young man of 18 years. He had a messy, choppy black hair cut with a slightly longer top layer. He was skinny and 5.4 ft in height.
"I'm coming," replied the sweet voice of a girl hastening down the stairs.
She had long blonde hair packed in a ponytail. She was 17 years old, with an extremely beautiful body for someone her age. She was carrying a small backpack.
"Damon, were you really going to leave me behind?" Elena asked, giving him a soft punch on the shoulder.
"Maybe," Damon answered, taking the backpack from her. He opened the door and they both walked out. "We shouldn't be late to school on our first day of senior year."
It's been 11 years since Damon left the orphanage as the adopted son of Scott and Allison Shelby. The first 5 years were the best. He never could've imagined that so much was stolen from him in his past life. His parents showed him the love and care he hadn't believe existed.
Unfortunately, they died 6 years ago in a plane crash. Ever since, Damon had been living with his dad's best friend, Mr. Kress and his daughter, Elena. It wasn't easy, but they got by. Mr. Kress worked as an engineer in an Oil Rig out at sea so he wasn't around often.
"I have a good feeling about this year, Mike, don't you?" Elena smiled with glee walking beside Damon.
"I guess so. It's just 2030," Damon replied, holding her hand as they crossed the street. "I'm more excited about the release of Hell's Foundation tomorrow."
"Sheesh! I don't get why you're obsessed with video games," Elena pouted.
"Stick to your romance novels and I'll stick to my Video Games," Damon laughed, teasing her even more.
All the way to school, they conversed and laughed. The hallway was filled with teenagers in the school's uniform when they walked in. Some were taking books out of their lockers and chatting idly. The first period started in a few minutes.
Damon heaved a sigh when he saw three tall guys approach him, preparing himself for what was to come.
"If it isn't Damon Short," the brawny guy in the middle called out. "I was wondering when you were going to show up."
"Get to class," Damon ordered with a stern look at Elena.
Elena knew what Mason and the two guys planned to do to Damon so she wasn't going to just walk away. For 2 years, Mason had sworn to give Damon a good beating whenever they met until Elena agreed to be his girlfriend.
"Stop bothering us, Mason." She held on to Damon's right arm affectionately. "I will never be your girlfriend."
Mason was infuriated by Elena's words. One snap of his fingers and the guys behind him went to Elena and pulled her away from him.
Mason was very tall and muscular for someone his age. He was the secret crush of every girl at school, but he only had eyes for Elena. She was among the top 3 beauties in the school and he couldn't have the other two as they were his cousins. With one hand, he gripped Damon by the collar and lifted him from the ground.
"What makes you think a little orphan shit like you deserves to be with a beauty like her?" he asked Damon, looking him in the eye with rage boiling in his veins.
"Maybe because I don't have bad breath," Damon said out loud followed by a disgusted cough.
The entire hallway became instantly silent. No one could believe Damon actually insulted Mason.
"He's dead," uttered a guy wearing a headband at the other end of the hall. Having a good guess of what was about to happen, he shut his locker and walked to his class.
"What did you just say to me??" Mason threatened, the veins in his head bulging out.
"Shouting only makes it worse," Damon warned, waving his hand over his face. "Did you even brush your teeth this.."
Mason slammed Damon against the wall behind him before he could finish his statement.
Baamm!!
Just then, the class bell rang. In less than a minute, the Principal would be out and punishment awaited anyone he spotted not in class. The other students hurried to their classrooms.
Damon was bleeding from behind his head, but his eyes were fixed on Mason.
"Can we continue this later? I need to turn in my Algebra paper," he stated with an aloof look on his face.
Even Mason wasn't above the principal's wrath so he had no choice but to let Damon go.
"Shit!" Mason cursed, leaving Damon to fall to the hard ground. "This isn't over!" He glared at Elena before signaling his friends to let her go.
Before the Principal showed up, they were all in their classes. Damon didn't want to see the nurse so he just wiped the line of blood that went down the base of his neck with a handkerchief.
Damon had gotten used to being bullied because of his short stature and skinny looks. He wasn't underfed, but his body was hell-bent on making him a weakling. There was nothing he could do about his nature so he just embraced it.
The day went by fast. Nothing interesting happened in class. Everyone eagerly awaited the beating Damon the Short was going to get for running his mouth.
Briing!
Brriinng!!
The school bell rang signaling the end of lessons. Damon took his time to gather his books in his bag. Even when he saw Rodrick and Ben, Mason's henchmen, walk up to him and Elena in the hallway, he wasn't bothered.
Damon cared about Elena a lot. There was no way he was going to let a person as savage and stupid as Mason have her against her wish. Damon didn't mind taking a beating to protect her from him. Elena knew that.
Rodrick and Ben separated both of them.
"Go home, Elena. I'm right behind you," Damon assured, waving her goodbye as Rodrick and Ben led him away.
"But." Tears started to amass in her eyes, but she knew trying to stop Mason would only make him hurt Damon more. She could only hope Damon won't get badly hurt.
Reporting to the authorities was pretty much pointless because Mason's dad was the Chief of Police. The only ones who could put him down was his dad or his uncle, the Principal, but neither gave a shit about Damon since he was an orphaned nobody.
"When I'm done with you, that short brain of yours would know better than to insult me again!" Mason threatened, cracking his fingers.
Rodrick and Ben pinned Damon to the wall and watched as Mason turned him into a human punching bag. Punches and kicks descended on Damon from different spots but the aloof look on his face didn't change.
Mason was extremely angry with Damon specifically for humiliating him around everybody in the morning, but still, he knew when to stop the beating. He wanted to teach Damon a lesson not murder him, so after having his fill, he let Damon go.
"All this can end. Just convince Elena to accept me. One of these days, I'm going to do more than give you a few punches."
Those were Mason's last words to Damon. Damon remained in the basketball team locker-room to clean himself up. So many thoughts were going through his mind, but they were all centered on one thing.
"Even in this life, people are cruel!"