Something To Fear | Glenn Rhee

[서른다섯] Something To Die For

"You know what I was before all this? I was nobody. Nothing."

~Daryl Dixon

The freshman stood huddled in the corner of the locker room, crying and trying to stanch the blood flow from his broken nose. Around him were a dusty backpack and loose pages torn from the scattered textbooks.

He glanced down at his dirty clothes, seeing the splotches of red staining them. The boy groaned and painfully limped to the nearby sink, flinching as he looked into the mirror.

Dante's left eye was swollen shut, his nose twisted in an unnatural angle, and his lips bruised and bloody.

He gave another moan as he pressed a soaked paper towel to his eye, feeling the relief it gave him.

The sudden sound of whistling startled him, and Dante quickly threw away the paper towel into the trash. Unsure where to go, the boy hurried into a stall and shut the door quietly, sitting down on the toilet.

He was sure that they had come back to finish him off. He was foolish to believe he would get off so easily after what he pulled.

Dante pressed himself against the back of the wall, lifting up his legs so he wouldn't be seen. He closed his eye, sending up a quick prayer to St. Michael for protection.

The whistling stopped suddenly and a voice exclaimed:

"Who the hell is bleeding in my locker room? If there's a girl in here-"

Sneakers stood in front of the occupied stall as the voice continued shouting. "This is a boy's locker room! I'm not gonna deal with your 'woman problems!'"

Dante cowered back, trying to find his own voice to answer the impatient one. "I-It's not a girl," Dante blushed, clearing his throat. "It's just me. Dante."

He got up and unlocked the door, pulling it back to come face-to-face with his gym coach: Mr. Negan.

"Did a bus hit you on the way over here?" Negan grinned, messing with the boy's scraggly hair. Dante did not find any humor in this, frowning as his puffy lips quivered.

"Hey, was the joke that bad? I'm sorry- Don't cry." Negan quickly apologized, leading the boy out of the stall. "What happened, kid?"

"Cisco and his gang were messin' with me again, and I hit Cisco back with my textbook. He lost a tooth and-" Dante paused, gesturing to his face. "That's what happens when you fight back."

"Well, I'm proud of ya' kid! You finally grew a pair and took a stand for yourself. You can't let people step all over you. You gotta show them who's in charge!" Negan sat Dante beside him on the locker room bench.

"Who's in charge..." Dante repeated, trying to understand what his teacher was telling him. "No. The next time they see me, they'll kill me. I shouldn't have done that..."

"Then you fight back harder; you become stronger. You make them fear you. But with those noodle arms, you ain't goin' to be scaring anybody," Negan chuckled, lifting up Dante's tiny arm. "You need to bulk up. Start putting some effort in gym class instead of reading all the damn time."

Dante shook his head stubbornly. "I've seen what that leads to. It killed my dad and landed my brother in prison. My life has just known violence because of that thinking."

Negan looked quite annoyed at this statement, but continued on the subject. "You're a stubborn kid, but I bet I can break that iron will of yours. If you want to put those bullies in their place, I can show you. Just stop by around lunch 'cause I'm always here." Negan patted the boy's back gently.