HERO ↠ ( BILLY BATSON )

two

THE FOLLOWING DAY AT SCHOOL WAS HELL FOR HER. It consisted of bullies and Freddy Freeman – who can sometimes be extremely annoying. Lainey would go to her locker, Freddy would follow her. She would walk to her next class, he would follow her. It was as if the brunette was the duck and Freddy was her duckling.

"Maybe we can make a quiz," said Freddy, giving another useless idea for their project, "and the winner can get a prize!"

Lainey shut her locker with slight thud and began walking to a water fountain. As usual, the boy continued following her. He stood right beside the fountain as the brunette took a sip of water, "What do you think? Should we give them a quiz after the presentation?" he asked her, waiting for an answer eagerly.

"You know, you don't have to talk to me. We're not friends or something," said Lainey before wiping her mouth on her sweater's sleeve. The teenager walked back to her locker and then turned around, expecting Freddy to be there, but he wasn't there. It seemed like he walked away or went to the cafeteria – it was lunch after all. Lainey shrugged her shoulders and began walking to the cafeteria as well.

But the brunette couldn't help but feel bad for the boy. Maybe all he wanted was to be friends with her and she basically told him to "fuck off", but in a more polite way. Lainey sat down at an empty table and began eating, staring at her tray as she munched on her sandwich.

"Missed me?" The sound of a tray being slammed on the table made Lainey quickly look up, "Don't worry, I wasn't upset when you kinda told me to fuck off. Besides, you probably had a ton of friends before you suddenly stopped talking to people. I'm probably not the type of friend you enjoy hanging out with." Freddy.

The brunette looked back down at her tray and suddenly lost her appetite. She placed the sandwich back on the white tray and looked back up at the boy.

"What? Lost your appetite?" Lainey shrugged her shoulders and swallowed her last bite, "Was it something I said? Did someone hurt your feelings?" he asked.

She shook her head and sighed, "No, I'm just not that hungry today." It was a white lie. She was actually starving all day from just eating a few slices of apples for breakfast. In fact, it was something Freddy said, Lainey just didn't know why it hurt her so much.

"Anyways, did you meet my new brother yet?" Freddy asked with joy in his voice, "His name is Billy. He's the one right there!" he pointed at a boy sitting alone at another table.

"I don't have siblings but maybe you should sit with him, he's your new brother," Lainey suggested, poking her fruit with the plastic fork.

"Are you sure you're not telling me to fuck off again?" joked Freddy. The brunette shrugged and suddenly became her silent self again, "But good idea. See you later, Lainey!" and with that, he was gone with his tray of food.

★・・・・・・★・・・・・・★

The bell for school dismissal rang and all the students flooded the hallways. Lainey pushed passed the hundreds of students in a rush to go home, her earbuds were in and all of the chatter from around her was cut off by her favourite song. Victoria would get mad if she ended up with another injury, even a tiny bruise or scratch. So, trying to get passed people in a crowded hallway without a single scratch was pretty difficult.

But Lainey managed to get of school. She pushed the doors open and stepped down the stone stairs. The brunette began walking towards the sidewalk but stopped when she saw Freddy and two older boys throwing him against their car.

"You gonna pay for that?" The taunting voice of one of the guys lingered into Lainey's mind. She pulled her hoodie over her head to avoid eye contact with the older boys, afraid to get picked on next.

"For the dent you made from hitting me? Yeah, sure," Freddy said before pointing both his middle fingers at the guys, "do you take these?"

"Dumb move," Lainey mumbled under her breath. She decided to keep on walking, and so she did. She walked write passed them without making eye contact with the boys or Freddy.

"What, you need your fake family to stand up for you?" The brunette's head shot back up, she pulled out her earbuds and turned around.

Oh, the sight was not pretty. The next thing Lainey knew, her fist made contact with the bully's face, causing a nosebleed. But she was not the only one who was standing up for Freddy. Lainey looked down and saw that Freddy's crutch was gone...it was now in someone else's hand.

"Hey!" The brunette heard another voice yell. She turned her head to the side and saw a familiar face. A face she saw earlier that day at lunch...Billy. The boy Freddy pointed at, Billy was Freddy's new brother.

At that point, the two teenagers had to run. Run faraway from the chasing bullies. Lainey knew where she was going to run off to, her home was the only option.

"LAINEY! LAINEY!"

Run home.