"Why?" Sean whispered, a line of blood trickling down from a cut near the back of his head. "Why is it me that you prefer to hurt?"
It was the question he had never asked Mark before, mainly because he knew that what he got in return would be more pain, but at this point, Sean didn't care.
"Hmm?" Mark questioned, having not played attention, his friends already having left.
"Why?...why do always choose to hurt...me? Before anyone else in the school?"
"Oh, right!" Mark laughed. "Well, its just so easy. I mean, you have no friends in the school, no one will stick up for you, you don't fight back...why not?"
Sean struggled into a sitting position, leaning against the lockers behind him. Avoiding any eye contact with Mark, some small part of him still hoping absurdly that if he didn't look Mark in the eye, Mark wouldn't notice him.
Yeah, Sean had no such luck.
Mark grinned at Sean, a glint in his eye that drove all the people in love with him at school mad, though Sean knew that that look just meant trouble, usually for him, though Mark changed his favourite victim every month or so.
Lucky Sean, he was the favourite almost all the time. And boy, did Sean feel honoured.
Today, Sean was let go with less than usual. Just another kick to the stomach, and then Mark left. It was strange, Marks heart just didn't seem to be in it. And, strangely enough, he didn't mention PJ....
Sean stood, albeit difficultly, leaning himself heavily against the lockers with a grimace. Fuck Mark. Fuck Mark and his stupid fucking face.
He ran a hand through his hair, sighing as he did so, attempting to find the cut that he could feel blood falling from.
Impatiently, he wiped the blood from his forehead, smearing it slightly, leaving some traces of the deep red on his face.
After a while, he eventually escaped the confines of the school, narrowly avoiding a giving out to by his Maths teacher, who quite honestly hated him, as he constantly disrupted the class.
Oops.
By the time he was walking out the gates, a few stragglers passing him by, he was feeling slightly better. The pain of that last blow, mixed with the others before it, hadn't subsided, but he was able to cope with it a bit better.
Another boy from his school passed by him, someone older, and as he passed, he noticed the blood from Sean's cut.
"Jeez man, are you alright? You're bleeding...." The guy looked genuinely worried, but Sean just waved him away. This was why he hated coming out from school after being punched, or kicked, or hurt in any way that showed.
There were always people who noticed, but in the end, they would never actually do anything to help. They'd share kind words, look after him for that day, but they'd never go any further than that, never stand up to Mark.
It was kinda sad really. Most kids at Sean's school were okay, decent enough. It was really just Mark and his friends that ruined it for him. Well, them and his Maths teacher.
Exiting the school grounds completely, Sean saw PJ waiting by the tree nearby, and immediately a small part of his worries faded away. The majority stayed, but the less important ones left.
PJ then noticed Sean, and raised his hand in a wave, standing up straight, and smiling brightly.
Honestly, PJ was charming, gorgeous, and funny. What more could Sean ask for?