Melanie was pretty known around the school, always getting whatever she wanted and everyone obeyed her. She never once got in trouble at all, since she made sure she didn’t leave anything verbal or physical behind, whatever it took.

She had a group and, of course, she was the leader. But one of her secrets was that she had a crush on a specific loner in her class. Every time she tried to talk to him, he ran away. She seemed to scare him, especially because of the stories about what she had done. She didn’t know he was actually getting bullied, she just thought he was shy.

—

Takashi Mitsuya was a target for relentless bullying. He didn’t know where it all went wrong. He was fine in elementary school, but as soon as middle school hit, he became socially awkward and nervous about everything.

Today was no different. Around dismissal time, Mitsuya found himself backed into a corner by Martin, Melanie's temporary boyfriend, and his buddies. Lucas had his foot on Mitsuya’s head while he was huddled on the floor, guarding his body from harm.

“Sorry… sorry… sorry…” he apologized repeatedly under his breath as he tried to lift himself off the ground, but the foot pressing down on him made it nearly impossible.