A sad situation

“Not again,” Julian said upon realising that his towel had been removed from the bathroom stall. He leaned against the wall and sighed, wishing time would pass quickly so that he could graduate from the hellhole called high school. The bullying was wearing him out.

He couldn’t call out for his clothes because he knew no one was going to help him. The whole football team took great pleasure in watching him suffer. He had lost all dignity but only stayed because studying was his only hope for a better life and he was on a scholarship.

Julian, a small bodied boy with a mop of curly brown hair, stepped out and looked down as he walked towards his locker. His teammates burst into laughter and started chanting his name out loud. One of them threw the towel and clothes at him. Julian grabbed them, tied it around his lower body and returned to the stall where he quickly dressed up.

“That’s it, Julian baby. Hide in there. Nobody needs to see that horrible body anyway.”

When Julian got out, the locker room had become more crowded and the chatter had grown.

“The loser is back,” Kyle Washington said, elbowing his best friend Logan while nodding towards Julian.

Everyone turned to look at Julian who looked like a deer caught in headlights.

“What’s wrong, baby Julian?” Logan asked, striding over and shoving Julian roughly. If he hadn’t been expecting it, Julian would have fallen over. Julian’s face flushed with shame and he remained standing, not knowing what to do. He knew that Logan wouldn’t let him leave until he was done with him.

Logan’s two friends joined him, influencing three others who didn’t want to miss out on the fun as well. They circled around Julian, laughing and making crude jokes about his appearance. Jake grabbed Julian’s shirt and pulled it up to reveal his skinny torso.

“You need to go to the gym, little boy.” Jake said, eliciting more laughter from the group.

Julian could feel his eyes tearing up, he tried to prevent them from coming but it was impossible. He tried to move, but the boys stood all around him, preventing him from going anywhere. Logan touched Julian’s jaw and lifted up his face. “Look at this cry, baby. Do you need your mommy, Julian?”

Suddenly, he let go of Julian. “You!” he yelled.

Julian turned to see who Logan was yelling at. He saw his best friend Gary quickly putting his phone in his pocket. “I said no recording at the locker room. Give me that phone.”

Julian watched in horror as the quarterback went and grabbed the phone from Gary who looked terrified. Logan threw the phone to the ground and stomped on it with his foot. “That’ll teach you not to mess with us.”

Logan started beating up Gary. Julian ran to look for a teacher. Fortunately, he met one of the coaches on the way and he came to break up the bullying. Mr. Maslow asked Gary to follow him and told Julian to leave. Mr. Maslow knew what was going on but he never did anything because he didn’t want to lose his job. Most of the teachers let the other kids do whatever they wanted.

Fetterville Private School was a private school for the richest children in the city of Fetterville and one of the best in the whole country. Julian and a few poor students were only there under merit sponsorships. Julian had lost his parents but his football talent had enabled him to study in the prestigious school.

Sometimes he wished he could just go back to public school. He had got bullied there but that had been nothing compared to what happened in Fetterville Private. At least the students in public school had some fear of authority. Here, there were a group of untouchables and three of them were in the football team. They made sure to torment the poor ones.

Julian was feeling particularly terrible that day. The bullying he experienced every day from his rich teammates was nothing compared to what the coach had told them that evening.

Thinking of the announcement, Julian was felt weak in the knees, and not in a good way. He felt like he was about to pass out. The scholarship he had been counting on for college education didn’t seem in his reach anymore. The person in charge had just announced to the school that there would be changes.

The Fetterville School Scholarships was an annual college education scholarship had always been offered to the top 7 members of the school’s football team. It was one of the highest valued scholarship in the country. Those who managed to get it lived like royalty in college, getting everything they needed.

Julian had been counting on it since his poor uncle couldn’t afford to pay for college education. They couldn’t even afford the high school he was studying in. Since he was one of the best in the team and academically, he always thought he would be among the top 7 selected.

Unfortunately, that year it was announced that changes were being made and they would take only three participants from the football team. Julian had proven he was better than all the others but he knew that his chances were so low. The terrible three i.e. Jake, Logan and Kyle would probably get it because of their parents’ status even though they didn’t need the scholarship as much as Julian. Julian had been excluded from so many things because of his low status in society. The rich kids got endorsements and so many other things while Julian and others of his status just helped the school team win matches.

Julian went back to the dorm room which he shared with Gary. Gary was not as poor as Julian. He was from a rich family but not the kind of rich that made people bow down to you. His parents worked hard to be able to put their only son in a great school.

Gary came to the room thirty minutes later.

“Hey, I’m sorry for what they did to you because of me.” Julian told him.

“It’s okay,” Gary said. “I knew they would get angry if I filmed them but I took a chance anyway. Anyway, I’m okay. However, you should go out of the school. Fake a sickness or something. These last few days are going to be dangerous for you.”

“What?”

“I heard that they’re planning something big,” Gary said. “The competition for the scholarship is tight. We have only two weeks until the exit exams and a week to the biggest match of the year, the one that will determine everything. I have a feeling they will try to sabotage you since you’re the best player in the team.”

“I can’t fake sickness. Doing something illegal would just be another reason for them to deny me the scholarship. Wait, are you trying to make me get kicked out?”

“What? No?”

“Almost everyone on the team wants the scholarship. Why do I feel like you want to use divide and rule in order to get it. I didn’t expect this from you, Gary.”

“I’m no doing anything like that. What the hell is wrong with you? I’m just trying to warn you.”

“Thanks but I can take care of myself. I didn’t think you’d see me as a rival but I guess that’s what it has come to.”

Julian left the room in anger. He would later realise that he should have listened to Gary and left the school premises before it was too late.