Okay, this might not be as long as my previous one but my muse was begging me to write it. Now, I briefly mention John's bullying issues in one of other pieces, It Will Be Me, Chapter 6 ( /works/3702625/chapters/8554396).

I have a headcanon that John skipped a few grades and ended up in high school a little early. This led to some issues with his peers and after his mother died, this was particularly hard on him.

In regards to where it stands with my other stories, this takes place a few months after the accident and at least a year before Flying Away ( /works/3850480/chapters/8595907)

Hope you enjoy and please read and review :)

…..

"Hey! Tracy!"

John flinched at the sound of Ian Cook's voice calling to him from down the hallway. Holding his books closer to his chest, he sped up, trying to make it to the classroom before his tormentors could catch up with him. Suddenly, he collided into a solid mass and as he fell backwards, all of his books ended up on the floor besides him.

Mark Parkes, who he had run into, chuckled, "What's the rush Johnny?" he asked, as he pulled John to his feet, grabbing the collar of John's shirt, "Anyone would think you didn't want to see us!"

John shook us head frantically, but before he could say anything, Mark quickly let go of him and began to pat the front of John's shirt.

"Is everything okay?" Aah, that's why…Scott.

Matt, Ian and the two other boys with them nodded their heads, "Yeah, Johnny here just bumped into me, head in a book. You know how it is!"

Scott frowned for a few seconds before nodding, his eyes focusing in Johnny who was staring at the ground. "You need to be more careful Johnny…" he chided gently, "…are you okay though?" It hadn't been that long ago since John's leg had fully healed up from the…incident, and Scott didn't want John to re-injure himself.

John nodded, still staring at the ground, "Yes Scotty…can you help me to class please?"

Scott winced, "Sorry Space-man, but I'm late enough as it is. Maybe these guys can take you?" He gestured to the small group, who were smiling innocently at Scott.

Ian grinned, "No Problem Scott, leave it up to us!" Scott nodded and gave John a reassuring pat on the shoulder before rushing off. John dared to glance upwards and flinched at the sinister grins on the group's faces.

Mark placed an arm around John, who tensed up, "Let's go for a walk…Spaceman. Guys, pick up the nerds' books would ya. He might need them…" The group pulled John into a deserted classroom and backed him into a corner.

Ian rose a random book up to eye level, "A Brief History of Time…sounds fascinating" He smirked and lobbed it at John's chest, laughing when John winced at the impact and fumbled to catch it.

Mark shoved his hands into his jeans and began to rock backwards and forwards, "Ya see Johnny, we've got a problem…" he leant against the wall, boxing John in on one side with his arm, "…You're now top of the class in both physics and maths and well…my Dad doesn't appreciate this. He doesn't appreciate some nerdy freak of a Tracy boy, who is too young to even be here, ruining my chances of getting into a good college with honours!" He slammed his hand against the wall, taking delight in how John flinched and shrunk into himself, attempting to make himself smaller.

"So here's how it's going to work freak…" continued Mark, "…you're going to be less of a nerd. Don't try so hard, in fact, try to fail! Because if you don't and you're still top of the class in a weeks' time…well you won't like the consequences, let's just say that."

John remained utterly still, not nodding, even when his arm was roughly grabbed and he was pushed against the wall.

Ian shook his head, "Come on Mark and leave the nerd here. I think he gets the picture…" The group nodded and John was left in the classroom, braced against the wall as he stared at the floor. He remained there for over an hour.

….

Virgil groaned as Mrs Ruskin issued, yet another, piece of homework, As if history wasn't dull enough!

Suddenly, there was a voice from the doorway. "Ummmm, Mrs Ruskin? Can I please have a word with Virgil Tracy?" Mrs Ruskin nodded, glaring at any student who dared to chant 'who's in trouble!' Virgil rolled his eyes and grabbed his bag before following the other teacher out of the room.

This teacher paused further down the corridor turned to face Virgil, "Virgil, my name is Miss Clayton, and I'm one of John's teachers…." Virgil straightened up once he heard John's name, "…your brother didn't show up for my class today and that's not like him at all! Do you happen to know if he wasn't feeling well this morning? Meaning that he might have had to go home early?"

Virgil shook his head, "No, not that I know of. He seemed fine this morning!"

Miss Clayton sighed, "So you don't know where he could be?"

"If he's not in class, then no. May I get Scott, we can help to look for him?"

Miss Clayton nodded, "Of course, I'll give you both a note. You know, this is very unlike John. I mean, he often loses track of time in the library during the breaks, but I checked, he wasn't there! He's never deliberatively skipped class."

They arrived at Scott's class and Miss Clayton went in to grab him. Once the situation had been explained to him, Scott frowned. "That can't be right…"

Virgil tilted his head in confusion, "What do you mean Scott?"

"Well…I saw John before his class. A couple of the guys from the school football team were helping him, apparently John bumped into one of them and dropped his books. I was already late to my class, so I asked them if they wouldn't mind taking John to class…"

Virgil glared at his older brother, "And you just left him? You know how Johnny gets with strangers, he either got freaked out, then ran to a 'safe' place or those guys weren't as nice as they seemed! He had problems with bullying at his last school, what's to say that it isn't happening again?"

Scott rolled his eyes, "I made a mistake Virg. But the guys seemed nice enough!"

Virgil nodded and the small group began to check empty rooms, moving down the hallway. They were almost at the end when Scott spotted something through a doorway window. "Hey, let's check in here!"

Virgil and Scott entered the room, rushing to the corner when they saw their brother staring at the floor.

Scott walked cautiously towards John, "Johnny…are you okay? Do you need me to call Dad?"

Silence. John didn't look up…in fact he barely moved.

Virgil then attempted to talk to John, "John…you need to look at us. We'll call Dad whether you want it or not…unless you talk to us, we need to know you're alright!"

More silence.

Scott sighed, pulling his mobile out from his shirt pocket. "I guess we have no choice then. You remember what Dad said Johnny? About when you were having troubles in school? He said that either me, Virgil or one of your teachers had to call him so that he could take you home and let you sit in your observatory, remember?"

Still nothing. Scott, without taking his eyes off Johnny, began to dial the number for their Dad's mobile.

"No!"

Scott glanced up at Johnny's yell, shock in his eyes. Johnny never yelled…not if he could help it. John had his hands outstretched towards his brothers. "Please don't call Dad. He was so happy that I was fitting in! That I wasn't being weird!"

Virgil shook his head and gently placed a hand on John's arm, "You're not weird John. We've told you that! You just don't like crowds and loud noises and that's fine…what happened?"

John stepped backwards, shook his head and began to pick up his books, "I-I felt overwhelmed…I don't like strangers so before I got to class…I ran. I found an empty classroom and hid in there."

Scott frowned as he watched John wince upon putting his books in his satchel, "So…how come your books ended up on the floor? And what's wrong with your arm?"

John glanced at his bag and then began to rub his arm, "I guess I must have hit the wall after running in here and dropped my books. That explains why my arm hurts…" He laughed to himself, completely missing the thoughtful look that Virgil and Scott shared.

Scott shook his head at Virgil before turning back to John, "Okay John…but you would tell us if anything was going on…right?"

John nodded frantically, "Yes, of course…" He grinned at his brothers, "…nothing is wrong. Nothing at all."