Just Not Fair
A Degrassi Fanfiction
Chapter One
Eli sat on the grimy bus, watching a drop of rain slither down the window. Usually, he hated the bus. It smelled like sweat, contained none of his friends, and he couldn't hear anything but the other kids' shouts and laughs. Usually, the bus was the last place he'd want to be…but not today.
It was Monday, and his ninth birthday had been on the previous Saturday. He knew that money was somewhat tight lately, but his family had done the best they could. His gifts included a new computer game, a pair of roller-blades, and a brand new silver MP3 player.
The small gadget meant the world to him. He hadn't quite decided what kind of music he liked most yet, but he loved music nonetheless. All of his family put their favorite songs on, making it a quite well-rounded MP3 player. His dad favored grunge and alternative, and put artists such as Pearl Jam and Smashing Pumpkins and a bunch more that Eli didn't know on it. His mother added all of her favorite disco hits, his aunt Heather added some country, his cousin Chelsea added some mainstream, and his cousin Greg put all kinds of obscure punk and techno on the MP3.
Eli didn't care what he was listening to at that point, so long as he was listening to something. Sometimes he would feel like turning it to his dad's music, sometimes to Greg's. It depended what kind of mood he was in.
The best part about the MP3 player was that he hadn't been expecting it. He knew his parents didn't have a whole lot of money since his mom lost her job, and he'd already expected not to get much from them. But they'd pulled some money together just for him, to make sure that he had the best birthday ever. And it had worked.
Now he sat on the loud, smelly bus, but he didn't mind, because he could pop on his headphones and tune everybody out. Music, regardless of the genre, was a sort of safe haven to the young boy. It was consistent, absolute, and nobody could take it away from him.
Or so he thought.
He'd only gotten through two songs when he looked up to see Ralf Westel and his friends looming over him. Ralf was a fifth grader, and Eli was only in third. Ralf was almost five whole feet tall, while Eli stood at a tiny three foot ten. And most importantly, Ralf had three friends with him, and Eli was alone.
Eli pretended not to notice the infamous Ralf and went back to minding his own business. He pressed the little plus button and grinned as the volume escalated. But even through his headphones, he heard Ralf's voice.
"What you got there, Eli?" He wondered how the older kid knew his name. He glanced up, trying not to show his light traces of fear.
"An MP3 player," he said quietly. The four fifth graders laughed, and before Eli could defend himself, Ralf snatched his most prized possession.
"It's not even real!" He snickered. The headphones had slid of Eli's head, and were not pressed into the back of his neck as Ralf tugged the chord.
"Yes it is," he protested. "It plays music."
"It doesn't have the apple on it though! It's a fake MP3 player!"
"No it's not," Eli argued, annoyed that they'd say such a thing. If it played music, it was real. He'd even seen the box.
"What is he listening to on his fake MP3 player?" One of the other older boys asked, sounding amused. Ralf glanced at the screen, and started howling with laughter again.
"He listens to girl music!" Ralf laughed, showing the display to his friends, causing the headphones to be ripped out of the socket. "Hillary Duff!" Eli hadn't realized that when Ralf had grabbed his MP3 player, he'd hit a button, causing the song to change to one of his cousin Chelsea's bubbly pop songs.
"Give that back," Eli said, trying to take it from the bully's hand. But Ralf refused, and a devilish glint flashed through his eyes.
"You're parents probably didn't even pay a lot of money for that," he challenged.
"Yes they did!"
"How much?"
"They paid….a hundred dollars!" Everybody's eyes widened, but they quickly saw threw his lie. Nobody had a hundred dollars, much less Eli's family. It was just an unthinkable amount. Ralf's eyes narrowed, angry that he'd been lied to.
"You really want it?" He asked, and Eli nodded furiously. "Go get it!" Before Eli could even comprehend what was happening, Ralf chucked his absolute favorite gift out the bus window behind him.
"No!" He cried as Ralf waved his empty hand in front of his face, taunting.
"That's what you get," one of the other boys snorted as tears welled up in Eli's eyes. But by then, they had already arrived at school, and the four fifth graders hopped in line, eager to be the first ones off the bus.
Eli felt like his world had fallen apart. He'd been the happiest kid in the whole world when he'd unwrapped that gift, and now it was gone. He felt a wave of guilt and shame wash over him, wondering what his parents would think of him. He was so irresponsible, and prone to accidents.
He rushed off the bus, mind still reeling, and hurried down the sidewalk, searching for his MP3 player. It still had some hope, right?
There, he saw a hint of something sitting in the road and ran right to it.
The tears that had gathered in his eyes began to spill over when he saw what was left of his music player. Someone must have run over it, seeing as the screen was shattered and there were wires hanging out. He pressed the 'on' button, but nothing happened. It was definitely dead.
He couldn't believe what had happened. Four older, stronger boys had ganged up on him for no reason and ruined the thing that meant the most to him. Not only that, but they'd accused it of being fake, when it obviously wasn't.
Why would they do something like that? He wondered. What made them decide to do that?
"It's just not fair," he said out loud, scurrying out of the road as a car approached, carrying the shattered remains.
He didn't realize, at the time, that this was just the start of it all.
AN: Chapters will usually be longer and more eventful, I just thought that this was a good spot to end. It's sort of a challenge, trying to think back to what it was like to be nine. Was it good? Bad? Mediocre? Let me know what you think. :]