Matthew whimpered as his bear was pulled from his grasp and he was forcefully shoved into a locker. The bullies laughed as the door slammed shut, dropping the bear in front of the locker and walking away as the bell rang to signal the start of classes. Matthew was used to being bullied, it had been going on for years.
Probably because he was quiet, shy, and always carried a stuffed bear around, even though he was now in high school. In short, Matthew was an easy target. To make things even easier he never told anybody about his problems, not even his brother Alfred. He didn't want to worry them about him. Matthew began pounding on the locker door, hoping someone would hear and let him out.
Ludwig walked down the hall on his way to his class and turned to the locker when he heard the banging. He turned to the locker and opened it looking down at Matthew. "What happened to you?" He asked raising an eyebrow at him.
Mathew was in the dark for a while, so when someone opened the locker door the sudden bright light hurt his eyes, he blinked a few times then his eyes got used to the light. He looked up and saw one of his teachers Mr Beilschmidt, he jumped out of the locker and straightened his glasses. He picked up his bear and placed his bag on his shoulder before looking up at his teacher. "Nothing important" Mathew said quietly, "thanks."
Ludwig frowned and looked down at him. "Tell me the truth. I'm your teacher, and I know that people just don't end up in lockers for, 'nothing important' He said frowning at him. "So tell me and we can figure it out."
"Sir, I'm late for lesson and I should be going" Mathew said looking at the time, and then he remembered his next lesson was with Mr Beilschmidt.
"Ja you have PE with me so we can talk about it on the way" He said and slowly started walking down the hall.
Mathew groaned, as he started walking beside Mr Beilschmidt. He hated doing PE, partly because he was so bad at it. He only liked doing Hockey but they barely played it. He didn't want any teacher getting involved with this; they would just make everything a whole lot worse. He stayed quiet as he walked down the hall.
"Well? Tell me who put you in the locker so that I can find a way to make it stop" He said frowning and looked down at him.
"You can't help... even if I tell you, so what's the point" Mathew said holding his bear tighter. "Because I'm your teacher, and it's my job to make sure that you aren't bullied, so tell me" He said.
"Look sir, we are by the gym, and your students are waiting for you sir... your late" Mathew said walking through the doors and into the gym. Ludwig sighed and walked into the class. "Alright today class we're going to be running laps" He said and frowned hearing people groan annoyed.
Mathew smiled as he walked away from sir, that was close. He had kept the bullying thing a secret from teachers and anyone he cares about for a while now, and he didn't want to ruin it. He walked over to the changing rooms, he was alone in here because everyone else had changed and was running, he was late so he was changing by himself. He liked it that way. He changed into some shorts and a shirt, he then left the changing room still holding his bear.
"Matthew put your bear down and start running with the rest of them!" Ludwig yelled looking over at him still frowning. "But s-sir, can't I r-run with my b-bear?" He stutters as he spoke when he heard Ludwig yell, Ludwig was one of the scarier teachers.
"Nein! It'll slow you down!" He yelled again. "Now put it down and start running!" Mathew sighed and placed his bear in the changing room when he heard the rest of the class laughing. He felt the tears threaten his eyes but he hid them with his hair. He then started to run around the track, he didn't go as fast as he could because he didn't want to catch up with everyone else because they would just shove him or trip him over.
"Shut up and keep running!" Ludwig yelled when the rest of the class laughed, and crossed his arms over his chest, as he watched them run.
Mathew kept running until he was panting and out of breath, he would say it again, he hated PE with a passion. Ten minutes after they had started, running Ludwig thought to himself then yelled. "Alright you can take a break for a few minutes, but then get back to it!"
Mathew heard sir shout and a few seconds later he collapsed onto the floor, panting trying to catch his breath. Ludwig sighed annoyed and walked over to him and helped him up. "Can't you walk any further to even sit down?"
Mathew didn't want to sit down on the benches with the other classmates, that normally meant trouble. He felt himself get lifted and then he nodded while staring at the ground as he walked over to the benches, but he didn't sit down he leaned against the wall.
Ludwig walked over to him and looked down at him. "You should get your bear so that no one tries to do anything to it" He said.
Mathew nodded and went back inside and picked up his bear holding it close, he loved the bear. He never went anywhere without it. He sat in the changing rooms with his bear, wanting to leave the lesson.
A few minutes later Ludwig stood up from where he had been sitting down. "Alright now all of you get running again until the lesson ends!"
Mathew saw everyone starting to run outside, and no one remembered him. He was normally ignored so it was okay, he didn't want to go back to lesson, he knew that if he did then Ludwig would just ask more questions at the end of it. Mathew grabbed his bag, his bear and his clothes and left the room. He changed into his normal clothes in the bathroom.
Ludwig had noticed Matthew leaving and followed him. He walked into the bathroom and knocked loudly on the door. "Why did you leave my lesson Matthew?"
Mathew didn't know that Ludwig had followed him. He sighed as he opened the door and looked up at sir. He didn't know what to say. "I'm sorry…"
"You shouldn't have left, now come back to class. You can have a little longer to rest and then you have to start running again" He said.
Mathew sighed and then nodded following Ludwig back to lesson, he thought Ludwig wouldn't notice like the other teachers, they never noticed when he left the classroom.
"Just rest for now, and in a few minutes you can started running again" He said smiling at him. Mathew nodded and saw the smile, then he smiled back. He rested for a while and then started running after.
The lesson continued for another 30 minutes and then lesson ended and it was time for lesson 2, and Ludwig had to teach another class. Mathew changed again and started walking away to his next lesson.
Mathew managed to keep his head down and avoid any attention throughout the rest of the day, but his mind kept going back to this morning, or more specifically, the German teacher.
Mathew was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he didn't even notice Gilbert coming up behind him until he was shoved into the nearest wall.
"Mathew the faggot, welcome back" Gilbert sneered, pressing his face up against Mathews. Mathew's eyes widened in fear, Gilbert's insults just mirrored what everyone thought of Mathew, and Mathew had chosen to ignore and not even deny it anymore because there was no point, they won't listen. And it wasn't like Gilbert was lying, he was a faggot.
Mathew knew how this was going to play out; he would call Mathew some more names and then start beating him up. Normally Gilbert will start off with a few names before letting the punches fly, but it was the first day back and he hadn't hit him all weekend, so he didn't waste any time.
It started off simple enough, spinning Mathew around and concentrating most of the hits on his stomach and a few on his shoulder, and gradually the shots got higher and higher until Gilbert decided he had enough. "Great to see you, faggot" he said cheerily, patting Mathew on his head before running to his next lesson.
Seen as though it was the end of the day, Ludwig had just finished packing up his things and walked towards the doors. When he saw Matthew hurt his eye's widened and he rushed over to him. "Matthew? What the hell happened?" He asked looking over all the bruises that had been left…
