It was a cool spring day when Edmund Pevensie had been asked so kindly by his 7th year homeroom teacher to bring a ring of keys to the office. It was lunchtime, and Edmund had been sitting by himself outside, finishing an assignment due the following day. There were about 80 students running around the field surrounding the school.
Quite a few girls had made their way across the road to Hendon House to visit the boys. One female from the opposing school just so happened to be his sister, although he paid little attention to her. However, Susan wasn't on his mind as of now. Calculus was, and he had to finish the work due the following day, or else he never would. He did slightly look away from the paper when a few whistles were being headed towards his sibling from passing boys, but otherwise he was too busy to bother. That's when his teacher came up to him.
"Dear Edmund," He looked up, squinting his eyes in the unusually odd sunlight, "Would you mind running quickly inside and dropping these keys off in the office for me?" Now Edmund had never had a problem with his teacher, but she was crossing the line. You see, the only door to enter the school, was crowded by the unkindest boys in the entire area. And they especially picked on him. Edmund was never a shy boy, especially one daunted by a few bullies, but they really knew how to get under his skin.
But he, being the polite boy he was, nodded his head and she smiled. He faintly smiled back as she dropped the keys into his palm and wearily looked towards the door once again. He whipped his head around, looking for his brother, or his sister, but they were nowhere to be found. He knew that a 12 year old wasn't much compared to four 16 year olds. But he'd have to do this alone. So Ed gathered up all his courage, took a deep breath, and slowly trudged towards the door, leaving his books, work, and pride behind.
You see, being a young boy isn't why he was bullied. He wasn't an unattractive boy, not in the slightest. His dark brown eyes contrasted perfectly against his alabaster skin, and his messy black hair only added to it. His family was known for being an attractive bunch. However, he was... Different, to put it kindly. Not in the way of being unsmart. No, he was highly intelligent. But he lacked certain things. Things most people have that they take advantage of. And the bullies knew that. He lifted his eyes from the ground to notice he was only a few feet from the door. And as expected, the bullies noticed.
"Oh hello Edmund. How nice to see you on this fine spring day!" Edmund grimaced. One of the older boys smiled teasingly. "Are you unhappy to see me? Oh dear, he doesn't want our company this afternoon! How unfortunate." Loud laughter came from the group. Edmund still was unresponsive. He took another deep breath and tried to push through the chain of boys blocking the doorway. His efforts were wasted.
"You must visit us more often." Ed was fed up with them already. He tried once again to push his way through. More wasted efforts. After another try and more merciless mocking, he finally gave up and was tired of their antics. So he turned around and was prepared to notify the teacher about being unable to complete the task asked.
He had gotten a few meters away from the boys, but they weren't quite finished. "Hey Pevensie!" He ignored them and kept walking. "Kid! I'm talking to you!!" A lot of attention was being drawn to the situation due to the yelling, so he quickly looked around for any sign of even one of his siblings. None were in sight, so he hesitantly turned around. He shouldn't have.
"You aren't very talkative today!" Edmund's cheeks flushed a dark red, and the older boys roared with laughter. He turned back around and was about to walk away when one last comment left him momentarily paralyzed with anger and a wave of tears came over him. "What's wrong? Cat got your tongue?"
He had to bite his bottom lip to stop the tears in his eyes from falling. He walked away as quickly as possible, ignoring the constant giggling around him, not knowing where he was headed. Then he bumped into someone. "Ed! Edmund! Are you ok? What's wrong?" The frantic motherly voice was familiar. Susan.
He looked up at her and she saw he was very upset. The 14 year old didn't know what was wrong, but he was holding keys in his hands that obviously didn't belong to him. "Whose keys are those?" He pointed towards the teacher outside. "Are you supposed to give them to the teacher?" He shook his head and nodded towards the doors.
"To the office then, I suppose." She stated. He nodded meekly. It was odd for him to be this self-conscious. She started walking to the building and halted when Edmund didn't follow as expected. "Come on." She said encouragingly, and he slowly moved towards her. As they made her way to the doors she pondered what could have possibly happened for him to be so upset. As she reached the doors, she heard a voice she knew quite well, for it belonged to a boy that doesn't enjoy leaving her alone. "Susan. How nice to see you! Have you come here to accept my offer?" She chuckled quietly.
"I don't believe I will have time to accompany you on a date." He looked utterly shocked. "Are you joking?" He sputtered out. "No, I'm highly serious." She smiled as she spoke. "Why? I know you fancy me!" She giggled loudly at this. "Are you too busy with Edmund 'I don't talk to anyone because I'm too stupid' Pevensie over here!?" Ed's eyes widened and looked at his feet. Susan suddenly realized what had happened here. She had overheard a few days prior that Edmund had been bullied at school, and Peter hadn't done a thing about it.
She became horribly protective, and walked up to the boy who had been bugging both her and Ed for quite a long time. "Isn't he a little young for you anyways?" Another boy stated. "Yeah, isn't he a little too young for someone as mature as you?" Susan almost forgot about being mad when she realized that they didn't know that Susan and Edmund were siblings. Almost forgot, being the key words, but remembered when she glanced over at her vulnerable younger brother, and when the boy said yet another thing he shouldn't have. "And it's not like he's smart enough to even carry a conversation."
She went back to focusing on the boy. She walked right up to him, looked him in the eye, and hit him in the place where it really hurts with her left knee. The boy practically screamed in pain, kneeling to the ground. "He's mute you idiot!" She screamed at the top of her lungs. The other three boys all had sheepish grins on their faces, but looked slightly empathetic, probably just to make sure they didn't get hit below the belt as well. Susan decided to put the cherry on top. "And he's my little brother! Maybe you should be a little bit kinder to him from now on." The bully who she's kneed glanced up and her and looked as if he was about to cry, but nodded slightly. She grabbed Edmund's hand and entered the school, not caring that she isn't allowed in the all boys academy. All she cared about was her brother.
After moments of silence she let go of his hand. The more she thought about it; perhaps Ed would be angrier than anything for her standing up for him. It's bad enough he's bullied for something he was born without, but to have his older sister stand up for him. She turned her head around as she was still walking to see his expression. His face was blank, except for the ghost of a smile that was dancing on his features. She focused forward and moments later a smile broke out among her flawless face. All that matters is her brother.