The day after my sister had gotten sick, it was a horrible day. I had finally realized that I was alone; fending for myself on the bus, while my older sister Leilani relaxed at home during her time with the flu. I climbed aboard the bus and sat a few seats back from the front, where all of the 2nd graders sit. I put my backpack next to me, because I didn't want to sit with anyone until Leilani got better. The bus started to move and I kicked my feet back and forth. "Let me sit with you." a tall, gruff boy said to me. I didn't recognize him right away, but I knew he was 2 grades older than Leilani and I also knew he liked to harass the younger kids. I decided to stand up for myself. "No." I replied. The older boys green eyes became luminous with rage. He grabbed my backpack and threw it behind him. The boy planted himself down next to me and scooted closer. "Now that I'm here, lets talk." The boy whispered. "I'm Max. And if I'm right, you're Carlos Garcia, Leilani's little brother." I didn't know what else to do, so I just looked at him and nodded. Finally, I realized there were openings under the seats, wide enough for me to crawl through. Max got closer to me and had his hand clenched in a fist. "Did you know that I like to hurt people?" he said, getting closer to my face. I had a few thoughts before I acted on my next move. I thought that I could sit there and get beat up, I could crawl under the bus seats or I could tell the bus driver. I chose the second thought. Without a moment to spare, Max threw his fist out for no reason as I slid down and turned myself around. He reached out for my ankle but missed as I started to scurry to the back of the bus. He was close on my tail hopping in every seat and going for my head. Finally I remembered that my friend Kendall always kept a spare helmet in his backpack because he liked to play field hockey at recess. I whimpered quietly as I scanned the floor for Kendall's feet, while Max scanned the ground for me. I saw Kendall's new white shoes that he had bragged about to everyone at our school, so I crawled up to them. "Kendall." I whispered. The blonde boy was looking out the window quietly, while his other friend James went on and on about this modeling job he was up for. "KENDALL!" I yelled, but it might have been too loud. Max was still searching the ground for me. Kendall looked down, a puzzled look on his face. "What?" he asked. "I need to borrow your spare helmet, Max is coming after me!" I responded. James butted into the conversation. "Max Hunter? I think I know why he doesn't like you." I ignored him and watched Kendall rifle through his bag. James didn't need an answer to continue. "He had a big crush on Leilani I heard, but she turned him down because he is to mean to people." This time I looked at him but I still didn't answer. Kendall pulled out a black helmet, without a face guard. "Is this okay?" he questioned. I nodded and took it from him, smiling my thanks. "I will return it when he gets off the bus." Kendall smiled and turned back to James. I hooked the helmet on and turned around, coming face to face with Max, who was sitting there, waiting. He had a cocky smile on his face and I was frozen. He pounced and grabbed my head, punching it repeatedly. His hands were bleeding when he finally realized I had the helmet on. Blood was trickling down my face from the helmet and Max jumped up and ran. I don't know where he ran, but he ran, fast. I stood up and walked to Kendall, helmet in hand. "Do you want it back?" I asked eagerly. He made a disgusted face and shook his head no. "You can, you can keep it." He said, glancing at the helmet again. From that day on, I always had my helmet with me because you never know whose going to pick a fight with you.