Chapter 2: Happy Birthday Max
Outside the Principals office, shouting and cursing could be heard from a mile away, and everyone going near became curious and somewhat scared, thinking that the principal has never been so angry at anyone. Then, the shouting ceased, and the door opened violently, as the principal pointed with his finger the exit, and slowly Markus and his gang came out of the office, with sad and scared expressions on their faces, then once again, the principal told them not to get into any more trouble and shut the door with violence.
As soon as he shut the door, the expression on their faces changed to enraged and with a lot of anger as well. None of them could even believe that Max, the guy who they had always bullied hit them back, and not just that, but that he also managed to knock them all out like nothing. They were all frustrated and filled with rage. Especially Markus. He was just staring into nothingness, remembering how Max grabbed the knife with his bare hand and took it off him, and then how he managed to knock him out with a single punch. It was the first time Markus ever lost in a battle, but only because in every other fight he called his gang to back him up, or he used his knife to scare whoever was trying to challenge him away, but this time, none of his cheating techniques worked. This was completely unacceptable for Markus.
Jake: God this is awful... grounded for almost a year and beat up by just one guy... only one god damn guy! This sucks... Honestly none of this shit could get any-
John: Shut up Jake! Don't you know that whenever someone says "Things can't get worse" they get much worse?
Jake: Wait, wha-? Dude, that's bullshit! That's what happens on the cartoons man not in real life. And I thought you were the smart ass here John.
John: First off, of course I'm the smart one here Jake. Much smarter than you. And no, its a fact, not a "cartoon bullshit". If something goes wrong, it can get much more worse than what it already is.
Jake: Come on man, you know that's complete bull crap! Do you really think any of that is true? We just hit the bottom of the bowl, this can't get any worse than what it is!
John: And you just said it... great... you fucking idiot! Now things are gonna be shittier thanks to you! And its not "Bottom of the bowl" you dumb ass, its "bottom of the barrel". But now, thanks to you, who the hell knows what are we gonna go through now that things are gonna get worse!
Then a shiver ran down the spines of John and Jake at same time as someone put his hands on top of their shoulders, and when they turned to see who it was, they saw Markus, who was still staring into nothingness, and with rage on his voice, he spoke.
Markus: Oh, you are damn right things are going to get worse John... things are gonna get so fucking worse, that you have no idea of how bad they'll be. But not for us. We already got humiliated in front of literally everyone in this place, and yes, we just hit the bottom of the fucking barrel, but things are not going to get worse for us. But Max though... oh that bastard will wish to be in hell once we are done with him, and we will fucking put him in hell ourselves. Now, we'll make his life twice as bad as it already was. No one ever fucking dares to beat me up, and I mean NO ONE. Mark my words; He. Is. Fucking. Dead. YOU HEAR ME?! I won't accept this. From now on, anyone who ever dares to put a single hand on me, will pay hard. I swear I'll make that loser regret everything he just did!
Everyone stood silent, looking at Markus, who was now shaking due to all the rage he had. Then Tim cracked his knuckles and chuckled, with a smirk on his face, then he got close to Markus and looked in the direction of Markus.
Tim: I agree. We have to show that little brag who is boss in here. Whatever an old man says won't stop us from getting our revenge.
Chris: Yea, lets teach that fucker that no one will ever mess with us without a consequence.
Markus turned around to look at them, and smirked mischievously, almost with the look of a madman, knowing that his gang would do whatever he says, whenever he says, and they would not take this defeat so well.
But then, something got their attention; Another teenager was simply passing by when he heard all they were saying and stood there, paralyzed because of the fear of hearing that they were gonna make Max pay, even though he didn't even know Max personally, and when they all turned to see that he was standing right there, the fear inside him began to grow more and more.
As soon as they all saw that poor kid just standing there, Markus immediately charged towards him and pinned him to the wall with violence, almost crushing him, looking him in the eyes and speaking with a very enraged voice and expression.
Markus: Oh, well look who we got here! Didn't anyone tell you that listening to things that are not your business is a bad thing? *Slams him against the wall with violence* Who the hell are you and what do you want?
Jean: *with a lot of fear in his voice* S-sorry M-Markus... I was just s-standing there, I wasn't doing a-anything, I swear, m-my n-name is J-Jean. P-please, d-don't hurt me... I-I was just passing b-by and I heard t-that you w-wanted r-revenge on M-Max f-for how he-
Markus: Don't you fucking dare to mention that, YOU HEAR ME FUCKER?! *Starts slamming Jean against the wall multiple times* And you were passing by just because, huh? How convenient. Now, just because you had the bad luck to be right there in the wrong moment, you are going to tell me, WHERE IS MAX?!
John: Uh... Markus? I don't think the kid knows. Remember Max has only one friend and that is Jessy. In fact, I doubt he even knew who Max was before all this.
Markus: WHAT THE FUCK DID I JUST SAY ABOUT MENTIONING THAT, HUH?! And I don't fucking care whether he knows or not, he is going to tell me right fucking now, where is Max! Or else...
Jean: *Starting to tremble in fear* I-I d-don't k-know! I-I-I t-think h-h-he's in h-his room, w-w-with a g-g-girl. I-I p-passed b-by M-Max's room an h-hour ago, a-and h-heard a g-girl... a-and I-I t-t-think she said it w-was M-Max's b-birthday or something...
Markus: His... birthday you say..? *Stays silent for a few moments and then bursts out in laughter, letting Jean go out of a sudden* His birthday! Ha ha ha! Oh, this is just too good... Guys, since today its Max's birthday, and since he never told us before about it, how about we give him a especial treatment today, and every single day its his birthday for the rest of his life? What do you guys say, huh?!
After Markus said that, all his gang raised their fists into the air and shouted "Hell yea!" at the same time, getting ready to pay Max a visit, and letting Jean go, who after feeling that Markus wasn't pinning him to the wall anymore, ran away as fast as he could, feeling guilt inside because he knew he just betrayed the only one who has ever made a stand against Markus and his gang and succeeded, but that wasn't his problem anymore, so he simply ran away as fast as he could, hearing the shouting of Markus and his gang who were heading to Max's bedroom, ready to pick him by surprise.
Meanwhile, Max and Jessy after finishing the cake and singing a few songs together, were just laying on the floor, telling jokes and talking about various things in particular, and of course, about the fight.
Jessy: ... and the way you kicked Tim in the face was just priceless Max! I really didn't know you knew how to fight. Was that like, some sort of martial art or something? I couldn't even tell because you were kicking ass like you were a hurricane!
Max: Martial art? Actually... no. I don't know any martial arts at all. I just... began punching and kicking, that's it. It somehow felt... natural. Like if I already knew how to do it. And I kind of enjoyed it... I think the reason I was able to beat them up was because I had a reason.
Jessy: And what was that reason?
Max: I... uh... I-it was... you Jessy... I couldn't... *Starts blushing* I couldn't let them put a single hand on you... I didn't want them to...
Jessy then almost immediately began blushing as well, getting a little bit nervous due to what Max had just said, then she looked at Max.
Jessy: R-really? You did it... for me?
Max: Y-yea... I... I did... b-because you're my only friend. I can't let anything happen to you Jess. *Thinks* Fuck, that was close...
Jessy: Oh... w-well, thanks Max! I... I don't even know what to say... wow... I never thought you did it for me. And well, you're my best and only friend as well Maxy, I would do the same for you. *Thinks* Damn, that sounded lame... I need to change the subject before I really start blushing... *Stays silent for a few moments, until she remembers something important* Oh, yea, Max! Didn't you pick up Markus' knife by the blade? You should be bleeding a lot right now! Did the principal put something on your hand to prevent you from bleeding?
Max: Huh? Oh, yea, the knife. I forgot about that. I didn't even feel it when I... grabbed it. I think it was because of the adrenaline or something.
Jessy: Yea, but even if you didn't feel it that doesn't mean you're ok Max. Now give me your hand, I need to see how badly are you-
And as soon as Jessy picked up Max's hand, she noticed he wasn't bleeding at all. In fact, he didn't even have a single scratch or scar. No wounds at all. It was almost like he never grabbed the knife.
Max: What the... There's nothing there. How? I... I felt the knife in the palm of my hand, but it didn't hurt at all. This is weird.
Jessy: Maybe the knife wasn't sharp, and just for show, you know? Markus is like that.
Max: Then how is it that when I threw the knife away it got buried into the floor? And its a wooden floor too. That knife was sharp, there's no doubt of that, but... how is it that I didn't got cut out of that? Not even a single mark.
Max kept trying to look for any wound, any scar, blood, whatever he could think of. His hand was clear. He couldn't find anything. It didn't make any sense to him and Jessy that he grabbed the knife by the blade and did not even got hurt by it.
Max kept on searching for any signs of blood on the palm of his hand, when suddenly the door began to shake violently, like if someone was slamming against it, and in the other side of the door, laughter and shouting could be heard very clearly. Markus and the rest of his group were right there, and Tim was kicking the door with violence, trying to get inside Max's bedroom. Both Max and Jessy stood up immediately and began to back away from the door.
Markus: Come out, come out, little freak! We heard today is your birthday! So we are gonna give you a very especial gift, and to your girlfriend as well! Keep kicking the god damn door Tim!
As soon as they heard Markus' voice, a shiver ran down their spines, and Max moved the bed to block the door so they could get more time to think on what to do. They were both pretty scared, and kept on making barricades with whatever they could use, and when they ran out of things to block the door, they began to back away once more, then Max looked at the window and thought of something.
Max: Jessy, see that window over there? Get over there, open it and run. Its big enough for any of us to go through it. You go, I'll try to stop them.
Jessy: Max, no! If you stay to fight them, then I'll do the same. I won't let you alone Max, not today, not ever. I promised you that, and I'm not planning on breaking that promise any time soon.
Max: They are here for me Jessy, and if you don't go, you'll get hurt too, and I won't let that happen. I fought them once, I can do it twice. Besides, we got no time to discuss this Jess, run!
Jessy: But, I... I won't go if you don't come with me Max. You might have been able to fight them that time, but don't risk it. I won't go unless you come with me.
Max: *Sighs a bit annoyed* Fine... I'll go with you Jessy. Now, lets move. Ladies first.
Max moved a chair he had so they could reach the window and let Jessy go first. The noises and door shaking stopped for a second, but Max didn't care and told Jessy to hurry up.
Half of Jessy's body was already out, she already see the street, however, the bedroom was two stores high and she knew jumping off was a bad idea, so as soon as she had the rest of her body out, she stepped on the rooftop and quickly ran to hide behind a water boiler.
She was breathing really heavily and her heart was beating fast, pumping adrenaline in case she needed it to either fight or run. She tried to calm down for a second, but she felt something was missing. Jessy quickly turned her head to see where was Max, and once she saw he wasn't there, she knew what was missing and got much more worried. Max was still in the room.
Once Jessy got out of the room, Max looked behind to watch if the door would shake violently again. He saw nothing. Things were getting suspicious. However, he knew he had to hurry up in case they would try again, so he rushed to the window and started to attempt to get out, but then he heard a very loud crack coming from the door and all the things he had put in front of it fall down as well.
Tim was now charging against the door with all he had got. Max immediately thought of protecting Jessy over protecting himself and rushed to the door and decided to block the door himself and try to resist as many hits as he could to buy her some time to escape.
On the other side of the door, Tim was getting at least 5 meters away from the door to charge at it one more time, while the rest of the crew was cheering and constantly saying "Tim! Tim!". After a few seconds of mental preparation, he charged at the door from that distance and right when he was about to impact the door he put his shoulder in front of him so the damage would be absorbed by his arm, like football players do, and the door finally burst open.
Max, who was trying to block the door by pushing against it with all his strength, got literally thrown away due to how strong was the impact of Tim against the door and crashed against the wall. Tim who had just entered the door and was about to fall to the ground, managed to reach his hand to grab Max and throw him out of his own room with one move before falling to the ground.
Max could hardly even get up. And when he was just starting to try and stand up, he saw 4 shadows getting closer to him, and he knew who did those shadows belong to. As he managed to look up, he saw the faces of Jake, Chris, John and Markus, who were enjoying the sight of watching Max not being able to get up due to how fast everything happened.
Max was finally able to stand up as they were getting closer and closer to him, crunching their knuckles and chuckling evilly to try and intimidate Max. Then they heard a voice coming from behind them, it was Tim who got up not so long ago and was shouting.
Tim: The bitch isn't here Markus! I think she got away through the window!
Markus: I give two shits about that whore, the one I want dead is this freak over here! Now come and get your ass over-
As Markus tried to finish the phrase, he got punched in the ribs by Max, who could not stand up so well because the hit he received from Tim hurt him more than what he would expect, and before he could react to his own pain, Jake pushed Max away and made him fall to the ground again. When Max tried to stand up once more, Tim charged at him from Max's room and successfully tackled Max, crushing him against the wall and hurting his back even more.
Max roared with rage, and let a frustrated and filled with pain scream come out of his mouth. His back was hurting far too much. Max was only able to hit Tim with his head to defend himself, but that didn't work so well, and Tim held him by his shirt and gave Max a punch hard enough to send him a meter away from him.
Max once again tried to stand up, but when he began trying, Chris came from behind and wrapped his arms around Max, squeezing him hard enough to make his back hurt again, making Max roar in pain again. Jake and John got closer to Max while Chris was holding him and started to punch him.
They were only able to punch Max a few times until he moved his head to the side so their punches would hit Chris, making him let Max move, and ignoring the pain on his back as much as he could, Max kicked John in the stomach and punch Jake on his chin, but after moving so much, the pain on Max's back began to get worse, making him kneel and unable to move freely.
Once kneeling, Max lost all concentration on his surroundings due to all the pain he was feeling, and because of this, he did not notice the fact that Markus was getting closer, and once he was just a few centimeter away, he kicked Max on his face, and once he managed to make Max lay on the ground, he began to stomp on Max's stomach and chest and kick him on his ribs, and right after doing that Markus grabbed Max from his shirt to make him stand up, and with an enraged and evil smirk looked into Max's eyes, who had a very painful and angry expression on him.
Markus: Hey there freak! Did you think you could really get away with yours and humiliate me like that you asshole?! Now, because of what you did to me, I'll make your life twice as worse as it already was you idiot... and don't worry, from now on, we won't forget when is your birthday. And in this same date, the next years of your life, we will make you wish never been born! Happy birthday, Max!
Then Markus kicked Max away, making him fall to the ground once more. Max was completely unable to move any further. He was stunned because of all the damage they had inflicted on him. And just when he thought things could not get worse, Chris came up from behind and hit Max on the back of his neck with a baseball bat he had brought before coming to Max's room, knocking Max out instantly.
After Max lost consiousness, Markus and all his gang started to stomp, kick, punch and humiliate him as many ways as they could. Max could not move, only feel the pain and hear their laughter and all their insults towards him, and there was no one there to help him.
Half an hour had passed, and their thirst for revenge had finally seased. To end with Max's torture, they decided to throw him off the stairs that lead to the corridor where his room was. John, who was the only one who thought about the consecuences, told them he could die if they would do that and tried to stop them, but it was too late for that. Max fell down the stairs very painfully and landed facedown in the floor, still unconscious. John checked if he was still alive, and once he noticed he was still breathing, decided to leave Max there and go with the rest after knowing that they didn't need to hide his body.
Max could still feel the pain over all his body and still hear their laughter, as he was laying down on the floor, alone, hurt, and hopeless. He had been through similar situations in the past, but never so painful and long. Max had already had enough of all that. He would not last any longer. Not anymore.