Alex Rider now! Enjoy!
"An oxygen atom contains eight protons and eight electrons. To find the neutron of an atom, you must subtract its atomic mass with the amount of protons it has. This oxygen atom has the atomic mass of…."
Alex Rider was in the middle of a chemistry class. His eyes gazed at a drawing of the Bhor model on the board, his ears listened to the monotonous voice of his teacher, the pencil in his hands scribbled notes from the esoteric lecture, and his brain tried to make sense of what the teacher is saying. He wasn't the only one having a difficult time. Almost every other student in the class was frowning; confused looks etched on their faces.
"Because of that, this oxygen atom has nine neutrons. However, not all oxygen atoms have this many neutrons. Atoms that have a different amount are called isotopes. For example, this oxygen atom has the atomic mass of-"
"Mr. Lenoy," A boy from the classroom called out.
"Yes, Adam," The teacher responded.
"What in the name of Jesus are you talking about?" Adam cried out.
Laughter erupted from the classroom; even Alex chuckled. It relieved him to know that he wasn't the only one clueless.
Mr. Lenoy sighed.
"Would someone like to enlighten Adam?" He asked to the class.
Sherry, a girl from the back raised her hand.
"Since oxygen is number eight on the Periodic Table, it has eight protons and eight electrons. The atomic mass is how much mass the atom has. Protons and neutrons make up the most of the atomic mass therefore you must subtract the atomic mass from the number of protons to get the number of neutrons."
A cry of comprehension shot out of the class. There were mumblings of "I get it now" and "Oooh"s from Alex's classmates. Yet, Alex still didn't understand. Since oxygen is number eight on the Periodic table, Alex repeated Sherry's words to himself, it has eight protons and eight electrons. What does that mean? Alex asked himself. He still wasn't quite sure what protons and electrons were. Alex started to worry.
Ever since he returned to his educational life, Alex was miles behind from everybody else in most classes. He had worked as hard as he could to try and catch up but he still failed in two of his courses and barely scraped a pass from the others. As for sports, Alex didn't even make it to the soccer team. Months of no practice have taken a huge toll on him and he could barely score goals even on the suckiest players these days. But worst of all was his social life. Alex became very popular when he came back to school but it was not to his favor. There were rumors and gossips all over the school about his legendary illness and his huge scars and injuries. At first, people were scared of him; even his friends from the old days had tried to stay as far away from him as possible. Then, the fear quickly abated when they realized how harmless Alex really is and everyone in school began to pick on him. They tried to trip him as he passed through the hallways. Twice, his locker was vandalized and broken into. Alex was beaten up almost daily by bullies; although he was a good fighter, he was always outnumbered in the after-school fights and was hurt terribly every time, it also didn't help that the shoulder where he was shot debilitated him. Frustration and anger swelled up in Alex's stomach. It's not fair, Alex thought, I deserve more; if it wasn't for me none of them will be here today. They'd either be dead or dying in the hospital from the virus from Sayle Enterprise.
The only person did care for Alex these days was his guardian, Jack Starbright.
"You've worked so hard," Jack had said when Alex showed her his report card, "I don't care what you're grades are. I see you work every last minute. You're coping with a life nobody else could cope with. Keep on working Alex; I know you'll catch up."
It was a warming, affectionate advice but Alex's spirits were not raised. As much as he had tried, as much as he had worked, he was still just as behind as he had started. What's the point anyways? Alex thought, by the time I do catch up, MI6 will just force me into another mission and I'll be behind yet again. And next time, I'll probably run out of luck and get killed. There were countless times when Alex had almost died in his missions and it was only sheer luck that he had made it through. But for what, Alex thought again, what have I survived for? For this? Getting knocked out cold by bullies every afternoon?
The bell rang; school was over. And a fuming Alex began to walk out of the classroom.
"Just a second, Alex," A voice called out as Alex approached the doorway. Alex turned around and saw Mr. Lenoy at his desk staring at him. The teacher waited for all the other students to leave before getting up and accosting him.
"Thirteen homework assignments," Mr. Lenoy ranted, "five essays, two projects, and six reports, all missing."
"I know sir," Alex began "I've been trying really hard-"
"When I first met you, Alex" Mr. Lenoy interrupted, "you were a hard-working, down-to earth student, always the best in the class, always ahead of others.
"But ever since your 'illness', I've been noticing some changes in you. You failed your last exam, screwed up in the previous labs, and turned in your class assignments ever since as incompleted. This isn't like you Alex. You were such a good student. So I want to know, what happened?"
Alex sighed. He wanted to tell Mr. Lenoy about the MI6 and CIA missions he was forced to take. He wanted to tell him about the constant disrespect, the never-ending whispers, and the continuous bullying in his life. He wanted to tell him about being severely depressed and miserable. He wanted to say how difficult school was for him when he returned. But most of all, Alex wanted Mr. Lenoy to understand; he wanted him to know that the reason why he didn't do his work was not because he was indolent or that he didn't want to, it was because he was so busy and stressed out. But as much as Alex wanted to explain, he didn't know where to begin; it wasn't just because he couldn't find the words, Alex had always had trouble when it comes to expressing his emotions. It was already hard enough sharing his feelings to Jack; he certainly couldn't do it to Mr. Lenoy.
"Nothing sir," Alex replied, "It's nothing."
The two locked gaze at each other for a moment.
"Fine," Mr. Lenoy finally said. The soft, warming voice he had earlier was now cold, "if it's nothing then I expect those assignments to be turned in by the end of this week. If you don't, I'm afraid I'll have to fail you. Have a nice day Alex."
He slowly strolled back to his desk and started grading papers. Alex watched him for a few minutes and then left.
Why didn't I say anything? Alex thought as he stepped out of the school building. He was furious with himself. There were so many things I could have said to him, Alex thought, but no, I had to say nothing, I had to-.
"Oy! Sick Boy!"
Sick Boy was the new nickname his school had given him since he had been "sick" for the past few months. Wherever Alex went, nearby people would always cry out "Here comes the Sick Boy" or pretend to be Paul Revere and scream "The Sick Boy is coming! The Sick Boy is coming!". It drove Alex crazy. So when Alex heard the voice, he instantly looked up. There were four big, muscular boys waiting for him at the entrance of the school building.
"How's it going, Sick Boy?" The burliest boy of the throng sneered.
"Been ill lately?" Another boy mocked.
"No," Alex answered. The boys surrounded him; there was no way for him to run.
"Not sick?" The burliest boy said again, "Well we're gonna make you then. Get him!"
The vehement four launched themselves at Alex. They punched and kicked all over Alex's body; before long, Alex's clothes were all torn and mangled, he was bleeding all over. One of the boys ripped open Alex's backpack and spilled out the contents inside. They threw his books, smashed his ipod, and shredded his homework and papers.
"Look at him, Fred. He looks so pathetic," One of the boys laughed.
Alex groaned and tried to get up and was immediately knocked back down.
"You're weak," The leader of the bunch said as he crouched and leaned forward to Alex's face, "We're just trying to help you. Wimps deserve to be toughened up, right?"
He stood up and called out to his group, "We're done for today. So long Sick Boy!"
Alex stared at the sky as he waited for the bullies to be completely out of sight. Dark clouds had formed and before long, the sky was pouring with rain, wetting Alex and his possessions. Alex got up to his feet and began gathering his stuff. He was beaten up like this almost everyday and every time Alex would just get up afterwards and continue his way back home. But something snapped within Alex after today's beating; something inside of Alex broke. The tiny droplets of water landed onto the concrete ground were now a mixture of rain and tears. For the first time in years, Alex was crying. He sobbed; a gush of emptiness swept into his body. And that was when Alex finally accepted the fact that no matter how much he tried to fit back in, there was no way for him to go back to his old life. The time he had spent at MI6 had changed him. He no longer belonged at school. The normal life he once had was over and it was abysmal to try and bring it back.
The heavy, ephemeral rain had come to a stop. As much as Alex abhorred the idea, it was his only choice. He dropped the papers he had garnered and slowly trudged his through the wet ground and morose water vapor. There was only one place where he could turn to now. He had to go back to the MI6.
Sorry, ending kinda sucked. Please review peoples!