Jojo was carried over to the rest of the waiting gang. "Hey, punk." one said. They all laughed.
He was carried to a pole. He didn't struggle. He was tied to the pole. He let them. It was over, there was no point in fighting. They laughed. "Heh heh. Looks like he's alright with it. This'll be fun!"
Everything slowed down. He was punched. WHAM! BANG! WHAM! WHAM! BANG! Jojo began to cry. "Aww, poor little guy! Who's gonna help you now?" And they punched him. Hard.
Everything…
Went…
BLACK.
Jojo awoke with a headache. Kids were all around with their backpacks. Oh no. School was over. He'd slept that long??
The rope loosened. He collapsed. He shook and got up. Sybel walked over with the rope. "You OK?" She handed him his backpack out of nowhere. "I'm fine…"
"Ha!"
"Ha what?"
"You don't look fine! You have bruises EVERYWHERE!"
"I do?"
"Yeah, ya do."
"I didn't hurt that much…"
"You were out until the end of the day. I'm surprised you're not dead."
"Oh no. My parents! Gotta go!"
"Bye!"
Jojo ran and ran and ran. Finally he was home. He took a deep breath and walked in. This wasn't going to be easy.
There his parents were, waiting for him. And they didn't look happy. Jojo put on a smile.
"Hi dad, mom. Boy am I beat-"
"You bet!" His dad, Ned (The mayor of Whoville), said.
His mom nudged his dad. Ned put on a serious face again. Then his mom, Sally, spoke.
"We got a call from your principal. Apparently, after lunch you didn't come to class. Can you explain that to us?"
Jojo's smile disappeared. "Uh, yeah. I stood up to this bully at school, see, and he got mad so he tied me to a pole and punched me until I was out. Can't you tell from the bruises?"
Ned looked like he believed it. Sally… not so much.
"It's true!" Jojo said.
"Honey- we've been worried about you. You don't have many friends, you barely speak to anyone, your grades have been going down- we just don't know what to do. Now, we hate doing this, but, your grounded. Missing school is unacceptable."
"It was the jerks! I swear-"
"No, Jojo. And you know it."
"Dad! Don't you believe me?" Jojo looked for anything in his dad."Of course I-" he glanced at Sally, who was glaring at them. "Apparently, I don't."
"But I have a party to go to!"
"Sorry, Jojo."
"I HATE YOU GUYS!"
And Jojo ran up to his room.
He loved his parents. He loved them so much. But this was not right. They didn't believe him, and everything he said was true.
He looked around his room. His eye caught the window. He knew it was wrong… but this wasn't fair.
He climbed out the window and was on his way.
His parents walked in. A cool breeze was coming in through the window. And Jojo wasn't there.
"JOJO!!"