Chapters now have titles. Wow, how innovative of me! xD
This is a bittersweet chapter, I must admit. I still hope you guys like it.
Ever since the beginning of school year, Leo was, to Jeff Price and Victor Wallace (two fourth graders), Leopoldio, freak, nerd, or any other name except his own. Leo was the ideal target for bullies: shy, seemingly weak, scared, smart. They didn't even have to hit him; all they had to do was shout at him and steal his lunch.
Last week, the older boys had stepped on Leo's shoelaces as he walked into his classroom. Leo had fallen and had broken his arm. When the nurse had asked him how he had fallen, Leo was scared of Jeff and Victor. He said he had stepped on his own shoelaces. After having to lie that day, Leo decided he wasn't going to put up with the two bullies anymore. When he'd return to classes after the weekend, he'd scare Jeff and Victor so badly they wouldn't bully or nag him anymore.
Leo clutched the lunchbox's handle tighter in his hand and froze in the middle of the playground as his eyes met Jeff and Victor.
"Yo, Leopoldio," Jeff shouted upon seeing Leo.
He continued to make his way to the table and sat down, head lowered. Victor patted his shoulder strongly, causing the boy's small body to wobble. The two boys laughed.
"Didn't you hear me?" Jeff asked, tilting his head to try to look into Leo's eyes, but he looked away. "I was calling you."
"My name's Leopold," he mumbled, "You didn't call me."
"Ho ho," Jeff laughed, teasingly ruffling his hair, "you're getting braver? Come on, give me your lunch."
Leo smirked naughtily as he opened his lunchbox. He grabbed something; it looked like a small cylinder that perfectly fit in his hand. He stretched his closed fist at the two boys, closed his eyes tightly, and pressed the top button. He flinched and buried his head between his shoulders as a loud 'bang' echoed through the room, accompanied by a blinding light. The kids in the playground started running away, scared, and Jeff and Victor yelled, quickly switching between clamping their ears and rubbing their eyes. Leo got up from his seat and kicked both Jeff's and Victor's shins and they fell on their knees before him.
"Now quit bullying me!" he shouted, throwing his homemade stun grenade into the lunchbox and fleeing the scene.
Noticing the commotion in the playground, the janitor came to check on the kids and then quickly called the teachers. A few minutes later, all the kids were ordered to return to their classrooms, to have their lunchboxes and desks inspected. Leo, of course, had already gotten rid of the stun grenade but he was still taken to the director because Jeff and Victor whined to their teacher as they were taken to be examined in the infirmary. Mrs. Hughes, Leo's teacher, was calling Coulson and May to get to the school as quickly as possible when Leo was escorted to the principal's office.
He couldn't deny that the feeling of being conducted through the halls to the principal's office as the other kids watched was good. He was always being picked on and no one ever knew that he could fight back if he wanted to. As soon as he sat on the chair before the principal's desk, the man placed the stun grenade over the table for him to see it.
"Mr. Quinn," the principal referred to the janitor's name, "found it in the trash bin."
"You can't tell it's mine." Leo replied boastfully, leaning back in his chair.
"He saw you throwing it away."
Mrs. Hughes walked in quietly, sitting on the empty chair beside Leo. "Who gave you that thing, Leo?" She asked quietly.
"No one. I built it myself."
She breathed in sharply, taken aback by his answer. She knew he had the abilities for that and much more. "How did you build a stun grenade, Leo?"
"A stun grenade is easy to build. It is constructed with a casing made to remain intact during detonation and to contain most of its explosive force and avoid shrapnel injuries. Only the light and sound of the explosion are allowed out. The filler is made of a pyrotechnic metal-oxidant mix and an oxidizer. Everything is pretty easy to get, you just have to have skills and patience to build one."
"I can't believe what I'm hearing," the teacher wailed, shocked, "You are such an exceptional student, Leo. So quiet, well behaved, you don't even fail a homework assignment. How could you do this?"
"Usually the quiet ones are the worst," the principal advised.
Leo's face crumpled up in a frown as he spoke angrily, but in a low tone of voice, "When a bully breaks your arm you have to take care of things on your own."
At this Mrs. Hughes turned to the boy, her face expression changing from shock to shame, for not having noticing it earlier, "Why didn't you tell me that Jeff and Victor were bullying you?"
Leo lowered his gaze again, mumbling, "It was not like anyone would believe that fourth graders bothered me. They just call me names and steal my lunch."
"I'm sorry that Jeff and Victor bullied you, Leo, but you should have told your teacher or your parents about it. People could have been hurt with this stun grenade," The principal reprimanded. "Things could have been damaged. Do you have any idea of -"
Leo interrupted the director to give him a long, scientific explanation, "The blinding flash of light momentarily activates all photoreceptor cells in the eye, making vision impossible for approximately five seconds, until the eye restores itself to its normal, unstimulated state. The loud blast of greater than 170 decibels is meant to cause temporary loss of hearing, and also disturbs the fluid in the ear, causing loss of balance. All of this without causing permanent injury. There was no harm that could have resulted from activating the grenade. Well," the boy shrugged and looked away as he admitted, "the concussive blast of the detonation can still injure, and the heat created can ignite flammable materials, but I paid attention to all possible variables that could have caused damage or harm and I avoided them."
The principal removed his glasses and tossed them over the desk, leaning back on his chair. He looked at the teacher, "Are his parents coming anytime soon?"
"Yes, Principal Reyes. Mrs. May said she'd get here soon."
The boy flinched in fear after hearing that his mother was coming. He wished it was Dad. He was easier to deal with than Mom. She'd gaze at him with stern, scary eyes and her face would be so expressionless he wouldn't be able to know how angry she was. Because she would be angry, that he knew for sure.
Leo heard the strong footsteps approaching the door and his heart climbed to his throat. He looked back at the door right before it opened, his breath leaving his lungs and apparently not too willing to return anytime soon.
"Mom -" he whined as he saw her.
May pointed a finger at him and he shushed immediately, shifting uncomfortably in his chair. The principal smirked wickedly as he saw the fear spreading across Leo's face. The teacher stood up, offering her seat to May.
"What did he do, Principal?" The man pointed at the stun grenade laying on the desk. May looked at Leo with empty eyes and asked the principal again, "Was anyone hurt or anything damaged?"
"The two kids that he attacked with the stun grenade are scared but alright. And nothing was damaged."
"Good," she then she broke eye contact with her son, "What's going to happen with him?"
"He'll be suspended, obviously. Next week, at the parents-teachers meeting, the executive council will relate the situation to all the parents, and if it is a unanimous decision, Leopold will have to be transferred."
"Would that be all, Principal Reyes?"
"On my part, yes. I don't know if Mrs. Hughes wishes to say something, or even if Leopold wants to say anything about this."
The teacher nodded her head and looked away, disappointed. Leo, on the other hand, got up from the chair and walked out the door. May followed right after him, closing the door behind her. The boy seemed desperate to walk as fast as his legs allowed. He'd already have to be confined in the car with his mother on the whole way home; if he could avoid talking to her at that moment, he would really appreciated it. Unfortunately, Leo's legs were too short and May walked in quick strides. She caught up with him rapidly and held his hand. Leo felt a chill going down his spine and for a moment there his legs failed him.
"Where did you get the grenade?" she asked.
"I made it," Leo responded, looking at the tiles of the floor as he reluctantly walked hand in hand with his mother.
"And what was the point of bringing it to school and targeting two other kids?"
"They won't leave me alone. I just meant to scare them."
May pulled on Leo's hand, making him stop. She looked down at him, "They hit you?"
"No. They just keep on calling me names and stealing my lunch every day."
"For how long has this been happening?"
"Since school started," he confessed.
The woman sighed and stooped down so that she was at his eye level, "And why didn't you say anything to me or your father?"
He shrugged, "I had to scare them. I had to lie last week and I know how much you hate that we lie, so I -"
"Wait, wait, you lied last week? About what?"
Leo looked away but his mother lightly tighten the grip on his wrist, forcing him to spill it out, "They stepped on my shoelaces when I was entering the classroom. That was how I broke my arm."
"Leo," she breathed, "You should have told us this. I find it really brave of you to defend yourself, but you should have told us. And you shouldn't have built a stun grenade to scare them. People could have gotten hurt."
"I wouldn't hurt anyone, Mom," the kid wailed, his eyes burning with unshed tears, "You know I wouldn't, right, Mom?" Tears dropped from his eyes and his lips pouted, "Mom, believe me. I knew I wouldn't hurt anyone. I just wanted to scare them."
May hugged him and told him firmly, "Quit crying, Leo. I believe you." As she pulled back, she affirmed, "But what you did was very bad. You know that, don't you?"
"What're you gonna do?"
"You and I will have to have a lengthy talk with your dad about this. Now," she ordered, "go get your things from the classroom."
Leo looked back and insisted, "What're you gonna do, Mom?"
She sighed, "The most likely consequence is that your father and I take away all your experiments, for the time being."
"No," he wailed, "don't do that, Mom."
"Go get your things, Leo," May said, firm in her decision.
Two days later, Coulson and May were called to the school again. This time it was about Grant, and this time both made it to the meeting with the principal. Grant had picked a fight (on purpose) with Jeff and Victor. The two kids ended up getting quite bruised. May and Coulson feared that everything they had accomplished with Grant had been thrown away, but he assured them he was simply looking after his little brother.
Next chapter: one of the prompts you've sent me. I think I screwed the idea a bit, but it was the best I think I could do with it. It was a very good idea though.
