::::Two Weeks Later::::

My eyes shot open as the blaring alarm emitted from the small device beside my bed, reverberating off of the walls and pounding in my ears that were not quite ready to handle such noise.

I felt my way through the dark and ripped the cord out of the wall, putting an end to the ungodly noise. It was a decision I somewhat regretted, considering I hadn't known what time it was before I pulled the plug and how much time I had left to get ready.

Today was my first day at Bullworth, and it was bound to be an interesting one. I had a meeting with the head, Dr. Crabblesnitch, at 8:30, a half hour before classes began. I could only imagine the things the old man would have to say to me once he saw me.

I rolled out of bed, still feeling sore from the fight that occurred a few weeks ago. Upon returning home that day, I discovered that I had a nasty gash that ran the length of the right side of my face—probably from all the times I had been punched by Johnny—and my ribs were covered in bruises. The only thing on my body that had healed since then was the cut on my knee that I received after falling off of Gord's bike.

Gord and I hadn't spoken since the day of the fight, and through talking to some of the Preps, I learned that he had been holed up inside of Harrington House, afraid that the Greasers would come after him. They hadn't let up yet, and I had been told that Derby was coming down hard on Gord for all the drama he'd caused.

I checked the time on my phone. I had an hour left before I had to be at the school, and the more I thought about it, the more my stomach churned. Anxiety was something I rarely experienced, but the thought of having to once again attend school, and with people like these, it put me on edge.

. . .

I slid into a pair of grey jeans and pulled a plain black polo shirt over my head, set on looking at least mildly presentable, and finished packing my bag. I stuffed as much of the contents of my closet as I could into the duffel bag, despite the fact I could have easily walked back home had I needed more clothes, and filled the rest of the available space with an extras that I could find.

The house was quiet when I left, and I hadn't bothered to wake either of them up to tell them I was leaving. The anger I felt toward them had yet to subside. I couldn't even look at them without wanting to punch holes in the wall. Thankfully I had restrained myself from doing so; otherwise my head would have been put through one of those holes.

Traffic filled the streets as people rushed to drop their children off at school, to make it to work on time, and it seemed like no one was moving. The cars were backed up all the way to the intersection near the park, and judging by the amount of people laying on their horns, they weren't happy about that fact.

I cut through the stalled vehicles and walked along the sidewalk, heading across the bridge towards Bullworth Academy. As I neared the campus, I saw that a fight had broken out between several boys. A few of them wore white button downs while the others, who were taking the brunt of the beating, wore green sweater vests.

Perplexed by how they possessed the energy to fight so early in the morning, I paused beside a small group of students that had stopped to watch the fight. A few of them were complaining about how it was 'too early for all this bullshit,' a thought I shared, and I had gotten so caught up in watching the fight that I hadn't noticed someone standing right behind me, their chest pressed flush against my back.

"Things haven't changed, have they?" a voice said, and the contempt they felt was clear in their voice.

I turned around and was met with an unfortunately familiar face.

Gary stood a few inches away from me, grinning deviously in the morning light, though the smile hadn't quite reached his eyes. He donned the same uniform he had worn during his last year in Bullworth, but this time the teal sweater vest hung loosely on his frame. Gary looked thinner, and paler too, only adding to the contrast between his light skin and the dark scar that bisected his eyebrow.

I studied him for a long moment before cracking into a grin. "Who was crazy enough to let you back into Bullworth?"

"Dr. Eklund was convinced that I had made great progress during our therapy sessions, and that the medication had succeeded in calming my behavior," Gary said in an almost sing song voice.

"Or so you had them believe."

He grinned. "You'd think a man who had devoted years of his life to helping people like me would realize when a patient is lying. But no; he's just as stupid as the rest of them."

Gary clamped a hand on my shoulder and began leading me toward the front entrance of the school. The crowd had just begun to die down, as the prefects had managed to break up the fight and were now herding the students back onto school grounds.

Their attention had been diverted from the violence to Gary and I, who walked through the sea of students that parted ways for us, staring in disbelief at the scarred boy who walked alongside me.

He paid them no mind, or at least made no indication that he noticed we were being watched, and spoke to me.

"Who was crazy enough to let you into Bullworth?" Gary asked, repeating my question.

"Crabblesnitch. And he's putting me on lockdown," I sneered. I checked the time on my phone. "I've got a meeting with him in a few, actually."

"I'm sure you're thrilled about that," he said sarcastically. His eyes drifted toward the main building. "I'd love to stay and chat—really, I've missed you terribly—but I've got some people who I think would be delighted to see me."

I shook my head. "Causing trouble already?"

"Me? Now why in the world would I do that? I'm hurt," Gary said in mock offense. After a few seconds of holding the pained look, the expression melted away, leaving behind the familiar stoic face I had come to know.

"Try not to stir things up, alright?" I said. "I'll see you around, Gary."