"Hey! Where're you goin'?"

"…" Spock kept walking, clutching his binder tightly to his chest with his head down.

"I said, Where're you going?!" A hand grabbed his shoulder which he promptly shook off.

"I don't want to talk to you." Spock kept going, almost there, just a few more blocks…

Middle school had been harder on Spock than Elementary, rather than just know in their minds that he was different, the kids in his class now felt the need to voice it. And they never let him forget it. Ever.

"Well, what if I wanna talk to you, huh?" He heard quickening footsteps behind him as the boys he had left behind with his panicked power walk began to catch up with him.

Of course he had expected it. As he saw it, Middle schooler's picking on him was as inevitable as the boys behind him catching up. And, of course, his logic never wavering, both came to pass.

"Hey, com'on bull cut, slow up a little," the boy pushed him from behind, but not hard enough to stumble.

The taunts were met with silence.

"Oh, I get it! Too good for us, huh?"

Spock kept a staring straight ahead.

"Its 'cause he thinks he's so smart, isn't it?" this was met with both murmurs of assent and the silence of a victim who has accepted his fate.

"It's because you're Asian isn't it? You all are just geniuses aren't you?" the bully's posse laughed raucously as the "punchline" hit.

Spock merely gritted his teeth with frustration and anxiety. He knew what was coming. It had been coming ever since the class' "Where are you from?" project.

"But you're only half Chinese though, aren't you?" he could hear snickering from farther behind him.

He was unable to understand how the boy's taunts were affecting him so. He already knew that they were being hypocritical, they had barely been able to trace their lineage back to their grandparents, whereas he had been able to create a complete family tree back to when his father's side of the family had immigrated to America. They were not only stupid, but also had less honorable lineage than himself.

Your mommy isn't Chinese, right?"

"…"

Here it came.

"No, what is she?" the boy exaggerated tapping his chin and looking up thoughtfully. The boys behind him laughed snickered at their leader's mockery. "Oh, thats it! She's pretty much ALL of Europe squashed together, isn't that right Mutt?"

He clenched his fists around his binder, his knuckles showing white. He pulled his dark blue jacket around him tighter, if only they would just leave me alone…

"You hear that? That's what you are. A M-U-T-T, mutt!"

He had just about had it with these jerks. One block, thats where they would leave him alone. Because thats where his best friend was waiting.

The boy's had now taken to pushing him lightly to try to get a reaction out of him, but he kept his face as blank as possible. One block, that was all! Spock, along with the bullies swarming around him, crossed a street to get to the curb on the next block.

All the kids in the fifth grade class either liked or respected Jim. Or in the case of many of the girls, "loved". He was good looking, athletic, and incredibly charming. He could play practically any sport and used his moments of triumph to flirt, casually winking or flashing a smile at one of the many girls who gathered to watch him play.

But Spock was not so lucky. Despite being best friends with the fifth grade hero, he was still ostracized, mocked and attacked when Jim wasn't around. And maybe that was the reason all of that happened to him. The other kids were jealous that they couldn't be best friends with their idol while they couldn't even fathom why this freak had become Jim's favorite.

Spock was startled from his thinking by a rougher shove from behind that landed him on the ground. He could hear raucous laughs from above and around him.

"Thats right, your nothing but a HALF-BREED!"

At this moment, something inside of Spock seemed to snap. For some reason, the word "half-breed" struck some chord in him that "mutt" had not and he was suddenly furious. Perhaps he had just lost it with the name calling and the bullying, but whatever it was, it had unleashed his inner beast.

With one swift motion Spock got to his feet and whirled around to face his assailants. They all gasped in mock horror and began laughing again.

"Ooh, is the little half breed gonna beat us up now? I'm sooooooo scared!"

Ignoring their comments, Spock cleared the space between him and the other boys and landed a heavy blow to the lead boy's jaw, catching him off guard and knocking him down. They were actually shocked now as they stared at an enraged Spock standing over their leader.

The boy sitting on the ground now stared at Spock with confusion which soon gave way to fury. He stood up quivering.

"You've got some guts, I'll give you that. But you'll never do that again." The boy swung at Spock, aiming for the nose.

In this moment, if Spock had been thinking clearly, he would have been very glad that his mother had forced him into tai kwon do lessons despite his peaceful nature. Because when the boy swung, Spock caught his fist inches before it made contact with his face.

Had Spock been thinking, he would probably have registered some pain from this maneuver. But all he could feel was the adrenaline coursing through his veins and the anger on his brain. Because of this, he twisted the boy's arm around and pinned it to his back, forcing him to the ground. He hit the boy repeatedly until the boy was curled into fetal position and whimpering softly. There was a bruise forming on the boy's cheek and a little blood coming from a spot on his face where he had scraped it into the sidewalk.

Spock turned, anticipating the boy's posse to try and protect their leader's honor and join the fight. However he expected too much from them and watched them stare at him with wide eyes and slowly back away. As he tried to slow his heart rate, he watched them pick their friend up and escape, all the while watching him intently like he was a monster waiting for the right time to strike.

He glared after them until they were out of sight. Then, he took a deep breath, picked up his binder and brushing himself off. He noticed that his jacket had gotten wet and he quickly tried to dry it so that when he got home his mother wouldn't ask. He didn't want to arouse suspicion and she was a very perceptive parent. Spock tried once more to compose himself and turned around to see a shorter boy with bright blue eyes and light brown hair staring back at him.

The two stared at each other for a moment. Spock had forgotten that he was going to meet his friend so that the two could walk home together. He glanced up at the street sign above his head. The intersection of Enterprise Court and Vulcan Street. How could he have been so stupid? Jim would probably hate him for beating up one of his friends. He looked back at the boy in front of him who looked as if he were about to speak, but couldn't form his words correctly. Spock looked at the pavement at his feet.

"I…I'm sorry…"

Jim stared at his friend, his eyebrow raised in disbelief. "YOU?! SORRY?! What are YOU sorry for?!"

Spock looked up at his friend with shock.

"I… well… I beat up your friend… you know, back there? You saw that, didn't you?"

"Yeah you did! Geez, I didn't know how much of a jerk that guy was! You think you know a guy and then, boom!" he motioned towards Spock. "he does this to you!"

Spock looked down at himself where Jim had supposedly motioned. "Did what to who? I don't think I understand what you mean?"

"I mean, beating up my best friend? Who does that and still tries to call me his friend?" He laughed a little with disgust and then looked at his friend who still looked confused. "Wait, did you think I'd be mad?"

The dark haired boy stared at the boy in front of him with his brow furrowed and his mouth slightly open. It was his turn to be speechless. He closed his mouth quickly as no words came to mind.

Jim threw his hands in the air and let them drop at his sides heavily. "Oh my gosh, Spock! You know me better than this, why on Earth would I be mad at you!?"

"I… I'm sorry?" Spock replied, still not quite understanding what his friend meant.

Jim sighed and shook his head. He grabbed the shoulders of his best friend and shook him. "Come on, Spock! You. Are my best friend. That jerk. Is not. Unless you do something like that guy, which I don't think you ever could, you are going to stay my best friend. Don't worry so much, okay?"

Spock cracked a little smile and nodded, thinking he may understand now what it meant to be Jim Kirk's best friend.

"So you get it then? Fantastic. Now lets go to my house today, after we finish homework I want to keep working on your basketball skills. When we get to high school you gotta make the team with me, right?" Jim slapped his friend on the back and started walking.

Spock grinned and followed behind him. "Yeah, I guess that would be fun."

Best friends. He could get used to that.