One Week Later...

This was it-Chase's first day back at school since the attempt.

Was he nervous? Yes. Very. But his siblings, and Myra had encouraged him and told him they would be right there by his side.

As he walked into the school building, everybody turned to face him. They all had mixed emotions, and Chase couldn't tell how they felt when they saw him. He knew why everyone was looking at him, but he wasn't sure how they found out.

"Chase?" He turned to face Bree. "It's almost time for class. We'll see you when it's over."

"O-okay."

"It'll be okay Chase." Leo patted him on the back. "We'll be outside the door waiting for you to come out."

"Okay... Thanks guys."

"No problem little brother." Adam smiled and Chase rolled his eyes before laughing.

"I'll see you in a little while Chase." Myra gave him a quick hug before walking away to her class.

Chase head off to his class, avoiding eye contact with everyone. But he soon had to make eye contact with Truman and Arsen.

"Hey shortie! We heard what happened." Arsen said.

"Yep. Hopefully you will try once again and be successful this time. " Truman pushed him back, but Chase caught himself before he could fall.

"Oh, has little Chase Dorkenport gotten stronger now? Whatever. I'll let Trent take care of you. Hey, Trent, come here!"

Trent turned his head from his locker and hesitantly walked towards the three. He shot a glance at Chase before looking to his two "friends".

"Hey Trent, why don't you take care of this nerd here?" Truman said as he pushed Chase again.

"Guys, why don't you j-just lay off him for a while."

"What? You're not gonna take care of him? Oh well, your loss." Arsen punched Chase in the stomache, sending him to the ground.

"Hey, I said lay off him! " Trent yelled, which surprised everyone, including himself.

"Are you serious right now, Trent? What's gotten into you? Oh well, nobody needs you anyway. Come on, Arsen. Let's get the no life by ourselves." Truman used enough force to kick Chase, who was on the ground, into the wall. He groaned.

Trent didn't scream at him this time. Instead, he hit him right in the nose.

"What the heck, dude?!" Truman said holding his bleeding nose. Arsen jumped at Trent but received a bloody nose, just like his friend.

"W-we don't care! We'll get you later, losers!" Truman yelled as he and Arsen scrambled off.

"Ha, yeah right." Trent said under his breath. He went up to Chase and helped him up.

"W-wow. Thanks Trent... " Chase said.

"No problem, Chase." He was about to say something else until the bell rang for class.

"Well, it's time to go. Thanks again." Chase shot Trent a grateful smile before walking to math class.

Chase sat down and was visibly nervous. He would get teased by his classmates ever since that incident with the digits if pi. He ignored the stares and listened to the teacher.

"Okay class, today we're going to have a pop quiz on pi!" She got plenty of groans in reply.

"We're going to review first. Let's play that game again, where we see who can name the most digits of pi." Instead of even more groans, everyone looked at Chase. He shifted in his seat and looked down at the ground.

"Chase should do it. We all know he's going to win anyway."

"Yeah, he can do it, he's smart."

"Yeah we'll take notes. Just don't make us play that game..." There were several 'Yeahs' and some people just stayed silent.

Chase was surprised that there were no insults from his classmates, and someone had even called him smart. The truth was everyone kind of felt different after Chase's attempt. They silently agreed to just stop. They also didn't want to try to list digits of pi, but that's not the point. Chase's thoughts were interrupted when the teacher said his name.

"So, Chase? Would you like to list as many digits of pi that you can? In five minutes." She quickly added.

He looked around at his classmates who were giving him pleading looks, and had their notebooks in front of them and pencils in their hand.

"O-okay. Sure." Chase started to list the digits of pi, and enjoyed doing something he was good at without getting judged.

Chase stood outside of his classroom door, waiting for his siblings and Myra to come to meet him. School was over, and nobody in his classes had actually teased him. The best was science class, which he had just got out of. He smiled at the thought.

"Class, we're going to watch another video today. It's called 'Science Style.' I bet you'll enjoy it."

Chase loved it. But his eye caught his classmates handing a paper around and writing something. They didn't give it to him this time, they gave it to the teacher. She wrote something on it too and handed it to Chase. He opened up the folded paper and smiled at what he saw.

His name was in the middle of the paper, and around it were words.

Smart

Nice

Helpful

Polite

Kind

Chase stared at the paper and read it over and over again until the bell rang.

It was probably the teacher's idea, but still. It made him feel real happiness.

But all of his happiness drained away when he saw Truman and Arsen.

"Told ya we'd get you later. Come on Arsen, let's shove him in the locker!" Truman kicked Chase in the stomache and he landed on the ground. He was about to grab him to shove him in the locker, but someone tapped him on the shoulder. He turned around and got a punch to his eye.

"Leave him alone!" It was Adam, along with Bree and Leo.

"Why don't you make us! " Arsen smirked.

"Oh, I will." Adam pinned Arsen on the lockers, and it was his turn to smirk when he struggled to get free.

"Stop messing with our brother or Adam here is going to give you what you deserve!" Leo yelled.

"Why don't you learn how to stop hurting people. " Bree said through clenched teeth.

"Yeah, you jerks!" Now Adam had Truman in one hand and Arsen in the other. He was holding them by their shirt collar and they were lifted off the ground, much like Trent back in the hospital.

"But he's a-

Adam threw Truman onto the ground with force, and used his now free hand to punch Arsen in the nose.

"Don't say it! He's my little brother and I'm glad I have him."

"Yeah, leave him alone, he never did anything to you!" Myra shouted from the stairs.

"She's right, so stop messing with him. " Leo said.

"You guys need to stop, it's not just a joke anymore." It was Trent, who had come around the corner and heard the commotion. This came as a shock to everyone.

"Really, Trent? I thought you were cool." Truman said.

"But this isn't cool anymore! It never was cool!"

"Shut up Trent. Chase is-"

"Just leave me be." Chase said sternly. He stood up and continued.

"How do I affect you at all? Okay, I'm short, I don't have the same style as everyone else, I'm a 'nerd' to you, but how does that affect you? It doesn't. You don't have to make up insults and beat me up everytime you see me."

They all smiled at him. He finally stood up for himself, and they were proud. He was proud of himself too.

"If you ever try to hurt my brother again, I'm going to give you the worst I got!" Adam dropped Arsen on the ground. The two scrambled away, holding their (again) bleeding noses much like they did earlier in the day.

"That was amazing!" Leo cheered. "We finally showed them who's boss."

"Are you okay Chase?" Myra ran up next to him.

"Yeah. Thanks guys. That really means a lot to me."

"No problem Chasey." Adam set his arm on Chase's head, and they both chuckled.

"We should all go out for ice cream and celebrate!" Bree exclaimed.

"Woo-hoo!" Everyone was talking about what flavor they were going to get until Chase said something unexpected.

"Where's Trent?"

Chase felt that he owed him one. He had stood up for him twice today. And he was also thinking he forgive him. He wasn't such a bad guy. His apology meant a lot, even if it didn't seem like it. Not everyone could be brave enough to do what he did.

"I'm right here." Trent came out of the cafeteria.

"Hey, Trent. I just wanted to say thanks. For standing up for me."

"It's no problem. And... Sorry again for bullying you."

"It's okay. I forgive you."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

Bree pat Trent on the back. "Yeah, it's okay. You did stand up for Chase back there."

"And apologizing means a lot." Leo added.

"Yeah. And I'm sorry for almost punching you in the face at the hospital... "

Trent lightly laughed. "It's okay Adam. I would have been mad too."

There was a moment of silence until Myra said something. "So... Should we go get some ice cream?"

"Yeah!"

They all ran out the door, all of them happy.

Chase was in his room. He lay down on the bed and reflected back on the day.

It had been one of the best days ever. He enjoyed school for the first time in a while. His family had shown their appreciation and love for him. He made a new friend. His scars were starting to fade, emotionally and physically. He was happy.

Chase had let himself shed a few tears. Tears of joy.

End.

So that's a wrap! I had so much fun writing this story. A huge thank you to all the reviewers. Thank you for the motivation you gave me. It means a lot.

I hope you enjoyed this story! :)