The doctor was only in Tommy's room for a few minutes, and then he left. Once he was left alone to sit there on that hospital bed, Tommy had a lot to think about. The events of the past day were still a little fuzzy in his mind. But he was slowly piecing it together.

Flashback:

Tommy carefully placed the backpack which held the package down under a staircase by the Admin. Building. He began to walk back the way he came from. Heart pounding, he tried to seem casual as he surveyed his surroundings. So many people were around, it was such a shame. There really only was one target after all.

How had it all gotten to this? When had his life become so complicated? But then, hasn't it always been that way? These thoughts swirled around Tommy as he sat on a nearby bench. I might as well think this through, he thought, I'm in no rush.

I guess it goes all the way back to those days at 3rd grade, that's where it all started...

Even more flashback:

It had been almost three weeks since that day on the playground. And every day since then young Tommy looked foward to gym class. All day long he was picked on at school, but from 12 to 1, on every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday; he was ok. The new gym assistant, who insisted on being called Ms. Brianne, had quickly become his new favorite person at the school. On her first day, she had seen Bull push Tommy during a play basketball game. She imediently called him out on it and he sat the rest of the class on the bench. Ms. Brianne always was nice to Tommy; she gave him advice on his sports moves, let him be team captain for a few different games, and helped him gain confidence in himself.

Over the course of three weeks, gym had gone from his most hated class, to his most anticipated class. And it was all because of Ms. Brianne. Tommy felt like a million dollars every time he walked to the gym.

Of course that good feeling usually left at about 1:01 on his gym days. And Bull and Ace didn't just forget about him. In fact, they seemed to have made it their personal goal in life to torment him. Tommy was shoved against lockers, was locked in the janitor's closet, was "accidentally" tripped in the hallways, and was constantly being called names. Bull and Ace's pranks seemed to get worse and worse each day.

Tommy's thoughts were always hovering around this subject. But he was unsure of what to do about it. He told a few teachers, but they either ignored him or told him to just get over it. He was a little afraid that his parents would do the same, so he avoided telling them. And he had no friends to talk to about it at school.

Tommy walked down the halls one day on his way to his next class, alone as usual. There was no one who wanted to be his friend in school, or at least no one he could find. Suddenly Tommy stopped right in the middle od the hallway. Ms. Brianne is my friend, he thought, surely I could talk to her about it. Feeling reasured in this new thought, he impatiently waited through all of his classes until the school day was finally over.

As soon as his last class was dismissed, Tommy ran over to the gym. Running fast, he almost bumped straight into the gym coach as he was locking the gym's doors. Coming to an abrupt stop, Tommy panted, "Coach David... is Ms. Brianne still here?"

"She just walked out. Try the teachers' parking lot," the coach replied, pointing to his left.

"Thank you sir," Tommy quickly took off in that direction.

Scanning the parking lot as soon as he got there, Tommy almost instantly spotted his teacher. She was just opening the door to get into her car when Tommy ran up to her. "Ms. Brianne! I need to talk to you."

The gym assistant looked suprised to see him, "Tommy, what are you doing here? You're going to miss your bus."

"I walk home," the boy responded. He took his teacher's concern as a good sign that she might listen to him.

"What can I do for you?" Ms. Brianne turned to face him fully.

"I wanted to ask you about something," Tommy said, suddenly unsure of what he was going to ask.

"Well ask away," Tommy now had her full attention.

"It's about Bull and Ace, they've been really mean to me," Tommy started.

"Yes, I've seen how they've been treating you," Ms. Brianne nodded in sympathy.

"They always have treated me like that, and I really don't know why," Tommy explained, "And I don't know what to do about it. And I can't talk to anyone about it. I feel really alone." Getting the words out made Tommy's chest feel a little lighter.

"Tommy," Ms. Brianne took a deep breath and continued, "First off, being bullied is not your fault, I just want to point that out. You haven't done anything wrong. Bull and Ace are only doing this because they think people will respect them for it. They are wrong, Tommy."

Tommy looked reasured at hearing that.

Ms. Brianne continued to speak, "What to do about it is the hard part, Tommy. You can't force them to stop. What they do is their responsibility, how you respond is yours. Now this might sound a little strange, but this is my advice to you. Straight from the Bible (Matthew 5:44), "'Love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you.' What that means, is that you should not try to get even with them, but you should be nice to them."

Tommy looked confused.

Seeing his expression Ms. Brianne explained further, "Bullies try to get people to be insecure and angry. If you awnser them with kindness, they will get bored and leave you alone. Being nice to them will also make the bullies confused, and they usually won't want to pick on you anymore."

Tommy looked as if he was starting to understand the logic in that.

Encouraged, the gym assistent kept on talking, "And as for being alone, you can always talk to me. Praying to God can also help a lot. And... I know someone in your grade who I just met the other day. She is a new student here, just moved into the area, and I think she's having a little trouble making friends. Maybe I can introduce her to you tomorrow at gym?"

During the whole conversation Tommy had felt so much better. He had never felt like he had so many options before. He wasn't entirely sure of the teacher's advice, but he felt that he might as well try it. "Sure, that could be cool," Tommy replied to Ms. Brianne's offer, "I have to go now, I don't want to get home too late. Thank you so much."

"You're welcome, see you tomorrow," Ms. Brianne said with a smile.

"Bye!" Tommy waved as he ran excitedly away towards his house. For the first time in forever, he couldn't wait until tomorrow.