MY SCHOOL BULLY FINDS ME TASTY

"I know it's tough not having parents." The event coordinator said. 

They were sitting in this tent. 

"Y'know," The man said, "I grew up with a single mom. Was a little bit of a trouble maker myself, if y'know what I'm saying. I was poor, considered myself 'from the hood' of Brooklyn, if that makes sense. I thought it was cool shizz to act tough."

The event coordinator's name was Dom, short for Dominique. He had this curly hair that looked like you could tangle a toy train in. And a pearly white smile that looked brighter than Steven's future. 

"I don't want you to follow that path." The guy said, ruffling Steven's hair, "Now, I'm not going to call the police on you cause I don't want that on your permanent record."

"But…" Steven said, "I really didn't burn her. She was burning this other kid, and I stepped in to stop them, I swear."

The man sighed. "Alright, I'll hear you out. I don't want to be one of those adults that only listens to one side."

Steven explained the story from the start. He wasn't sure if it was even believable or not. Heck, it didn't even sound believable to him. But then, his contacts started buzzing—

"Hi." A pop-up appeared. It really wasn't the time, but when Steven looked, he recognized the familiar paper-icon. It was Dieze. 

"Need help?" Another pop-up quickly followed, "I recorded the entire thing."

Dieze recorded the entire thing on his contacts? Wait, that's it.

He could show the video. Then everyone would know what actually happened. Oh, Dieze was a lifesaver. Maybe having it around wasn't so bad after all. 

"Yes!" Steven said, slamming his hands on the table.

"Yes?" Dom asked, confused.

"Wait," Steven said, pulling out his phone. "Look, I-I have these contacts and they recorded the entire thing. I can send the video to my phone."

He pulled up the video on his phone, which they watched together. 

For a moment, Dom was silent. 

"Is… is this what really happened?" The poor dude looked shocked. 

"Yes, I'm telling you."

"Then we need to find Ashley. Now."

The two of them rushed out of his tent. There, Steven saw Oscar and Shreya, laughing and having fun like nothing had happened. He knew it wasn't the time but he still approached them. 

"Oscar. Shreya." Steven called out their names, trying to keep his voice steady.

"Hey… Steven."

"How could you guys not help me earlier?" Steven demanded. 

"Steven, w-we just didn't know when to step in." Oscar said, shuffling his feet. 

"That's a load of bull and you know it." 

"Well, you've always disliked Ashley," Shreya shrugged, "and she had like a couple burn marks on her arms."

"Ashley? Ashley Lang?" Steven's disbelief got stuck in his throat, "You guys seriously trust her over me?"

Oscar was the first to speak. 

"You've kind of been a debbie-downer lately. And you always free-load offa us, but you couldn't even wait in line to get snacks for us."

Steven stared. He didn't have parents. He had to pay rent. But never once had he used that as an excuse to why he couldn't do this or that. 

"Is this what it's about? The snacks?" He finally asked.

"Steven, you're being totally irrational, right now." Shreya muttered. "I didn't want to get involved cause I have a dance later, that's why. I'm sorry, okay? There."

This was too much to take in. 

"Look, this isn't the time," Steven held his head. "Do you guys know where Ashley is?" 

"Why?"

He showed them the video.

"Oh, so you were innocent!" Shreya said, sounding surprised.

"WHY ARE YOU SURPRISED?!" Steven said calmly.

"I think I saw her near the lake?" Shreya pointed.

Steven rushed there, his thoughts tangled. 

Did his friends really think of him this way? I mean, it wasn't surprising. He had transferred into this middle school in eighth grade, when everyone already had friends. Those two were the only ones that talked to him. But still.

As he walked to the lake, he noticed a bunch of unconscious bodies sprawled on the ground. There was Mrs. Phalla. Steven stepped over her, his foot pulling her hair off—oh, it was a wig. And there was Dom, unresponsive. The man was laying on the ground, next to… 

"ASHLEY!" He shouted, noticing her standing next to the rails by the lake. Her long, black hair fluttered in the wind, making her look like a japanese ghost. 

"Ah, there you are." Ashley looked at him, her eyes glowing in the dark. "The fireworks are about to start."

"Stop this!" Steven shouted, stepping forward. 

"Ah-no-no-no." Ashley said. "Why would I do that?"

"Everything is just going perfectly swell!" She laughed maniacally. "I've managed to make all the adults fall asleep and no one suspects a thing!" 

Next to her, her brother kneeled on the ground, trying to draw an elephant using blue chalk.

"KEVIN!" Ashley screamed, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING!"

"Stop getting distracted!" She stomped over, kicking the chalk out of her brother's hand, before looking sweetly at Steven. "Steven, Steven, Steven!"

"If you weren't always getting in my way, I might've liked you." She said, "Cause you do look so tasty!"

"Wait, do I?" Steven asked.

"Yes," Ashley said, twirling her hair. "Such a shame, really."

"How am I always getting in your way though?"

"Remember the time you spilled coffee on my spell book during chemistry? That book was ancient, practically irreplaceable, and the perfect channel for summoning the spirit I needed." 

"Accidentally," Steven muttered. 

"Then," Ashley continued, "There was the time you set off the fire alarm while I was in the middle of something!" 

"Cause you were trying to start a fire?" Steven protested. 

"Not the point!" Ashley snapped. "The entire school evacuated, ruining the alignment of the celestial bodies I had painstakingly calculated!"

"—And let's not forget the time you found those 'stray' cats and decided to 'rescue' them. Those were not ordinary cats. They were my family!"

"Family?" 

"Blah, familiars!" 

"You kept them locked in a cage in the hallway… How was I supposed to know they were yours!" 

"Ah, you stupid fool!" Ashley shouted, the lake's water rising behind her. 

"This stupid fool has made a fool out of you, Ashley," Steven retorted. "By your own words, multiple times."

"You're insufferable!" 

"Thanks."

"Ugh, I just can't wait to see you scream in pain," Ashley snarled, looking at Steven. "But first…" 

She took out a bunch of wallets from her coat pocket like "a-ha!"

Steven's day had really taken a weird turn. First, he'd been framed by Ashley and her towering, not-so-bright brother, Kevin. Now, he was staring at Ashley as she gleefully waved a bunch of stolen wallets in the air like some sort of discount magician.

"Really, Ashley? Stealing wallets? What's next, lunch money?" Steven rolled his eyes.

Ashley's smirk widened. "Oh, you have no idea. With these," she shook the wallets, "I'll turn the whole park into my personal fan club."

Steven recalled the fireworks and stuff from earlier. 

Steven blinked. "By… turning their wallets into firework explosions? That's your grand evil plan?"

"Creative as always, ain't you Steven?" Ashley cackled, sounding like she'd watched one too many villain tutorials online. "No, I'll transform them into my loyal slaves by… agh, no use telling you now!"

Steven had to admit, her dedication to the whole evil overlord aesthetic was kind of impressive. In a terrifying, needs-a-hobby sort of way.

The next thing he knew, Ashley started her weird wallet-tossing ritual in the public park's bathroom, which she'd somehow turned into this witchy, horror-flick thing. Kevin blocked the door, ready to squash Steven like a bug.

But Steven had a trick up his sleeve. "You know, Kevin, real warriors fight with their brains. Ever tried hopscotch?"

Kevin, bless his simple heart, nodded eagerly. "Hopscotch? I'm great at that!"

"Then, give me your chalk!"

Steven quickly drew a hopscotch grid on the ground. He admired his masterpiece. Messy, sure, but it was long.

"Here."

While Kevin hopped outside like it was the championship round, Steven bolted into the bathroom. The scene inside was straight out of a movie—candles, a makeshift altar, and Ashley, about to toss the wallets into a sink. Because, as she put it, "Who throws wallets into toilets? Yuck."

Steven couldn't help himself. "Planning to wash away their sins?"

Ashley, floating in the air with that spooky red pentagon thing glowing beneath her, didn't appreciate the humor. "Just you wait, Steven. Once I drop these—"

"Your wallet included?" Steven interrupted, holding up Ashley's pink-patterned wallet he'd snagged from her coat. It had this LV symbol which Steven thought stood for 'low value'. 

Ashley's eyes went wide as Steven chucked it into the sink. The magic circle fizzled out, the floating stopped, and the whole bathroom returned to its regular, less-creepy self.

"Oh, you did not just do that," Ashley fumed, plummeting back to the ground. 

She pulled out her wallet, sighing in relief. Then, with a flick of her wrist, her bracelet morphed into a whip that seemed to crackle with dark energy.

"Whips are bad." Steven said, ducking into one of the bathroom stalls. With a quick flick of the wrist, he locked the door. 

Ashley laughed her signature laugh, destroying the poor, public-bathroom door like it was made of cheap wood. She slashed her whip ahead again like an electric jumper cable and Steven quickly ducked and crawled under the small gap between the bathroom stalls. Behind him, the stalls and toilets began to explode as they were cut in half.

Running out of the bathroom, he looked back at Ashley. She menacingly stomped out, giggling.

There was no more place for him to run.

Steven slowly backed away, feeling the pebbles behind his shoe. In the corner of his eyes, he saw Kevin immersed in hopscotch. 

"Steven, bad boys like you… deserve-"

"KEVIN!" Steven yelled, hiding behind the guy. "Save me from your sister please. You win hopscotch!"

Keven Lang was in the middle of his game when he was almost tripped up by a boy hiding up behind him. He looked to see Steven, and his brain began to process the words, "I win?"

"Yes!" Steven said. 

Kevin's eyes darted to Ashely. "Sister, do we have to hurt this boy?"

"KEVIN! What are you doing!" Ashley screamed. "Ah, no matter! NO ONE gets in my way. NOT EVEN YOU, KEVIN!"

She began to whip ahead, her weapon slicing forward. Surprising, Kevin stood there, getting whipped by the dark energy, wincing, and protecting Steven. 

"You!" Ashley screeched, whipping her whip one last time and causing Kevin to collapse.

"How could you do that to your own brother?!" Steven shouted, seething. 

"He was in the way." She shrugged, "But don't worry, the pain he felt. I'll return it to you a thousand times!"

Ashley thrusted her whip at him, the pain sticking in like hot coals sears into his flesh. SLASH!—WICK!—CRACK! 

Each hit stung. Finally Steven didn't know why, but he felt the same energy he did earlier while fighting Kevin. It was like a bucket of ice water, and he ran up, somehow dodging the whips. Her whip came curling right around his head, and this time, he caught it.

"Y-You!" Ashley glared, struggling to free the whip from his grasp. 

Feeling the pain burning into the palm of his hand, Steven pulled the whip and ripped it out of Ashley's hand. But it was all too much. The adrenaline was dying off and he was starting to feel the throbbing kick in. He fell down to his knees, the whip in hand.

Aw, shucks.