Chapter 43: School Bullies

"Don't you know anything about school bullies?" he demanded. "If you give them an inch, you end up giving them a mile."

He was probably right, but I had never had to stand up for myself like that before. I had avoided the bullies by walking around as if I was invisible. Now that I had put myself into the forefront, I had to confront things, and confronting things was not something that I was used to doing.

I saw DeMarcos a few more times, but he didn't try to talk to me. That was so crazy. He was going through all of this in order to prove that he was more than just a drug dealer, but he wasn't even giving me the time of day. What the hell was wrong with this picture? I wasn't some sixteen-year-old kid crushing after some boy. I had more important things to think about.

I did see something right before lunch that gave me pause. Cheryl and DeMarcos were arguing. I couldn't hear what she was saying, but she kept poking him in the chest and looked like she wanted to cry.