Unlucky Day
*KAPPOCH-POW*
A sound can be heard from an alley, and it was...
"Ouch...! Wait, stop—I'm sorry... please don't hit me again, man...!"
Hey there! My name is Jeff—and currently I'm on the ground kind of hurting because I just got hit by someone, like, really hard... by this guy—and he was your typical bully. His name is...
"Oi... why don't you make this easy for yourself—just hand over your wallet."
Putting his hand on my shirt's collar, he lifted me up. Well what can I say he can do crazy stuff—his strength is no joke... And yeah... This guy is Billy, and he is your big bad bully... I mean, this isn't the first time he did this to someone. Seeing how confident he is, he probably did this many times to other poor souls—and I was one of them...
"A—alright, man...! I'm sorry, please—just don't hit me again, it hurts...! Ahh...! Here it is—my wallet...!"
As I said that shakily... I then handed him my wallet as I rummaged through my pants pocket to get him what he wanted... This guy hit hella hard—and he also had his goons behind him, which made things even scarier and more dangerous for me...! Like I can't even do anything to Billy here... His goons, Goon 1 and Goon 2—Bryan and Krooke—were big too, like Billy...
"Humph... Took you long enough."
Taking the wallet—he then let go of his collar, and Jeff fell on his backside...
"UMPPghh…!"
Seriously... this crazy guy—like bullying people this early morning already... I mean, I'm just going to school like usual, but somehow, these guys decided to camp out here to jump on unsuspecting people—that's some dedication worth praising. I even went through this path every day to school, and on the way back from school now I have to find another path...
"Hah? You can't be serious..."
"Huh, what is it, sir...?"
I gulped—Billy suddenly spoke as he finished rummaging through my wallet... He got what he wanted already, right? So why does he look so pissed again now? Oh, come on...
"You... you don't even have money in your wallet."
Ehhhh... Seriously? I swear there was, like, three to five bucks still in there...
"Huh...? What do you mean? There was money in there."
"...Yeah, you do, but... you're this broke...? I mean, this is just pitiful—and I'm kind of upset too... You made me go through all that trouble—just for you to present me an empty wallet?"
... It's not even that empty... And are you being serious right now...? I didn't even expect to be in this situation, nor did I want to experience it—and here you are, expecting me to have money...? Do I look rich to you...?
Though it's only his thought—not something he said out loud...
"Uhhh... Billy... sir, I'm sorry for not having money... It's just that—I'm broke now... So please have mercy on me…!"
I said that as I clasped my hands together as if praying and hoping Billy would forgive me... which was foolish because that obviously didn't work...
"Nah, Bryan and Krooke, hold him upright."
"Yessir...!" they said in unison!
...! My head was ringing, warning me that if I didn't do anything right now—like run... I'm going to be dead! Not literally though, but still—dead! And then, with no hesitation, I took my backpack (which was beside me), turned around, and immediately sprinted away, leaving those bullies back there...!
"...! HEY! GET HIM...!"
I ran as fast as I could—without looking back... because that's not something you should do in this kind of situation...! I knew the way around here; I was going to be fine...! Turning left and right, without looking back, I kept on going... until, finally, tiredness caught up to me—so I decided to hide in an alley, and that too, only after checking the bullies' whereabouts—the coast was clear...!
"...Oh... my... god... Crazy... I ran like crazy..." he said, huffing—clearly out of breath.
I gathered myself… feeling so exhausted from running for, like, forever... I leaned my back on a wall… as I tried to relax myself... Uh-oh… What am I going to do now...? If I meet them again... in school or anywhere else... am I not—screwed then...? They're not going to remember my face, right...? Was my face that easy to forget—they can't be remembering this kind of face… Ugh... so lame—I can't believe it...
Still huffing, he then said to himself,
"...Hah... man... that was crazy. When was the last time I ran like crazy...? Like a month ago when a bulldog chased me...? Yeah—that was horrifying..."
Bringing a hand to his left cheek, which looked pretty red—it was the spot Billy had struck back then. It didn't look that bad, but still...
...As I mind my own business... Suddenly, a sound—footsteps... I don't hear anything?! Why are there footsteps?! Oh no...! I don't feel so good… It can't be them, right...? Uh-oh...
"Oh no... C'mon, why are you guys so persistent?!"
Panicking, I then surveyed the alley again and found a trash can I could hide behind. Like—there was nothing else to hide behind, and I really didn't want to go inside the trash can...! I'm not that desperate—like, c'mon...! Whatever...
And so, I hid behind the trash can, gulping to myself, eyes locked on the alley entrance as a shadow came into view and the sound of footsteps grew closer... and then...
The culprit behind the footsteps... It was—
"...Huh... wait, isn't that... Sarah?"
There I was, behind the trash can... finally able to see the source of the footsteps. It wasn't the bullies from earlier—it was actually a girl. A girl I knew from when I was little. It was Sarah. She also goes to the same school as I do, but we're not close anymore... not like when we were kids.
There I saw her—a girl with light pinkish hair and lovely amber eyes. She's cute. I mean, obviously she's cute...
And then, she stopped right at the alley entrance. What made it worse? She was looking straight at me. Me. The guy hiding behind a trash can! Gahhh—how humiliating!
And then... she spoke.
"...Uhm, hello? Why are you hiding behind a trash can...?"
Oh... she called out to me with her sweet voice.
"...Uhmm, nothing... I—I just felt like hiding behind a trash can today...? Oh yeah, that's right...!"
"....."
"....."
Silence.
... Okay, that was awkward. That excuse was literally the worst I could think of. Like... man, forget it. I just hope she goes away already—please... this is so embarrassing... T-T...
"...Uhmm... okay...?"
And after saying that, she—wearing a confused expression, resumed walking—probably heading to school.
And me? I was still hiding behind the trash can.
Amazing...!
But after a few moments, I decided it was finally time...
"...She was gone. Finally. Man... that was something. That was freaking horrible—like, crazy…! T-T..."
Feeling like that, I then stepped out of the alley and decided to look around once again to see if the bullies were still nearby. And how glad I was...! They were nowhere to be seen. I resumed walking to school.
Well, what a morning this was—meeting those bullies, running away, hiding in an alley, and then suddenly bumping into a childhood friend from back then...? Even though I was the only one who actually saw her fully... like, c'mon—what a morning!
But just as I was walking, I felt a pressure on my shoulder—and that stopped me in my tracks. I slowly turned my head... and there I saw Billy.
.
.
.
.
"...Ugh... what... huh... what happened...? Uh—ouchii...? What happened to me...?"
... My head was fuzzy. I don't remember much of what happened...? I remember seeing Billy again... and that was it. Everything after that is blurry. And my body hurts... oh... I probably got beat up...
"...Are they serious...? Did they beat me up until I fainted...? They can't be serious..."
I was now lying on a few bags of trash in an alley that was kind of dark, since the buildings here were pretty tall. Judging by the sun's position... it was probably past morning already. Which means I missed school.
"...Just why, man...? I... jeez..."
I gave up finishing my sentence and instead laid my head on the trash bags behind me—not caring if they were dirty or not—then looked up at the sky. And I thought... It was beautiful...
.
.
.
.
... Opening the door to my apartment, I was met with darkness. After placing my shoes in their usual spot, I turned on the light switch—and just like that, the dark apartment was no more.
The place was kind of messy, I guess… And since I've been living alone, I just left it as is.
After putting my backpack down, I gathered myself and got ready to shower. I tossed my dirty, slightly frayed school uniform into the laundry and headed straight to the bathroom.
... The bathroom ceiling looked the same as always, I thought to myself. With my head resting on the front edge of the bathtub, I stayed there for a long time.
After what felt like an eternity, I finally decided to get out and finish showering. Then, I dressed casually and headed to the kitchen to find something to eat.
And yup—instant noodles! Yippee. Eating that yummyinstant noodle... I then called it a day and went for a nappy-nappy.
"...What a day..."
... This time too, I gazed at the ceiling of my bedroom as I lay on my bed. Countless thoughts were running through my head... Most of them were trivial and unimportant—but not all of them.
I closed my eyes, trying to brush it off like I normally do... but it hurt.
"...F—! Why did that have to happen to me...?"
And thus, Jeff closed his eyes and, slowly but surely, began falling into slumber—though troubled thoughts still ran through his head...