“Ayden, I’ve been thinking this since I adopted you. Um, I think it’s time for you to go to school,” said Luke after they woke up earlier than usual. “B-but dad, I just wanted to play with you, I already heard about school giving a lot of assignments,” Ayden replied.
“I understand, Ayden. But I promise you, this is a good private school. They have excellent teachers and great resources for you. Plus, I won’t let anyone bully you. Just report them to me, and I’ll take care of it,” Luke promised.
Ayden sceptical, “But what if I fail? What if I can’t keep up with the other kids? I mean, I’ve never been enrolled in school before, except for kindergarten.”
“Ayden, you are smart and capable. I know you’ll do well in school. And if you ever need help with anything regarding the assignments, I’ll hire tutors if you need them. I believe in you.” Luke smiled, convincing Ayden.
“I still don’t want it. If I go to school, then what will you do?” Ayden turned away from Luke.
“I’ll be okay Ayden. I’m gonna pursue my childhood hobbies which are playing the guitar.”
“What? I never seen you touch a guitar before.”
Luke replied “I do actually practised using them. But after I adopt you and came back to be a football player, I never got a chance anymore.”
Ayden agreed to enrol in the private school. In his head, he denies it, because he feels that he will be bullied at school. But after remembering that he’s practically “living in a stranger’s house”, he knew he had to obey Luke’s request.
“Good morning, class. I would like to introduce you to our new student, Ayden. He’ll be joining us today, and I hope that you’ll all make him feel welcome.” said Mr Alex, Ayden’s homeroom teacher.
The class greeted Ayden with a chorus of “Hi Ayden.” Ayden smiled, but not long after that, he also noticed that the students were “gossiping about him”. He began to feel awkward. “Are my outfits bad?” he thought to himself. He blushed over his shirt and trousers to clean dust from them.
The teacher showed him to his seat and gave him a tour of the classroom. The classroom vibes were good, but as they walk to the back section, it start to become like a different world. There were the backbenchers, who stare at him awkwardly.
Unfortunately, Ayden had to sit at the back of the class. The vibes are negative. He sits beside a small teen.
“Is this real?” said the teen.
“W-what? By the way, I’m Ayden, what’s your name?” Ayden offered his hands to shake hand to the teen.
“I’m Joey, but are you real? Are you the son of Luke? He’s my favourite player!” said Joey with his eyes blinking a lot.
“Um yeah, I was adopted from a street by him. Why are you looking at my eyes like that? I’m uncomfortable” replied Ayden.
The teen grabs his diary. “Here, give this to your dad, and ask him to sign his autograph on it. Say that I love him!”
“Okay,” Ayden said. He didn’t ensure why people see him as the “son of Luke”, instead of himself. But at first, he didn’t bother with it.
2 months later..
“Oh my god, this is so hard.” Luke slapped his own hands as he realized that his big hands were uncomfortable to use to press the strings in his guitar.
He decided to take a break. He sat beside one of the windows in his house, looking outside as rain hit the roof of his house, continuously making rain sounds.
The bell on his porch ring. He knew that it is Ayden, so he said “Come in, Ayden.”
“How’s the day?” Luke asked, not looking at Ayden. This time, Ayden didn’t answer. He goes straight into his room, not even putting off his backpack.
Instead of checking, Luke decide to ignore it. “Maybe he’s just too tired.”
Tears streamed down Ayden’s face, as he covered himself in a thick blanket in his room. He still remembers precisely what happened before.
He was rushing down the street as water began to pour from the sky. The usual school bus that he used isn’t been operating for some weeks now, because the school is in a tricky financial situation.
He heard a group of boys approaching him. “Hey, look who it is. Luke adopted a son. We want your money, as usual.”
Ayden frightened. In a situation like this, he can’t use his brain to think of any possibilities about “running away”. So, he decides to make a “careless” facial expression.
“Okay, okay. Here take my money.” Ayden picked up money from his wallet. He tries to “not look scared”.
The bullies snatch the money, and said: “Not enough, give us more, we knew you had more.”
Ayden brave face began to fade away. “Please, that’s all I have.” he beg. He just wants to go home now.
The bullies didn’t listen to Ayden’s pleas and began to rough him up. They grabbed his backpack and threw it to the ground, breaking his glasses in the process. Ayden fell to the ground, feeling helpless and scared.
“Please, leave me alone,” Ayden whispered. He started to taste blood in his mouth. He knew that he had a nosebleed, but he can’t move. He is in pain.
Ayden felt a sense of despair as he lay there, looking up at the sky, his glasses broken and his money gone. He felt like he had no one to turn to, and he was at the mercy of the bullies. He couldn’t understand why this was happening to him and why he had to go through this. He felt like the world was against him and he had nowhere to turn.
“Why me? Why does this always happen to me?” he said in his thought.
to be continued
All About Disil 
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