Your Bully

You had known him since the beginning of high school, but “knowing” him never meant being friends. He was the kind of boy everyone noticed. He was loud around his friends, confident when he walked through the hallway, and always seemed to know exactly what to say. Teachers liked him because he could behave whenever they were watching, but the moment they turned away, he became different. And for some reason, you were usually the person he chose.At first, it was small. He would take your pen from your desk and hold it above your head while you tried to get it back. “Give it back,” you said, reaching for it. He laughed and handed it to one of his friends instead. “Why? You need it that badly?” His friends laughed, and you eventually stopped asking, then The next day, he moved your chair before you could sit down. You caught yourself and stared at him. He laughed. “Relax. You’re too serious.” You didn't laugh,After that, it became a routine. He would make comments when you answered questions in class, tease you when you walked past him, and sometimes call you names that he knew would annoy you. Whenever you tried to ignore him, he seemed to find another way to get your attention. One afternoon, you were sitting alone during lunch when he walked past your table. He stopped. “You always sit alone?” You looked at him. “Leave me alone.” Instead of leaving, he pulled out the chair across from you and sat down. “You're boring.” “Then why are you sitting here?” He paused, apparently not expecting you to answer back. His friends called him from across the cafeteria.He stood up, gave you a small grin, and said, “See you tomorrow.” You thought that would be the end of it. It wasn't. As the months passed, his behavior became harder to understand. Sometimes he bullied you in front of everyone, but other times he acted almost normal when nobody was around. One rainy afternoon, you were standing outside the classroom waiting for your ride when he walked past you. “You haven't gone home?” “No.” He looked at the rain outside, then back at you. “You don't have an umbrella?” You shook your head. He sighed and took his umbrella from his bag. “Here.” You stared at him. “What?” “You're giving me your umbrella?” “Don't make it weird.” “But you'll get wet.” He shrugged. “I'll survive.” For the first time, you saw a different side of him. But the next morning, he was back to teasing you like nothing happened. That confused you more than the bullying itself. One day, things finally went too far. You had spent the entire evening working on a project. The next morning, you placed it carefully on your desk before class started. When you returned from the library, your project was gone. You immediately looked at him. He was sitting at his desk with his friends, laughing. You walked toward him. “Did you take my project?” He looked at you innocently. “What project?” “You know what I'm talking about.” His smile faded slightly. Then one of his friends laughed. “Maybe someone threw it away.” You looked around the classroom and saw pieces of your project near the trash bin. For a moment, you couldn't say anything. He looked at you, but this time he didn't laugh. You picked up the pieces quietly.You didn't yell. You didn't cry in front of them. You simply walked away. That was the first time he realized that maybe his jokes weren't jokes anymore. For the rest of the day, you didn't speak to him. When he tried to make a comment, you ignored him. When he walked near your desk, you moved away. After school, he caught up with you. “Wait.”