Alex's Audacious Stand

I was always a good student. I didn't mind the work, and I had a pretty good working knowledge of what I needed to know for my classes. However, if there was one thing I couldn't do, it's stand up for myself.

I'd say that's why Ms. Thomas picked on me in the first place: she picked me as her victim not because of my grades or anything like that, but because she could tell that I had no backbone. She knew that I wouldn't fight back and so she continued to bully me until it got to the point where I was at rock bottom.

That's probably why when she called on me in class that day, I froze up like an idiot instead of saying something back.

"Alex." Ms Thomas said, running a hand through her dark hair, "Can you read this paragraph?"

I looked down at my textbook and saw the words right below her long fingers. But I didn't say anything; instead, my cheeks flushed red and my heart started racing. If I opened my mouth, she would make fun of my voice... She would make fun of how short I am... And she would probably decide to make even more fun of me on Monday by telling all of our classmates everything...

"Alex," Ms. Thomas repeated, this time with a sharp edge to her voice that indicated that if I didn't answer soon, things might get bad for me, "Do you understand what this says?"

I still wasn't sure what to do; looking around the room at half-filled seats made me feel even worse than before. Everyone seemed to be staring at me expectantly, waiting for me to screw up so they could laugh along with Ms. Thomas... No... No! That wasn't true! They just wanted to move on with their day! They didn't want to be here in the first place! None of them wanted to be here! Well, except for maybe Mr. Gainsboro who had fallen asleep about five minutes into class... But he wasn't paying attention anyway! He wouldn't have laughed at me any more than anyone else!

Ms Thomas rolled her eyes before looking down at me. When our eyes met again, she narrowed hers and stuck out her tongue in a very childish way. Then she said something under her breath that only made my face heat up even more: "Loser."

A few seconds went by where everyone kept staring at me and I started thinking about how nice it would be if just for once I could stand up for myself and tell Ms Thomas off like she deserved... But then someone started laughing and soon after everyone else joined him in mocking me... Even Mr. Gainsboro woke up from his nap and laughed along with them while yawning loudly! The bell rang almost immediately after that and my classmates rushed out of the classroom without even sparing a glance toward me as they left... No one cared about me; no one liked me; no one liked anyone else either; we were all alone in this world except for each other enough said? Worst of all though was when Ms Thomas came over to the front of the classroom, looked down at where I sat, and said coolly: "See you Monday."