So, why am I here, gunned down by policemen in the middle of the street of Old Town Lewisville? As they carried my bleeding corpse away, the town sheriff, or that wanna-be-famous news reporter, would tell you that I was a thug, who got what he asked for. Yes, I was a criminal. I’ve made decisions that cost other people’s lives, and my own. But, what you probably don’t realize is that I never wanted this. What really happened is that I was lost, desperate, and confused. In order for you to understand, I will take you back a few years and tell you my story, but you already know that it will not have an happy ending.
My name is Carlos Aguilar- or was. I was leaving my house, ready for the third year of high school, while my father smoked heavily on the porch of the backyard. I never bothered to tell him when I was leaving for school, since he didn’t care about what I do. In fact, he never cared for me at all. The clouds blocked the sunlight as I dragged myself to the bus stop. I dreaded the idea of going back to school as the summer ended. I didn’t like the people from school. I’d rather stay home for the rest of my life instead of dealing with other obnoxious students.
I kept my head down as the bus screeched to a stop in front of me. As I got in the bus, the people, who were already inside looked at me disgustedly, as if I invaded their privacy. I sat down in a seat all by myself as they started whispering to each other. They’re probably saying, “That queer is such a loser, always sitting by himself. Why does he bother going to school?” or “Why won’t that emo kid just kill himself, already?” Obviously, everyone hated me. But it’s not my fault that society is screwed up enough to discriminate against a depressed and awkward teenager, like me.
I could hear them talking and mentioning my name, giggling. I assumed they were joking about me. I’ve been dealing with this as long as I can remember. I don’t even know how this all started. It was just a part of my daily life, enduring pain while I get picked on by people who are better than me. But this was the day that everything changed for me.
After a long, complicated school day, I decided to walk home instead of taking the bus. The clouds still blocked the sun when I got out; it has always been like that. As soon as I walked off of the school campus, my mood began to lift. Even though I’m going home to a loveless, neglectful father, I dreaded every moment I spent in that school, and I wanted to go home so badly.
But then, there was this booming voice behind me, “Hey, loser!” It was Michael, the bully who torments me the most, and is also the cruelest. He was large and pale white, and wore a nose ring. “Come over here!” he calls out to me with a big smirk, “Did you make any new friends, today?”
Knowing that it was a rhetoric question, I just mumbled, “Please leave me alone.” That was a mistake.
“Don’t you tell me what to do!” Michael yells as he suddenly turned violent, smacking me on the side of the head, “Only I tell you what to do, you little twerp!” He continued to smack my head. I tried to turn and walk away, but he grabbed me by the collar of my black shirt and pulled me close to him. “You know, I’m real surprised that you’re still here. Just go die, already. No one cares about you, not even your dad!” Then he shoved me to the hard pavement of the sidewalk, hurting my back. I faced my head to the ground, trying to hide my tears, as Michael stood over me and yells, “You have no purpose in life! No one wants to deal with you! Just do the world a favor and-”
“Hey!” Someone shouted behind Michael, interrupting his torment. I looked up as Michael spun around to see who it was.
A guy, whose name I didn’t know at the time, but did recognize him, walked up to Michael with a serious look on his face. I usually don’t pay attention to gossip or rumors, but I heard that he skipped school most of the time and gave bad attitude towards authorities. I heard that he got arrested for a reason I don’t know. The guy looked about the same age as me, but wasn’t quite as large as Michael. He’s Hispanic, and had a shaved head, but had facial hair. He wore a white t-shirt with ripped up jeans, and wore a tattoo on his right arm, but I couldn’t read; he was moving too fast.
My guardian angel got up close to Michael and threatened, “Leave him alone, man.” I thought he was a fool for standing up to a guy like Michael, but after seeing what happened next, I didn’t think of him as a fool after all.
“Or what, loser?” Michael retaliated, “You gonna-” He got interrupted again as the guy headbutted Michael in the jaw, stunning him, and rammed his fist into Michael’s stomach.
Michael growled as he swung his arm at the guy’s head, but he ducked and punches Michael in the groin, then uppercuts him in the face. He groaned loudly in pain, covering his face. He was stumbling in that moment, leaving my savior an opportunity to kick him under his feet and Michael dropped to the ground hard, right in front of me. I watched in awe as my torturer was getting beat by a person who I didn’t even know well. It was so exciting; I couldn’t help myself but smile.
My savior waved his finger at Michael, who laid on the ground in horror, and said in a threatening tone, “This wasn’t even a beatdown by my standards. If you ever mess with anyone else again, I will give you a real beatdown! Do you hear me?” Michael, who wasn’t so intimidating anymore, nodded his head. “Good.” He muttered, and takes off, not even giving me a chance to thank him for what he’s done for me. Michael slumped back on the ground, passing out. He probably ruined his pants, because I could smell it.
Despite the fact that Michael, my old bully, finally got the taste of his own medicine, I noticed two things that changed for me that day. One, for the first time, I actually wanted to be friends with someone, who happened to be the guy who saved me from Michael. No one has ever stood up for me like that, so I don’t see why he can’t be friends with me. And two, also for the first time, I noticed sunlight beaming through the cracks of the clouds.
For some reason, it feels like that my life is going to turn into something better. But, little did I know that this was only the beginning of a new, darker phase of my life.

To be continued…