Anthony looked into Eric's eyes and said, "You see, life is not about the rights or the wrongs, and it's never about what you do in your life. One way or another, everyone in this world lives their lives. What matters is how they live."

  Eric shrugged his shoulders and said, "What are you trying to say?"

  "The bullies will remain bullies, or so you think, am I right?" Anthony asked Eric with a judging look on his face.

  "Obviously. Shit is shit, and it will remain shit; just because u spray perfume on shit doesn't mean it will stop being a shit," Eric replied in a sarcastic manner.

  "But that's not the case. I grew up in this town and met a lot of people. When I was a kid, I got bullied. When I was in school, I got bullied, a lot. But I had friends, and they saved me, just like how you care about Rudy, they cared about me."

  "……"

  "Do you know who my friends were?"

  "How would I know?" Eric scoffed out loud.

  "They were the ones who used to bully me when I was a kid."

  "……"

  "You see, just one action or let's say, even a repeated action of someone doing something, doesn't necessarily mean they would remain the same. Just a couple of weeks ago, I went to the board meeting at the state level regarding the opening of the schools after the apocalypse and the pandemic, but this school was already open last year since there was no damage done to this town or the neighboring cities. Oh! I am getting sidetracked."

  After a brief pause, Anthony continued, "In the meeting of council, I met the leader of the bully gang who used to bully me in school. He had completely changed into a new person. He greeted me nicely, and we had a long chat. And when I was about to leave, he offered to drop me at the station. In the car, he apologized for his actions in high school and asked me to forgive him."

  "……"

  "Bullying is not something new. It used to happen ten years ago, 100 years ago, and even 1000 years ago. And believe me, it was far worse than the fistfights happening nowadays." he scoffed softly.

  "So, what are you trying to say? I still don't understand." Eric raised his brow and asked, "Are you saying that those bullies will change?"

  "No." Anthony shook his head and said, "Not everyone changes, obviously. I am saying that one day they would come to regret their actions, and that would weigh them and pain them more than the physical pain."

  Eric yawned and left the principal's office after saying, "I will tell mom that you are encouraging bullying in the school."

  "Oh, come on~" Anthony groaned. "Don't put words into my mouth."

  SIGH!

  Anthony sat on his chair and leaned back with a tired expression on his face. He then looked at the photo frame on his desk and smiled.

  That photo frame had a picture of four kids; two boys and two girls.

  One boy was Anthony and another was Rudy's father, one girl was Anthony's late wife and another was Eleanor— Eric's mother.

  Eric made his way back to the school infirmary where he dropped Rudy off to get treated, but when he got there, Rudy wasn't there.

  "Excuse me, I brought a friend around 15 minutes ago. Where is he?" Eric asked the nurse who was reading the paperwork.

  "Umm… are you talking about that handsome boy…?" the nurse asked.

  "Yes, that handsome boy. Where is he?"

  "I think he left after saying he was getting late for something," the nurse responded.

  "Where did he run off to…?" Eric sighed and phone-called Rudy, but his phone was switched off.

  Eric left the infirmary and went to do his job at the convenience store.

  Meanwhile, Rudy was walking his way to Rias' house.

  "Her house is literally on the opposite side of the school. Why would she enroll in his school if it's so far away?" Rudy wondered.

  "Maybe that's why she doesn't come to school?"

  Rudy walked for minutes before he reached the crossways.

  "Where is it now…?"

  Rudy wasn't lost, but he wasn't sure about the correct way. The other three ways were leading in the same direction, but the destination was different.

  "Great…"

  Rudy picked up a rock and tossed it in the air.

  'I will go where the rock falls!' he decided.

  The rock fell in the middle lane, so Rudy decided to go straight.

  He walked for a few minutes while recalling what he learned in school today.

  "Who is that girl anyway? Rias… what a weird name. Well, my name is weird too, but—"

  THUD!

  Rudy stopped on his tracts when he heard a loud thud noise from near him. He carefully glanced around, but he couldn't find a single trace of what could have caused such a loud noise.

  Suddenly, the clouds covered the sun, and everything turned dark.

  "……" Rudy slowly stepped backward and said, "Yeah, Nah. I am going home."

  Rudy turned around and was about to start running, but he saw a few houses in the distance.

  "Come on…" Rudy let out a soft groan and muttered, "Since I am already here, I might as well just leave the notes and go back home."

  Rudy was walking for who knows how long, and the sun was covered by the clouds, so he had no idea how much time had passed.

  "I will inform mom just in case, so she doesn't get worried." Rudy took out his phone from his pocket to inform Rebecca, but his phone was dead.

  SIGH!

  With no other choice left, Rudy rushed to the house and stopped to catch his breath.

  'There are like 7 houses here. And they have no number tag. How am I going to know which one is…'

  Rudy squinted his eyes at the window of one house because he felt as though someone was standing behind the curtain.

  CREAK~

  Suddenly, the door of the same house opened and a gust of wind attracted Rudy to go inside.

  "What a classic creepy house……"

  ===

  Any thoughts on the cover?