~December 15, 2022~

"Get away! The fire is spreading!"

Yelling those words was a middle school student who was out in the yard. It was the afternoon and classes of the day were over. Just as all the students from Pleasant Meadows Middle School were about to head home, a massive explosion erupted in the back of the building. The only thing there was the botanical garden which was taken care of by a few members of the faculty, but sometimes students would be there too. At that moment, as an enormous fire was starting to spread throughout the garden, there were five kids outside the garden while the massive fire was behind them.

Three of them were backing away in fear while two were on the ground. A bigger kid was on the ground holding onto his face while smoke was coming from it and there was also an overweight kid on the ground in front of the burning garden. He was on his knees, holding onto his stomach which seemed to be in intense pain.

"Nick! You fat bastard!"

The bigger kid growled while raising his head, revealing that half of his face was burned off. The fat kid, who is named Nicholas just looked at him with a face covered in fear, pain, and tears.

"How the hell did you do that!?"

~One Year Later~

Nicholas woke up from his nightmare. He was in the back of the family car while his mother and father were in the front. His dad was driving while his mom was watching the scenery outside.

"We’re almost there Nicholas!"

Mrs. Page said with an excited voice.

"Just a few more minutes and we will beat our new home!"

As Nicholas was rubbing his eyes, he asked, "What is the name of the town again? Gingerfield?"

Mrs Page replied, "Gringerfield silly! Uncle Kevin and Aunt Maria live here. And do you remember your cousin George? He used to visit our house during the summer and you two used to play a lot!"

"...Was he the one with the glasses?"

"Yes! That was him!"

"He once put a pencil up my nose."

Mr. Page chuckled.

"I remember that! Your mother wouldn’t stop screaming."

"It was lodged up there!" Mrs. Page shouted. "It could have done some serious damage!"

Mr. Page then started to talk to Nicholas.

"How old were you and George at that time? Six? Well, you both have grown quite a bit and you will be classmates in the new school you will go to!"

Hearing the word "school" coming out of his father's voice caused Nicholas to gulp nervously.

"I-I’m going to a new school?"

Mrs. Page answered, "Of course! You can’t let one horrible experience change your outlook on pursuing a degree Nicholas!"

Mr. Page then responded, "And Nicholas, George will be in the same class as you and will be by your side. You will not be alone."

"I-I…I…hrrgh!"

Nicholas stopped mid-sentence as his stomach started to gurgle and a strong nauseating sensation erupted through his body. Feeling the pile from his stomach coming up, Nicholas put his right hand to his mouth stop whatever that was coming up.

"Nicholas? Nicholas!"

Noticing her son's distress, Mrs. Page screamed out to her husband.

"Pull over, honey!"

Mr. Page quickly parked the car over to the side of the road. Once Nicholas was sure they stopped he tore off his seatbelt and jumped out of the car. The boy then immediately threw up on the grass, his parents watching from the car with concerned looks.

"What is wrong with him?" Mr. Page said. "He has been having that upset stomach since he was little. We took him to the doctor millions of times but they swear they don’t see anything seriously wrong!"

Mrs. Page responded, "Then it must be anxiety-based. Nicholas didn’t get along well in his old school. Especially after hearing he was bullied…I feel like I failed as a mother Eugene…"

Mrs. Page started to tear up. Mrs. Page comforted her.

"You’re not a failure, Amy. We are going to make sure Nicholas won’t be treated like that again! That’s why we put him in the same school as George. He’ll be by his side."

"I hope so…"

After one final grunt and spit, Nicholas wiped the vomit off his mouth and waddled back to the car.

"Are you okay now, Nicholas?"

Nicholas nodded weakly to his mother's question.

"I am now…"

Once Nicholas sat back down in the car and placed on his seatbelt, Mr. Page started to talk to his son in the most calming voice he could muster.

"Nicholas…I know it is nerve-wracking after what at your last school but I promise it will get better. George will be your anchor. And if anyone messes with you tell the teachers, tell him, and definitely tell us! Okay?"

"O…Okay."

"Alright, let’s go! Uncle Kevin is making dinner so we don’t want to be late."

The drive continued for a few more minutes until they finally arrived. Gringerfield was a big town surrounded by a massive forest of pine trees. The view from the hillside was mesmerizing to Nicholas.

After a bit of driving, the Page Family stopped in front of a big nice-looking house. Coming out were two adults, and a skinny kid with glasses. He was George Pellington, Nicholas’s cousin.

"Eugene! Amy! Nicholas!"

Running towards the Page family was Aunt Maria who then ensnared all three of them in a hug so tight that they felt their life slipping away.

"Welcome! I hope you had a safe drive!"

The moment Aunt Maria released them, Mr. Page composed himself and responded, "Traffic was horrible but all around the drive was not too bad."

"Glad to hear it! From now on we are going to live together! It brings me back to my college days!"

Mrs. Page laughed.

"We were wild young ones back in the day. But once again I have to say thank you to you and Kevin for letting us stay here for the time being."

"It doesn’t have to be for the time being! You can just stay here for good! We have enough room!"

Mrs. Page looked away nervously while sheepishly rubbing the back of her head.

"I…I don’t know about that, Maria. We don’t want to-"

"It’s okay."

Walking towards the Page family with a warm smile was Uncle Kevin.

"You guys are family and Eugene you were there for me during the worst moments of my life. This is me repaying you."

"Kevin…"

The kind words of Uncle Kevin made Mr. Page feel giddy as he snorted and replied with excitement.

"Well how can we say no to your offer when you say things like that?"

"Come in! Come in!"

The Pellingtons ushered the Pages into their house as they helped with their luggage. Once everything was inside, Aunt Maria turned to her son George was standing off by the stairs with a blank expression.

"George, how about you and Nicholas get acquainted? It has been a few years.”

"Okay."

George said while nodding. The boy looked indifferent while Nicholas looked nervous. The boy made a motion for the fat boy to follow him upstairs.

They enter George’s bedroom. The glasses boy looked outside the make sure no one was there before closing the door. He then turned to Nicholas, wearing a very serious look.

"So…it happened again did it?"

Nicholas's face turned into one of fear. He tried to avoid the glare of George but in the end, he failed to even do that. The overweight boy let out a sigh of defeat as he clutched his stomach, his face writhing in pain.

"I thought it would get better...but it's only gotten worse..."