~George’s Flashback, One Month Ago~

“I can’t believe Nicholas did that!”

George was right outside the kitchen, peeking from the other side of the wall as he was listening in on his parents’ conversation. It was late in the night—leaving Kevin and Maria to believe that their son was fast asleep, but Maria’s loud shout woke George up and made him curious about what they were speaking about. 

Still unaware of their son’s presence, Aunt Maria continued to speak, the volume of her voice raised with disbelief. 

“He’s such a sweet boy! How could he burn down a whole botanical garden?”

Uncle Kevin sighed before responding.

 “According to Eugene, it turns out he was being bullied by a bunch of rotten kids in his class. That day…I guess Nicholas finally had enough and fought back.”

“But what caused the fire? Did Nicholas actually start it?”

“Eugene believes the bully started it and tried to blame it on Nicholas. There is no definitive proof of that though…”

~End of Flashback~

George relays everything he heard from his parents’ conversation, not holding anything back. While he did so, his arms were folded as he stared at his cousin with all the seriousness he could muster.

“I overheard my parents talking about the incident that happened at your school. You fought back against a bunch of bullies and started a fire? Now when I heard fire it made me wonder….”

George squinted his eyes as if he was trying to see through Nicholas and peer into his soul. The overweight boy felt uncomfortable and tried to look away. 

“Did it happen again?”

Nicholas started to sweat out of nerves. He closed his eyes, pretending that George was not there and there was no conversation. But George raising his voice slightly was enough to regain Nicholas’s attention.

“Nick…be honest. It happened again, didn’t it?”

Eventually, Nicholas let out a defeated sigh and replied with a low and dejected voice.

“Yes…it happened again…”

“Did anybody see you?”

“Johnny did.”

“Who's Johnny?”

“He was the leader of the group that always picked on me, he would call me names, yell at me, hit me, prank me, and force me to do awful things I never wanted to do. Like putting dirt inside of a girl’s shoes, putting tacks in someone’s locker, or stealing underwear from the girl’s locker room…”

Nicholas started to tear up, remembering the awful experiences he had to go through because of Johnny.

“I would get in trouble but I never had the guts to tell the teachers Johnny was forcing me…I was afraid he would beat me to a bloody pulp…or even kill me…“

George stared at Nicholas, not really showing any readable emotion.

“But what happened? Apparently, you did fight back. That’s why I heard. Did you really?”

“...Y-yeah…”

“For real?”

Despite the seriousness of the conversation, George could not hold in his chuckle.

 “Is Nicholas Page actually showing some backbone? I would have paid money to see that!”

“George…”

Nicholas grumbled in annoyance. George put up his hands defensively.

“I’m playing, I’m playing! Continue the story.”

~Nicholas’s Flashback~

Nicholas P.O.V.

I had never had any friends at Pleasant Meadows. It was all because of Johnny and his gang. They would harass me constantly and people would avoid me so that they would not become targets themselves. I had no one to turn to, anytime I was at school my body would hurt all over. I wish I could run but I never could. No one helped me, no one was by my side, but then one day, someone did…

Johnny was messing with me like usual. Throwing me to the floor and picking me up by my hair. I groaned in pain while Johnny smoked a cigarette right in my face. His pals behind him laughed aloud at the sight of my beating. 

“Idiot…you gonna lecture me about what I can’t or can’t do?”

“S…smoking is bad for your health, Johnny! And you could get in trouble if-gah!”

Johnny burns the bud on the side of my face. I yelped as the hot burn pressed against my cheek. 

“If we get caught I’ll just blame it on you! Say it’s your cigarettes! Now stop wasting time and get some paint from the art room.”

“W-why?”

After saying those words, Johnny slapped me. The force was enough to make me fall on my stomach and I could not contain my tears. 

“You fat idiot! Didn’t I tell you to stop asking questions and just do as I say!? Jesus, how many more times do I have to drill that fact into you? Get three cans of paint, it doesn’t matter which color…”

“Okay…sorry…”

I forced myself to stand up and waddled away from the group. After collecting some paint cans from the deserted room I decided to cut through the outside of the school to meet Johnny faster on the other side. 

As I was slowly walking towards my destination, I noticed the school botanical garden in the distance. It was mainly reserved for the planting club but I always had an interest in it. I do not know what force compelled me, but I decided to put down the paint and go into the garden to check it out.

All the flowers looked healthy and gorgeous but there was one that fully had my attention. An extremely beautiful white flower that shines like the full moon. My eyes could not look away from such a gem.  

“A moonflower…”

I knew the name of the flower well and the sudden urge to smell it rose within me. But before I could do that, I heard the sound of a feminine voice.

“Hello? Who are you? Are you a part of the plant club?”

Turning around, I saw a gorgeous adult woman with long curly black hair and sky blue eyes. She seemed to be somebody from the staff or a janitor—I was not sure. 

The lady wore a smile that made my heart flutter but then that smile quickly transformed into a worried frown. She hurried over to me and examined my face. 

“Boy, what happened to you!?”

Scared of what would happen to me if I snitched, I quickly formulated a lie.

“I…fell down the stairs…”

The lady looked at me questionably. 

“...Is that the truth? If you are in trouble you can talk to me.”

“I-I’m fine! Really! I just fell down the stairs like the klutz I am…haha…”

The lady continued to stare at me. It was pretty obvious that my lie was bad, but she did not have the right to pressure the truth out of me. She sighed and accepted the explanation I gave her, at least for that instance.

“Do you like flowers?”

I was surprised by the sudden question but I answered. This time with honesty.

“Y-yeah…my grandma had a whole garden of beautiful ones back in Maryland. But she recently passed away…”

“Sorry to hear.”

“It’s okay…c-can I stay?”

“Of course, sweetheart. By the way, my name is Esther.”

“T-thank you, Ms. Esther.”

The botanical garden became by sanctuary, and Ms. Esther would hide me there from Johnny. She would also show me her pretty flowers and teach me how to take care of them. I was able to actually enjoy my time in school for once.

Then one day, I was in the botanical garden with Ms. Esther, who was giving me tips on how to take care of lilies. 

“To keep Easter Lily’s from wilting, don’t place it in direct sunlight. I know that might sound odd since it is usually normal to give plants light but most plants will lean toward the sunlight. Do you understand, Nicholas?”

“I do…”

My response was weak. Early that day, Johnny and his friends had proceeded to use me as a punching bag and my body was incredibly sore. I must have been silent for a while because Ms. Esther called out to me.

“...Nicholas?”

“Y-yes ma’am?”

“How long have you been bullied for?”

Ms. Esther just came out and said it. The truth of what was happening to me was all so obvious. At that point, I had no reason to come up with a lie, and nor did I have the energy. I let out a few deep breaths and replied to her softly. 

“...I guess…for about a year now…”

Ms. Esther scoffed.

“That is just deplorable! Are any of the teachers or anyone on the board aware of this? There is no way they have been blind to how Johnny has been treating you for a whole year!”

“I don’t think so. I never told anyone what had been happening to me. I never even told my parents.”

“Why are you not asking for help? That seems like the most logical thing to do.”

I shuffled uncomfortably.

“Johnny is very scary and I heard rumors that he is actually part of some sort of street gang outside of school. I don’t know if they are true or not but I really don’t want to find out. If I ever snitched or got him in trouble, who knows what he’ll do to me outside school…”

Ms. Esther hummed.

“I see, that is troublesome…do you know why Johnny is picking on you? Is there even a clear reason?”

“…Last year, Johnny and his friends used to pick on one scrawny kid in our class every day. I bore witness to most of the horrible things they did to him. They would beat him, ridicule him, and force him to do pranks on other students for them.”

“So basically what they are doing to you now.”

I nodded.

“One day, they started tossing him to the floor and hitting him in the classroom while the teacher was out. As the poor guy was basically crying and begging them to stop, everyone else pretended like nothing was happening. I did that too…at first. But seeing him like that really bothered me and I ended up doing something very uncharacteristic…”

“I stood up from my seat abruptly…”

S-...s-...stop…

“I didn’t do much, all I said was one word. And that one word immediately made me a target for Johnny. Instead of just one kid, I was also there too. Being pushed around and harassed. And nobody else did anything to help us.”

“And it’s just you now, right? What happened to that one kid?”

“His parents transferred him to another school…which actually hurt me in many ways.”

“What do you mean?”

“I…I understand why he left. Being treated like less of a human being every day is bad for you physically and mentally. However…the fact that he just moved away like that made me feel like I spoke up for no reason…but then again I see his point of view as well…To him, I was no hero. I spoke up but I didn’t change his situation. In the end, I just became a victim alongside him. And we didn’t even become friends…I don’t even know his name…I was wrong for doing what I did.”

“...No, you weren’t.”

I looked up at Ms. Esther. My eyes were probably ready to release tears. 

“You did the right thing, Nicholas. You stood up for that kid and tried to save him from his situation. You kind of failed but the fact you tried even a little made you a better person than all those brats who did nothing. And you are definitely better than me…”

“W-what are talking about Ms. Esther?”

“...A long time ago, someone I really cared about was hurting. But instead of doing anything to help them, I looked away. I will regret that moment for the rest of my life…”

“Who is that person?“

Ms. Esther’s eyes went dark.

“...Let’s focus on the flowers for now…”

“O-oh! I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you feel uncomfortable…”

“No worries…it’s just that the memories of the past can be hard to bear…”

Once we were done, I left the garden and was on my way home. However, somewhere in the distance, I was completely unaware that I was being watched by the person I feared the most. 

"Found you, fatty..."