A Week of Nothing
Leo still had a whole week before starting his new job.
Seven days of pure nothingness.
He wandered the streets, bored out of his mind, and drifted into a shopping mall just to kill time.
He spotted a tiny booth selling phone cases and stepped in—
and, surprise of the century, the shop owner turned out to be his old classmate.
White T-shirt, short denim shorts, long legs, shoulder-length hair, glasses.
Yeah… a total knockout.
An Awkward Reunion
“Christy?!” Leo blurted out. “What the hell—what are you doing here? You own this place?”
Christy chuckled. “Nah, this is my dad’s booth. I’m just helping him out today.
Hey… I heard you got expelled. You okay? What’ve you been up to?”
Leo wasn’t about to tell her he’d joined the local gang.
He scratched his head and mumbled, “Eh… nothing much. Just taking a break, maybe looking for work here and there.”
Then Christy leaned in and said, “Oh, you know Susan? She got jumped on the street. Ended up a total vegetable. She’s still in the hospital.
You heard about that?”
Leo froze for half a second.
Yeah… that was him. Him and his “buddies”.
He forced a laugh. “Oh, wow, no, I didn’t hear. Crazy, huh?
Gangs are wild these days… hope nobody shoves, like, a pile of crap in her mouth or something.”
Which was hilarious, in the worst way—because Leo was the guy who had done exactly that.
Trouble Arrives
Christy gasped and slapped a hand over her mouth.
“What?!” she said. “Gangs these days shove crap in people’s mouths? That’s… terrifying.
Oh my God, I really hope Susan didn’t suffer, like… spiritual damage from that.”
Leo nodded along. “Yeah… me too.”
Right then, a pack of wannabe gangsters yelled from behind them.
“Hey! Everybody in here, listen up! Hand over all your valuables, or we’ll beat the crap outta you!
We’re here for the money! Did you hear me? We’re here for the money!”
The Flunked Three
Leo spun around—and of course, it had to be them.
The same three losers from that “exam.”
The ones who flunked.
Gum-Chewing Guy.
Pimple Face.
And… Booger Guy.
They’d failed the test, couldn’t get into the local gang,
so now they’d formed their own “private gang,”
basically just three idiots looking for lunch money.
Leo’s stomach sank.
The last thing he wanted was for Christy to find out he was in a gang, too.
He quickly called out to them, “Hey! Not this booth. Hands off. I got here first.
Go rob somewhere else.”
The three of them burst out laughing.
“No way, man! The moment we show up, this place is ours.
And if you don’t step aside… we’ll beat you up, too.”
A Ridiculous Fight
Leo knew talking wouldn’t solve anything.
Words were useless with these idiots.
The best move? Hit first.
He lunged forward, fist aimed at Pimple Face.
Blocked.
Before he could react, Gum-Chewing Guy swept his legs out—
and Leo hit the floor hard.
He scrambled back up, chest pounding.
Great… I’m actually surprised these three idiots know how to fight.
They might’ve flunked the test, but their fists are no joke.
I’m really gonna die in a mall next to a phone-case booth.
And right in front of my beautiful former classmate, Christy. This sucks.
He charged again.
Something smacked into his right side—
followed by a tiny boom!
The blast sent him rolling across the shiny mall tiles.
Groaning, he twisted to see the culprit.
Booger Guy.
The dude had literally flicked a booger…
a booger so strong it exploded on impact.
Leo’s ribs screamed, and for a second he couldn’t even get up.
Yeah—he’d just taken internal damage from a flying booger.
The Lowest Point
The three thugs swarmed him.
A few kicks and punches later, Leo’s vision blurred, and he went down cold.
On the verge of passing out, the sound of Christy’s whimpering cut through the ringing in his ears.
He lifted his head—just in time to see the thug looming over her.
“Leo… help…” she cried.
And then everything went black.
Inside the booth, Christy froze like a cornered animal.
Her jeans were soaked—yeah, she’d completely lost control.
The thug burst out laughing.
“OMG! She actually peed herself!”
He swept the cash into a bag, still cackling.
And then the grin on his face made the whole mall feel darker.
What happened next was pure evil—inhuman and unspeakable.
And it would haunt her forever.
Aftermath and Resolve
Hours later, Leo finally regained consciousness.
Every inch of him hurt, and his body was covered in bruises.
He checked his pocket—of course.
His wallet was gone.
Great. Robbed on top of being beaten half to death.
He turned his head toward the booth.
Christy was huddled in the corner, completely naked, trembling, and sobbing.
Leo crawled over and crouched beside her.
“I… I’m sorry,” he whispered.
“I couldn’t protect you.
Just like last time—I couldn’t protect Susan either.
But I swear, one day… I’m gonna beat the crap out of those three.”
Christy just trembled and cried, her eyes empty, like a broken puppet.
She didn’t hear a single word.
Leo’s chest tightened.
He had to cover up Christy somehow.
So he limped to the store next door, waited until no one was looking…
and randomly stole an oversized jacket he could find.
He draped it over her shoulders, then slipped out of the mall like a ghost,
feeling nothing but the weight of his own weakness.
If he wanted revenge… he’d have to get a lot stronger.
Toward the Next Step
Leo lifted his head to the sky and swore,
“I’m gonna get stronger… and I’ll make them pay for Christy.”
Vow complete, he poked at one of his bruises and winced.
“Shit… they really beat me this bad?”
He needed a doctor.
But his wallet was gone.
And thanks to getting expelled, his scholarship was gone too.
No money meant no hospital.
So he limped around until he spotted a sketchy little clinic in an alley.
The front was cracked and peeling, garbage piled up by the door.
He hesitated.
“Oh no…” he muttered.
But he had no better option.
Fine. Whatever.
He just needed someone to patch him up before he fell apart completely.