"Hey! Wake up faggot"

I opened my eyes and braced myself for the inevitable. Every morning my brother, Chris, bursts into his room, wakes me with the same brilliant insult, and punches hard into my kidney. There was no stopping it, all I could do is prepare for the blow. Just like clockwork, the familiar painful shock rushed through my body as Chris' hammer of a fist came barreling downward into my body.

"Ugh!" I cried, as all of the air in my lungs was forced outward.

"About time you got up, bitch!" Exclaimed Chris, as he gave his usual cocky 'I'm better than you' grin, and proceeded to walk out the door towards his own room. I gave a pained sigh as I picked myself up off of my bed to begin another day.

I stood in front of the mirror for a while, just looking at my bruised and broken body. My long dark hair is a complete mess, my nose at an odd angle (as always), and my eyes are just as miss-matched as ever. I always hated his eyes. One a dark mahogany brown, the other a light icy blue. My body looks more like four twigs jutting out from a slightly larger twig. I am absolutely scrawny. Everywhere I go people point and laugh at me.

"Mama what's wrong with that man's eyes?" A little girl would ask. Only to be dragged away by her mother, with a deep look of disgust on her face.

" Hey Husky! Want a bone?" Others would call out, insinuating that my appearance is akin to that of a dog. There was no end to the constant torment on just my appearance alone. The only thing I could do (short of surgery) is to wash up as best as he can to look halfway presentable, and not like I am living on the 47th floor of Hell.

I cleaned myself up and splashed my face with cold water to wake myself up, and to make sure I'm not in another nightmare.

"Fuck." I sighed, realizing that this is, in fact, reality.I quickly got dressed and grabbed my backpack, keys, and cellphone (not sure why, nobody ever wants to call me anyway). Hoping to avoid another run-in with Chris, I waited until I could hear him step into the shower before leaving the 'safety' of my room. As soon as I could hear my brother's tone def voice singing the lyrics to "Party Rock Anthem", I knew I was in the clear. I dashed out of my room and bounded down the stairs two at a time. Walking into the kitchen, I saw my mother reading the local news on her blackberry, and simultaneously speaking with a client of hers on her Bluetooth headset. She's always working and never acknowledged my presence. Nevertheless, I walked over, gave her a kiss on the cheek, and walked out the door. Even though she never shows it, I know that she is the only person in the world that cares about me.

It's another cold morning in the small town of Freeland, Michigan. I, once again, found my home at the back of the school bus. Away from the 'cookie cutter cheerleaders' discussing the newest Ke$ha album. Away from the jocks reliving last night's football game. Here at the back of the bus, I feel at home with nothing to bother me, I am free to enjoy the one good thing in my life. Pulling out my phone, I put in my headphones and loaded up the newest episode of "My Little Pony. Friendship is Magic" As the familiar tune opens up revealing the magical world of Equestria, a slight smile brushed across my face. Knowing that for the next 20 minutes I won't have to worry about bullies, or my own personal problems. I can relax, and dream of a place where I too, can have friends.

I was completely lost in the show. Blown away by the extravagance of the Grand Galloping Gala, I didn't realize the pair of eyes staring me down. Just as Fluttershy broke down the door in a loveless rage, a ham-like hand reached down and grabbed my phone. Raising the phone high into the air, I heard a deep voice yell out.

"Hey Everyone, look at what dogboy is watching!" said Craig Matherson, My own personal bully since the 3rd grade. "It's a show about talking ponies!" The entire bus exploded with laughter, My secret was out. I attempted to jump up and retrieve my stolen phone, but my adversary was far too tall for me to reach. Through the laughter I could see a few of the cheerleaders giggling and furiously texting on their phones. No doubt they were telling all of their friends about what a freak I am. Once word got out that I watch MLP, my life will be worse than ever. Craig threw my phone back down at me and leaned in close to whisper.
"Have a nice day Andy" Before walking back to his seat, laughing the entire way back.
Holding back both tears, and vomit from Craig's swamp breath, I buried my head in my back pack and waited for the bus ride to be over.

Arriving at school, I realized that everyone knew about the bus fiasco. Everywhere I go people would harass me, calling me everything from "gay-boy" to "pony bitch". There was no end to the torment. At every class I was pelted with spitwads, chewed up erasers, and at one point something that resembled a massive raisin, but had the density of a rock. Even some of the more rude teachers joined in on the abuse. At lunch people would walk past and spit in my food, or just slap the tray out of my hands. Unable to take it anymore, I rushed to the bathroom and locked myself inside a stall. I curled my legs to my chest and positioned myself on the toilet so that nobody from outside can see where I was hiding. Between sobs I found myself vomiting from the sheer emotions running wild throughout my body. I wanted nothing more than to leave this place and never return. I knew that this would be my life from now on. Everyday people would laugh and harass me without end. Being as scrawny as I am, there is a snowball's chance in Hell that I could fight back. And even if I did, who would side with me? If I started a fight, nobody would support me. I was simply all out of options. Fearing what would come of me if I left the sanctity of the bathroom, I stayed curled up in the stall until the final bell rang to dismiss the students. This was the most beautiful sound I have heard all day.

I decided to wait one more hour before leaving, to make sure that everyone was out of the school. Feeling cooped up, I knew that I had to get out of the bathroom. It was now or never. I would leave the school, go home to my mother and try to convince her to transfer me to another school. Hopefully, if I put on a decent show for her, she would do me a favor and agree. I stood up and reached for the door handle. I slid the bolt off of the lock and swung open the door. I immediately wished I hadn't. Standing directly outside the bathroom stall, was Craig Matherson and the rest of his football buddies. I swear, the entire defensive line must have crammed themselves into the bathroom. I stood there for a moment not sure what to say, a look of terror burned into my eyes. Craig decided he would be the first to speak.

"Well about time you got out of there, I thought you were dead Andy. That wouldn't be very fun. After all, if you were already dead, what would be left for us to do?" Craig inquired as an evil sneer crept across his face.

"Grab him" Craig said with a cold emotionless tone. I was immediately seized by two of these hulking dim-witted jocktards. Keeping me still, Craig threw punch after punch directly into my gut. Each blow made Chris' morning routine seem like a water balloon. With every punch, the hatred in Craig's eyes grew until I was sure he took on the form of Satan himself. But I convinced myself that I was seeing things . The room began to spin as I slowly lost consciousness. I don't know what stopped first, the hitting or my consciousness. The room was almost completely black when I felt a massive rush of water wake me up. Craig was holding my head in the toilet! I fought back against his hammer of a hand but all that got me was a wad of hair ripped out, and a mouthful of water in my lungs. After what seemed like an hour, (but must have been only about a minute) he released me. As I lay coughing up water onto the bathroom floor, a new batch of tears rushed out of me. With one final kick, Craig and his friends left the bathroom. But I didn't. . . I lay there sobbing through the night, wishing I was dead.

I was found the next morning by the school janitor, who immediately called the nurse over. Apparently I looked a lot worse than I felt, but that could have been due to fact that my entire left half was numb. The nurse insisted that she call an ambulance, but I refused, stating that I was fine and just wanted to go home. She then asked who had done this to me.
"I don't remember." I lied, knowing that if I told her about my attackers, the beatings would only get worse.
"Just let me go home." I pleaded with what little energy I had left. Reluctantly she agreed and called for my mother to come and get me.( I was in no shape to drive) My mother arrived within minutes with a pissed off look on her face. Apparently when the nurse called, i interrupted an important business call. Never mind the fact that her youngest son was nearly killed, she only cared about her stupid job. Before being dragged out the door by my mother, the nurse handed me a bottle of heavy-duty pain killers.
"Take two of these in the morning, and two before you go to bed." I was so out of it, I didn't think twice about why a school nurse would be giving me medication, I was just happy that somebody showed some kindness to me, and that I was finally going home.

The entire car ride back home, my mother was screaming at me.

"DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW IMPORTANT THAT CALL YOU INTERRUPTED WAS TO ME?" she yelled.

"Mom, I'm sorry, but I didn't know who else to call." I tried to explain.

"YOU COULD HAVE FUCKING WALKED! WE ONLY LIVE 4 MILES AWAY!" she rebutted. I tried to bring up the fact that I had to be carried to the nurse because both my legs were completely numb.

"AND HOW IS THAT MY PROBLEM, ANDY?" It was obvious that there was no reasoning with her. She cared so much about her job, that it came before her own son. Why does everyone hate me? I remained silent the rest of the way home, looking out the window to hide the tears streaming down my face. I knew that asking her for a transfer was 100% out of the question, I was completely out of options. My mind jut kept turning to those pills the school nurse gave me. If these pills were supposed to be capable of replacing a trip to the hospital, which in retrospect I badly needed, then they have to be pretty strong. I wasn't completely sure what I was planning on doing, but I knew one thing. I was not going back to that school.

We arrived back home and I ran straight for the front door. I wasn't about to let my mother speak one more word to me. I flew up the stairs, and threw the door to my room open in a rage.

"Where does she get off, treating her own son like a fucking chore? That BITCH!" I yelled through my teeth. I was seething in anger.

"And Chris, What did I ever do to make him despise me like this. Why do I deserve to be treated like his personal punching bag?" At this point I was furious.

"Let's not forget Craig, and all those people at school. Why can't they just accept me? Not everyone is the same. Just because I don't listen to you'r type of music, or dress the way you do, you think you have the right to piss all over me?"
Without even realizing it, I had the bottle of pills out and open, I knew exactly how I'd get back at them. I would make all of them pay for what they had done. Maybe they won't feel bad, but I will never have to see their faces again. Closing my eyes, I tilted my head back. I slowly raised the bottle to my mouth.
"Fuck you Mom, You won't have to be burdened by me anymore." I said as I downed six of the pills.
"Fuck you Chris, I won't be your plaything one day longer" I cried out as I took ten more pills.
"And Fuck you Craig, just FUCK YOU!!!" I screamed at the top of my lungs as I downed the rest of the bottle. Laying back on my bed, I realized that I never got to finish that episode of MLP on the bus. I might as well be entertained as I await death's embrace. I laugh as I see the name of the episode "The Best Night Ever", because in a way, tonight will be my best night ever. I'll finally be away from all of this pain. As the episode comes to a close, I begin to feel light headed. I knew that pretty soon I would be gone. Twilight begins her letter to Princess Celestia, concluding that being with friends could turn the worst day ever, in a day to remember. With what I knew were my final words, I whisper into the dark room.

"I wish I could have friends like those"

And suddenly everything was black. Some people say when you're dying, you can smell lemons. Well I smelled something, but it wasn't lemons. It was almost a sweet smell, like walking past an apple orchard. It put me at ease. Not only that, but I couldn't feel the pain or numbness anymore. I simply felt, alive. Well not so much alive, I mean, I'm dead right? This is death. I took the pills, and now I should be dead.

'Wait," I thought,"If I'm dead, then why am I still thinking? And why can I still smell anything Unless maybe. . ." I attempted to open my eyes. They felt heavy, like I was waking up from a century long nap. I slowly forced them open and saw a welcoming set of green eyes staring down at me. The shock of this encounter sent a rush of adrenaline through my body and I threw my eyes completely open and heard a familiar voice say to me.

"Well howdy partner, that was quite a nasty spill you had back there!". .

Author's Note

Hopefully you guys enjoyed chapter one of my story. If you did enjoy it, let me know. Also, constructive criticism would be much appreciated. I'm looking forward to making this a fun journey for everyone who reads it.