It was the beginning of the school year for Austin, he was beginning at a new school, in a new grade, with no friends. He was hoping that this school year wouldn’t be like last year, where he was a social dud. Austin had a horrible past dealing with his parents leaving him, suffering from depression from all his heart-breaks and backstabs by so called “friends”.  Austin’s step mom, Precious, woke him up with a loud scream.
“Let’s go!” Precious roared. Austin jumped up and got out of bed and yelled back at her.
“I’m up I’m up sheesh,” he yelled as he got his clothes together. Austin was real excited about his first day because he was going to the same school as his girlfriend, Cristal. Austin got dressed in his black spitfire shirt, with his black skinny jeans and put on his pair of Fire Red V Jordan’s. After he finished getting dressed, he checked his phone to see if he got any notifications or messages. Turns out he did and it was a message he was hoping he would never get. It was a message from Cristal.
It said “Hey Austin, I know we’ve been dating for a while, but I think it’s right if we take time apart and go see other people. I hope you understand.” Austin looked at his phone with a disappointed look on his face. He and Cristal had been together for 4 years, they knew each other like the back of their hands. Austin couldn’t understand why she would want to take a break from him. He treated her perfectly.
“Maybe she’s grown apart. Or she found a new, better looking guy,” Austin thought to himself as he tried to fight back the tears.
“Did I do something wrong?” Austin asked himself. It was 6:45 in the morning when Precious told Austin that it was time for him to leave. Austin, already depressed, wished that nothing else would go wrong that day, but he was dead wrong.
Austin went outside of his apartment waiting for the elevator to come, as he plugged his headphones into his phone and started playing “Til Theres Nothing Left” by Silent Screams, one of his favorite bands. He was listening to the song very loudly, until he felt his phone vibrate. It was another text from Cristal.
This one said “ I’ll let you know by the end of the day if we are still going to date, because I really don’t wanna lose you or have you get hurt by some other girl. I know you’re very very hurt emotionally and I don’t want to hurt you more or have you get hurt again.” Austin felt somewhat better on the inside but he was still hurting at the thought of he might lose her. Austin stepped into the elevator still listening to the same song because he had the song on repeat.
Austin stepped out the elevator and walked to the 161st-Yankee stadium train station to wait for the Woodlawn bound 4 train. The train arrived at the station at 7:15, and Austin got on the train. One of his headphones fell out his ear and he heard someone tell their friend,
“Hey look at the emo kid.” Austin felt insulted, and thought to himself
“Why do people have to judge someone on how they look?”
It was 7:50 and Austin’s train was at Mosholu Parkway which was his stop. As the train arrived at the station, he was anxious for the train doors to open up so he can rush to school. Austin had brought his skateboard with him so he could skate to school, so as he got out the train station he got on his board and skated to his high school, which is Dewitt Clinton.
“Damn, high school already. Time flies by really fast,” Austin said to himself. When Austin arrived at his school, he quickly spotted Cristal sitting on a ledge, listening to music. He approached her slowly as if he was a predator ready to strike its prey. Austin tapped her on the shoulder and she sprung up and hugged him really tight as if they were seeing each other for the first time.
“Oh my god, I haven’t seen you in like forever!” Cristal said as she started to mess with his hair.
“I know right, it feels so good to be back in your arms,” Austin said as if he was about to cry tears of joy.
“How have you been?” Cristal asked.
“Not that good, but now I’m with you it’s better now,” Austin replied in a happier tone of voice. Austin and Cristal talked till it was time to go inside. They both walked up to get their schedules, to find out they only have two of eight classes together.
“At least we have lunch together, that’s a good thing right?” Austin questioned as he tried to force a smile.
“Sure, try to have a good day babe,” Cristal replied as she reached in for a kiss. Austin’s first period class was gym so he headed to the locker room to change into his gym clothes he had brought. As Austin entered the locker room to change, he was confronted by 3 big seniors. Two of them held him down as the biggest one picked him up and threw him against the lockers. Austin was terrified, he didn’t what to do, or how to react.
“This is just the beginning, you freshman,” said Andy. Those were the last words Austin remembered before he passed out from hitting his head on the locker. The next thing he knew, he woke up in the nurses office with Cristal sitting right beside him.
“What the hell happened?” Austin asked with a scared tone of voice.
“You got jumped by a group of seniors,” the nurse replied as she was getting Austin some medicine to help his headache go away.
“Yet again Austin gets into a school year and gets bullied, I’m definitely staying by his side till the end,” Cristal thought to herself as she tried to help Austin off of the nurse’s bed. Austin was walking to his 2nd period class, as he was yet again confronted by the same 3 seniors from the locker room.
“Ready for round two freshman?” the biggest one of them said.
“Back the f*** up, why do you have to bully him?” Cristal shouted as she came behind Austin
“Because he isn’t right, he’s an emo freak!” The biggest one asserted.
“Yeah he may be an emo freak, but still he’s human just like me and you,” Cristal stated with an angry expression on her face.
“The name’s Andy and he is gonna have to deal with me all school year. Unless he got something to say about,” Andy shouted. Austin looked dazed, as if he had no idea what was going on.
“It’s because of people like you, we can’t live regular lives. People always have to go around and messing up other peoples lives because their own lives aren’t that great,” Austin commented. After saying that, Andy picked him up and shoved him against a locker.
“What you going to do about it, cry like the little b**** that you are?”  Andy stated while pushing Austin to the ground.
“Huh? I didn’t hear you b****!” Andy screamed as he began to kick Austin in the stomach. Cristal had no idea what to do, she had seen Austin get bullied before, but never physically. Cristal ran to the closest security guard and told him to hurry up. As the security guard got there, Austin was bleeding through his nose, and had many bruises all over his body.
“Back off! If you keep hitting him, I’ll have you arrested,” the security guard announced. Cristal had a real heartbroken look on her face. She never wanted to see Austin ever get hurt like that. He didn’t deserve it, he was already emotionally scarred for life after his parents left him for drugs.
“Are you alright?” Cristal asked with a very concerned tone of voice.
“I guess, they didn’t hurt me too bad, just some bruises that’s all,” Austin mumbled as he was trying to get off the floor.
“I really don’t think this day can get any worse,” Austin commented. It was already the end of 2nd period, and his next class was science.
The next three periods went okay for Austin, except for the occasional group of kids saying “emo kid”. It was time for lunch, and Austin couldn’t wait to see Cristal again. He walked into the cafeteria and was surrounded by a pool of 10th and 11th graders. He tried to dash around everyone to see if he could find Cristal, then he was suddenly hugged from behind. It was Cristal giving him a really tight hug.
“Oh my god babe, I missed you so much, class was so boring and I didn’t have anyone to talk to either” Cristal said while giving Austin another hug.
“I know it wasn’t that much of a breeze for me either, I kept get called emo while getting hit in the head with paper balls that people threw at me on purpose,” Austin replied as he held her hand.
“What’s your next class babe?” Cristal asked.
“Music, something I’m actually good at,” Austin commented. Austin was a drummer, he learned how to play drums at the age of 6.
“Just remember I love you Austin, I always will,” Cristal responded.
“I love you too Cristal,” Austin remarked as he went into his bookbag as if he was going to get something.
“What are you reaching for?” Cristal asked as he had a confused look on her face.
“It’s a surprise,” Austin commented
Austin pulled out a small jewelry box, and inside was a beautiful black and red bracelet that had her name in-graved in it.
“Oh my god Austin it’s beautiful, I love it,” Cristal said as she was putting on the bracelet.
“You’re really the best boyfriend anyone can ever ask for,” Cristal added.
“Awww, you’re the best girlfriend ever,” Austin continued.
“Well look what we have here, an emo kid and his girlfriend,” Someone said in a deep voice. It was Andy, the same 12th grader who assaulted him earlier.
“What do you want now?” Austin bellowed.
“Same as always, to make your life a living hell,” Andy replied. Andy took Austin’s bookbag and kicked it across the cafeteria.
“What do you want from my f**king life!?” Austin shouted.
“For you to end your life, your kind are just a waste of space,” Andy commented as he shoved Austin.
“Hey! Leave him alone! Pick on someone your own size!” Someone shouted.
“Oh really? What are you going to do about it Bill?” Andy remarked. Bill was a 10th grader, but he was really intimidating.
“I’ll say it one more time, leave the kid alone,” Bill returned.
“And what if I don’t?” Andy asked as he let Austin go. With an incredibly angry face, Bill punched Andy in the bridge of his nose and Andy tumbled to the ground.
“You can’t save him forever,” Andy commented as he got up and was walking away.
“You okay?” Bill asked as he helped Austin up off of the floor.
“Yeah, this is the 3rd time today he attacked me,” Austin replied.
“We’ll I’ll have your back when you need it man,” Bill responded
“Alright thanks man,” Austin answered.
After 2 weeks of being bullied and having to be saved by Bill, Austin began to cut himself due to depression. He wore long sleeved shirts all the time until one day Andy exposed Austin’s arms in school. His whole high school found out about it. Austin would get mocked or teased because of it.
“I don’t know what to do anymore,” Austin cried into the phone
“It’ll be okay, I’m here for you,” Cristal replied.
“I’ll talk to your tomorrow Cristal,” Austin added.
“Okay babe, I love you,” Cristal continued
“I love you too,” Austin remarked as he hung up the phone. 5 minutes after hanging up the phone someone broke his bedroom window with bricks that had notes on them. All of the notes said “just go kill yourself you emo fag”. Austin broke down. He was in a corner, to stay and be tormented for the next 4 years or just ending it. He took random pills he found in the medicine cabinent and drank bleach. By morning, Precious found Austin laying dead in his room.
“Oh my god, oh my god,” Precious kept saying as she began to panic because she didn’t know what to do with his body. Precious, while circling around Austin’s room, found a note from Austin.
“This must have been before he done it,” Precious thought as she opened the note. The note said:
“To whoever finds this note, I’m sorry for letting you all down, letting you all down by just being who I am. According to a lot of people, my kind aren’t wanted in this society. So I took it upon myself to get rid of one of “my kind” so people won’t have to complain about it and ruin people’s lives. It’s been a while, I was a cutter till some bullies pushed it too far, so I just ended it. When you find this note, tell Cristal I’m sorry but it had to be done, and I love her.”
“Oh my god, I never even had a clue that he was being bullied, or was depressed, or a cutter! That’s a really big shock,” Precious bellowed as she fell to the floor, crying a river.
“I’m gonna do what the note told me to do,” Precious thought to herself as she reached over to Austin’s phone. Precious called Cristal, and when she answered the phone, Precious was barely able to say a word.
“Cristal, this is really hard for me to say,” Precious cried into the phone.
“Is he breaking up with me?” Cristal asked as she wondered why she was crying.
“No, even worse,” Precious added.
“What’s worse than that?” Cristal replied.
“Austin is dead, he wanted me to tell you that he had to do it, and he is sorry about it, but he also told me to tell you he still loves you,” Precious cried into the phone as she took a look at Austin’s arms.
“No, you’re lying, I refuse to believe it! He can’t be dead! He wouldn’t leave me like that!” Cristal said as she started to break down in tears.
“I wouldn’t lie about something like this. He’s really gone. I’m so sorry about your lose,” Precious answered back as she was shocked by all the cuts that were on his arms.
“I’m gonna f**king kill those bullies at school,” Cristal screamed into the phone.
“He was getting bullied in school?” Precious asked.
“Yeah, even on the first day he got jumped 3 times by 12th graders,” Cristal replied as she tried to stop crying. Austin always kept to himself and would never go to anyone about any kind of problem. He would just bottle it all up.
“ I guess he couldn’t take anymore emotional build-up and didn’t know how to release it all, so he just took his own life instead,” Precious added.
“That’s stupid, he had me to talk to. He wouldn’t even come to his own girlfriend for help?” Cristal wondered.
“Nope, he wouldn’t even come to me for help, and I’m his step mom!” Precious shouted into the phone.
“Damn, I shouldn’t have let him hang up the phone last night, I feel so bad, I’m his girlfriend and I couldn’t even stop it,” Cristal cried into the phone as she was trying to get ready for school.
“Thanks for telling me, what’s your name?” Cristal added.
“Precious,” She replied.
“Thanks, I wouldn’t have even known he had done it, if you never told me,” Cristal commented.
“No problem honey, try to take care, and keep your head up,” Precious said.
“I will, it’s just gonna be so empty without having Austin being near me everywhere I go,” Cristal mumbled into the phone as she hung up. Cristal arrived at school and spotted Andy. She approached Andy and slapped him.
“It’s because of you! It’s because of you that he did it!” Cristal screamed.
“What? Did your boyfriend kill himself?” Andy joked.
“Yes he really did! Because of your dumbass!” Cristal barked as she slapped him again. Andy tried to swing at her, but his arm got grabbed by a strange grip.
“Are you really trying to hit a girl,?” Someone said. Andy whipped his arm from the strangers grip, and turned around sharply.
“Who are you?” Andy questioned.
“Drew, a new student who was transferred here today. So I’ve been told that you’re a bully? Not anymore, you’re gonna see what it feels like to be bullied from now on,” Drew exclaimed. Drew was a 6’4 senior. In one quick motion, Drew shoved Andy really hard, Andy dropped to the floor.
“You okay?” Drew questioned Cristal as he introduced himself to her.
“Yeah I guess, it’s his fault, he is the reason why my boyfriend killed himself,” Cristal cried.
“It’s gonna be okay, he’s in a better place now,” Drew said as he tried to comfort her.
“Thanks, so are you gonna bully Andy now?” Cristal asked.
“You damn right, anyone who caused someone to kill themselves deserved to be bullied,” Drew barked. Cristal, even though it was kind of wrong, felt better that Andy was getting what he deserves for torturing an innocent teen who was just trying to live a normal life.
“No new kid is gonna bully me!” Andy yelled as he kept trying to swing at Drew, but Drew kept evading his punches. Until one quick moment, Drew struck Andy right in the jaw with a fierce right hand. Andy dropped to the ground like a sack of potatoes. The whole school yard was into the fight, chants of “Oh” and “fight” were pretty much all you heard. Rumors of Andy becoming soft were all over the school. Andy’s “tough guy” reputation was destroyed after that day. Andy became the laughing stock of the school, how he went from being a big bully, to a victim. Andy finally knew what it was like to be in Austin’s shoes. Even Andy’s girlfriend, Jailene, thought that Andy was soft.
“Hey babe,” Andy texted Jailene as he threw his book bag down.
“I really don’t know what I did wrong, I did what I normally do and now everyone hates me or laughs at me,” Andy added on.
“Hey, and it’s because you made a kid kill himself, then you try to assault his girlfriend. Also, you got punched by the new kid, so pretty much you’re a bully who’s gonna get bullied for bullying, and laughed at about it,” Jailene replied, Andy had a feeling on what was about to happen next.
“I know, but he should have tried to at least stand up to me?” Andy questioned.
“That’s the thing, you bully the kids who you know won’t stand up to you, and I don’t wanna date someone who is gonna be a bully like that. Andy, we’re done,” Jailene responded as Andy was getting ready to play basketball.
“Fine then, it’s your loss,” Andy commented and Jailene what he was feeling. She knew that he was going to try and play it cool, but on the inside he knows, he’s hurting really bad. Andy, after replying to her last text, decided not to go play basketball but just listen to music. This was the first time Andy ever started listening to metal, but he liked it. On Saturday, Andy went and got snakebite piercings.
“I guess this is how I’m gonna have to live life. Just like Austin did, before he killed himself because of me,” Andy thought to himself as he was putting the key into the door to unlock it.
When Andy got into his room, he found bricks on the floor, with notes attached on them, just like what he did to Austin.
“This has to be a horrible nightmare,” Austin thought, but it was reality. Andy opened the notes on the bricks. Some said “Kill yourself you low life” , others said “You’re gonna get treated just like how you treated Austin”. Andy didn’t have a clue on how to live his life anymore, it was all happening so fast. In an instant, Andy found himself with a blade in his hand, pressing it against his arm.
“No! I can’t do this! I refuse to be an emo like Austin!” Andy cried out as he tried to drop the blade but he couldn’t. By the time it was morning, Andy had arms full of cuts, and he had no idea on how he was going to hide them or explain them to his mom and dad. So, Andy panicked and put on a sweatshirt and refused to take it off, no matter how hot he was inside it, or how hot the weather was.
Each day, for the rest of the year, Drew bullied Andy, the same exact way he had done to Austin, until the day before their graduation.
“Has anyone seen Andy?” Amy asked as more and more people began to arrive. Amy heard Drew laughing once he heard her question.
“Don’t worry about him, he isn’t going to show, ever again,” Drew exclaimed.
“You mean?” Amy questioned.
“Yeah, he killed himself,” Drew said with a proud tone of voice.
“Damn, at least we won’t have to worry about him ever bullying someone else,” Amy stated as she started to fix her hair.
No one even noticed that Andy had killed himself because people didn’t care about him anymore.
“I mean, who can respect someone who caused an innocent person to kill themselves? I know this may sound harsh, but I think Andy deserved that after all the torture he put that poor freshman through,” Amy added on as she finished fixing her hair.
“That’s true, Andy became a real asshole. He was never like this last year, I don’t know what got into him. I guess he was going through something at home and had to let it out by making someone else twice as miserable as he was,” Drew commented as he tried to put his cap on his head.
“Probably, but why him?” Amy questioned with a confused look on her face.
“It was because according to Andy, Austin wasn’t right like everyone else. Just because he dressed differently, acted differently, or wasn’t too social. His girlfriend didn’t deserve this either, someone showed me some pictures of them together, they were like the perfect couple,” Drew replied to Amy as he gave her a hug, as a sign of relief.
When Andy’s name was called for him to go pick up his diploma, the whole auditorium remained quiet. Nobody but Drew and Amy knew what happened. Drew stood up and with a loud clear voice said “Andy is dead, he killed himself.”  The auditorium was filled with gasps and shocks. No one ever expected Andy to kill himself, but it was what had to be done.
The day Andy killed himself was June 17th 2014, and nobody gave a damn. Andy learned that what goes around comes around, but even worse the second time around. Also known as karma.