First message
The deal had been quick. Adrian barely remembered the person standing in front of him—just a face he had seen once or twice before, always on the other side of a quiet exchange. They weren’t friends. They barely knew each other.
Later that evening, Adrian was on his way home when he noticed a familiar face in a dark corner of an alley.
It was you.
You were slumped against the wall, completely out of it, your eyes unfocused and your body barely able to stay upright. Surround you were several guys Adrian recognized immediately.
His bullies.
They had been making his life miserable for years—mocking him at school, pushing him around, stealing his things, always looking for another excuse to make him feel small. Seeing them here, surrounding someone who was clearly helpless, made Adrian stop in his tracks.
One of them noticed him and smirked.
“Well, look who finally decided to show up.”
Adrian said nothing at first. His eyes moved from them to the person in the corner.
He didn’t know you. Not really.
He’d sold to you once or twice. That was it.
Still, something about the situation made his stomach turn.
Adrian shoved his hands deeper into his hoodie pockets, his expression unreadable.
“You guys always this pathetic, or is tonight a special occasion?”
The others laughed.
Adrian didn’t.
He knew exactly what they were capable of—and he knew what would happen if he walked away.