The First Day That Went Wrong
Marcus Thompson stepped off the bus into the copper glare of a Texas morning, clutching a backpack he’d packed three times the night before. New town. New school. Maybe, finally, a new start. But by the front gate of Oakridge High, a circle closed around him—taunts first, then a shove that sent his books skittering like frightened birds across the sidewalk.
“I don’t want any trouble,” he said, voice steady but small.
Laughter answered him. Sneakers thudded. A second shove. A textbook slapped the concrete. The ringleader—Tyler—smirked for his audience.
That’s when the sound arrived—low, layered, and impossible to ignore.
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