Quarantine Short Stories #8: Big Bully
Tags: Fiction, Suspense, Thriller, Horror Fiction, Horror

Hey, folks! Welcome to the 8th entry of #QuarantineShortStories. I want to thank everyone for sticking with me so far. I hope you like my stories! Today’s prompt is very interesting, and I hope that I do it justice.

Today’s prompt: Write a story about a character who can’t figure out when they’re dreaming or awake.

Enjoy!

The last bell for class just rang.

Andre sat in the back of the classroom. He was known as the class clown and ironically, the school bully as well.

“OK, class. Settle down, settle down,” Mrs. Jackson says as she stands in front of the class. “Good morning, everyone. We have a new student joining us today. His name is Dexter Smith.”

She looks to the open door and signals for Dexter to come in. He walks in nervously and looks at the class. He is a geeky looking kid with glasses, a lunchbox, and his backpack.

“Welcome, Dexter. Say hello to your new classmates.” Mrs. Jackson says.

Dexter pauses for a second then nervously says “Hi” and waves at the class.

Andre laughs. “Fresh Meat!” he yells out. A few of the students laugh.

“Mr. Thomas! I will not tolerate this today!” Mrs. Jackson says to Andre as she looks at him sternly.

Andre smiles and throws his hands up in defeat. “Sorry, Mrs. Jack. I’m just tryna welcome Dexter.” Andre replies.

Mrs. Jackson scoffs. She looks at Dexter and says, “I apologize. Have a seat. Sit wherever you please.”

Dexter nods and then walks towards the back. He takes one seat in front of Andre. After he sits down, Andre whispers to him, “Big mistake, pussy.”

Andre’s friend, Matt, looks on and giggles silently. Dexter turns around and glares at Andre. Andre is a bit unsettled. “Turn around, punk.” Andre warns him but Dexter continues to glare at him.

Suddenly, Mrs. Jackson speaks, and Dexter turns around. “I hope everyone finished their homework. This assignment is 50% of your grade,” She says.

Andre sits and stares at the back of Dexter’s head. He is wondering why he was glaring at him. Soon enough though, the bell rings again and class ends. All the students start to gather their things and get up to leave. Dexter stands and packs his things in his backpack. Andre sees this and walks by him, bumping him. Dexter drops a few of his things on the ground.

“My bad, newbie.” Andre laughs. Matt looks at Dexter and says, “This is going to be a loooong school year, bruh.”

Andre and Matt slap five and laugh as they leave the room. Dexter finishes packing his things and starts to walk out but Mrs. Jackson stops him. “Dexter. I am so sorry about Andre. He is just…misguided. If anything happens, tell me. Okay?”

Dexter nods, “Don’t worry. I dealt with bullies at my old school. I know how to handle him.”

Mrs. Jackson smiles. Dexter walks out into the hallway. It is the end of the school day. Students are talking and hanging with each other, walking to the bus, and walking home. Andre and Matt are standing at the entrance of the school, chatting. Dexter walks by them to exit but Andre walked up and stood right in front of him.

“I run this school, you hear me? Mrs. Jack can’t save you. The principal can’t save you. Got it?” Andre says to Dexter. Matt stands behind them and giggles.

Dexter replies, “Sure, whatever you say. Just watch your back.”

“What the fuck did you just say, punk?” He grabs Dexter by his shirt.

Dexter looks at him and smiles calmly. Suddenly, a security guard sees this and breaks it up.

“Cut it out, Andre. Leave the kid alone, man.” the security guard says. Dexter is still smiling and looking directly at Andre.

“Go home, bitch.” Andre curses. Dexter chuckles and walks away. The security guard leaves.

Matt walks up to Andre and says, “That guy is a weirdo. He seems…off.”

Andre replies, “Whatever. I’m gonna fuck him up tomorrow.”

Matt laughs and replies, “Yo, you still coming over? I owe you an ass whooping in 2K.”

Andre smiles, “I’ll be there with a fresh can of whoop-ass for you.”

Andre and Matt say bye to each other and go their separate ways. After a while walking, he sees something out the corner of his eye across the street. It’s Dexter, waiting at a bus stop. Andre stops and looks across the street to him. He smiles and decides to switch sides. Suddenly, Dexter takes his thumb and runs it across his throat while looking at Andre. Andre stops walking. He is angry now. He continues to approach him but stops when the bus comes.

After a few seconds, the bus leaves, and Dexter is gone. Andre mutters to himself, “He has a death wish.” Andre reaches Matt’s house. He walks up to the slightly opened front door. He steps in and shouts, “Yoooo! Matt! You tryna get robbed?”

He closes the door behind him and takes note that the house feels empty. Andre walks around the house, calling for Matt. He walks up to Matt’s room, sees the door wide open, and he can hear the sounds of the video game.

“Wow, you started without me, bruh?” Andre says as he enters. Suddenly, he stops in his tracks, and his jaw drops. Matt is face down in a pool of blood. On the wall, he sees “WATCH YOUR BACK!” written in blood.

Andre’s frozen with fear. After a few seconds, he runs out of the room and to the kitchen. He picks up the phone to call 911 but gets a dial tone. He slams the phone down and runs back to Matt’s room. Matt is no longer there. “What the fuck?” Andre yells out. He turns to run out of the room and sees Dexter holding a butcher knife. Andre tries to lunge at him but slips on the blood. He falls to the floor, hits his head, and goes unconscious.

After a while, Andre wakes up. He is still sprawled out on the floor and takes his time to scan his surroundings. Dexter is standing over him with the butcher knife. Andre frantically tries to get up but Dexter kicks him down and puts his foot on Andre’s chest.

Andre yells at him, “You ain’t gonna do shit!” Dexter smiles and swings the butcher knife towards Andre’s head. Suddenly, Andre jumps awake in the classroom. He quickly looks around the room.

Matt puts his hand on his shoulder and startles him. “Relax, bruh. You good?”

Andre nods and calms down. After a few minutes, Mrs. Jackson addresses the class. “Good morning, everyone. We have a new student joining us today. His name is Dexter Smith.” She says.

Andre, with wide eyes, looks towards the front of the classroom as Dexter walks inside. “Welcome, Dexter. Say hello to your new classmates.” Mrs. Jackson continues.

Dexter pauses for a second then nervously says “Hi” and waves at the class.

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