William Carter sat in his seat reading a book. After a while, classmates started arriving one after another, and the once quiet classroom gradually became lively. Friends who got along well gathered together—some chatted about how great the TV show they watched last night was, some discussed which celebrity had released a new song recently, and a few girls took out their treasured stickers to trade with each other. The classroom was as bustling as a farmers' market.

The noise grew louder and louder. William Carter frowned and put down his book. At that moment, the chubby guy who had stolen his money yesterday entered the classroom and put his backpack on his seat. Seeing William Carter sitting there in a daze, he swaggered over, laughing and joking. When he got close, he ruffled William Carter's head and said, “Hey! Did you bring money today?” William Carter was startled and shook his head, saying, “I didn’t bring any money.”

“No money?” The chubby guy chuckled and said, “Then let me check.” As he spoke, he reached his hand toward William Carter’s pocket.

William Carter pushed his hand away, his voice trembling a bit: “Don’t search me, I still need my money for lunch.” Seeing that he had money but wouldn’t hand it over, the chubby guy swung his arm and slapped William Carter across the face: “Damn, are you pretending with me?!” The pain on his face made William Carter’s eyes turn red.

At this moment, all the classmates in the classroom turned their attention over, some with curiosity, some gloating. Seeing everyone looking at him, William Carter’s face turned bright red. He knew his self-esteem had been trampled into the ground. William Carter’s deskmate couldn’t stand it anymore—a round-faced girl said to the chubby guy, “Sarah Thompson, you’ve gone too far. How can you hit people?”

Sarah Thompson pointed at the girl: “Get lost, what business is it of yours?!”

The girl glared and said loudly, “So what, hitting people is not okay.” Some classmates who were close to her spoke up for her, “Let it go, Sarah Thompson, stop making a scene. The teacher will be here soon.” “Nancy Clark, that’s enough. You don’t need to shout either.” Nancy Clark was the name of William Carter’s deskmate, a girl who was usually very lively, almost like a tomboy, but did very well in her studies.

Sarah Thompson nodded, looked at the silent William Carter, and said, “Fine, damn you, just you wait!” He turned and went back to his seat, breathing heavily.

Nancy Clark said loudly to William Carter, who was hanging his head, “What are you afraid of? What else can he do?” After speaking, she sat down angrily. She gave William Carter a push and said, “Why are you so timid? The more you’re afraid of him, the more he’ll bully you. Don’t you have an older brother at home? Get him to beat Sarah Thompson up and he’ll stop.”

William Carter nodded blankly and said, “Thank you.”

Seeing him like this, Nancy Clark got even more annoyed and turned away, ignoring him.

The difficult day finally came to an end. After school, the students left the classroom one by one, but William Carter didn’t dare to leave. He was afraid Sarah Thompson would wait for him in the school corridor. In the end, only he and the student on duty were left in the classroom. The student on duty today was named David Bolton, who had also been bullied by Sarah Thompson before. Seeing that William Carter hadn’t left yet, he swept the floor while asking, “William Carter, why are you still here? It’s almost six o’clock (school ends at 5:30).”

William Carter scratched his head awkwardly and said, “I still have a geometry problem I don’t understand. I’ll leave in a bit.”

“Heh, you really are hardworking. No wonder your grades are so good!” After a while, David Bolton finished cleaning the classroom, picked up his backpack, and said, “William Carter, I’m done cleaning. Are you leaving? If you are, let’s go together.”

William Carter shook his head, “You go ahead, our homes aren’t on the same route anyway.”

David Bolton said ‘bye-bye’ and ran out of the classroom with his backpack. William Carter waited a little longer. When he checked the time, it was already past six. He figured that even if Sarah Thompson was waiting for him, he wouldn’t wait this late, and maybe he thought William Carter had already gone home.

William Carter packed up his books, picked up his backpack, and left the classroom. After locking the door, he turned and walked away.

(The teaching building of No. 2 Middle School is a fairly large five-story building. The first, second, and third floors are all classrooms for different classes. The fourth and fifth floors are laboratories, computer rooms, language labs, etc. William Carter’s classroom is on the second floor.)

By this time, most of the students in the school had already left. Many of the lights in the corridor were turned off, making it a bit dim. William Carter walked to the first-floor corridor, which was the place he feared most, because Sarah Thompson and his gang often waited for him there. Seeing that the corridor was empty, William Carter finally relaxed. But just as he was halfway down the corridor, a classroom door beside him opened, and four or five people came out. Among them were Sarah Thompson and the tall guy who had stolen his money yesterday.

Sarah Thompson grinned wickedly and said, “William Carter, you finally came out. We’ve been waiting for you!” As he spoke, the four or five of them surrounded William Carter.

William Carter felt a chill in his heart. He had never been bullied by so many people before, and he almost burst into tears. “Sarah Thompson, about this morning… I’m sorry!”

“Screw you! Enough talk, hand over the money first.” With the advantage of numbers, Sarah Thompson spoke much more aggressively.

“I spent all my money on lunch, I really don’t have any now.”

Sarah Thompson chuckled, “No money, huh? Then I’ll beat you and see if you have any.” With that, he kicked William Carter on the thigh. The others were all troublemakers from different classes, the kind who weren’t afraid of causing trouble. Seeing Sarah Thompson make a move, they didn’t hesitate and started punching and kicking William Carter. While hitting him, Sarah Thompson said, “Don’t hit his face, if you mess it up it’ll be hard to explain.”