It was like I jinxed myself because as I said that, Lewis made his way into the cafeteria with that stupid grin on his face. He peered over at me from the entrance and made his way toward us.

“There’s that asshole,” Donny said under his breath.

Before I knew it, Lewis was right there in front of us. I knew it was going to be bad. I knew it was going to be embarrassing. I just wanted to shout, “Leave me alone!” But I didn’t.

“What’s up, Adrian?” he grinned at me.

“Dude, get out of here,” Donny began.

“I’m not talking to you,” Lewis shot back.

“Well I’m talking to you.” Donny stood up.

The tension was pretty high. They weren’t fans of each other.

“Lewis, leave my guy alone. I’m not messing with you,” Donny continued.

I sat there, not knowing what to do or say, then suddenly I looked at my sandwich and I saw Lewis sticking his finger right through the top and down the bottom.

“Hey, what are you doing?” I demanded.

“It’s not like you need that anyway, fatass,” Lewis sneered at me. “You’re almost three hundred pounds!” He said it loud enough for the entire cafeteria to hear. As soon as he said it, my heart sank into my stomach. I could see students eyeing me. I could feel their whispers lingering around me, and I felt sick. It felt like my biggest secret was now an open one.

“You’re such an asshole, Lewis,” Donny growled.

“Aha.” Lewis laughed his stupid laugh.

That was when I snapped. I tore the sandwich from under Lewis’s hand and flung it at him.

“What the hell!” he yelled. Gobs of egg covered his cheeks. I could hear laughs from around the cafeteria.

It didn’t take long for Lewis to get the food off of his face. That was when he threw his fist into mine. I honestly hadn’t known what to expect, but a bruised eye wasn’t it. I hit the ground. Hard. All I heard was a collective gasp from the rest of the students. That was what humiliation felt like. It wasn’t great.

I looked up to see Donny jump across the table at Lewis. They started fighting. Throwing fists full of anger back and forth as everyone in the cafeteria chanted, “Fight! Fight! Fight!”

Security soon came in and broke them up. Once that happened, I ran out of the cafeteria both hurt and embarrassed. I just wanted to go home. I grabbed my belongings from my locker and fought back tears. I couldn’t cry, I couldn’t let myself be weak, so I hid my misery and made my way home.

I was home before my parents so I had time to think of an explanation for the bruise on my face. I went straight to the bathroom and looked at myself in the mirror. It looked pretty bad. I had a huge red mark under my left eye. I couldn’t let that happen again. I couldn’t let Lewis bully me over my weight, I couldn’t allow myself to be his punching bag, and I couldn’t let my parents see me being beat up.