Chapter 19 Sophia's POV

Jimmy Warren trudged down the street with his hands forlornly thrust into his pockets. The eighth grader was lost in his muddled thoughts of only seven months more of middle school hell. Then there would be four years of high school hell. Maybe, if he survived, college would at least be tolerable. The week before Halloween chill wind whipped and swirled the brown dead leaves willi-nilli across the sidewalks and streets. As usual the backpack he carried was filled with books and weighed nearly half his scrawny seventy five pound weight. The added weight hunched his undersized four feet eight inch frame forward making it look like he was fighting hurricane force winds rather then normal fall zephers.

Unfortunately the day had been normal for the smallest boy in his class. Twice Gary Newhouse slammed him into the lockers as they passed from class to class while his stooge Will Kilmer knocked his books and notebooks from his arm immediately followed by crony Jeff Gray kicking them down the crowded hall. In phys-ed they took every opportunity to trip and jeer at him. No matter how hard he tried to avoid the six feet two inch two hundred twenty five pound fifteen year old the bully still unerringly sought him out.

[Labor Day Weekend]
Things were as usual pretty quiet in Custer County. I’d given everyone but Kelly and myself the weekend off to be with their families.