I was lying on the floor, tears in my eyes as the rain beat down on me. It hurt to move, and I felt around the places that they had kicked me. The bullies. 

"Not so tough now," George said with a smirk. "Huh, Luke?" 

I groaned, and instantly regretted it. The other bully, Mason, squatted down and took me by the hair. 

"What? You couldn't even stand that? What a baby." 

He released me, and I let my head hit the ground again gratefully. The roots of my hair hurt from the pulling and I was pretty sure a chunk had been ripped out. But it didn't hurt anymore, which was good. Part of me just wanted to lay there. My body, filled with scrapes, bruises and cuts hurt, but it was a lot worse if I tried to move around. 

"Got nothing to say? Well alright then. We'll see you tomorrow at school then Luke," Mason said, and the two of them stood up, giving me a final kick as they left. 

My name is Lucas, I wanted to yell as they walked away. But I knew that would just guarantee a bigger beating tomorrow, or if they had extra time today, they would just come right back and continue beating me up. Rain continued soaking into my clothes as I rolled onto my back and stayed there. 

Then, I remembered that I had a job to do. Slowly, I stood up. I could barely walk, but I forced myself to anyways. I leaned against the wall for support and stumbled my way down to the store. In my hand, a clutched a handful of dollar bills. This was me and my dad's spending money, the only money we had to buy food for the next two days. This was also what had led to the beating with George and Mason. 

I almost never was seen with money, so at the first glance of  the green papers in my hand, George and Mason demanded I hand it over. I clutched onto the money for dear life, curling into a ball while they kicked and punched. 

The doors of the store slide open, and I was in. I was wet, hungry, and dirty. An employee looked over at me, a disgusted look crossing her face. She walked up to me, shoes clicking on the nice wooden floor that my family would never be able to afford.

 "Um, excuse me kid, you can't go inside." 

I wrung my hands, because I knew what was going through her mind. I couldn't be angry, or mad at her though, because I would've done the same thing in her shoes. I couldn't have a wet, smelly, dirty, beaten up kid dirtying the store.

 "But I have money," I said quietly.

 "Sorry kid, you just can't go inside. It'll be too messy." 

She looked at me, now a little sorry for me. "Tell you what. Tell me what you're planning to buy, give me the money, and I'll buy it for you. That ok?" 

I nodded eagerly, handing her the money. She walked off, and I waited. After about ten minutes, I sat down on the floor, wondering what was taking so long. I didn't have any money to buy much. It should have taken five minutes, tops. There I sat, not knowing how cruel humans actually were. After twenty minutes, I put my head in my hands, and realized what had just happened. I had lost the money to get our food for the next two days.