"Enjolras! Wake up!" the female teacher hissed at Enjolras from across the classroom.

He immediately removed his fist from under his chin and grabbed his pen.

The teacher was telling the children about Shakespeare. Enjolras had a passion for Shakespeare's works, but he couldn't help but let his mind daydream about after school. Unfortunately, the school day wasn't even half passed yet.

Enjolras sighed inwardly and listened to the lesson.

"Today we will read an excerpt from Macbeth," The teacher announced. She set her gaze on Enjolras, who was not looking up, but instead at his hands. "How about you read, Enjolras, starting on page nine."

Enjolras whipped his head up at the sound of his name.

"Yes, Madame." He opened his book. He began reading, having trouble quickly to pronounce the difficult words. It seemed as if this was reading a whole different language to him.

Some of his classmates snickered and Enjolras could feel his cheeks burning. He could barely get through the first paragraph of the page.

"Stop there. Thank you, Enjolras." The teacher discontinued Enjolras from embarrassing himself anymore.

Enjolras didn't dare make any eye contact with his classmates.

Ding-Dong! Ding-Dong!

Enjolras could hear the schoolyard bell, signaling it was lunchtime.

The students began filing out, grabbing their lunches as they headed to the yard.

Enjolras did the same and headed outside to where he normally sat on a bench. It was his favorite. He would sit and eat his lunch quietly and peacefully, sometimes enjoying a good book or two.

That was just what he did today.

He began munching on his bread that he held in one hand and reading a book that he held in the other.

The book he read was a boy who lived during the time of Shakespeare. Enjolras thought it was a real thriller, though he often got teased for what he liked to read.

"Can I sit here?"

Somebody interrupted Enjolras' thoughts. He jerked his head up, only to see a boy with dark scruffy hair staring at him with wide eyes. The boy seemed about the age of Enjolras, maybe a year younger, judging by his height.

"Sure." Enjolras didn't think about it much more before he returned to his reading.

"What's your name?" the boy asked, taking out his lunch from his sack.

Enjolras didn't look up, but instead, let his eyes continue to follow the words along the page.

"Enjolras." He said.

"Oh. Mine's Grantaire." The boy shook a little as he spoke. He must have been nervous. But why?

"It's my first day here at this school," Grantaire explained.

Enjolras finally lifted his eyes to meet Grantaire's.

"How come?" Enjolras questioned, wanting to learn more about this new student.

"My family and I recently moved to a nicer neighborhood." He took a bite out of a slice of cheese he had in his hand.

"Hm. What neighborhood-" Enjolras was cut off by a sudden shout.

"Did Enjolras finally make a friend?" the voice mocked. It was Bernard, or otherwise known as the school bully. He especially picked on Enjolras, for some reason that Enjolras could never figure out.

Enjolras tried to ignore Bernard the best he could.

"Give me your lunch." He demanded of Grantaire.

Grantaire looked up innocently at the bully.

"No." He squeaked.

"No?" Bernard repeated. "Nobody says 'no' to me." He grabbed Grantaire by the neck of his shirt and hoisted him up until his feet weren't touching the ground. Grantaire screamed, loud and helplessly.

Out of instinct, Enjolras shot up from his seat.

"Leave him alone!" Enjolras yelled at Bernard.

"Oh, yeah? And what are you going to do about it if I don't?" Bernard dropped Grantaire like a sack of potatoes.

"I'm going to do this-" Enjolras threw a punch at Bernard, aiming at the nose.

When his knuckles hit Bernard's nose, there was a slight crunching noise.

Bernard held his nose and winced.

"That was a mistake." He balled his fists up and punched Enjolras in the stomach with barely any warning at all.

Enjolras practically flew five feet backward and onto his back, knocking the breath out of him. He tried to stand up and recover, shaking off the pain.

He balled his fists up, just as Bernard had. He threw another punch, hitting Bernard squarely on his chin.

Bernard fell backward and landed on his butt. He tried to recover quickly, but Enjolras was quicker.

Enjolras pounced on Bernard punching with all his might. He hit anything that he could. It didn't matter if it was his forehead or his nose. Enjolras was fed up with Bernard's bullying and snarky remarks, and he was showing Bernard just how fed up he was.

It was an amazing feeling for Enjolras. Finally getting back at Bernard. He had been terrorizing Enjolras since the first grade.

Enjolras was now sitting on top of Bernard's stomach, making it hard for him to get up and breathe.

Kids gathered around in awe as they saw the boy get the living daylights beat out of him.

Enjolras felt a sudden pull on his body, but he didn't stop, not for one second.

"Enjolras! Stop!" the teacher's voice rang in Enjolras' ears. He was ripped backward off of Bernard.

Enjolras examined his bloody knuckles.

"Enjolras. Come with me now!" Enjolras' teacher grabbed his arm firmly and dragged him back inside the school building.

All Enjolras got to see was Bernard on the dusty ground with blood all over his face.

"You're going to the principal's office right now!" the teacher still handled Enjolras as they headed down the corridor together.

Enjolras was silent, too afraid to say anything for it might only make the situation worse.

They arrived together at the office, where the principal was looking down at some papers on his desk.

"What brings you two here?" he asked, not looking up.

"Enjolras got into a fight outside at lunch." The teacher said.

The principal looked up, sighing deeply.

"Sit." he motioned to a chair in front of his desk. The teacher almost forced Enjolras to sit.

For about 30 minutes, the teacher, the principal, and Enjolras talked.

The final punishment that was decided was to be suspended for the rest of the day.

Enjolras quietly headed out of the school building and started in the direction of his home.

You might suppose that Enjolras would be happy that he can go home early from school, but that was not the case.

Every time Enjolras did something bad in school, he would get "whipped into shape" by his papa. His mama didn't like the idea very much, but she never stopped papa from doing so.

Enjolras decided to take a shortcut through the streets of Saint Michele.

Saint Michele was a neighborhood that belonged to many poor townspeople. His mama hated him walking through the neighborhood, but Enjolras did it anyways.

He was stopped a lot by people asking for money or food, both of which Enjolras did not possess. He always disliked seeing the disappointed faces when he told them so.

Enjolras was more than halfway home when he heard sudden footsteps behind him.

At first, they were very faint, but they gradually got louder.

Enjolras looked back, but there was nobody in sight.

He thought he must be hearing things. He ignored it and continued his walk.

"Help! Help!" a scream pierced the air.

Enjolras halted and listened again.

"Help!" it said.

Enjolras started running towards the direction he thought the screaming was in.

"Help!" it kept saying.

The voice was getting louder and louder until it seemed like just feet away from Enjolras.

He turned an alleyway corner to see three dark figures holding a little girl that looked about the age of Enjolras.

She was being held back by one of the men. Her eyes were full of fear.

"Run!" she screamed.

Enjolras started running, dropping his Shakespeare book. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the shadowy figures running after him.

"Come back, kid!" one of them yelled.

Enjolras didn't dare look back this time, for that would only scare him more.

He jumped over boxes and trashcans that were in his way.

"Police! We demand you stop!"

Enjolras was suddenly wiped out by one of the men. He was turned onto his side. Enjolras screamed, not opening his eyes.

"What are you doing walking alone, child?" the man hoisted Enjolras up from the ground by the back of his coat.

The man was wearing a blue police uniform, with a pistol in a holster by his side.

"It's against the law to be as young as you are walking alone in the neighborhood of Saint Michele," he said, nearly dragging Enjolras with every step.

"I didn't know that, Monsieur. You have to believe me!" Enjolras pleaded.

There was a brief silence while the man exchanged looks with the other two.

"We must bring you home. Show us the way, boy."

Enjolras did just what the policeman told him to do. He leads them to his large house.

The policeman pounded on the front door of the home.

It was Enjolras' father who answered the door.

"Police, what can I do for you?" he asked politely.

"It this your son?" the policeman pulled Enjolras out in front for his papa to see.

"Why, yes it is. What did he do wrong, officer?" the father gave Enjolras a threatening stare.

"He was walking alone in Saint Michele, which is against the law for safety reasons." the officer explained.

"Oh. I can assure you, Monsieur, it won't happen again. Merci." Enjolras' father pulled Enjolras inside the house and shut the big door behind him.

The father nearly threw Enjolras across the room.

"What were you thinking, Enjolras? You could of gotten arrested! Your only twelve!" he yelled.

"I'm sorry, Papa." Enjolras rubbed the back of his neck and didn't lift his eyes to see his father.

Marie, Enjolras' mama, hurried into the room due to the yelling.

"Philipe, what is going on?" she asked quickly, worry plastered across her beautiful face. She went to Enjolras and bent down to hug him. She brushed through his messy blonde curls and kissed him lightly on the cheek.

"Enjolras almost got arrested." Philipe said, his tone barely changing.

"I did not!" Enjolras protested.

"Yes you did, young man. Go to your room now!" Philipe was partially screaming at this point.

Enjolras went to his room without another word. He slammed his door and jumped onto his bed. He let his body sprawl out all across the bed, forgetting that his shoes were still on.

---

It was decided that Enjolras was to go to sleep without any supper, which was fine with him.

He didn't want to even look at his father, for Enjolras was so angry at him.

He slipped into his sleeping shirt and laid in his cool bed. The sheets felt good against his flustered skin.

---

That night Enjolras fell asleep while staring out his window. He often did this, for it always made him feel better, no matter what.

How was he going to go to school tomorrow when Bernard is going to be there?

Right then, he knew that Bernard was the least of his worries.

He just needed to get a good-night's rest.

And that's exactly what happened.