The next morning they did their normal routine getting ready for work and school.

Esther had noticed that Avi was being unusually quiet and was acting really down. She hoped to God that he wasn't slipping into depression again. She knew the bullying was really taking a toll on him. She tried everything she knew to do to stop it, but the school board didn't seem to care. He wasn't on Honor Roll or their star quarterback so they weren't too worried.

She had heard about kids committing suicide because they couldn't handle being bullied any longer. Avi was already down on himself enough for not being able to learn and the bullies at the high school were just making it worse.

During the ride to town, she tried to get him to talk but he would only answer with a nod or a shake of the head.

Once they got to the restaurant, Avi got out of the truck and got his backpack from the back.

"See ya this evening, Sis." Avi says, slipping his hands into his pockets and began walking slowly up the sidewalk.

"Avi, wait!" Esther calls out to him. She walks up to him, pulling him into a hug. "I love you so much, Av. Don't ever forget that." she whispers to him.

"I love you too." He whispers with a breaking voice.

Ben opens the door and walks out on the sidewalk beside Esther who was watching Avi slowly walking away.

"You know Ben, he would rather take a beating than to go to school. Cause he knows what's going to happen." She says, wiping a tear.

"Maybe his brain has got a limit of learning and he's already reached that limit." Ben says with a shrug.

"There's always that ray of hope that he might be able to learn something else, you know?" Esther says looking sadly around at Ben.

"But Esther, searching for that ray of hope is putting that boy through a lot of suffering. Besides, his future doesn't consist of working math problems or reading novels. His future is in his hands and his eyes. He sees beauty in things we can't and then he expresses it with his hands by drawing or sculpting. Have you ever thought about letting him quit school or maybe even home school? I mean, Mr. Foust is a fantastic teacher and he tries his best. But Avi isn't his only student. Avi needs someone that can give him his undivided attention." Ben says walking back into the restaurant.

"Avi's wanting to quit." Esther says following him inside.

"Well, whether you let him quit or home school, you really need to get that kid out of that school before he gets hurt." Ben says getting things ready for the morning rush.

During Art class, Tim walks up and sits down at the table where Avi was hard at work carving something.

"Watcha doing, Avi?" Tim asks.

"I'm making Esther something." He smiles holding up a beautiful dove. "I think I made her feel bad this morning. So I wanted to cheer her up. But can you do me a favor, if you have time?"

"Sure, what do you need?" Tim asks scooting his seat closer.

"Can you carve her name on it for me?" Avi says handing Tim the small bird.

"I tell you what, why don't you write it. And before you say that you can't, I'm gonna help you." Tim says, smiling at Avi.

"But it will be ugly if I do it." Avi says with a sigh.

"Avi, nothing that you make could ever be ugly, especially to Esther. Now, come on. I'll help you." Mr. Foust says as he got to work helping Avi finish the beautiful bird.

After they were finished, Avi looked proudly at the dove with 'Esther' wrote on the breast of the bird.

"That don't look too bad, does it?" Avi asks smiling.

Before Tim had time to answer, the bell rang signaling the end of the school day. Avi's smile quickly faded.

He gathers up his art supplies and put them in his backpack. He wrapped the bird up in a newspaper and carefully put it in the bag also.

He slowly walks up to the door, quietly opening it and peeking out. Shocked that there was no one on the basketball court. Avi slips out and starts walking down the street, constantly looking behind him. He was looking behind him when he suddenly ran into someone.

"OH! I'm so sorry." He says turning around and coming face to face with Mitch, the lead bully.

"Going somewhere, Moron?" Mitch asks with a smirk.

"OH SHIT!" Avi gasps backing up bumping into someone. He turns quickly to see Scott, Mitch's boyfriend and right-hand man.

"Where do you think you're going, Dog face?" Scott smirks.

"To-to the cafe. Ex-excuse m-me." Avi says nervously trying to walk around Mitch.

"Oh, I don't think so." Scott laughs grabbing Avi's backpack pulling him back.

"Whatcha got in here anyway, retard. Surely not books, considering you're too stupid to read." Scott laughs grabbing the bag from Avi and pitching it to Jeremy, another bully.

"NO PLEASE!!" Avi begs, grabbing for his bag. Jeremy punches him in the face knocking him to the sidewalk. Blood gushing from his nose.

"Awww, look at this Mitch. The baby was carrying his colors home." Jeremy smirks as he broke each coloring pencil in several pieces. He then brought out the drawing tablet. Tearing each drawing and unused page into bits.

"Please stop, Please!" Avi cries.

His cries only made Mitch smile more.

"Well, what do we have here?" Alex says, reaching into the bag.

Avi looks up to see that Alex was holding the dove he had made for his sister.

"NO! NO! PLEASE!!!" Avi yells getting up just to receive a strong blow to his crotch. He gasps in pain, falling to his knees then to his side in a fetal position.

"DO NOT interrupt my boys' fun." Mitch sneers as he stands over the battered Avi.

"HEY!! WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!!!??" Avi hears Mr. Foust's bass voice yell loudly as he came out of the school.

"IT'S FOUST!!" Mitch yells. The boys take off running but not before Alex throws the dove to the sidewalk, breaking off a wing.

*************

Sorry, but SOMEONE had to be the bad guys. LOL!!!

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