He was quiet, thoughtful, awkward in a way that made him an easy target. And in a place like Westbrook, easy targets never stayed untouched for long. It started almost invisibly. People side-eyed him for raising his hand too often. Someone mocked the way he carried four textbooks pressed to his chest.
A group of boys laughed at his thrift-store shoes. Then it escalated. A lot faster than he knew how to stop. A shove in the hallway. A pen snapped in half on his desk before he even sat down. Someone made fun of how he stuttered when he spoke too quickly. Another filmed him dropping his lunch tray and posted it online with a caption that spread through the school by sixth period.