The new kid was an asshole. 

Nick and Tommy had of course been worried when they’d heard a new student would be joining their class. But when it had come out that he was being transferred due to their school’s phenomenal anti-bullying program (the state had no idea how they did it, and was better off not knowing), they had briefly allowed themselves to hope that maybe the new kid was joining them because he had been a victim of bullying. Not because he was the perpetrator.

Apparently, Eric’s parents were so impressed by their school’s program (if only they knew), that they decided to transfer their son, in hopes of reforming him. But the most effective part of the program was actually the biggest bully of them all (please don’t let him hear this): the monster that shared a body with Mr. Saunders, their former history teacher and current class advisor.

As President and Vice-President of their class, Nick and Tommy had made it their mission to welcome their new classmate and get him oriented. He hadn’t wanted their help, only mocked them for being so nice. They had shared a look, and been accused (like it was something bad) of being gay. Oh please, don’t let Ryka find out about that one, they had thought. There were rumors - very quiet rumors, never voiced at school - that Mr. Saunders cared an awful lot about his monster. And it was no secret Ryka would do absolutely anything for his host. This kid was setting himself up for a taste of Hell.

And it only got worse. He pushed around the underclassmen (something pretty common in the past, but not here, not anymore), rolled his eyes at the teachers when they reprimanded him, and was just generally a dick to everyone. Worst of all, he had taken a liking to Tommy’s girlfriend, Mackenzie, and was the kind of guy who thought it was charming to be a creep. He cat-called and whistled, stood way too close, tried to play with her hair, then blatantly ignored her requests to stop doing all of those things.

She was the first to warn him there were severe consequences for being an ass, and Tommy told him the same. But Eric didn’t care. Not when more of his new classmates repeated the warnings, and not even when some of the teachers did the same.

So, he kept up the douche-baggery, and wound up screaming at his math teacher and flipping over his desk during what was really a childish tantrum. While this should have gotten him suspended, it instead earned him an afternoon in detention. But not immediately, Nick and Tommy shuddered to hear. One of the English teachers, Mr. Brissette, was supposed to be running detention hall that week. There weren’t usually many kids anyhow, and rarely for serious offenses. It was usually for stupid teenager stuff, they’d overheard some teachers say. 

They had heard Eric gloating about avoiding suspension, and only winding up with a detention for something so violent. (Flipping a desk was definitely a threat, right?) But there was nothing to be happy about - Eric’s detention had been postponed to the following week. Mr. Saunders’s week.

Nick and Tommy knew Mr. S. hadn’t been the one to make that request. He had looked sick when he found out their school was being awarded for its anti-bullying initiative. He didn’t like his part in it, that much was clear. There was no doubt Ryka knew what was going on (he somehow knew almost everything happening in the school), and they had wondered if it was his request, or if the other teachers wanted their new problem dealt with by someone who could actually make a difference. Either way, Eric was fucked.

In a last ditch attempt to save him from what was surely going to be a traumatizing afternoon in detention, Nick and Tommy approached him again. “What the fuck do you fags want now?” had been Eric’s reaction when they had flagged him down outside Mr. Saunders’s room on the afternoon of Eric’s scheduled punishment. Eric had been starting to open the door, and Nick and Tommy could see Mr. S. waiting in his room, looking pale and worried.

“Just apologize,” Nick pleaded.

“And mean it,” Tommy added.

Rolling his eyes (his trademark move), Eric stepped back into the hall, pulling the door closed again. “You two really need to mind your own fucking business. You have each other, so please stop fucking talking to me.”

Nick just shook his head. “Whatever, man. Just trying to help.” Throwing his hands up, Nick took a step back.

“That’s the last thing I need,” Eric assured them, pushing the door open again, but still facing Nick and Tommy. “It’s a detention with a teacher who somehow looks scared all the time – what a pussy. I think I’ll make it.”

But Nick and Tommy couldn’t respond. Mr. Saunders was no longer the one waiting for Eric. Instead, Ryka loomed behind him, grinning. “Ooh, fresh meat,” he growled.

“What the-” Eric spun around, and nearly fell back into the hall. Nick and Tommy started inching away. They’d already had far too many encounters with the demon. They had tried to warn Eric without going back on their word, but it hadn’t worked.

And now the new kid was standing frozen in the hall, mouth hanging open and eyes wide as he tried to make sense of the monster staring back at him. “Hell? You got it. Now come here you little shit.”

Eric was shaking his head, but marching forward all the same. Taking this as their cue, Nick and Tommy sprinted toward the nearest exit, too afraid to look back.

***

That was the end of Eric’s bullying. They never asked what happened to him in detention, and he certainly didn’t tell them. They supposed that, like the rest of the student body, he was sworn to silence. Break it and pay. Whatever had happened, he was reformed (his parents must be delighted). He apologized – and meant it – to everyone he had offended, even slightly.

Knowing the value of forgiveness, Nick and Tommy accepted his apologies. They certainly weren’t friends, but Eric didn’t bother them anymore. Or seem to want to bother too much with them, since they had run for safety when he was being dragged into detention.

So, it was surprising when the new kid stopped them at their cars after class one day, about a week after what he probably thought of as the worst day of his life. Looking back over his shoulder toward the school, he whispered “Uh, can we talk?”

“Not here,” Tommy told him. Ryka always knew. Or always found out. “But we’re going to Burger King if you want to follow us.” Safer off school grounds, for sure.

Eric followed them, and they sat on the hood of Nick’s car, eating Whoppers. Though Eric didn’t seem to have much of an appetite. After a few bites, he wrapped his burger up and shoved it back in the bag. “So, you all know, right? About …?” he trailed off. Most of them couldn’t say the demon’s name. (What if they somehow summoned him?)

Both Nick and Tommy nodded. “We might have been worse than you.”

Eric opened his mouth to say something, probably an insult, but thought better of it and shut up.

“Honestly, I don’t even remember why, but we wanted to hurt Mr. S.” Nick admitted, shuddering. “I threw a rock at him.” At that, it looked like Eric’s eyes were going to pop right out of his head. “Yeah, so. We’ve been personally threatened. And seen him hurt a couple fucking idiots who didn’t take our warnings seriously, either.”

“Shit.”

“Mr. S. is actually a nice guy, though. He’s our class advisor, you know.”

That surprised Eric just as much as Nick’s prior admission. “What? You’re not scared?”

“As long as you act like a decent fucking human being, there’s no problem.” That was just good all-around advice, Tommy thought. He wished he’d learned it sooner. He wasn’t happy about how he’d had to learn it, but was starting to realize it might have been worth it. In the long run, that is.

“Well, I’m sorry again for being such a dick.”

“We all are,” Nick agreed.