I don't own Power Rangers [Megaforce].

~X~

It starts in middle school. Troy realizes that what the bigger, cooler kids are doing to him is bullying. Yes, the topic he had learned in elementary, the one where everyone was and was told to never do it. In middle school, the kids end up hurting him for the better. He didn't expect it. He knows bullying is bad, and he never expected bad things to start happening so soon. But the kids all pick on him. They call him mean names and tell him he should give up on everything.

"Why are your lips so fat?"

"Don't you talk? Too ashamed of your voice, huh?"

"Where's your dad, Troy? Oh, right. He left you! He left you worthless and on the ground."

And the comments about his dad usually hurt, because he begins to give in as if they were true. And he partially believes it. That what the bullies do to him.

He's also kind of surprised because he knew himself to always be a good kid. He wasn't one to be teased of. He was a really good person. He was nice and respectful, and he always listened to the teachers and his parents. Then he realized that that was maybe the reason why the bullies always made fun of him.

But no one usually talks to him. So he doesn't really talk since there's no one to talk to. All of a sudden, the kids are making snarky comments about him. And they don't feel good at all. It sends this burning feeling in his stomach, a deep stabbing right into him.

So after school, he runs home every day as early as he can, crying. Starting from 7th grade, he's avoided and ducked from crumpled papers and spitballs and rough shoves from everyone. He always slipped on his hood and stared down until he crossed the road of his school where no one could see him. He runs. He runs as fast as he can. He prays that no one would follow him. He's thirteen years old, and he knew the kids at school would defeat him for crying on his way.

He tells his mom he always rides the bus, when in reality he doesn't because he'd most likely get pushed over. Maybe the bullies would make a "playful" attempt to shove him out the window.

But his mom drops him off every morning and he makes sure she's gone so he can proceed to walk in. He doesn't need her worrying too much. She's worried so much already Troy begins to feel really bad.

He lives in a small house on the edge of town, far from their school. It's tucked in within a neighborhood in the trees and it's away from all the other kids. It's the fourth house he'd lived in so far. His mom moves them a lot to find a new school for Troy that isn't so painful, and to get more money just in case of another move. They always move to small, affordable cities, and those cities have no more than one school for him. It's big, wooden, and cozy, but it doesn't comfort Troy at all.

He sits on the small four-step staircase of his house, and drops his head in his hands. His hands become wet and he lets out muffled sobs as quick as he can. He just sits on the porch and cries. He just feels really upset that he couldn't be better for everyone else. It kills him inside.

And then he cries even more because he does this so often that his mom is going to have to bustle up even more money because she might move them again. He hates having his mom spend money just for him, and no matter how many times she reassures him, it doesn't help.

He decides to be a man and suck it up. Everyone was going to get hurt one time in life. This was his time. He can't keep crying for the rest of his life.

But he knows his mom always comes home before he does. The screen door slaps open and he hears the tap of his mom's flats creaking on the boards. He looks down in shame as his mom comes over and hugs him tightly. She uses her soft, delicate voice to comfort him while he just cries into her blouse.

He wants to hope that it'll get better. But for now, he just can't seem to see the light at the end of the tunnel.