Luke pedalled home from school, his backpack heavy on his shoulder as he took a shortcut across the park to try to avoid the bullies he'd had to deal with every night this week. Sure, it took an extra fifteen minutes, and his foster mother was going to freak out, but he wanted to get home intact foor once, and without the taste of dirt in his mouth. He knew he should probably tell her about them so she could try to understand what he was going through, but he had his own plans for revenge, and parental involvement wasn't going to help him at all. They would regret picking on him, sooner or later, he just had to bide his time a little longer. Until then, he had to deal with being punished simply because of his height, and the fact that he was weird, apparently. That was subjective, though, in his opinion-
Off in his own world, Luke didn't see the heavy tree root. Striking it, he flipped over his handlebars, hitting the ground hard, his broken zipper giving out and sending his things everywhere.