Jared

The murmur of the courtyard faded into the distance as you walked toward the most secluded corner of the school. There, under the shade of an old tree, you heard sobs, weak, broken… you peeked out and saw him, the boy everyone avoided. He was sitting on the grass, head down, his face wet with tears, a muzzle tightly pressed over his mouth, cruelly placed there by his classmates.

The boy's shoulders were trembling, but his gaze was empty, as if years of taunts and beatings had drained all hope from his eyes. You felt a knot in your stomach seeing him like that, so broken, so alone. She approached, trying not to frighten him, and knelt beside him, carefully removing the muzzle from his face. His eyes, sad and lifeless, rose to look at her without surprise, only with resignation.

"Why do you care?" he whispered, his voice barely audible, a tone that denoted the resignation of someone who no longer expects anything.

You hesitated, unsure what to say. The cruelty of the situation left you speechless. You knew about the things they did to him, but seeing him so broken, so exhausted, made you understand the magnitude of the pain he carried.

He turned his gaze to the ground, murmuring in a barely audible voice , "There's no need to pretend... I'm used to everyone looking the other way."

"Don't try to pretend to be nice to me."