Elemental

Gale bites her lip, pushes back her glasses, and re-reads the difficult sum. 'My grandson is about as many days as my son in weeks, and my grandson is as many months as I am in years. My grandson, my son and I together are 120 years old. How old am I?', it said. No, this wasn't her homework. This was a difficult sum she looked up on the Internet, to get her mind off of what happened at school. 

*Flashback*

 She was simply doing her own work, minding her own business, and feeling sorry for the goth girl who sat at the back. Adara, Gale remembers what her name was. Gale wanted to be Adara's friend, but Adara kept ignoring her. Yet, Gale refuses to give up. She was much like the main protagonist in this horror game she once played. But at least the guys weren't picking on her, like they usually did. She thought that this would be her "day off". But boy, was she wrong. During lunch, she noticed that the Adara girl ran out, like she usually does. Maybe she doesn't want to be late for her detention? Gale thought. She also noticed that the boys were taking their time packing up. Wrong move, Gale thought. You'll only give the teacher time to scold you. She went straight to her locker, to get out her maths textbook. She had homework from maths, and she certainly wasn't the type to skip out on something like homework. She turns around, about to leave, when she gets pinned to her locker. Not the tough type, she squirms under the person. But the person doesn't even flinch. She doesn't bother to look up, she already knows who it was. No, not the guys from her class. Her usual bullies. "Hey nerd, let me copy your homework," the bully says. She smells his stinking breath, ass. Yet she's to scared to bring her hand up to her nose to cover the smell. "B-but, I ha-haven't even done i-it yet," Gale timidly replies. "Duh, I meant tomorrow morning. Gosh, how much of an airhead can you be?" He says, while his friends laugh in the background. Airhead, huh? If only they knew, Gale thought. "O-okay. Fine. Tomorrow." She says. The bully ruffles her hair like she's some sort of a child, even though she was clearly a senior. He muttered something like "good girl" or something, Gale didn't quite pick it up. The bullies turn on their heels and begin to walk away. Gale finally decided to do something about this. This has been going on since freshman year. No, she wasn't going to confront them face-to-face. It's going to be a little prank. She looks from left to right. The hallways are practically deserted, it's just her and the bullies, who were certainly taking their time walking away. Everyone else was at the cafeteria. She puts her thin lips into a small "o" shape and blows. This simple blow causes the boys to fall down, all three of them, splat into their faces. Samantha tries hard to stifle laughter. But this little stunt of hers was a big mistake. The bullies immediately jumped to their feet. The leader looks at Gale with absolute fury in his eyes. He pushes her roughly to the ground. "You little bitch! Why'd you trip us?!" He kicks her in the stomach, making her curl up into a fetus position. "I-I didn't push you... You were on the other end of the hallway..." She tries to get out. "Don't you dare lie to us!" Kick. Another kick. Followed by another kick. The second and third bullies don't do anything. One of them laughs furiously, and the other pretends to check his phone. But really, he was staring at Gale. Staring with sympathy in his eyes. Right now, Gale didn't need sympathy. She needed help. The third guy finally decides to speak up. "Cody, c'mon, we're already late for class." The bully who was kicking Gale, Cody, looks at the third bully with a weird look. "Since when did you care about class, Kyle?" Cody says. "Since my grades having been going down and my parents have threatened for me to move to a private school." Kyle replies. Cody and the other bully shudder at the thought of private school. He looks down on Gale, who had blood on her outfit, and was crying silently. "I'll finish this later, nerd." He says without any emotion, emphasizing the word "nerd". They walk away, not before Kyle looks back at Gale with a soft smile. Gale, trying hard to calm herself down, manages to mouth a "thank you". Kyle nods in response, and walks away with the other 2. Once Gale manages to stop crying, she goes to the nurses office, lies that she fell down, and goes home after a few bandages have been wrapped around her waist. She does all her chores before her mother gets home. Her mother still not home, she goes on the Internet, and searches up hard sums in order to forget today's events. Her mother and father divorced when her mother found out he was cheating on her, so now her mother has to work double time to catch up with all the bills, school fees and everything else. So now, she comes home late, at around 9 pm.

*Present*

The doorbell rings. Thinking it might be her mother, for once coming home early from work, she answers the door without looking through the peephole. Another mistake. Instead of her mother stands a man, in his early thirties, in a formal tuxedo. "Gale Denise Brown ? I've already called your mother and explained everything. I'll need you to come with me," Gale gives the man an odd look. She then takes her phone out of her pocket, which now had a crack thanks to Cody, and calls her mother. She only confirms this suspicion. She gives the man another odd look, before proceeding to follow him to a black car. Gale wasn't exactly a car girl, so she only recognized this as a Mercedes Benz. Being obedient was one of Gale's weaknesses. As the man drives, she tried to do anything to get rid of her boredom. She tried playing with her phone, but it soon ran out of battery. So she rested her head against the black tinted window, and soon fell asleep.