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Great. This day can't possibly get any shittier.

"Y-Yes Mr. Baldi, of course." I sputter, turning around to face him.

He lets go of my shoulder and it pounds, and I grip it instinctively. He must of squeezed it harder than I thought. He doesn't even seem that strong...

"Now," he begins, ushering me to follow him.

Sitting in his desk, he clasps his hands and gives me a death glare. He looked so utterly exhausted and frustrated. "Pull up a chair," he says calmly, and I do as I'm told.

"You were over twenty minutes late to class," Baldi says with a huff, looking down at his desk. "on your first day here."

Hearing him say it just makes me feel even worse. My face flushes in embarrassment. I nod shyly, my heart sinking. I messed up so, so bad.

I notice a change in his demeanor too. Instead of the cheery, encouraging, yet slightly creepy vibe he portrayed when I first came, he seems tired and drained. I almost feel bad for him.

"I won't tell the principal about-" he chokes up and darts around the room. Terror fills his face, like he just came to some horrible realization. "Actually, I," his shoulders tighten and he looks directly at me. "can't let this slide. I know this is your first day, but you have to get used to how things work around here."

His voice was stern, yet had the slightest shake to it. It only made me more nervous.

My heart skipped beats and upped its tempo. I fiddled with my thumbs and rolled my sleeves in a mix of confusion and horror. Everything was spiraling down into a cloudy tornado of unfortunate events.

"What are you going to-" I mumbled before I was cut off by another sharp smacking sound.

CRACK.

My eyes widen as my feet shove the chair backwards. Baldi has already stood up, glaring down at me with a splintered ruler in his hands. His stare is absolutely terrifying.

No way. No fucking way. I repeat in my head as I just sit frozen, my eyes glued to the ruler.

There were red stains on the end.

I violently shook my head and jumped from my chair, falling into one of the desks, it easily toppling over along with me.

"No, no, no," I begged. "Don't. Please, Mr. Baldi," My eyes stung as I felt tears well up in my eyes.

Baldi walked over and roughly grabbed my wrist, pulling me up to stand in front of him. "You show me respect, and you accept punishment."

I decided trying to resist wouldn't do anything. I took a deep breath and felt a tear stroll down my cheek. I've never had anything like this happen to me before. I shut my eyes tight and breath heavily, thinking of all of the terrible beatings that are coming my way.

Before I could even move or let another word out, I feel a sharp and stinging pain on the back of my hand.

My arm flinches and I feel him release it, and I blink the tears from my eyes. The back of my left hand has a perfectly rectangular dark red mark imprinted on it. It hurt, but I was in too much shock to really even process the pain.

I pull my arm back and look up at Baldi.

His face is painted in regret and sorrow, and he's desperately trying to hide it. He grips the ruler tightly and puts his arm to his side, furrowing his brows at me.

He stares at me for a moment, thousands of emotions crossing his eyes.

Shaking his head he grunts and slaps the ruler on his desk, yelling, "NOW GET TO LUNCH WHILE YOU STILL CAN." His shoulders slump after he says it and he puts the ruler on the desk, sitting back down.

I didn't move. "You-" I started, looking at the busted and marked up ruler. "You didn't-"

"I SAID GET TO LUNCH." He repeated, his voice shakier this time.

Without another word, I turn and run away, desperate to get away from him and that goddamn ruler.

~

My eyes scan the lunch room for any sign of Reese or an open table. I see her sitting at a table near the trash cans and I hurry over with my tray and sit next to her.

"Oh, (Y/N)!" Reese turned and looked at me. "How was the beating?" Her question was plain and simple, as if she's asked it a million times before.

A few other kids that I vaguely remember from math class all nodded and turned their attention to me.

"Yeah, did he use the stained ruler?" A boy in a blue polo with black hair asked.

"No, she's the new girl, he probably used a new one!" Another boy with brown hair interjected.

"Guys, let her tell us," Reese said, holding her hands up to shush the two boys. "Okay, so tell us everything."

I raised my eyebrows and stared at them. Was this a normal topic? Why do they want to know so bad? What the hell happens here?!...

"H-He just smacked the back of my hand and yelled at me. Really hard." I explained quietly, holding up my hand to show them. The mark was still there, and if anything, it had just gotten darker.

Every single person at the tiny table leaned in and stared at my injured hand, even Reese.

"What the hell?" The boy in blue asked in an annoyed tone. "A slap to the back of the hand! That's so not fair." He scoffed and sat back in his chair, picking at his food.

The other boy touched my hand, and I winced, and he pulled back. "Sorry, sorry! It's just..."

Another girl at the table snickered under her breath and looked at me. "He must like you."

More girls giggled, and word began to spread throughout the lunch room.

"It's just what?" I asked, desperate to know what they were all on about. What does Baldi do to them?

"That's a pretty lame punishment," the brown hair boy said in a quiet and teasing voice. "He's broken kids' arms before."

My face contorted in disgust and horror. "What?!" I yelled, looking at all of them in shock. "And you all just sit here and talk about it like it's a normal thing?!" I was desperate for them to tell me they were just joking. From what I was used to, corporal punishment was illegal.

But apparently not here.

~

Hmmmm so we're actually getting into the story now!! It's going to be a very bumpy ride from now on, some chapters will be happy, some will be scary, others other. So prepare yourselves >:)