THE BULLY

“Ignorance is bliss, or it was at least”

Character list:

Eric Fincher, wants to be an artist

Norman "Orb" Warrington, thinks he wants to be an artist.

Garrett "Gary" Grimes, the bully.

Patrick "Flytrap" Marinera, Gary's friend, an accurate slingshot shooter. The son of an
inmate.
Ashton "Ashman Scavenger" Salinger, Gary's second friend. Known for once bringing a
backpack full of rubbish to school.
Christopher "Crisis" Isador, a runner. Gary's third friend. Started the Neversleepers
Club, whatever it means.
Andy Grimes, Gary's older brother, high school senior. Poor guy, god only knows what
happened to him.
Juliet Grimes, Gary's younger sister, just as much of a bully.
Jackson "Jackie" Grimes, Gary's father. According to Patrick, is going through a mid-life
crisis.

Emma Fincher, Eric's older sister. Has her sights set on becoming a journalist.
Tony Fincher, Eric's younger brother and Juliet's classmate. Sentimental and kind boy.
Prologue

During the summer holidays, a group of teenagers have a belated prom night. The next
morning, word spreads through town that one of the attendees is missing. Witnesses remain
silent. Shreds of hair with no trace of blood are found in the bathroom. The missing boy's
name is Andy Grimes.

Main part

Eric Fincher is a good guy and a talented artist. At least that's what they say about him.He's
okay with his family, he's okay with his classmates, he's okay with his grades, he has
Norman, a best friend and co-author in one bottle, and he works part-time drawing
illustrations for a local newspaper.
Eric's only problem is Gary Grimes, aka Hungry Harry. They cannot stand each other since
year one, and by unfortunate coincidence they are neighbours. Gary and his gang usually
give no peace to anyone, but Norman and Eric have a special beef with them: Norman, who
can't keep his mouth shut, once gave them hurtful nicknames, just for fun, but they stuck.
They also resent the fact that the boys walk around with green nails, wear things
repurposed from other things, cover themselves with stupid ink tattoos and don't shy away
from their "girly" hobbies like cross-stitching and sewing.

The lower sixth starts with two pieces of news. Firstly, no one has to wear school uniforms
anymore. Secondly, Hungry Harry, all fat and anger, has somehow lost nearly half his
weight over the summer. Both are talked about on every corner, but Gary's popularity only
makes him angrier, and he pounces on everyone he can reach. Eric gets the worst of it,
because he lives next door and knows that the Grimes` are getting divorced and sharing their
five children. Which means that maybe soon there will be no one left to bully him.
Surprisingly, Eric keeps it under the wraps but Gary knows he's waiting for the court`s
decision just like the rest of his own family.

Shortly before the end of term, a policeman comes to the school to interrogate Eric and his
sister. It turns out that on the same night Andy went missing, the CCTVs on the
neighbouring houses recorded a car leaving the yard where the party was taking place. The
car belonged to Tim Fincher, Eric's father.
Tim becomes the prime suspect, and the whole town quickly learns about it. Those who
are not afraid to talk to Eric, hit on him, the rest avoid him and actively gossip. He is put on
a par with Patrick Marinera, whose father has been in prison for years, out and back in. This
has a depressing effect on him. He quits his job and his studies, spending all his time making
a stop-motion cartoon with Norman.
Gary`s going completely mental after this news - so it seems to Eric. Whereas before he had
limited himself to kicking and prodding, now every confrontation between them erupts
into a terrible fight. They don't say a word to each other, but the reason is clear; no one tries
to separate them.

In search of Andy, a group of volunteers scour the woods, and neighbouring towns are put
up on an APB. Tim, a fairly well-known journalist, is suspended from his job. Jackie,
Andy's birth father, becomes the second suspect, but no one reveals why.
Eric eavedrops his dad talking to his sister; she asks him not to say anything to the police
and he says that there is no way out and it has to be done. She declares in tears that it will be
a disaster. Eric realises that Tim is probably covering for her, and that makes sense: she never
got on with Grimes, and once she even had a serious rift with her friends because of Andy.
His confidence in his family, which he thought was very strong and reliable, is crumbling
before his eyes.
The last day before the holidays, he meets Gary in the park by the school and for some
reason tells him that his father did not kill Andy. A scuffle ensues between them.
Coincidentally, on the same day, Gary's mother leaves, taking his younger sister Juliet, the
only close person he has left. Gary's upset, and the best way to show you're upset is a good
fight. That's why he doesn't take it easy on Eric.

Trying to defend himself, Eric pushes Gary into the shallow marshy pond and immediately
bounces back with a scream. He thinks Gary's face is melting and dripping down.
This is the day when Eric learns that Gary Grimes, the fiercest fighter against girly stuff,
draws a different face over his own every day. The sharper face and, probably, more
appropriate for him. And it`s pretty obvious by how well he does it that he's been doing it
for a long time.
Eric immediately warns that as soon as they leave the yard, everyone will know about it. Not
because it's bad to draw jaws and cheekbones on yourself, but because it's hypocritical to
judge others for it. He doesn't understand why Gary does it - after he wipes his face, it stays
exactly the same - but the very fact turns him from hunter to victim in one second, and
Eric`s going to make the most of it. So he makes a condition: Gary and his company will get
away from him and Norman, and the secret will be kept.
Gary, surprisingly, does not threaten or get into a fight - he is too shaken by what has
happened. Besides, he knows he can't seriously hurt Eric - Enid Fincher, his mum, is a
lawyer, and if the police show up at their house, it'll have to be called again the next day
because Jackie will surely kill him. So Gary agrees, in return taking Eric's word that it will
stay just between them and not even Norman will know about it. Especially Norman.

The Grimes` split up, and Gary's life, already not so rosy, is getting worse by the day. In his
mother's time, Jackie hadn't raised his hand much against him or Andy confining himself to
smacking and punching, but now there was no one to restrain him. He's also starting to go
on long binges.

Emma Fincher admits to the police that she was driving the car that night. She claims Andy
is fine and that she knows where he is, but won't tell anyone. She calls him to prove that,
but when he hears other people's voices, he immediately hangs up. It turns out that Emma
helped him escape. As an evidence, she shows detailed photographs of the beatings on
Andy`s body and a tape that he sent to all his friends a few months ago. It's something of a
will in case Jackie kills him or he can't take it himself and commit a suicide. The officer
promises to give the case a go, but it's stalled due to a protracted legal battle in the Grimes
family.

Gary suffers from the guilt of letting his sister be taken away, and from the fact that he can't
hide or tell anyone what's going on, and also from fear. He knows Eric well, it costs the guy
nothing to break his promise, and Eric, unlike him, has nothing to lose.
They barely cross paths at school, but that doesn't make it any easier. Gary thinks that
Norman already knows everything, and one day it will come out. He doesn't know what to
do then.

The worst part for him is that his hobby gives him real pleasure. He enjoys applying
make-up, drawing patterns on his face, changing its shape and features. He steals testers
from shops, tries them on himself and finds out that he's pretty good at it. He seems to be
really talented at what he does but can never tell anyone about it. Everyone at school,
however, is eager to experiment with their looks. For Gary, growing up in a conservative
family, it's both scary and surprising. He sees the whole era changes before his very eyes and
is horrified to realise he's embracing the change. But it is too late to admit it: his reputation,
he thinks, is already formed and it is impossible to wash it off.
Eric, meanwhile, is not going to say anything to anyone. As an artist, he`s interested in what
has happened. He starts to take a closer look at Gary and notices details he would never have
noticed before. Gary barely eats at school, he's halved in size but hasn't got any new clothes,
he's always skipping the general gym class and so on. One day they cross paths during the
break, Eric sees dark stains of foundation on the collar of Gary`s shirt and warns him about
it. Gary doesn`t answer but nods.
Next time, Eric warns him that Jackie Grimes is back early and he shouldn't show up at
home because he's dead pissed. This time Gary thanks and they begin to communicate by
signals: every time Jackie is dead pissed, Eric leaves the light in his room on and Gary goes to
sleep somewhere else. His gang continues to poke fun at him and Norman, but nowhere
near as much as before, and things look peaceful for a while.

Gradually, some kind of communication develops between them. Mostly because Eric's
family sympathises Gary and his siblings and offers to help them every now and then.
Eventually he agrees and sometimes even stays overnight trying not to meet anyone's eyes.
He never talks about it, but Eric's mother is convinced that he just doesn't know how.
Eric himself is curious about how Gary managed to learn how to apply makeup, where he
found the time for this and how he hid it from his four siblings. So at some point he pesters
Gary with questions.
This is where their friendship begins.

They get closer very cautiously - none of their friends or anyone at school needs to know. It
is especially difficult for Eric - he and Norman are not used to hiding things from each
other, and he feels guilty. But he and Gary have a lot in common, and it turns out that Eric
has some useful books, and his sister has some make-up stuff, which they sneak around at
night. Eric reckons that Gary is a natural and should definitely start his own blog, and keeps
telling him so. Gary is sure that Eric's real talent is not drawing, but selling his drawings,
and keeps quiet. Eric teaches him how to ride a bicycle - there's no way he could have
figured out how to do it himself.
At the same time, from their conversations it becomes clear that neither Norman nor Gary's
gang are what they both imagined them to be (for example, Patrick Marinera's dad has
never been in prison). Each of them has reasons for behaving the way they do. Eric, who has
always felt out of place because of his prejudice against others and his failure to live up to his
positive image, finally begins to grow up.
Gary tells Eric that he knows a place where they can chat without fear of being seen or
overheard, and leads him to a large oak tree in the middle of a field. On the way there, a
thunderstorm begins and Eric worries that lightning might strike the tree. Gary assures him
that this has already happened before, and lightning doesn't strike twice in the same place.

Just before the end of the school year, Norman tells Eric that Patrick totally got him.

The fact is that Norman is a foster kid, which means that in a couple of years his parents can
send him off to college and, in Patrick's words, "take the next one". Eric finds this statement
silly - he knows that Norman's parents, though not biological, are very attached to him. But
this is far from obvious to Norman himself, and he worries about it far more than about
exams or anything else. Against this backdrop, work on their common project stalls, they
begin to argue more and Norman confesses that he fears Eric will find a more productive
co-author. "The next one," he adds.
Eric assures him that he's not going to find anyone, although by then his relationship with
Gary already resembles a real friendship, and comparing his emotions with Gary and
Norman, Eric realises that Gary is much easier for him. This includes teamwork as well -
Gary never bothers with the process, never thinks about every step, and just does what he
knows how to do. Norman, on the other hand, has to be convinced every time that he's not
a mediocre, and this eventually becomes more exhausting than inspiring. Eric doesn't know
what to do about it.
Norman's fight with Patrick suddenly turns into a short, heated but frank conversation that
clarifies their situations and they part ways on a neutral note. Norman tells all this to Eric,
who is actually getting pretty tired of being torn between two fires.
He just wants to hang out with his friends, rather than having to make excuses and carve
out extra hours to spend time with one of them every time. Eric was used to the fact that his
and Norman's world was just for the two of them, a sign of something special he was proud
of, and now he found it hard to accept that he could easily have more than one friend.
Eric doesn't know how Norman will take it until the situation with Patrick. After that, he's
beginning to think Norman will understand. So, picking a day, he calls him in and tells
everything from the beginning. Except that at one point he was really close to make a choice
between him and Gary.
Norman suddenly says that he understands everything. This is surprising, given how he and
Gary treated each other, but Norman, Eric thinks, was brought up in a very empathic
family, and they've been friends since first grade, and if they switched places, he'd
understand too.

The next day, the whole school is buzzing about Gary Grimes' hobby.

Eric tries to find out from Norman why he did it, and Norman wonders what he was
actually expecting. Isn't it that after nine years of bullying and abuse he will accept the fact
that he has been kept from Eric`s friendship with the instigator of this bullying for almost a
year? Eric is sure this story has a double bottom and the worst part is that he gets why. He
wants to talk to Gary, but Gary`s nowhere to be found. His phone is disconnected and all
his accounts on social media have been deleted.
The teachers, learning the whole situation, offer to talk about it, but it goes nowhere: the
problem is Gary's own behaviour, not Gary being judged for his interests. Those whom he
has caused the most trouble to are about to go straight to Jackie and tell him. Eric feels he's
done something irreparable and, on emotion, deletes his and Norman's shared blog of
drawings and developments to the stories.
No one can find Gary; he still hasn't made contact and his phone is out of range after two
days. Eric can't find himself, he has nightmares of Gary dying or they are both being chased
by a big black dog. He tries to go to the police, but they, remembering the scandalous story
with Andy, advise him to wait a couple of weeks.
After a few more days, however, it becomes clear that something is wrong. Andy tells
Emma that he hasn't seen Gary and that they agreed to meet, but he hasn't turned up.
Emma tells the teachers and they suggest organising some sort of search party of volunteers.
Soon half the school and some parents join the search for Gary, alarmed that no one is
responding to the missing child.
The search does not last long. That same night, Chris Isador and Eric, united for a common
goal, find Gary's shirt with traces of blood on the edge of the woods. His phone is found in
the pocket, dead and switched off. The police arrive on the scene and find other disturbing
clues: Gary's trainer, which Eric immediately recognises, scraps of fabric and a rucksack full
of things that could be useful on the trip.
Professional searchers begin to search the forest and the surrounding lake. They are assisted
by the few remaining volunteers, including Eric and all of Gary's former gang. No one says
it out loud, but they all know that they are no longer looking for Gary but for Gary's body.
Something has happened in the woods, and everyone is obsessed with finding out what.

When it becomes clear that there is no hope, Eric writes an instagram post with an attached
video he shot during one of his and Gary's hangouts. It shows Gary, armed with Emma's
make-up bag, drawing the face of a monster on himself. He looks relaxed and cheerful, and
he definitely knows what he`s doing. In the post, Eric reveals all the things Gary had told
himself, in particular, that he wasn't gay, as many people at school thought when they learnt
about his hobby. He also raises the question of whether girlish and boyish hobbies even
exist, and whether they are worth bullying.
The post gets an unexpected resonance - mainly because by then everyone knows about
Gary's case and people are avidly looking for more details. Soon Eric starts receiving
notifications of similar posts, in which people tag him as a close friend of Gary's and
comment on their own experiences of school bullying. Many of them post photos with
make-up and a note that they are straight.
Eric is experiencing conflicting emotions. Most of all, he wants Gary to be found: he can't
bear the thought that he might have died thinking that he had been betrayed. The very idea
of such an unexpected death seems terrifying to him. What happened to Gary? Did he lose
his temper and commit suicide? Did Jackie find out about everything, seriously hurt him
and he died from the injuries? Eric had seen the pictures of Andy and this version doesn`t
seem silly at all. Maybe there had been an accident, a stupid mistake that had prevented
Gary from escaping? They had an agreement with Andy, which means he really was
planning on it. Eric even tries to talk to Andy, but Andy closes the door in his face: he
believes that Eric’s guilt in what happened is no less than Norman’s, and Eric strangely
understands him about this. Guilt, horror and loneliness torment him around the clock,
and he finds the only solace in his blog, where he gradually reveals what happened between
him and Gary over six months. He sees a bitter irony in the fact that these posts are
interesting to people like no other.
Another blow for him is that the Warringtons are leaving town, which means he may never
see Norman again. Despite their fight, he wanted some closure, an admission of guilt and
perhaps a serious conversation. He knows he couldn't forgive Norman, not after everything
that happened, but he also thought Norman was a brave guy, and now he feels like he was
wrong about him.
Eric draws a comic about Gary and, with Emma's help, publishes it on the school's website.
The more details of the story come out, the more rebellious people show up inside and
outside the school. Teenagers of both genders show up to classes with make-up on, guys
post videos of being called faggots by other guys, and girls with no trace of make-up are
defiantly photographed with their boyfriends wearing false eyelashes and arrows.

Instead of discussing prom plans, Eric encourages everyone to have a day of remembrance
for Gary, and suddenly many people agree.
At the end of the book, Eric takes the floor at the prom and addresses Gary as if he were
sitting in the audience with everyone. He also says that to him, as someone who has not
seen Gary dead, he will remain alive. A long silence ensues.

After three months of searching, Gary's case is declared cold.

CHAPTER LIST

Prologue. How to disappear

PART I. GARGANTUA

1. Off The Fence

2. Electric Pink Ink
3. Neversleepers Club`s First Rule
4. Hunger
5. The Sunburned

PART II. THE HOUSE THAT JACKIE BUILT

6. The F Word
7. Tangled Hands
8. Behave In The Beehive
9. The Blockage

PART III. NORMAN FUCKING WARRINGTON

 10. Some Music To Face
11. Unreliable Narrator
12. Destroyer

Epilogue. The last man on the earth