1 The Ad on TikTok

What the hell.

Those were the first thoughts that came upon his mind when Luke saw one of the most insane ads on TikTok.

Gloomy-gray background color with a rather old-fashioned crossbow decoration. A few rows of description written in italicized white letters:

"Tired of dealing with douchebags in your life? Tired of tedious homework and late school assignments? Looking for something exciting? Perhaps it's time for a new adventure.

Head4$

The only app worldwide that allows you to kill human beings with no legal consequences and make a decent amount of money meanwhile. Dm if you're interested."

Wow. Those prankers went too far. Luke thought. Plus, why do they always target me?

**********

Luke - a seemingly ordinary high school junior. You'd expect him to disappear in the sea of people and never to be found again. Currently attending Ordinary High School.

One of those social outcasts you'd expect to skip classes alone, dope in the bathrooms alone, and walk home right after school alone.

Not attending any accelerated courses. He was two years behind in math and one year behind in English. Got held back by one year. Teachers enjoyed debating whether he had learning disabilities or not.

Not attending any clubs after school. Never hanging out with friends on weekends or holidays because he had none.

Nobody cared about his tragic background. Too cautious to trust his teachers, too reluctant to tell the school counselors and psychologists about his chronic depression.

Report cards probably worse than average. He rarely cared anyway. Half-expecting himself to get Fs, grateful to get Ds, absolutely thrilled to get an occasional C+. With GPA dropping two consecutive years in a row, Luke was determined to drop out of high school sooner or later.

Started Freshman year at Victoryville Prep High School, with a 4.3 GPA, straight As, honor roll, student council president, and everyone thought he'd become the Varsity football team's next star and make it into States.

But Luke's life was ruined by one careless accident. One night his late father drank too much at a party and crashed their car on their way back home.

Three lives lost; his father, mother, and beloved younger sister - Maya. His own face scarred forever from the top of left eyebrow across to the bottom of right cheek. Leg bones permanently damaged.

He often questioned why they'd left so soon without a warning and complained about a lot of things.

Why they left him under the custody of his widowed grandmother, who couldn't afford to pay for his private high school's tuition.

Why God had abandoned him and shattered his dreams to become an NFL star.

Why he had to attend the most mediocre high school in the poorest area of his city.

And why can't those bullies leave him alone?

**********

His phone was his only friend left. Nothing else could better entertain him than scrolling through countless TikToks, memes, and other social media contents.

Drowning himself in the imaginary world of internet, soothing both of his physical and mental pain by staring at that bright screen.

The screen was his sun. A sun that brightened his day and shielded him from everything that reminded him of his late parents, sister, and the harsh reality.

But now, his sanctuary was invaded by God knows who... Most likely some bullies from school found out he even had a social media account.

A few weeks ago he began to receive violent photos and insults, directly messaged to his Instagram account.

After futile attempts to block those senders, he received more from newly-created bot accounts that hacked his privacy protections.

That was when he decided to delete Instagram and turn to TikTok.

**********

Furious, Luke decided to direct message them:

"Stop targeting me. U think this prank funny? I'm so fucking sick n tired of this shit. Leave me alone or I'll actually kill y'all"

Suddenly, right after he pressed the SEND arrow on the screen, Ms. Witch decided to come over and pulled the phone out of his hands.

"Luke, this is your last warning," she cackled, "I'm more than willing to spend an hour criticizing you in front of this whole class. But I'm kind, so I won't."

The class roared with laughter. Luke went numb, it wasn't the first time this school year. Nor the second. Nor the third. Perhaps the thirteenth?

"Come to the main office to pick up your phone at the end of today." Ms. Witch continued, "you better learn to behave or don't even dream about graduation..."