The ringing bell could be heard on the entire school. Soon after the doors were opened and lots of children came running out of them. The air was soon filled with laughter and cheerful screams from playing children all over the schoolyard.
An old swing was located in an isolated corner of the schoolyard. A dark haired boy was pushing the swing with a dark haired girl on it. Both the boy and girl were laughing.
“Higher, Sinny. Higher,” the girl shouted through the laughter. The boy pushed with all his strength, trying to satisfy the girl.
A blond girl slowly walked closer to the other two. For a while she stood by the side and watched them. They seemed to have so much fun.
“Uhm… Sinny,” the blond girl started nervously. “W-would you maybe like to play with me for a little while?”
“Not now, Cindy. I’m pushing Meggy on the swing,” the boy said as he continued to push the swing every time it came to him.
The dark haired girl turned her head slightly. She looked at the blond girl, then at the boy.
“It’s okay Sinny. I can swing a little by myself while you go play with her.”
The boy stopped pushing the swing for a moment. “Are you sure about that?” he questioned. He didn’t even wait for her response before he ran to the blond girl. “What do you want to play?” he asked excited.
Sinbad and Cinderella walked away from the swing together. None of them noticed that the swing slowly stopped. Megara looked after them. She knew Sinbad enjoyed playing with her. She was happy while it lasted, but in the end he’d always go back to Cinderella. She longed to be in her place, even though she never said anything about it to other people.
Sinbad and Cinderella sat down on a bench not far away from the swing. Cinderella opened her bag pack and took out a little pink bag. She opened it and took out two cookies. “My mother and I baked these yesterday,” she said with a shy smile. She handed one to the boy. “Here, have one,” she said and blushed slightly.
Sinbad took a bite of the cookie. “Thank you. It’s really delicious.” As he was about to take another bite, his eyes crossed the swing they had left just a few minutes ago. Megara was still sitting on the swing. In front of her was a blond boy, quite a few years older than Sinbad. The boy looked at the ground while he held a flower towards the girl.
Sinbad dropped his cookie and ran over to the swing. “Johnny, what do you think you are doing?” he shouted at the blond boy.
John had only just turned his head to look at Sinbad, before he was pushed to the ground.
“Let go of me,” the blond boy cried out. Sinbad sat on top of him, pinching the boys’ hands to the ground.
John’s eyes widened as he noticed the spit hanging out of Sinbad’s mouth. The spit grew longer, slowly getting closer to John’s face.
“No, don’t spit on me. Stop it. It’s disgusting.” Megara looked at the boys who were lying on the ground, rolling around in the sand. She didn’t say anything, just looked at them.
“Don’t fight.” It was Cinderella’s voice. She had followed Sinbad when he had suddenly run off. Sinbad looked up at her without turning his head. He rolled his eyes, before he looked at John again. The blond boy struggled to get free.
Sinbad knew that he had the advantage because John was already lying down. If he got up, Sinbad might not have been able to get him down again. So he’d use the time he had, while he was still in control.
“Please, Sinny,” Cinderella pleaded. She didn’t like to see him like this, bullying other kids. No matter whom the other kid was. “Uhm… The break will be over soon, so…” she started, trying to make him stop.
Sinbad didn’t listen. Instead he just continued to let more spit out of his mouth. When the end of the spit was just a few inches over the other boy’s face, Sinbad spitted the rest out, letting all the spit land on the boy’s cheek. John cried out with disgust.
“Oops,” Sinbad said as he looked up at Cinderella and grinned. Sinbad could feel the boy struggling more. He couldn’t hold him much longer, so he let go of him and stood up. “I’m letting him go now. Satisfied?” he asked Cinderella before he turned to face John, who was now on his feet again. For a while the two boys just stared at each other.
Sinbad wasn’t sure whether or not John would fight back. But he knew that if John tried anything, he’d be able to outrun him. He had tried that before with boys just as big as him. They were never able to follow him around on the playground.
John had tears in his eyes. He dried off the spit in his sleeve.
“Leave Meggy alone next time. Now, stop crying and piss off,” Sinbad said annoyed, pretending to be tough. Cinderella stood behind and watched, shaking slightly. She didn’t like when someone was in a fight. Megara still sat on the swing with an emotionless expression and observed what happened.
”You will regret this, Sinny. Just you wait and see.” John shouted. “Someday I’ll be the one in control and make you regret this.” Then he turned around and run off as fast as he could.
Sinbad laughed as he watched the boy run away. He was both surprised and a bit relieved that the boy hadn’t decided to chase him.
Sinbad turned around and looked at the two girls. Megara’s expression hadn’t changed, but Cinderella looked scared.
“Don’t worry, Cindy,” Sinbad sighed, trying to calm her down. “It’s not like he’ll come and kidnap you or something.”
