Chapter 1: Opening Image

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the resident genius," Jake taunted, stopping in front of Tom's locker. The jocks surrounding him guffawed as if they'd heard the funniest joke ever told. "Did you do your homework or did you need a robot to figure out the equations?"

Tom clenched his fists, counting to ten in his head. He couldn't win a physical fight against Jake—no way—but getting into arguments wasn't going to help him either. He had to save his energy and focus on the plan.

"I don't need a robot, just my brain," Tom replied evenly, taking his time to retrieve his books for the next class. He closed his locker and started walking away, not giving Jake the satisfaction of a reaction.

Jake wasn't ready to let it go, of course. He grabbed Tom's shoulder, spinning him around. "You think you're better than us, just because you can memorize a few formulas?" He jabbed Tom on the chest, and Tom felt the jocks' eyes on him, feeding off Jake's cruelty.