When the mouse roared

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Jimmy was always the quiet and timid type of person. He was a typical loner at school, as no one, not even his classmates who were bullied associated with him. He would go to school alone, and after a rough day with his classmates who always bullied him, he would return home alone again. Not once did he ever complain about the maltreatment, and he also never tried to fight back, instead he took in the bullies, and did whatever form of punishment he was given. But one thing stood out in Jimmy's life; after all he had to go through at school, he was still top of his class, and this angered his classmates and they made him write assignments for them, but that didn't change his reputation for always coming top of the class.

One day, a new girl came into the school, and the boys were swept off their feet by her beauty. They all tried to get her to like them, but she chose to be friends with the class's lowest individual. Jimmy was surprised when Mary asked to be friends with him; he wondered if he would only be putting his life at risk by becoming friends with her, but as time went on, they became friends, and the class bullies saw it as a reason to add her to the list of the low lives in their class. What no one knew was that Jimmy had gotten attached to his newfound friend, and no one also thought that Mary would become the Achilles heel that'd cause the known mouse to roar.

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"Hey, new girl." One of the bullies called out to Mary. She had been sharing a desk with Jimmy, and they read together. She turned back to see the boy that had called her name.

"What's your name again?" The boy asked her. Some of his friends giggled and looked on.

"Mary." Mary softly replied.

"As in Mary the what exactly? You don't look like anyone who would bear that name. We all know that a particular Mary was said to be holy, can you say that about yourself when you're busy fawning over that mouse there?" The boy asked her, and this time the class roared in laughter.

"If you have a problem with my name, I suggest you deal with it, and heal from whatever trauma you have going on. You don't always have to be petty." Mary responded, and the class laughed harder.

"Mike, are you going to watch this louse run her mouth and do nothing about it?" Another boy asked their head bully, and the class hummed in
agreement.

"Of course, I can't let her go free. You all should pull off your shoes so she'll clean them or meet her doom when she refuses." Mike said.

The boys began to laugh and pulled off their shoes too. Mike threw his shoe at her face, but Jimmy stood up in time to catch the shoe before it hit her, and this made the class laugh even more.

"Whoa, the mouse is finally playing knight." Mike said and got up from his chair.
He walked to where Jimmy and Mary stood, grabbed Jimmy by the collar and shoved him to the wall.

"So, what are you playing at now? Do you want her to think highly of you? You're playing the protector now, right? Pick the shoes and clean them all or she'll clean them till her fingers feel numb." He threatened Jimmy, and he picked up the shoes and went outside to get them cleaned up. The class roared with laughter as Mary ran after Jimmy.

"Why do you have to do everything they say? We can report them to the school authorities." Mary said to Jimmy.

"Many have walked that path and they ended up more hurt than they initially were. I'm not ready to take whatever punishment they had seen that made them so quiet to date. This is the only way to avoid getting into problems with them." Jimmy replied and kept wiping the shoes.

"You're so timid, Jimmy. You need to come out of your shell, and fight for yourself." Mary said and went back into the classroom.

After Jimmy was done with the shoes, he went back to their classroom only to see Mary crying in her seat. He quickly dropped the shoes on the floor and went to her side.

"What's going on, Mary?" He asked her, but she couldn't respond.

"Hey, you mouse, why did you drop those shoes there? Do you want to get a beating so you can join your new companion?" Mike asked.

Where it came from, nobody knew; Jimmy suddenly stood up and stormed his way to Mike's chair, he grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and threw him across the classroom. The students screamed in shock, and fear paralyzed them from trying to help their friend. That was when they heard it. Jimmy's deep voice of command.

"I can take anything from y'all, but no one is to mess with Mary. No one!!! The next time someone does anything to her, even if you stare at her and cause her discomfort, you'll hear from me. Bunch of pathetic fools!!!" Jimmy yelled.

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He walked back to where the shocked Mary was seated and dragged her out of the class with him.
"They must be crazy to hurt you." He kept repeating the words, and his chest heaved with anger.

"Jimmy, thank you for standing up for me. I'm glad that even though you're as timid as a mouse, you can still roar. That's very adorable." Mary complimented him.

Ever since that day, everyone in the class avoided Jimmy and Mary completely. The bullying ceased, but they still wondered how possible it was for the mouse to roar, instead of running and hiding as he used to.