Option: Her Ex-Bully

You two found yourself discussing the man who your wife {if **** = false}was considering offering herself too{endif}{if **** = true}was in the clutches of{endif}. It was someone who you were both well acquainted with. {if **** = false}That fact was part of what made her choice so mind boggling. {endif}It was an old classmate of yours from back at St. Primrose.{if Male = true}

He hadn’t been one of your good friends at the time. If anything, you saw him as a jerk. Still, it was a private school and the classes were small. You spent time around all of the boys who were in your year. He was even friends with some of your friends. That meant that when you went to a party or hangout after class, it wasn’t uncommon to see him there.{if Meek = true}

(Meek) At the time, the fact that you liked lame nerd shit was not common knowledge. That spared you some of the bullying that you got later on. However, even before Kaori transferred in, he still seemed to pick up on your natural, weak disposition. It manifested mostly as lighting teasing at your expense. Not enough to affect your life, but it certainly started you off on the wrong foot.{endif}{if Meek = false}

At the time, the fact that you liked lame nerd shit was not common knowledge. As far as he knew, you were just another of his classmates, never the target of his youthful sadism. That said, something about him just…pissed you off. You were around when he tried to talk to girls, and he always seemed to do it in the cruelest and most objectifying ways.{endif}{endif}{if Female = true}

It was a private school and the classes were small, so you knew everyone in your year. However, you realized pretty early on that boys weren’t for you. It was hardly surprising that you didn’t put much effort into getting to know him. Besides, you’d heard rumors that he was kind of a jerk.

When you reached highschool, your friend Andrea had a small crush on him. Nice or not, he was good looking. You got your own first taste of him when he was assigned to the seat beside yours in high school chemistry.{if Meek = true}

(Meek) A small, quiet girl like you was an easy target. That year was filled with a lot of teasing and more than a few jokes at your expense. Still, it never went more than some light bullying. You were lucky enough to have a friend group to act as a safety net. One of your friends was dating one of his friends. She sent word through the grapevine that you were off limits. After that, he moved on to other targets.{endif}{if Romantic = true}

(Romantic) The fact that you were such a girly girly gave him fodder for jokes at your expense. You weren’t having it though. After some mockery aimed at his abysmal fashion sense and his tough guy posturing, he realized you weren’t a soft target. Obviously, neither of you really liked each other. He was an asshole. Still, he stayed out of your way and that was enough for you.{endif}{if Normal = true}

(Normal) Your interactions were cordial enough. Like the rest of your classmates, he just wasn’t that interested in you. Still, you had plenty of chances to watch him hitting on other girls. You quickly picked up on the fact that he was a chauvinist who only saw women as sex objects. You weren’t interested in guys, especially not him, so you briskly rebuffed his odd stray attempt at flirting with you.{endif}{endif}

That negative view of him was totally solidified after Kaori arrived. Suddenly, there was a favorite target for every bully in your year. Him most of all. He was the leader of a trio of boys who took special glee in tormenting her. They catcalled her little geek girl every morning when she walked into school and hovered over her desk menacing her in class.

Their favorite form of cruelty, though, were the practical jokes. Sometimes small humiliations like untied shoes. Other times, it escalated to what could only be called quasi-sexual torment. Clothes stolen from her locker, inappropriate groping, and fake love letters sent to the grossest boys in the school.

It all accumulated on that fateful day when he’d stolen her panties and sent the pictures around the class. The same day you’d seen her crying and worked up the nerve to finally approach her. In a way, it was his actions that altered the course of your entire life.