My Stepbrother's Dirty Little Secret novel Chapter 748

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Chapter 748

Giovanni | Age 8 | Siderno, Calabria, Italy

The classroom door slammed behind him as the last lesson ended.

Children poured into the narrow hallway, laughing, shouting, racing one another toward the courtyard. Giovanni stayed where he was for a moment, slowly putting his worn notebook into his bag.

The page stared back at him, red marks, crossed-out words.

Wrong.

Again.

Read properly.

He blinked hard and shut the notebook before anyone else could see it.

“There he is.”

Giovanni’s shoulders stiffened. Three boys stood near the staircase, each a year or two older than him.

The tallest one smirked, “The idiot.”

Another laughed. Giovanni lowered his eyes and started walking.. Maybe if he ignored them, maybe today they’d leave him alone.

Heavy footsteps followed behind him.

“Hey!”

A hand shoved his shoulder. His small body stumbled sideways into the wall. The boys laughed.

“Didn’t you hear us?”

Giovanni kept walking. His heart beat faster with every step.

“I said stop!”

A harder shove hit his back, this time he lost his balance completely. His schoolbag slipped from his shoulder, books scattering across the dusty ground. Loose papers floated everywhere.

The boys burst into laughter.

One of them bent down, picked up Giovanni’s notebook, and flipped it open.

His grin grew wider, “Oh, look,” he held the notebook high enough for everyone nearby to see, “More mistakes.”

Another boy leaned over dramatically, “I don’t think he even knows what these letters are.”

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They laughed again.

Giovanni rushed forward, reaching for the notebook, “Give it back.”

The taller boy pulled it higher, “What?”

“I said, ” Giovanni swallowed, “Give it back!”

The word only made them laugh harder. One of the boys read aloud from the page, deliberately mixing up the words and pretending to struggle.

“I’m Giovanni,” he spoke in an exaggerated baby voice, “I can’t read. I can’t write. My brain doesn’t work.”

Children walking through the courtyard slowed to watch. No one stepped in.

Giovanni’s ears burned. He jumped, trying to grab the notebook. The tallest boy simply pushed him away

hard.

Giovanni crashed onto the stone pavement. Pain exploded through both palms as they scraped against the rough ground.

Before he could get back up, a shoe slammed into his side. Air rushed out of his lungs. Another kick landed against his back. He curled instinctively, wrapping his arms around his head.

The boys didn’t stop.

One grabbed the front of his shirt and yanked him halfway upright. A punch landed across Giovanni’s cheek. His head snapped sideways. His lip split open as warm blood filled his mouth.

Another fist crashed into his stomach. Giovanni folded over, coughing violently. The notebook hit him in the face. Pages tore free and scattered across the courtyard.

One boy shoved him again. Giovanni hit the ground so hard his head bounced off the stone. Everything

rang.

Shoes surrounded him.

More kicks.

Someone stomped on his fingers.

A sharp cry escaped before he could stop it.

“There!” One of the boys pointed, “The idiot can make noises after all!”

Another grabbed Giovanni by the hair and forced his face up, “Say it.”

Giovanni stared at him through blurry eyes.

“Say you’re stupid.”

A slap cracked across his face.

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Yeant say if

the vision bhuned

His whole body hurt His ribe burned every time he breathed, I’m

The boy leaned closer What?

Tw

he throat tightened. stupid

The bays laughed Louder

Tears rolled down Giovanni’s face, I’m stupid’

There the tallest boy smiled, “Now you’re learning

He let go Giovanni fell face first onto the ground The boys walked away laughing, kicking one of his books into a muddy puddle as they left Around them, the other children slowly drifted away too

Nobody helped him

Nobody picked up his books

Nobody asked if he was all right

For a long time, Giovanni stayed where he was His knees shook as he slowly pushed himself upright Blood dripped from his nose onto the front of his school shirt His lip throbbed One eye was already beginning to swell He crawled across the courtyard instead of standing One by one, he gathered the pages scattered by the wind Some had muddy footprints across them Others were ripped straight through the middle He smoothed each page as carefully as he could before placing it back inside his bag

Finally, he stood

His body ached with every breath He adjusted the strap of his bag and began the long walk home

Giovanni dragged his bruised, aching body down the narrow, dark alley toward the rotting wooden door of his home Every step made a sharp pain shoot through his cracked ribs, and his face burned red and purple from the boys at school. He wiped his nose with his dirty sleeve, swallowing back his tears before he touched the rusted doorknob

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