My family had always been into some weird shit. I'm not talking anything illegal, more like extraordinary. Some might call it eastern medicine, but when I was growing up, I just liked to think of it as magic. My grandparent's store had been built many generations ago and was chock-full of the strangest mystic drugs and potions that could be found on earth.
As I grew up, I went from loving this fact about my family, to hating it. Kids could be mean at school, and since third grade, the age many kids really associate who is who, I began getting picked on because of my family's heritage. At show and tell, I stopped bringing neat family possessions and did my best to distance myself from that life.
Time flew by and, where some kids grew out of the bullying phase, some just grew into bigger assholes. Starting high school, I met Brent Young. Brent was pretty popular, but his parents were doctors, so when he found out that my family owned a shop selling other types of medicines, he would NOT let it go. What started off as gentle ribbing, ended up becoming extremely annoying and intrusive. I couldn't walk down a hallway without him shouting out. "Hey man, you gonna try and sell me some horse shit and tell me I can fly?"
I made the mistake of confronting him one day, and that was a complete mistake. I don't remember the exact words but something rude was said and I pushed him. Since we were in front of his girlfriend and friends, he decided to make an example out of my stupidity and beat me to the floor. Ever since, for the last 2 years, Brent has used his fist to explain his problems with me. And since I didn't have nearly the same number of friends, persuasion, or strength as his varsity football body had endowed him with, my anger grew and grew.
I'm now a senior and in my last couple months of school. I just turned 18, and I'm more than ready for college and to get out of this stupid town with its judgmental folk. That is, I WAS ready to be out of town, and especially out of Brent's eye sight. But the prick had other plans. That week I had been walking to class, using a path Brent hardly ever used, when I saw his friends step around the corner of the hall. I did my best to ignore them, but they saw me and quickly circumvented my leaving.
"Hey man, we were just looking for you." One pulled out his cell phone and texted Brent. He showed up a minute later with the rest of his posse and girlfriend. He sneered a smug smile at me and stepped forward. "Hey buddy, I know we haven't always seen eye to eye, but hey... I'm gonna make the last few months of our friendship unforgettable."
With that he proceeded to search my backpack and take out my phone. "Oh, this looks fancy..."
"Don't, dude just..." I pleaded. He dropped it on the tile floor, and then pretended to not see it while stomping over it with his feet. I heard the crunch of the screen. It felt like everyone was laughing at me even though there hadn't been a lot of time for a crowd to gather...
That brings me to now though. After years of this bullshit, I am trying hard to think of a plan to get revenge. So far though, my ideas are either too drastic... "cut him up and throw him off the Empire State Building", or too tame... "dump paint on his car". Besides, I needed to do something that wouldn't obviously point back to me...
I thought for hours until dinner. Only taking a break to go downstairs and eat with my family. My father spoke of work and my mother spoke of my grandparent's store, which she would sometimes help with part time. A news story played in the back about a sex scandal involving some man and how his entire life and career had unraveled and been destroyed because of it...
And then the light bulb blinked. I rushed through dinner to get back to my room and figure out the details. Admittedly, my first ideas were horrible. I thought about hiring a hooker to seduce Brent and then have his girlfriend catch him in the act... But then I realized, a high school guy having sex with another girl would not ruin his reputation at all, especially if the hooker was hot enough to entice him. Then I thought, what if it was a guy. What if I was able to trick Brent into sleeping with a dude. Despite our society's acceptance of gays, Brent's reputation would turn into something he never wanted. I tried to think of what I could do. Follow him home and then have a guy suck his dick? Jesus, this wasn't going to be easy...
And then the second light bulb blinked. As much as I disliked what my family name had put me through in school, the magic possibilities of some of their potions were amazing. And although I was still not entirely convinced my family history was legit, I had seen "love potions" on the shelves before. And if it didn't work, who would care?
The next morning, I stopped by my grandparent's shop. It had been a few months since I'd seen it last, but nothing had changed. It still had the old musty yet mystical feel about it. I walked the aisles, pretending to feign interest, but really scouring the titles.
"Hey champ" said my grandpa from behind the desk, "did your mom send you over to see how we're doing?
"Can't a grandson just want to see his grandpa?" I said off the top of my head.
He gave me a skeptical but caring look. "Well how have you been doing?"
"I'm alright..." I said, distracted. I was quickly realizing that there were too many potion titles to read through. If I was going to do this, I'd need help.
"Ok grandpa, do you want to know why I'm really here... it's cause I like a girl."
Now, it's true I liked a girl, actually I liked a few, however I had only dated two and both hadn't lasted long.
"Oh?" my grandpa said. "So, what are you looking for?"
It felt awkward asking, but I was fueled by my hatred for Brent. "Is there like a love potion..."
My grandpa looked at me judgmentally. "Now Ryan, I'm sure you wouldn't want to be with someone who didn't want to be with you."
"Shit," I thought. Now my grandpa thinks I'm a perv. "No... I mean," I sputtered, "is there like a temporary one, for like a few hours, just so I have the courage to ask her out without a really embarrassing denial? I wouldn't do anything bad."
He eyed me again, and I couldn't tell what he was processing. "Listen Ryan, love is extremely powerful, and luckily enough the love potions we sell here are extremely not."
"We'd never put a true love potion on the selling aisle. Too much damage could be done." I'd heard this speech before when I was younger and asked why I couldn't get rid of my broken arm faster.
"So, there's nothing?" I asked.
He slackened his jaw and nodded his head. "Well, I might have a confidence booster for you." He checked a row of jars next to him. "Must be in one of the crates still."
He left his desk and went to the back of the shop. Bummed, I waited for a few minutes. When he didn't come out, I walked behind the counter and went to the back of the store. There were a few twisted pathways. "Gramps?" I called out.
I didn't hear anything, so I started walking randomly down the hallways until I passed a room labeled "Mild" - it was locked, "Moderate" followed, and last was "Strong: Not for Sale."