"The Mean Switch" by Loves Yawne (Novella)

Genre:  Young Adult

Short Story Type:  Novella

Summary:  Gabe was tormented since fifth grade by the king of the cronies, Ian. Unfortunately, Gabe's lack of confidence gets his best friend, Brandon, tangled in a web of hate. The Mean Switch chronicles Gabe's struggles, internal and external, with bullying. 

Excerpt:

My dad and I walked into the only videogame store in the mall. There were always long lines of people, so we had to weave between bratty kids and punk teenagers. Swords, guns, zombies, robots, blood, and large breasted women: this was my section. That stupid “M” branded all the games and prevented me from buying any. Dad picked up a game with a girl on it and handed it to me.

“What do you see when you look at this?” The tone of his voice sounded like “the talk.”

I have been dreading this day ever since fifth grade. “A girl that could kick my ass.” Maybe I could get away with cursing around my dad or change the subject.

“I’ll let that one slide... You don’t see anything else?” He probed.

I definitely did not want to talk about penises and vaginas with my dad but avoiding it would have made the whole situation worse. “Yes, I see her very large breasts, if that is what you’re asking.”

“What do you think when you see them?”

“Really? We’re going to have the ‘talk’ in the middle of a video game store?” He looked confused. I put the game down and turned it over.

“No, no, no. I was, uh, just wondering, you know, talking, asking about the game.” The fumbled words did not help his case. This was embarrassing to say the least. Other people in the store started to stare.

“Uh. I wish I would just get kidnapped.”

Buy Loves Yawne's short story for the Kindle or read it on Smashwords.