'Peter honey, can you please pass the bacon this way?' Peter's mom said to him on the dinning table. Peter passed the bacon at his mom grumpily; 'You're okay? Everything okay at school?' Mrs Cordey asked; Peter only gave a slight shrug.

'Whose saying grace?' Lily asked, Lily was Peter's younger sister; she was impatient, she almost started eating without the rest of the family ready yet.

Peter was a 19 year old fresher at the Imperial college, London. He had gained a scholarship via a Basket ball camp he attended just after graduating high school; He loved basket ball and had been practicing at home and at school since he was an adolescent. His father Mr Cordey had died on Peters final year at college, he had an accident on his way back home from work, a drunk driver ran into him, beating traffic. Peter was devastated, he had so many plans with his father after high school; first of all he was supposed to go to college at the U.S; that was the hub of basket ball, the greats were all there; he was only lucky to have gained a scholarship to the college in London, he thought his days going to school were numbered.

'Peter's not happy at his new school' Lily said after their mom shared grace; she had her mouth full of food, talking at the same time;

'Finish with the food in your mouth before spewing thrash out' Peter told her, eyeing her with contempt. Lily made a saucy face at him.

'What's wrong dear?' Mrs Cordey asked her son, brushing off the hair that covered his eyes;

'I'm sure they call him freckle face' Lily said, laughing insensitively; Peter shot her a death stare, his eyes welling up in tears;

'Stop that Lily' Mr Cordey snapped at her angrily; Peter stood up and left the table angrily to his room, shutting the door behind him. At his new school, he had no friends, he was always jested on because of his freckles; he also had that problem back at his former school, but he had surmounted it over the years; now it had come back at him, he was going to start all over, fighting and being a loner. Mrs Cordey knocked on the door of his room;

'Let me in dear' she told him; Peter opened the door reluctantly, letting his mother in with his baby brother; Mrs Cordey had just had a baby boy, six months before her husband had passed; his baby brother was excited to see Peter, and stretched towards him, Peter carried him, finally breaking a small smile for his kid brother.

'Darling, what Lily said true?' Mrs Cordey asked Peter; he nodded.

'You just ignore them, fight them off if they pester you too much, report every unfair treatment to your coach and other authorities, okay?' she said, rubbing her sons hair;

'My big, handsome, basket ball star' she hailed Peter;

'Yea right' he rolled his eyes, handing his brother back to his mom;

'I'd be out shopping in twenty minutes, care to join me? you need some air son'. Peter agreed. They were out soon, Peter drove his mother the Wegmans closest to them; he helped wheel his brother, Martin in the baby carriage, allowing his mother space to shop freely. Peter wheeled behind her, stopping with her at intervals to pick her choice groceries; Peter suddenly started hiding behind his mother; she noticed an uncomfortable presence close to her and spun around to see her son ducking behind her;

'What's the matter?' she asked Peter, looking around to see if she could figure out why Peter was suddenly hiding, she couldn't figure out any reason, however Peter was back to acting normally in a short while. Mrs Cordey shook her head disapprovingly at Peter;

'You better face your challenges son, you can't keep running away from everything, your dad was a strong man, be like him; I believe in you my boy' she told Peter, while she continued her shopping. Peter had sighted his crush from his former school; he had not seen her since they graduated; she was bigger now, he was surprised at how big she had gotten, she was much bigger than him; he was scared to go say hi. What college was she in? he wondered; she walked in with a huge guy from his present school; he could recognise him, he was in his third year and played in the team with Peter, he was one of the bullies Peter had to face in school; was he her brother? he didn't seem like her boyfriend, there was no romantic aura around them; maybe he was her brother. Peter dreaded this even more; If that was her brother, then by all means he had to stay away from her for sure, he didn't want to get in any trouble with someone twice his size. Peter cleaned the bead of sweat that was forming on his forehead, he was in for a serious ride in his new school; his mom's advice kept replaying in his mind, he had to stop running, and face his challenges; His mom was done, and paid for the grocery, wheeling them to the car park.

'Hey Peter' came a familiar voice ahead of him; Peter was tongue tied; It was his crush, Ariel; she waved at him excited, walking towards him to say hi;

'Hey Freckle face' her brother Tony teased Peter sighting him. Peter waved at Tony;

'Hello Ariel' Peter said when she got to him; Ariel admired Peter's kid brother, Martin in the carriage;

'Oh, I din't know you had a baby brother' Ariel whined, patting Martins face. You know my brother? She asked Peter surprised;

'Yea, he's in my new school' Peter said with a dry voice. Ariel so close to him made him nervous; she was beautiful.

'You're in Imperial?' Ariel asked excited; i'm resuming next semester, that's like in two weeks, finally got an admission there, Oh my God, at least someone I know other than my big headed brother;'

'Alright all set Peter' Mrs Cordey said. They said goodbye and were on their way.