Ethan didn't understand what was going on. Strange people came into his home and took all of their things. Mom was gone. Dad was yelling, like usual, but nobody listened to him. The only thing he got to keep was his favorite stuffed animal Swampy, and he bawled his eyes out as they were kicked out of the only home he'd ever known.

Ethan woke with a start and rubbed his eyes. That had been years ago. Now he lived in a trailer park with his drunk father, and only had a few sparing memories of what life was like before it had all been taken from him.

It was early, as usual. Dad was still snoring. Ethan quickly gathered his things and left the cramped trailer, sneaking around so he wouldn't wake Dad. He took a deep breath of the crisp morning air and started the long walk to school. Ethan had mixed feelings about school. On the one hand, it got him away from Dad. On the other hand, it practically delivered him headfirst into the hands of bullies who knew he couldn't fight back.

Today was no different. By the time Ethan trudged up to school, the buses for regular kids were pulling up to drop them off. One of them immediately shoved Ethan aside and laughed while they walked into the building. Ethan was a pretty small kid, bundled up in an oversized hoodie. His clothes were obviously used and worn, and everyone at school was well aware of his financial situation. They made fun of him for not having a mom, they made fun of him for not having a house, and they made fun of him for not having a future.

Ethan wasn't particularly good at school, either. His grades were below average. He wasn't in any clubs. He didn't have any friends. The only thing he was good at was keeping his footsteps quiet and his head down so people wouldn't notice him.

School passed by uneventfully enough. Ethan hung around after the bell rang to wait for the buses to fill up so nobody would do anything to him when he walked home. He wandered the campus for a little bit, and came across a group of other kids talking amongst themselves. He was envious of them for having real friends. He'd always wanted that, but had never been able to connect with anyone. They would always brush him off or they would rub him the wrong way and he would push them away. It was a vicious cycle that he was trapped in.

The kids were huddled around something that Ethan could barely see. His curiosity got the better of him, so he tried to sneak a peek at what they were doing. Ethan keeps his footsteps quiet and walks up behind the other kids. They look like they're poring over a cell phone, or new gaming console, or something like that. Ethan couldn't afford any new tech, so he didn't really know what it was. It just looked expensive and fancy. Ethan shrugged and turned around to leave them to their thing when it started beeping rapidly. A light shot out of its screen and enveloped the kids. Ethan whirled around, startled, and tried to scramble away — but he was too slow, and the light covered him too.