And Alec knew how to take them. Not well, like how to mitigate the damage, but more in the 'this wasn't his first run-in with bullying' way. He was a skinny black kid with glasses who played the violin and liked computers.

He took the punch right to the face, head snapping back with the force of it. His eye felt like it was on fire and the skin above it split open like an overripe melon. "Yeah," he said, a little dizzy. "You punch like a redneck, too."

ALEC PLEASE. STOP CHANNELING STEVE.