The Eleventh Candidate

Summary

The guy who bullied me in high school just landed a government job.

He posted: "Hard work pays off."

The comments were nothing but congratulations.

My mom gushed, "Now that's a kid who made something of himself. Leaves my good-for-nothing son in the dust."

My girlfriend, my childhood sweetheart, couldn't fawn over him fast enough. "Need a lunch buddy at the new job? Hit me up anytime."

I stared at the screen for a long time. I remembered senior year, when he and his friends cornered me in the bathroom.