Hey everyone. This is my first writing piece I've done with Greg Ryder in who knows how long? I have decided to reboot the character and start fresh at the beginning of when he first got enrolled to Bullworth Academy. This is because I feel like I could do a much better job of writing his character from an adult perspective as opposed to when I created him at 14 years old. Anyone who read my stories back in the day would know this lol. In this reboot, Greg arrives one year after the events of Bully in the fall of 2007. That way I can rely on my own story to hold up on its own rather than constantly relying on the game's events solely in order to create something with my own spin on it. Greg's background is basically the same aside from a few things that will be steadily revealed throughout the story. I hope you guys like this new version of Greg Ryder and thanks for reading! -Link
APRIL 20th, 2007, LIBERTY CITY, ALGONQUIN, 3:47 AM. . .
The flashing lights, yellow cabs, and police sirens in the distance may be too much for many people who don't care for the chaos of the big city but for fourteen year old Greg Ryder, Liberty City was like his playground. Although right now it feels like a prison to him, it was a playground nonetheless. Greg clumsily got out of the cab that dropped him off at his apartment, nearly forgetting to pay the driver his fare. The young man walked into his building hoping to avoid a confrontation with the security guard at the desk.
After peeking around the corner, he saw there was no one at the desk and he walked briskly through the lobby and into the elevator. On the way up to his floor, he examined himself in the mirror on the wall. A teen boy with a somewhat pale complexion, a fit body, light brown hair swept to the left, and bright green eyes stared right back at him. On this particular night (or morning, depending on how you look at it), he was dressed in a red and black striped flannel shirt with a blue puffy vest, dark jeans, and black Adidas Samba sneakers.
Once the elevator opened its doors, Greg walked to his apartment door, fumbling through his keys looking for the right one. As he was looking for it, the door is yanked open and he is greeted by a woman with messy dark brown hair and stormy blue eyes. She is wearing a nightgown and she doesn't seem too happy at this particular moment. The reason he knew this was because he was grabbed by the scruff of his shirt and he is pulled into the apartment and the door slams shut behind him.
"Hello to you too, mom!" Greg greeted while making a vain attempt to not burst out in laughter. She demands, "Where the HELL have you been?! I've been waiting all night for you to come home and I was just waiting by the phone for the police asking me to pick you up! Tell me where you were RIGHT now!"
Her nostrils were flaring and Greg could tell that he really upset his mother yet Greg insists on not telling her the truth, "I was just out and, like, I was hanging out with some friends-"
"Have you been drinking?! You smell like a brewery! I can smell it on your breath!" Damn, one thing his mom was good at was seeing right through his bullshit. There was really nothing that Greg could say to appease her and he knew he was gonna have to take this lecture. She goes back to speaking in her usual calm demeanor in an attempt to make Greg listen.
"You are almost done with the Youth Diversion program! You only have a couple more weeks left and then you're done! Your record gets expunged! If you get caught drunk out there, they will stick you with your previous charges on top of any new ones you'd have to face! I just want to know what you're thinking going out there tonight and doing something so STUPID and IRRATIONAL. You're a minor! You, especially, can't be caught drinking whatsoever! Please tell me, I want to know."
Greg began to walk slowly to the dining room table nearby and he took a seat at the end while his mom took a seat right beside him. In his drunken state, Greg couldn't really think of an answer to tell her. He looked her in the eyes and calmly stated, "I don't know. I just wanted to have some fun and let loose. It won't happen again, I promise." Both his mom and Greg knew that it was just a lie not only he would tell her, but what he would tell himself, every single time he did something like this.
"Well, I was talking to your therapist the program set you up with. She thinks that you need to go to a school that will help you get on the right path and teach you what I clearly couldn't. It's called Bullworth Academy and it's only a couple hours away-"
Greg eyeballed her in disbelief, "Bullworth Academy? That place is a hellhole! I've talked to some kids who went there and they said how horrible it was! You and Todd can't just SEND me off there like that!" Greg couldn't believe this. What the hell was he gonna do? How many more times does he have to go through this process of being the new kid and reestablishing himself in a completely new school only for him to be kicked out or pulled out right as he gets settled in? "This is fucking bullshit!", Greg thought angrily to himself.
"You don't have a choice in the matter, Greg. You. Are. Going!", his mother spelled out for the drunken teen, "Todd's already paid tuition and talked with the Headmaster. You are enrolled for the fall term and your move in date is September 1st." His mother sighed and glued her eyes to the table while pulling a pack of cigarettes out of her purse. She lit one and exhaled, "I don't know what else to do for you, Greg. I really don't. I don't know what it will take for you to get it. You may resent what we are doing, but we are at our wits end with your behavior. If you don't straighten up and fly right then you won't have a pleasant future waiting for you. I'm sorry, Greg. But this is the way things have to be. Now go to bed and get some rest. You look like you need it."
Greg was in a state of disbelief and he couldn't believe the weight of the situation that dropped on his head as soon as he got home. He didn't say a word as he got up from his chair and began to walk to his room before his mom called, "And Greg?" He stopped in his tracks and turned his head around begrudgingly to listen to what she had to say, "Take some activated charcoal and drink a whole glass of water before you go to sleep. You'll thank me later."
Greg maintained his silence with a nod and he trudged off to his room down the hall. He walked in and shut the door behind him. Greg kicked off his sneakers at the wall, ripped his flannel off and angrily threw it on the floor. How the hell could this happen to him? All because he wanted to get a little drunk after being sober throughout this bullshit Youth Diversion program? And what about Bullworth, that place is supposed to be the worst private school in the entire country. The kind of place where the "bad kids" go. Is he really THAT bad? Greg bellyflopped onto his bed where his drunken teenage mind raced until he passed out in his clothes. . .