Chapter 571

The students in Vermont's class all came from upper-class families, and each was richer than the other. For example, Vermont's parents ran a seafood business and supplied half of the hotels in Rivera. Some children at school whose families owned the hotels said he was a stinky fishmonger. They deliberately formed cliques to isolate him. But a few of them never joined in; one was Keegan, and the other was Marshall. The two were so close that it seemed like they wore the same pair of pants. At first, Vermont did not want to associate with the two guys after being bullied by those so-called aristocrats. 'What a bunch of assholes. You're all just nepotism babies,' Vermont thought. Once, a school bully from the next class maliciously shoved Keegan to the ground while they were on the basketball court. He broke his leg, and Marshall started to fight the kid on the spot. The bully was tall and robust. Marshall had not hit puberty then, so he looked relatively thin and frail. He did not se