Scott struts into his new workplace, a job he had snagged right after graduating college. The building is a common office set up, identical desks dispersed throughout the carpeted room. Arriving an hour early, there are only two other people occupying the space. He finds his desk quickly, not wanting to bother them at work. As time passes, the other employees trickle in, and he observes them from his desk. They are chatting in the middle of the room, shaking hands and exchanging names. His eyes look over one of the women, a tight, black skirt hugging her curves. Her long, silky hair has a mesmerizing element to it, light shining on the small waves.

He grimaces as she smiles. There’s always one person here for the wrong reasons. In college, Scott was more of an outsider. Instead of friends, he had papers to write or homework to do. He graduated from his college with honors, perfect in everything academic, but he gained nothing in the social realm. Scott’s eyes snap to the door as it opens, a thin, tall man walking in. He holds a slick, black briefcase, and as he takes off his sunglasses, he nods to everyone in greeting.

He reeks of narcissism.

            In minutes, the room is full of old and new employees. Scott remains at his desk, ducking when someone looks over his way, removing himself from the other employees.

Every day since the party, Scott fell into a steady rhythm. He walks to work, organizes his desk, and starts his assignments, all by the time everyone has entered the building. Sheltering himself in his small office, he avoids interaction whenever he can, handing in his assignments in record speed. At exactly seven o’clock, he rearranges his desk and walks out the back door, leaving his colleagues before they can approach him. He’s comfortable living this way, isolated and dependent on himself. Today, however, starts with his boss calling a meeting. Everyone gathers in the meeting room, Scott sitting next to his boss to keep full attention.

He talks about the currency they have acquired the last two months before addressing what he has called the meeting for: a team project.

Scott goes ridged when this is announced, inclining his ear further towards his boss to drown out his colleagues’ whispers. However, as his boss drones on, Scott can’t stop his mind from racing.

Why do we have to have a team project? If I have to go through what I went through in college… Scott takes a quick glance at his colleagues, inwardly grimacing at their faces.

“I have already put you each in groups, so I will announce them and you can congregate after the meeting is finished,” Scott’s boss says in a cheery tone.

Scott listens for his name, huffing when he hears “Dan”. The people pleaser.

“So I was thinking we could connect the-”

Scott stares into the distance, his mind whirling with ideas. Dan continues his rambling, eventually tapping on Scott’s shoulder.

“Are you even listening?”

Scott looks down at the table in front of them, a diagram and scribbled facts in front of Dan. “Yeah, sure.”

That night, after walking home from work and eating dinner, Scott looks over the paper he was given and begins the project. He knows Dan will be appreciative because he doesn’t have to do anything. The project will be perfect, and Scott will be praised. In only a few hours, the completed project is in Scott’s hands, and he goes to bed, content with his result.

“I don’t like it.”

Scott had given Dan his complete project, but he barely looked at it before setting it down. “Why?”

“None of my ideas were incorporated,” Dan crosses his arms.

That’s the point. “I didn’t think your ideas fit with the project,” Scott says.

Dan glances at Scott’s project, “Let’s think of a new idea, but together this time.”

“Dan, this is completely sufficient,” Scott points to his paper, “It’s factual and organized. Why aren’t you accepting it?” Scott’s eyebrows furrow and he frowns at Dan.

“It may be accurate, but this is a group project. Because of the fact you didn’t include my ideas, I won’t accept it as my project,” Dan replies calmly.

Scott grits his teeth. “I’m not changing this project, and we aren’t making a new one. Either accept my ideas, or I’m not working with you.”

Dan frowns, “Don’t be hostile, this is how a group project works. It’s not individual.”

Scott stares at Dan, his sight filling with red. Calm down, calm down. Scott takes a deep breath, “Fine.”

On the day of the presentation, Scott impatiently sits in his seat as he waits for their names to be called. Dan and he had decided to split the presentation into two parts: Scott would introduce and explain and Dan would conclude. At least, that’s what Dan thought.

Scott had never accepted the new project. Before Dan recommended creating a new project, Scott had already begun forming malice for Dan.

It’s just like college. Scott had thought the day they started the new project together. They had decided to meet early before work to start their new presentation. Dan looked over some books while Scott stared at a newspaper, a pencil firmly gripped in his hand. The popular people rely on the smart people to get a good grade, while they waste their time partying and the smart people slave away for-

Scott looked down at his hand. Blood oozed from a cut on his thumb, the jagged wood of the broken pencil still pressed deeply into his skin. He let go of the pencil, but it stuck firmly in his thumb. He excused himself from the table and kept his hand hidden under his jacket, wrenching the pencil out of his thumb with an angry huff once the bathroom doors closed.

Their names still haven’t been called at the meeting, and Scott’s attention falls to the punctured thumb. The gauze is clean, a first since the incident, and Scott finds himself grinning at his progress.

“Dan and Scott, you’re up next,” his boss calls, and Scott nearly jumps out of his seat. Scott begins the powerpoint, watching Dan out of the corner of his eye. Scott keeps his face calm, but his mind races in excitement as Dan’s expression turns confused. Straightening the papers of his own presentation, Scott’s mind cackles as the audience remains unaware of what’s going on. Reaching the end of his own presentation with a confident smile, Scott’s eyes fall on Dan as his hand shoots up from the audience.

“Yes, Dan?”

“I’m sorry to say, but your references are outdated. In an article this week, the Siffer Company went back on their statements of having accurate data,” Dan’s face is relaxed, but Scott knows he’s laughing inside.

He’s playing with me.

The audience gives nods of affirmation at Dan’s words, and Scott’s nails start to dig into the gauze on his thumb.

“Also, you chose to present your own presentation instead of the one we worked on together,” Dan says, and the room starts to fill with whispers.

Scott clenches his jaw, his eyes filling with the familiar red.

Screw being calm.

“How the hell did you expect me to present that BS you made? It was horrible,” Scott says, his voice rising.

“Scott, maybe you should leave for a little bit, we can work this out later,” his boss says in a gentle voice, but Scott turns to him with wide eyes.

“Don’t you see what he’s doing right now?” Scott points at Dan, “He’s trying to humiliate me! It’s just like college! The smartest people are used for others’ benefits!” Scott looks over the audience, but their eyes are locked on something beside him. Looking down, Scott watches as a drop of blood adds to the sickening, crimson puddle on the ground.

“Dan made this happen,” Scott whispers, and his head turns to Dan. Scott watches through the red in his eyes as an unnatural grin fills Dan’s face, reaching all the way to each of his ears. “You little!” Scott yells, throwing the chair in front of him at the wall and climbing over the table to get to Dan. Dan’s figure quickly stands up, but not quickly enough. Scott’s hands wrap around Dan’s neck, and he squeezes them as hard as possible before arms are pulling him away from Dan. Scott can see the smile still adorning Dan’s face, even with the dark red smudges covering an already forming bruise on his neck. The arms start to pull Scott out of the room, but as Scott begins to hear laughter from the audience, he struggles out of the grasp.

“Don’t laugh at me! This was all Dan’s fault!” No one reacts to his words, and Scott quickly turns, picking up a set of papers. “Here, here!” he says frantically. “This was my backup plan. This was the project I made myself,” he approaches one of his colleagues with the project both Dan and him had worked on, but the colleague only laughs in response, even though his mouth remains closed.

“Look at it!” Scott screams, shoving the paper in his face. “This is my real paper. I worked really hard on it. I made it, not-not Dan,” he says, his mouth forming a shaky smile.

The arms start to pull at Scott again, and Dan’s smiling figure stands up, approaching Scott.

“No! Don’t come near me!” Scott screams at Dan, struggling in his boss’s grasp. “You’re trying to look like the good guy!”

Scott can feel Dan’s firm grip on his arms, but Scott continues to struggle. Drops of blood create a trail from the conference room to the hall, and Scott’s flailing legs smudge them against the linoleum.  

“Your type of people always get what they want! You never give us credit! We’re always used!” Scott screams, and he can hear the meeting room fill with laughter. “You always get what you want!” he repeats, the laughter from the meeting room filling his head. By the time the police arrive, Scott is screaming gibberish, thrashing under the hold of his coworkers. As he is forced out of the building, Scott’s head is almost bursting with noise as his coworkers scream and laugh, their twisted grins mocking his failure. Yet, inside that meeting room, nothing can be heard. No one makes a sound, and they sit there in shock, watching the puddle of blood slowly soak into the carpet.