Metanoia: the journey of changing one's mind, heart, self, or way of life.
"You don't see it do you? You're becoming the thing you feared the most. The thing that's tormented you and your friends since the third grade." I said to him, meaning every...
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Lunch the next day was just as bad. The stupid teacher was talking about bullying and was about to rat out Eli and his mom.
"Sending a cruel message to someone online can be just as hurtful as saying it to their face. I'm not gonna name names but the other day a mother called me up because her son was crying after some kids online made fun of his facial deformity.", she said babbling on and on and basically told them all who it was. I felt so bad for Eli in this moment. The kids were whispering and I felt the anger bubble inside me again. I clenched my hands and glared at them all and they all quickly shut up. I felt a hand cover mine and I looked up to see Eli looking down at me giving me a small smile telling me it was alright. I instantly relaxed and gave him a smile back. He took his hand away and I felt really sad when he did that. I shook that feeling off and focused back on what she was saying.
"But today our goal here is to make this school a safe space for all students." She said. I scoffed and rolled my eyes. School will never be a safe space for anyone unless they're popular. It's bullshit.
"Ya know if you're sick of getting bullied my karate dojo is looking for new recruits.", Miguel turned and said to Eli. "Yea right. You hear that Eli? A little karate training and you're gonna kick some major ass.", Dem said while throwing around his hands. I rolled my eyes at his sarcasticness.
"Would you stop it Dem? He's being serious. Karate can seriously help you defend off physical attacks from bullies. I learned a lot from my dad and the shit works ya know.", I told him. Learning karate was probably one of the best things I could have learned. Just wish it helped in one particular situation. I didn't like to talk about it and no one knows about it. Not even Bri.
"I'm serious Demetri. My senseis' the real deal. Im sure I can get you both discounts.", Miguel says. "As enticing as that sounds, I think we'd rather spend our afternoons playing Cruciable Control than getting hit in the face.", Demetri said.
I tuned back into what the teacher was saying. "Oh and one last thing. While we are all looking forward to the Halloween dance, let's make sure our costumes are culturally sensitive. For example, instead of sexy nurse, maybe try gender neutral hospital employee.", she stated. I just laughed. As much as the teachers wanted that, it won't ever happen. Besides I think it's stupid anyways. Why not let us express ourselves. I turned to Brianna. We are obviously gonna match or do something in the same category.
"So what were you thinking this year?.", I asked her. She took a minute and was thinking. "Why don't we do women from action movies?", she suggested. I liked that idea. A lot. I know Dem and Eli would like it too. "Yea that sounds great. I'll go as Katniss Everdeen and you can go as the Scarlet Witch/ Wanda?", I told her and or asked her. She shook her head yes and we were both excited.
"What are you two whispering about?", Eli said leaning on the right side of me. "Our Halloween costumes. It's a surprise though so you gotta wait until the dance.", I told him. Our faces were really close right now and I blushed. Hard. I turned away and focused my attention back on the teacher.
