How to Smile (On Hold, Will Be Rewritten)

Arguments and Stories

Arguments and Stories

“Uh … Ima catch up with y’all two later. Gimmie a sec here,” Trey told his friends. Without questioning him, like obedient dogs, they did as told and continued down the wide empty hallway. I heard on of them saying something about how mad I looked and that Trey had better watch out.

As soon as those two goofballs rounded the corner, I threw a hard punch straight into Trey’s stomach, surprising him and me. I don’t think I’ve ever hit anybody with a drive to hurt them before. Sure, I’d occasionally smack Andrew or Caleb, but not like this. Honestly, I think I deserve a pat on the back for that punch. It wasn’t some flailing arm thing most girls threw, it was solid and almost boyish.

“What the- what was that for?” Trey gasped as he stood up, still clutching his stomach. I took satisfaction that from the way his he reacted, it must’ve hurt.

“My brother is dead because of you.” My voice was uncharacteristically cold. “You’re the root of this, and I got no doubt that if you woulda never came into the picture, he’d be alive, here at school, like he’s supposed to be. But instead, he’s six feet under, with a tombstone marking his grave.”

“It ain’t all my fault. I never told him to go pickin’ fights with those guys. I’m not the one who shot him. You can’t put that on me,” Trey was looking at me the same way I was looking at him. Part of me was saddened. I remembered how he and Andrew used to be close and would hang out occasionally, and for a time I would look to him like another brother, oblivious to the shady stuff that was happening right in front of me.

The other part wanted to shank this fool - another thing that wasn’t like me.

“Do you even care? Doesn’t it phase you that Andrew is dead? If it wasn’t for you, Andrew wouldn’t have even thought about taking part in the game. And if he would have never gotten into that, he woulda never gotten into that feud that ended with bullets flying!” I was struggling to keep my voice low, aware that there were classrooms all around us.

“’Course I cared. I was at the funeral, wasn’t I?” And you had no business there. “You don’t think I felt guilty after that? Man, I-“ he never finished the thought, for the bell rung, leaving me slightly confused because I was pretty sure there was a good period of time left before my class was over.

Trey must’ve seen the look on my face because he spoke promptly right after, “Bell for eighth grade, keep up unless ya wanna get crushed,” Then he roughly grabbed my arm and dragged me through the twist and turns of  the hall until we were in what they called main street. He snatched the paperwork from my hand then read the name scrawled on the sticky note on top. “You was no where near the right spot, just so you know. A hall is near the front desk, take a left and then the one right after, and the room ya looking for is the third on the right.”

This person was really sitting here talking as if everything was all sunshine and rainbows now. Trust, me it was not. There was still a whole lot of beef I had with him. I was about to throw another punch at him, but he must’ve seen it coming. He grabbed my wrist mid-swing and smirked as if saying, ‘I’m not about to be hit again so easily’.”I know you still hate me, D-“

“Don’t call me that anymore,” I interrupted. That was the name he called me when we were on better terms.

“Fine, whatever. But we’ll deal with this later,” he said it as a command or a statement, basically saying I didn’t have a choice in the matter. I was going to say something back, but I didn’t have a chance because he was already taking off in the other direction, leaving me in the hall by myself.

Still fuming and thinking negative thoughts,  I eventually found my way to the teachers room and handed it to them without a word. I quickly made my way back to class, slipping back into my seat next to Uriah.

“Something is wrong, it’s written on your face,” he whispered nudging me.

“I’m not finna talk about it right now,” I tried to cut the conversation off immediately, but Uriah would not be deterred.

“You don’t have to tell me now, but eventually you will,” he smiled and winked at me.

“Yeah, no.” Despite myself, I rolled my eyes and allowed a half smile.

Then I looked back at the Mr. King, and occasionally the clock. After what felt like eons, the bell rung, and we were dismissed.

       I would describe fourth period, but by that time I had almost completely stopped paying attention to everything. While the teacher, Mrs. Miller talked, I read more chapters of I Am Number Four. Maybe that’s a little bit rude, but what was going on in that book was far more interesting than what was happening in school.

.  .  .  .

       I don’t think I’ll be able to forget what happened later that afternoon. I ended up in a pool of tears.

       When the bus dropped us off at the stop, I had almost forgot Uriah was supposed to follow me back to my house to get a book I had promised earlier. Actually he had reminded me when I sent him a confused look as to what he was doing.

       Thankfully, neither of my parents were home. My dad would’ve began a game of one hundred and one questions and my mom would gush how I’m making friends, both situations I would do anything to avoid.

We passed Logan, who was sleeping on the couch, and made our way up the stairs. Walking down the hall towards my room, I stopped before opening the door when I heard Uriah call behind me.

“Whose room is this?”

I turned around just enough to see what doorway he was in front of. “Andrew’s. Please don’t go in there,” I said impatiently. I opened up the door to my room and Uriah followed me inside.

“Oh, wow. Your room is really… organized. And dark.”

I didn’t respond but instead looked at my room.

I had never thought about what my room might look like to others, regardless of how much Caleb had teased me for it. I realized it must’ve looked like I had OCD or something. Everything had a place, and my floor was spotless.

Yes, my room was a tad bit dim.

I walked over to my bookshelf, where the books were lined up alphabetically. “What did you say your favorite genre was?”

“ Fantasy?” he answered. It came out as a question, as if he wasn’t sure. Still, I scanned the shelves until I got to the P’s. I moved slower, until I found Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief.

“I saw that movie before.”

“I really don’t care. The books are always better than the movies,” I handed him the book. “You can go now.”

“Oh, okay. But can I ask you a question?” He asked almost as if he were nervous. It unsettled me.

“You just did, but you can ask another,” I warily replied.

“Okay… so… like, what happened to your brother? I mean, what’s the full story?”

I took a deep breath, then sat on my bed. This was going to be a long story, and I couldn’t believe I was really going to tell it. Outside from family, no one knew the entire story. “Fine. You might as well make yourself comfortable. It’s a long story.”

Uriah didn’t move, but he stared at me intently. Taking another deep breath, I began telling the story that left me in tears.

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Whoooo! Another chapter! Lol, you guys probably hate me since I left you all another cliff hanger, but I promise you guys will get the story next chapter.

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Omg almost 1000 reads?! I never imagined I’d get that many :O.