Meet Me at the Mound

Chapter Three

"Olivia, where are you going? Did I say something?" I was walking away from Josh, not wanting him to see the tears in my eyes.

As soon as I arrived at school this morning, everyone was watching me, pointing and laughing. I guess they all saw the tweet that was about me. I didn't want to have to face Josh because I was embarrassed of what Alissa said and how many people seemed to believe it.

I saw a bathroom ahead and burst into it, going straight to a stall and sliding down the length of it, putting my head in my hands.

I heard a few girls come in. "I bet that's Olivia. I can't believe that she thought Josh actually liked her." I think she tried to whisper, but it didn't matter because I heard her loud and clear. After they left, I heard a voice call to me from outside. It was Josh.

"If anyone but Olivia is in there, watch out because I'm coming in." I heard the door swing open and I tried to hide from his view. "I know you're in there. Please unlock the door."

I knew that he wouldn't leave, so I stood up and tried to wipe the tears from my face before unlocking the stall door. I kept my head down as I opened the door, not wanting to face him.

He pulled me closer to him, wrapping his arms around me. "I saw the tweet that everyone is raving about. I disagree completely." He pulled away and put his finger under my chin, making me look him in the eye before finishing, "you are not ugly, nothing close to it. You're beautiful, inside and out. If anything, she is the one who is ugly because of what she did."

I leaned my forehead against his chest and took a deep breath before pulling away and giving him a shaky smile. "Thank you." Even though he was trying to help, memories of middle school came back to me and I tried to fight the tears.

No matter what anyone tells you, if you have been bullied once, it will always stick with you.

I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to block the memories. Instead, it made them clearer and my shoulders started to shake with silent sobs. Josh leaned down and started whispering sweet nothings into my ear, trying to calm me down.

I looked up into his eyes, "did you know in middle school, I had people throw food at me at lunch one day? They said it would make me look better if they couldn't see my face."

Josh shook his head and I felt his hands clench around my back. I could practically see the steam coming out of his ears.

"It's over now, there's no need to be mad about it."

"It may be over, but it still affects you. Look at this, you're crying right now, just talking about it. I don't want to see you hurt." He wiped his fingers across my cheeks, trying to rid of my tears. "Are you ready to go out and face the school with your head held high?"

I gave him a weak smile and nod before making sure I didn't look too disheveled from the crying. My eyes were a bit red and my mascara smeared, so I quickly fixed it before looking back over at Josh. He wrapped his arm around my shoulders and we started for the door.

"We're going to face this together," he whispered in my ear. I heard a few laughs, but as soon as Josh sent them a glare, they stopped and turned their attention to something else.

We walked to class together and he gave me a thumbs up before taking his seat near the front.

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"I can't believe that she would say something like that about you!" Amy exclaimed as we walked to her car after school. She was coming over so we could work on our essay for english together. She would probably end up picking out what I was going to wear on my date as well.