invisible string

year 8

"How's your little girlfriend?" Jerry sneered. Derek hated Jerry. Jerry was an asshole, no matter how you slice it. He was the second biggest kid in the 8th grad and that made him think that he could do or say anything he wanted. Most of the time Jerry left him alone, because Mark happened to be the biggest kid in the grade, but today, Mark was home sick.

"What?" Derek asked confused. Derek most definitely did not have a girlfriend. He was small and had crazy hair. The girls in his grade generally wanted nothing to do with him unless they had to do a school project. He was the smartest kid in the class, but his only friend was Mark.

"Mary or whatever, the little fifth grader you're in looooove with." Jerry laughed. What an ass. He really wished Mark was here so he could kick Jerry's ass.

"I am not in love with her." Derek rolled his eyes.

"I think you are." Jerry said. "I think that you're too much of an ugly dork to get any girls from the eighth grade, or the seventh grade, or even the sixth grade, so you had to find a little girl from the fifth grade to be your girlfriend."

"She's not my girlfriend, Jerry." Derek said. He was about to do something he was going to regret. He really wished Mark was there. "And there isn't a girl in the whole school who would ever date you, cause you're ugly and stupid. You couldn't even get a C on our last math test. Everyone knows you're the dumbest kid in the whole school-" Derek was cut off by a fist to his face. He fell back and felt the blood pouring out of his nose.

"Derek!" He heard a yell from the other side of the playground. Meredith ran towards the two boys.

"You hit Derek!" Meredith yelled at Jerry. Meredith didn't talk to a lot of kids and now she was yelling at the biggest kid on the playground. This would not end well.

"So what? You came to defend your little boyfriend." Jerry sneered.

Meredith's face turned red with anger. She looked a little like how her dad used to when he was on the phone, except she was a lot cuter. She stepped towards Jerry and Derek really hoped that Jerry had a rule against hitting girls.

"Derek is NOT my boyfriend, but I'd rather date him or anyone else before I'd date you. Because you are an ugly, stupid...." She paused to think of the word. "Jackass." She walked even closer to Jerry and swiftly raised her knee in between Jerry's legs so that he was now moaning on the ground.

"You bitch." Jerry groaned on the ground.

"Yea, yea." Meredith mocked as she walked towards Derek who was sitting on the ground holding his nose that was still bleeding. "Are you okay?"

"Yea, thanks Meredith." He smiled at her. He probably wasn't okay, his nose was bleeding a lot but he was really happy he had Meredith. She just took down the biggest, meanest kid on the playground for him. He should probably be a little embarrassed that a fifth grade girl had just saved him, but he wasn't.

"You're welcome." She smiled proudly, then frowned when she looked at his nose. "I don't think you're okay." She bent down to look closer.

"I don't think I am either." He said as he stood up, causing more blood to come out.

"Then why did you say you were!?" Meredith asked.

"Because I was a lot better than I could have been." Derek laughed.

"Yea and a truck could run you down now and kill you in two minutes, that doesn't make you okay now." She argued.

"But I don't see any trucks, so that probably wouldn't happen." He laughed as they walked towards the teacher.

"That's how the trucks getcha, when you're not looking." She said.

"But I am looking, so a truck can't get me." Derek said.

"Yes they could."

"Nope." He shook his head, which he decided was a mistake as a flood of pain came to his nose.

"Yup." She said, with a worried look at him.

"Nope." He said as he reached the teacher.

"Derek, what happened?" The teacher chastised.

"I- hurt my nose." He said. He couldn't tell the teacher that Jerry punched him or else Jerry would tell the teacher that Meredith kneed him and he didn't want Meredith to get in trouble.

"And how did that happen?" The teacher asked as she got a clean cloth to wipe away the blood.

"I fell." He responded unconvincingly.

"Are you sure about that?" The teacher asked.

"Yup."

"Well if you say so." She looked closer at the nose. "Oh dear, I think this is broken, we should get you to the hospital." Derek smiled a bit, he really liked the hospital.