The Boy Called Death

The New Kid

A few days later, I was walking to school.

The school was literally a two minute walk away from the house, so Cindy, and my adoptive father Mike, let me walk.

I was humming a tune to a song I couldn't remember the name of, when I accidentally bumped shoulders with a kid my age.

He seemed to be going in the direction of Olive Stone High School, the same school I went to.

I didn't recognize him, so he must be new.

He turned to face me, and suddenly his eyes widened with terror.

"Stay away from me!", he shouted, and ran off. If he were a cartoon character there would have been a cloud of dust trailing behind him.

"That was weird.", I muttered.

Shrugging and trying not to think too much on what just happened, I continued on to school.

I walked into Olive Stone High School with my head held high, and my shoulders squared.

"I'm not gonna let that kid get to me. Whatever I do, I won't let that happen.", I thought.

People were gathered in the hallway around Chris's locker, pinning notes of their thoughts to it. One girl left a teddy bear in front of it, letting it sit with the other stuffed animals and balloons that others had left before her.

She took off her glasses and wiped tears from her eyes.

Her blond hair was in a mess, and her eyes were red.

I recognized her as Becky McDonald, Chris's best friend.

I remembered vaguely that Chris was always teased by other boys because his best friend was a girl, mocking him by saying that they should go ahead and get together, even though it was obvious that they had no romantic feelings for each other.

I never understood that. I always believed that a boy and a girl could be best friends without falling in love, but people seemed to think otherwise.

That's another thing about the teens at Olive Stone High School.

They were close minded.

That's actually part of the reason that the school is named Olive Stone High School.

The story goes that back in 1984, there was a girl who was named Olive Stone. She was teased relentlessly because she was not like other girls in her class.

Instead of cheerleading and flirting with boys, she preferred reading and writing romance novels.

She got bullied so much, that when she disappeared, everyone thought that she was homeschooled or dropped out to get away from the teasing.

Then, her parents said she was missing, and the police were involved.

Some said that she ran away, but others weren't so sure.

According to her friend Mia, she was last seen by the lake in the park in town.

No one ever found a body, but it was determined that foul play was the cause of her disappearance, because they found her finger floating in the water in the lake.

A year later, Mia would be arrested for murder since she was the last person to see Olive alive, and had expressed signs of jealousy towards Olive.

Some say Mia was innocent though. They had been best friends, after all.

Either way, in honor of Olive Stone, they re named the school after her.

I find it a bitter irony. They named the place where she was tormented relentlessly after her in her honor.