Gift of a Lifetime

IV

Sometime after that one morning, I seemed to drift away from them. It didn't bother me at first -I wasn't too big of a people person anyway- but when they began going to each other's houses without me it wasn't all that fun anymore.

Eventually, I began going to the library. It was a little shop somewhere in the middle of downtown, in between a coffee shop and a closed antique shop. Usually I read fiction, like The Hunger Games or The Maze Runner. After I finished both of these series', I read ahead in Purple Skies just for the fun of it (then I would end up knowing what was going to happen next in class, but it didn't bother me that much). The library gave me a sense of comfort away from the world. It took me to other places and let me live thousands of lives. It took me away from the crushing thought of losing Jayden and Ryan. Even though I barely knew Jayden, I still liked him. He was pretty good looking and nice. I didn't know if he even liked me, but overall he was a good guy.

I began to put my life together for the first time since I could remember. But as I did, Ryan and Jayden were on the other side of the world. Don't get me wrong, we still spoke, but I didn't get to talk to them as much as I'd liked to. (I would see on their social media endless pictures of them, and would find them talking in the hallways in between classes. None of it seemed like much, and it sounded like I was overreacting, but when you add it all together you could see that I was being left out.)

One day, in my free period, I was sitting outside on a bench in that area that I'd met Jayden, thinking. Thinking about the times that they'd excluded me or ignored me(being ignored is one of the worst feelings ever, I'd learned). About how I could've done something differently. What did I do wrong? I asked myself. Is there still time to fix it? What if-

Suddenly something hit the back of my head, it didn't hurt, but it didn't feel good. "Hey," someone from behind me called after. When I looked around for what it was, I saw cheese-its in a clear plastic ziplock bag lying on the asphalt in front of my feet. Confused, I looked back to see three students walking towards me. Immediately I got up from the seat, anticipating what they were going to do. The one in the middle was intimidating, dark wavy brown hair, a green hoodie and black pants(I couldn't quite grasp what it was about him that was scary), followed by two ratty looking tall and skinny guys with black and brown hair, creeping up with an evil smirk on their face.

"What are you doing out here, huh?" One of the tall ones growled. All three began going different directions to trap me in the square.

They had me completely surrounded now. "What do you want?" My voice broke, coming out as a pathetic whine. Almost right after I said that, I was pushed from behind, and I turned to see the shortest one (he turned out to be just an inch above me).

A tall one from behind me yelled out, "Loser!"

Another tall one, "Little boy!" Then snorted as if he were the funniest person in the world.

The shortest one walked up to me so fast I couldn't get away, and grabbed me by the collar of my shirt. "I know what you are, little boy," then threw a blow into my jaw, knocking me to the ground. I couldn't help but feel the place he hit me, which sent a sting throughout my entire jawline. Just when I looked back at him, he kicked my face, not in a way to hurt me, just to get me on the ground, immediately kneeling over me and grabbing my arms to gain control.

I tried to shake my way out of his grip, but when he leaned forward and spoke in a low, eerie voice I couldn't help but listen. "Tell me," His eyes were still on me, "What should I do? Beat the crap out of him so he can't even see, or leave him alone to cry to his other faggot friends-"

At those words, anger flooded my chest and I struggled free and began kicking out. "You can't call them that!" Immediately he grabbed me again, using one of his legs to pin both of mine down, this time more aggressively, and shouted in my face, "Oh yeah? What are you gonna do, huh?" I gave up at that point. He smiled in amusement after a few moments, "What.. are you.. gonna do?"