I'm Ugly and I love you.

Suddenly, Apples.

The cafeteria gets pretty loud on Thursdays. People are talking about the party after school tomorrow, that test in Ms. West's tomorrow or even a trip to their grandparents during the weekend. While they discuss such endeavors I sit in the hallway outside of the cafeteria hoping 15 insults in the past two class periods is enough to suffice for breaking my already meager self esteem. My name is Kane, and I am probably a defector from my namesake. In Gaelic, my name is supposed to mean 'Beautiful', which is certainly the universes way of kicking me in my balls. Why am I ugly? My Mum used to say,

"Even if you were ugly, those type of people are usually the ones who become the best in society. Just wait and see."

Mum was always so optimistic, but clearly the universe and its hate seemed to haunt family through our genes. She ended up drinking herself to death because of my fathers weakness for blondes with over-sized plastic tits. She died at the age of 41, slowly on April 1st after major kidney failure. (Ah, the morbid irony haunts me more) I honestly love and miss her, but Mum didn't realize that she just left me with another sickening person in her place. But why discuss that when we can talk about the other parts of my shitty life. So I'm about 14 and hate just about every aspect of my life. People usually say "You can always change your life as long as you work at it and believe in yourself." When the thing I loathe about myself is the one thing I can not change, my face. My nose always feels too big, my neck is too stubby, and along with hundreds of other things, I always feel like the seat next to me will forever be vacant. Moving on from even more horribly depressing things.. Its Autumn right now and honestly I could do without the insufferable cold. After completing my lunch (Peanut butter and jelly. Yum.) and successfully realizing that I should no longer buy wheat bread no matter how cheap it is, I went to throw out my trash and realized that I was still starving.

"Ugh, how fat can I be? (I realize I'm only 125 but still.) Note to self: Maybe remember breakfast this time", I thought to myself.

Despite my minimal funds for snacks I head to the lunch lines for something to snack on. The thing on my mind was a bag of chips. Just the thought of the crunch, the salty taste, that sensation of crumbs on your fingers just made my mouth water.. Ah! Okay maybe I should stop having fantasies about oil fried pieces of carbohydrates, probably best I do so before I flood the cafeteria with my saliva.

"Kane? Earth to Kane?" says a voice in front of me.

I return from my mind to see the lunch lady Ronda, trying to get my attention. I snap back to reality and look around seeing that no chips remained on the rack.

"My goodness child! Is your mind still back in England?" Ronda asked rhetorically with more sass than a Kardashian. I realized that I had been standing their with hollow eyes staring at the empty chip rack for the past few minutes.

"Oh, god I'm so sorry. Uh, I will just take an apple then Ronda." I said in a desperate attempt to salvage my pride. She pursed her lips but pointed to the bowl of fruits to my left. It was filled with colorful foods fresh shipped from the farms upstate. I look in the bowl and see one apple on the very top, a shiny one with a soft red and green permeating its leathery food skin. I reach for it and notice something odd. There was a hand on my own trying to probably get the same apple. I look up and see a girl staring at me awkwardly. She was so, beautiful. She had curly brown hair that was a bit too long for her face. Her single exposed eye was wide and was colored a stormy gray. Her face was flawless with features I thought only existed on actresses in Hollywood. After a few seconds of awkward eye contact she finally spoke up.

"Um, you can have it." She said. Even with her long hair in her face I good see that she had lightly blushing cheeks. I was speechless for a moment and finally swallowed the lump in my throat and muttered "Yah, thanks."

The girl walked away quickly and went to her table in the cafeteria. I felt like my stomach had just imploded and my heart is pumping faster than my father driving flat drunk. I looked at the apple and saw my reflection. I saw in the shiny skin that I was blushing intensely. After leaving the now empty line I see that the room was now empty of feasting students heading back to class. I glance over to the table where the girl was sitting. She was gone, no sign that she even was here. I finish looking around and begin walking to class again thinking to myself. I didn't even know her name, yet I felt like I needed to see her again. She may just be a rich bimbo, but even if that is so, I just needed to talk to her again.