Unpopular - Enemies to Lovers

➳ 12

Maude walked with me to my next class.

"Saturday was so fun, we should do it again," she said.

"You're only saying that because you want to beat me at pool twice."

Maude was walking so close to me that our arms kept brushing against each other.

At the end of the hall, I could see Logan staring at us. I held my breath as I expected him to attack me again, but this time he just seemed to be judging.

Maude noticed his staring too and became uncomfortable.

"I'm gonna go to the bathroom, I'll see you later," she said.

◍

Jack and I sat alone in the cafeteria as usual.

I ate a croissant while Jack filled in his new colouring book with pencil crayons.

The colouring book was cool, and I knew Jack liked colouring and painting things. He said it was 'good for his spirit'.

From the other side of the cafeteria, we could hear the popular boys chanting and being loud. To avoid being noticed by them, Jack and I sat in a table by the exit and kept our heads down.

Although a lot of the boys teased me, I knew Jack was the real target. He was one of the boys that was an easy victim for them since he was rather sensitive.

They teased him for being different and they knew he wasn't confident enough to defend himself.

Logan and his friends marched towards our table. Jack and I exchanged looks. We didn't want the boys to notice us.

Michaelson, one of the bigger guys, approached our table and smiled at us.

I knew he was going to do something bad and I just wanted him to get it over with.

I braced myself for a slap on the head or a shove.

"Lover boys," Michaelson said and he dumped a carton of milk onto Jack.

My heart dropped.

Michaelson's friends leered at Jack while the gross milky fluid dripped off Jack's face.

"What the fuck is your problem?" I yelled. I could feel all control I had leaving my body.

Michaelson rapidly slapped the side of my face with the back of his hand.

"Felix, don't," Jack said.

A group of Michaelson's beefy friends were surrounding our table and I knew there was no way I would gain the upper hand.

Once I became less livid, I realized the whole cafeteria was looking at the scene Michaelson had started.

Most of our classmates looked entertained or were laughing - as if it was fun to watch an innocent person get publicly humiliated.

Michaelson and his cronies walked away but Jack was eerily still. There was no joke he could tell to make this moment hurt less.

All eyes were trained on us.

I could see Jack's lips quivering and his eyes began to water.

"Jack, don't cry," I whispered. People were still looking at him and they had begun to take pictures.

My comment was pointless because tears were already pouring down his face and he dashed out of the cafeteria.

I didn't have to look around the cafeteria to know everyone was looking at me.

When I looked at the table where the popular girls sat, I saw Maude watching me. But she didn't utter a word. She didn't tell those boys to stop.

I wanted her to say something because I wanted to believe she was a good person. I wanted her to be the version of herself who gave me a Beatles CD and taught me to play pool.

If she could just tell her friends to stop laughing they would. I knew they took her seriously.

But she didn't say a thing.

I genuinely thought that becoming friends with Maude would change things, but now I knew more than ever that she was a coward.

I left the cafeteria to find Jack.