☆ halcyon girl - five ☆

☆ chapter 3 ☆

The next day at school, it was still fairly hot outside. I wore loose fitting denim shorts with a thick black belt, a long sleeved red tee shirt, and my black Mary Janes. I did the same exact makeup as I do every day. I put my hair in a bun with my red scrunchie and called it a look.

The night before, I had cleaned off my bike. It wasn't a huge task in the end. I biked to school, staying on the sidewalk. As I was chaining up my bike to the racks, I heard laughs behind me. I recognized the voice as the guy who had spoken to me the day before while I was sitting on the sidewalk and I froze. Thankfully, he was just walking into school and was not looking to spark a conversation.

When lunch came around, I was really nervous. I did not bring anything to eat and I was not planning on purchasing any food either. I don't know, I just wasn't in the mood to eat. I skipped breakfast, too. When I walked in, Dylan immediately caught my eye, smiled, and waved me over. I looked at the floor as I weaved through the tables and sat next to him.

"Hey. You buying lunch?" he asked me.

I shook my head. "I'm not that hungry. I had a big breakfast." I played with my hair and watched the tables around me.

"Oh. Well, I already got my food. My friends will probably be here shortly." He took a bite of the pasta on his tray and I could feel myself getting anxious. A few more people crowded to the table, joking amongst each other and either completely ignoring me or giving me the side eye. Eventually, a boy with brown hair and a slender nose sat down on the other side of Dylan and punched his shoulder to greet him. The two exchanged a few words.

"Hey, Lily, this is Eric," Dylan told me as he leaned back so I could see Eric. "Eric, this is Lily. She's gonna be hanging with us for a while." Eric nodded to me and started eating.

Everyone at the table seemed so tightly knit and exciting. I felt weird sitting with these people. I did not want to be the invasive friend-of-a-friend that wedged their way into the group. As time passed, I thought about it more and more. I was about to tell Dylan I was gonna head out when a group of boys in white hats strutted over. The lead one slammed his hand onto the table to catch everyone's attention. Many other tables were watching.

Eric stood up and glared at him. "Screw off, Hoffschneider!" he yelled.

The guy laughed. "We're not here for you, dumbass." He squared in on Dylan and I. "I'm here for these fuckers."

Eric furrowed his brow. "What the hell?"

"Yeah, this fat bitch and her gay fuck buddy here thought it would be funny to tell good old DeAngelis about our little encounter yesterday. Not like he'd give a fuck anyways. He doesn't care about losers." He raised an eyebrow.

My heart stopped. I looked to Dylan. I could see his chest moving up and down. He refused to look at me. I couldn't believe he'd actually told the principal. I wasn't upset, just shocked that he would stand up for me like that. I was also in shock that DeAngelis didn't plan on doing anything about it.

Eric stared at Dylan and slowly sat back down. Dylan made angry eye contact with the guy.

"Got anything to say for yourself, Klebold? Huh? Get your ass up here! And you, you snarky bitch, what the fuck did you tell him? We never touched you, slut!" He hit the table with his fist and I jumped. Dylan stood up.

"She is not a slut, you dickhead!" Dylan shouted.

The boy smirked. "We saw her drive off with you yesterday. Bet you fucked her right then and there. From what I've seen, she's quite the slut!" All the color drained from my face and I could see Dylan's face turning red with rage. All the boys in the group snickered and half of the cafeteria was watching us.

A few seconds of silence passed before the chaos ensued right in front of me.

Dylan lunged across the table and swung at the boy. The friends started getting involved. I jumped away from the table and so did a couple of other people. I couldn't even tell what was happening until Dylan stumbled backward and clutched his face. The boy received a couple of high fives. I rushed to Dylan as they all left the table.

"Jesus, Dylan!" He looked at me, his nose bleeding, his eye throbbing. I put my hand over my mouth. Everybody stared at us. I grabbed both of our bags and led him out of the cafeteria as he tripped behind me.

I barely knew my way around the school but I easily navigated the nurse's office. She wasn't busy so I didn't bother knocking or greeting her. She seemed shocked. She took control and sat him on the cot, cleaning up the blood and bandaging his wounds without asking questions. Of course she already knew what had happened because from what I'd heard as well as witnessed, this was not uncommon for Columbine High.

Later, I had to go to class. The nurse wouldn't let me stay any more but I made a promise to myself that I would return during my study hall. And I did.

Dylan was in the special room in the nurse's office for concussed kids and ailments of the sort. I lightly knocked and he told me I could come in. When I opened the door he was laying down on the cot and facing the wall. There was a plastic chair in the corner that I took a seat in. I didn't know what to say.

"Are you feeling better?" I asked quietly. He nodded. He still wouldn't look at me. I exhaled. "Do you want me to leave? I just, I don't think I'm helping at all by being here and I'd imagine you want some alone time..." I trailed off. He didn't say anything at first, but then he spoke.

"Please stay." He trembled. He rolled over in the cot and stared at me. I gasped. The skin around his eye was bruised and the eye itself was red and irritated. His cheek was swollen. He had a bag of ice in his hand.

"God, Dylan. What'd you do that for?" I whispered and put my hand on his shoulder. He flinched, but then settled in. I wanted to cry but I felt so ashamed. He'd gotten punched for me. And I barely even knew him.

"I just got mad is all," he muttered softly. "They shouldn't have been saying those things about you."

I smiled sadly to lighten the mood. "I don't want to sound ungrateful, but you hardly know me. Why would you get in a fight just for me?" I asked.

"Oh. Um, I just hate Rocky, I guess. Especially because of what he said to you." I was somewhat disappointed in that answer. I stared at my feet. "You're not fat, you know. You're perfect just the way you are." I blushed heavily. Dylan thought I was perfect? "And you're not a slut either. Rocky's just an asshole. God, I wanna kill him." I resisted a smile. "Lily, can I, uh, can I ask you something?"

I was about to answer when the door swung open. Eric had come in.

"My turn, get out!" he barked. I rushed out and stared at the floor as he shut the door behind me.