Young Love Lost

Chapter Three

I sat in the warm room uncomfortable. Correction, we all sat in the room uncomfortable. Talking about something like this together was so stupid to begin with. We weren’t ready.

The six of us there were Cindy Lid, the ex-cheerleader; Marvin Henna, our grade’s president; Bailey Jennings, the I-heart-art girl; me, girlfriend of dead boyfriend; Oliver Chase, the weed smoker; and finally Lucas Beckon, the guy.

You know the guy I saved. I couldn’t stand him looking at me with the same green eyes as Calvin. It was heart-breaking really. He had blond hair though, not brown cute hair. Just blond hair. He was that kid you see who’s really good on the soccer field, is smart, and has a lot of friends. He was a normal teenager, and Riley hated him. He used to tell me how much he envied the guy and thought he was the poster child of America. He wasn’t injured at all; he was only here because well he would’ve been here if Riley had shot him. Here or the earth underground.

Then there was Cindy who he’d had a crush on for forever. I’m still not entirely sure why he shot his crush in the arm. She can’t even lift that arm anymore, so she had to quit cheering. Her eyes were swollen because she’s been crying over cheerleading. She may not be the nicest, but she wasn’t harmful to anyone or anything.

Marvin, whom was a superior guy from the start, always took initiative. He was a pretty damn good president might I add. I think Riley used to make fun of him because he was kind of a goody-two shoe. There was no reason to kill him, but now Marvin can’t walk.

Oliver Chase was annoying to begin with. He smoked and dealt pot which was you know pissing Riley off because his dad smoked pot, and he hated anyone who did that. So, I guess Oliver reminded him of his dad. Oliver was shot in the stomach, but he’s fine now. He doesn’t have any symptoms at all.

Well, then there’s Bailey. Bailey was my best friend all through middle school. In high school she started calling me Bug, because she said she’d like to squish me like a bug. She tortured me, and hated me. None of the other girls said anything to me, just her. It’s like it was a one-man hate party. Oh, and she was an artist, a really good one. That’s mostly why we connected in middle school: over art. Riley didn’t like that anyone was making me cry when I got home, so I guess he shot her in the eye. She can no longer see in that eye.

And then there’s me. I had a pathetic little crutch my mom made me carry around because I finally gave in and asked for pain medication. I can’t believe she would embarrass me like that. It was supposed to help me straighten my back out, but it didn’t seem to do anything negative or positive to me. But my mom wouldn’t let me take the meds unless I carried it. So I ignored her and didn’t take the crutch. Who needed meds anyways?

“Alright,” Mr. Cline clapped his hands loudly. I jumped a little from the wake up of my trance. Everyone else jumped a bit too.

“Someone has to start. Why don’t we start with you Bailey? Tell us three things about yourself.”

She shifted uncomfortably but started to speak anyways. “I like penguins, drawing, and riding my bike.”

Her voice was quiet, as if she was embarrassed. Oliver was next. I pictured him saying something like, “Weed, weed, and weed.”

Instead he mumbled, “Lollipops, skateboard magazines, and Cheetos.”

I smiled a little at Cheetos. Calvin despised Cheetos because he hated when they got sticky on your fingers.

Next was Marvin. He said, “I like to write, do pottery, and I used to like to play basketball.”

He glared real hard at the floor like he was trying not to hit something. I nodded thoughtfully at the pottery thing. Cool.