Every Rose Has Its Thornes

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"What do you mean you don't want to hang out with me anymore? You were just fine yesterday!" Monica's screams could be heard from the courtyard as I went inside.

"You know, Monica, all you think about is yourself. I'm glad I realized that before I got any closer to you." Sarah Firrgo said, much less dramatic and far less loud.

"You..YOU...AAAH! All you Firrgo's are DESPICABLE!" Monica stamped her foot, screeching more.

"What, my brother reject you? Seems like us Firrgo's are getting better judgement skills, if you ask me." Sarah smirked. The crowd that had gathered "ooo"ed, like someone had just been called to the office in the middle of class.

"Yo, Monica, better apply water to the burned area!" Someone called out from the crowd. A group of guys laughed. I pushed my way into the circle. Monica spotted me at once.

"EMO! What was on that note you got yesterday, hmm?" She asked, loud enough for most of the circle to hear. With everyone watching me, I decided I would stand up for myself today.

"What," I snarled. I had forgotten how good I was at defending myself, as I continued. "Jealous that I have a secret admirer and you don't?" The "ooo" was back again.

"Pssh! It's no secret that that note was from Daniel. And I could never be jealous of an emo girl like you!" Monica snapped right back.

"Oh HELL no, you don't just call someone emo like that! You don't have the RIGHT to call me names, Monica. None of you," I looked around the whole circle of people, "NONE of you, have the right to call me names! I'm not emo. I'm not goth. I just dress differently, act differently than you, and the people you hang out with. Is that a problem? NO. Does that make me a bad person? NO. Does that give you the right to call me names? HELL NO. So just shut up and deal with the fact that I'm different. And," I looked straight into Monica's eyes, "If you have a problem with dealing with it, we don't need to know. Because we don't CARE. Everyone is unique, I just show it more. No matter how hard you try, Monica, I WON'T CHANGE. Sarah won't change. Daniel won't change. DEAL WITH IT!" With that monologue over, I confidently walked away. Right before I got out of earshot, the guy said "We are gonna need a lot of water, because we all just got burned!" And his friend piped in as they laughed "Monica will need an ocean!" I smiled a little. Hearing feet behind me, though, I got a bit nervous.

"That was hilarious! I hope she feels terrible now! Okay, saying that was small of me, but whatever. We are FREE!" Sarah bubbled along. She went with me to the library, talking the whole way.

"I'll leave you to your plans." Sarah said, wiggling her eyebrows. She walked out as I walked in, towards Daniel at his usual table. With another shark book.

"How much do you like sharks?" I joked, sitting down. He looked over at me, smiled.

"Sharks are actually quite interesting..." Daniel started, closing his book. And for the rest of the time before first period, it seemed that Daniel rattled off everything he knew about sharks. To me it sounded like this: "Blah, blah, blah, shark, blah, blah, overfishing, blah, blah, big, fast, blah, sharp teeth, blah, blah, harmless unless threatened or hungry, blah, blah, blah."

In science class that day, we decided who would do what for the science project. I would do the essay, the illustrations, and half the research. Daniel would do the other half of the research, the poster, and the powerpoint. We started the research by looking at some interviews of people who either survived a shooting, or knew someone who died in one. We also got a little specific and found information about drive-by victims, as well as information about gang violence cases in the area. This was gonna be one serious project. I'm glad I set the little makeup I wore today, because I swear my eyes teared up multiple times. And I hope Daniel set his makeup, because I saw him wipe away tears too. If Daniel wore makeup...that would be kind of awkward.