From The Inside Out

3

Avi hated to be taken advantage of. It had happened to him one too many times. Maybe he was just too nice for his own good. Or maybe he seemed that gullible.

"Avi can we touch your beard?" The girls asked excitedly. Avi, being the sweet person he is, said yes. A lot of people liked to touch his beard. A lot had done it earlier in the meet and greet. But these particular girls did something that someone else hadn't done.

They both look at each other and giggle. They reach out their hands, which contained glitter, and rub it all into Avi's beard.

Avi was upset, who wouldn't be? He was trying not to let it show, but everyone could tell how upset he was.

That night on just about every social media he was on, the fans were talking about how Avi wasn't friendly, and how he was rude to them. He blamed himself, of course.

They complained that he wasn't smiling. But when have I ever smiled anymore? He thought. They complained that he didn't speak a word to any of them. But when have I ever been talkative anymore?

Avi sighs and closes out of all his social media. He turned off his notifications, just to be sure he wouldn't see the hate that way. Scott taught him to do that a long time ago. But he would see it when he logged back on.

Avi didn't notice, but a stray tear fell down his cheek as he tried to get comfortable in his bunk.

Scott, who was walking by, saw the tear. "Hey, Avi," he whispers, kneeling down in front of the bunk. "You can't let those girls get to you."

Avi nods a little, wanting to burst into tears now. He decided to tell Scott about the long paragraphs and speeches that were being sent to him.

"People keep posting these long paragraphs and things about me," he starts. "They keep telling me that I was rude. That I'm not as kind as they thought I was." He sniffled a little. That was what hurt the most.

Scott's mouth hangs open a little, shocked at the way their fans were suddenly treating Avi. "I'll find a way to stop it. That's completely insane."

He stood up and leaned down. He kissed Avi's forehead, and then walked away.

"Thank you, Scott.."