The Memory

Confrontation

The Memory

^~^

Chapter One

Hi, there. I guess you can say I'm a normal girl with a normal teenage life. I go to school, I'm bad at math, I have a few people I can call my friends. Well, I guess by 'few', I mean like three.

My three friends consist of the girls that understand me. To the people on the outside we were smart, weird, and outsiders. More like outcasts. The bond of friendship my friends have is unbreakable... Or at least I thought until yesterday when... this guy came along. 

Of all the things that could've gotten between us, it had to be the repulsive creatures I hated so much. 

His name is Paul. This 'Paul' was one of the quiet kids that sat in the corner, but one day he just so happened to decide to talk to us. Or, my friend. She didn't even look our way when we tried talking to her. She was too busy fawning over Paul. 

But then I noticed that she wasn't the only one fawning over Paul. In the corner of my eye, I could see a another girl somewhat hiding, but as soon as she saw Paul, she was blushing so hard she ran away embarrassed. Just what was it about this guy named Paul that makes girls feel this way?

Well, before I expand on that, I guess I should tell you who we are. I am Diana. My three friends that have 'fallen' for this 'Paul' are Leah, Rachel, and Athena. We've been friends since middle school, but now that high school has started, the drama we thought would never happen, happened.

I don't know what it was about this 'Paul' that made him so likable. I just don't see what they see in him. He would open the door for them but slam it in my face. Whenever he'd talk to them, I can see them laughing at me. What did I ever do to deserve this? I don't know why he would even try to turn my friends against me.

Well, when I think about it, he did seem kind of familiar. I don't know why, but he does. He always seems like he's pretty mad at me for some reason. Have I seen him somewhere? Have we crossed paths before? Perhaps. Maybe I've seen another guy that looks like him. Wait, why am I overthinking this? I have bigger problems to worry about. Get it together, Diana. You might lose your friends because of this 'Paul'.

Anyway, the slight hatred Paul's been showing me has been going on for about a month now. The first words he said to me were literally, "I hate you." I personally don't mind. He's probably just like the others that hate me for not being like them.

My friends have left me to hang out with Paul, but they come to me when they have fights about who Paul likes better. Normally, I would care. But after the month of ignoring me, I could care less.

Today I've decided to confront Paul about why he hates me. I thought long and hard about how I should approach him. I should be confident and assertive but it still scares me a bit. I'm not really the best at talking to people. But, still, I have to get over this. I can do this!

It was math class, the class I absolutely suck at, and the class that I have with Paul without any of my so called 'friends'. And worse, he sits, like, right next to me. 

Taking my stuff and ripping up my homework before the teacher sees it are some of the things he does when no one's looking, which is like all the time. Everyone turns a blind eye to the obvious bullying that's happening. When I doze off during tests, he'll frame me and make the teacher think I was cheating. Well, that's the gist of what happens in math.

When Paul came to class, I turned to him. "Can we talk later?"

"There's nothing to talk about," he replied, annoyed.

"Yes, there is."

"No, there isn't."

I sighed. "Yes, there is. Just meet me at the stairs on the third floor at break. I don't care if you don't show, but I'll be there anyway."

I faced the front while the teacher droned on about endless equations.

When break came, I trudged up the stairs to the third floor, sat down against the wall, and waited, just like I said I would.

Maybe I should explain why I hate guys. In middle school, I was assaulted by some random guy off the streets when I was walking home. I was traumatized. I had never been so afraid in my life. Another factor that resulted in my hatred for males was my father. He left me and my mother. He completely bailed on us when we needed him. My mom is really sickly so she was hospitalized a lot. My dad bailed on us even though he knew we were struggling.

Just talking about him makes me shake in fury.

"So, you wanted to talk?" I looked up to see Paul.

"Oh, yeah. I honestly didn't think you'd show."

"Well, I did. So what do you want?"

"Why do you hate me?" I asked.

"Why do I hate you?" He gave an emotionless laugh. His eyes seemed to reflect some kind of hurt expression. "Do you seriously not remember?"

What? Not remember?

"Whatever." He sent a sad smile my way. I don't know if he even knew he was making that expression. "I hate you because I hate you. There's no real reason."

"That's a lie."

"No, it's not."

"If that was true, you wouldn't look so hurt right now."

He gave me an obviously fake smile. "It's called acting, Dia."

Dia? The only other people who called me Dia were my parents.

"Well, I'm gonna go. I still have to get my revenge on you," he said with a smirk. "See ya." He left me confused in the empty hallway.

Just what am I forgetting?