Project Smile

Five

I've been trying to catch up with Gabriel all day, but he won't talk to me when he sees me. I know that he's avoiding me now because of what I said, but I really just want what's best for him. I've made a promise to myself that I'm going to stop pestering him and am just going to be there for him. If he'll allow me to be there for him.

   I walk into the gymnasium for my last class of the day. When I look around for the teacher, he's nowhere to be seen. Figures. Half of the crap that happens to me and the other kids in here is because he's not in here to stop it. When we're supposed to be participating, there are boys running around and pantsing each other, girls on Instagram and Snapchat starting many different kinds of drama, and couples making out in the bleachers.

   And then there's Nathaniel, who always likes to come up to me and pretend to stutter, just like Zach used to do. He'll come up to me and pretend to ask me out because everyone thought that we were going to become a couple, Zach and I. Or he'll just say awful things about him to tick me off to the point of hitting him. I haven't yet, but if he doesn't stop soon, I will.

   I just hope that the teacher doesn't happen to be in here when I do it.

   I put in my earbuds and allow my phone to shuffle through my music, "Miss Jackson" by Panic! At The Disco filing my ears. I begin to walk around the gym, watching the chaos around me. Though we're juniors in high school, no one really acts their age. We're all just like a bunch of twelve-year-olds, giggling at stupid jokes and throwing around "your mom" insults. The only thing that's changed is that the jokes have slowly become crueler and crueler. Though I have never been the victim of any practical jokes, I have seen first-hand how awful they can be.

   I wish that our maturity levels would rise with our age, but some people will just be stuck as immature children their entire life, not realizing exactly how much of an impact they have on other people.

   Nathaniel suddenly falls into step beside me, and I glare at him, hoping that he'll go away. But he just grins down at me. I remove one of my earbuds, though I know what's coming. It's mainly a habit now.

   "Wh-wh-what's up, C-Cassidy?" he asks, raising the pitch of his voice. "W-wanna go on a d-d-date with me th-though I'm a c-c-complete loser who has no f-friends?" He leans in closer, probably to say something worse, but I shove him aside.

   "Please, Nathaniel. Zach could get way more girls than you could without trying."

   "And how would that be?" he asks, puffing out his chest a little, though it looks like I'm damaging his ego. Good. It's larger than Asia. I'm hoping to get it down to the size of the U.S. Then he might actually have enough common sense to leave me alone.

   "Because he could actually keep his. He loved them, and they loved him. His relationships weren't just flings for status and gossip." I begin walking quickly, hoping to put some distance between me and him. But he stops me with his words.

   "At least I can find emotionally stable people and not freaks who cry over how bad their lives suck all the time."

   That is crossing the line.

   I spin around on my heels, heading towards him. Other people are slowly flocking towards us now, realizing that crap is about to go down. I don't care about all the gossip that will be spread about me tomorrow. I don't care if I get suspended. I don't care what happens to me because of what I am about to do. Nathaniel's had this coming to him for quite a while.

   When I'm close enough to him, I grab him by the shirt collar and slap him across the face as hard as I can, leaving a red mark. "That's for Pete," I say. Then I curl my hand into a fist and cock it back before letting it fly. It connects with his jaw beautifully. "That's for Gabriel." Then I let his collar go before rearing back and bringing my hand down as hard as I can on his face. It's enough to make him stumble. "And that's for Zach. Don't you ever say anything else about them again. They're way better people than you ever will be."