Rejection

Too Scary

You bring them up to cloud nine before dropping them onto the concrete ground. What kind of beast are you?

  John never smiled. How could he, when no one liked him? John used to be liked, but after awhile, his friends just stopped being his friends. John never knew what the problem was. Was it that they didn’t like his toys? Did he do something wrong? He never knew. There was only so much rejection a twelve year old boy could take, and after a while, John stopped trying to figure out what the problem was.

  It wasn’t that John gave up. John wanted friends. But when you’re ousted from the society so much, sometimes, there was nothing you can do but just accepted that fact. John did want to have friends, but he didn’t know how to get them back.

  John always liked playing basketball. It was his favorite game. When he used to have friends, they would go down to the court together to play. Then, when John lost his friends, basketball became his only companion. At night, when his parents were asleep, he would sneak out to go back to school, because that court had all the memories he shared with his friends. They may not remember it anymore, but he still did. Even though it would be very cold, John still went back there every night. It was almost magical when the ball went through the hoop, as if each time he scored, he might get a wish. And with every wish, he wished for his friends to come back.

  His nightly trips made him tired, of course. His teachers would scold him for sleeping in class, and his friends still wouldn’t come back. Nevertheless, John went back night after night, praying and wishing for his friends. His parents never knew, and John didn’t intend them to know. It was his problems.

  One day, John tried again. He tried to be accepted again. His old friends were playing basketball and he tried to join them.

  “Hey, can I play too?” He asked.

  “Well…” Tom glanced at the others. “Maybe.”

  “Great!” John took his position immediately.

  Maybe this time, he would have his friends back. All those nights were worth it!

  His team won easily enough, and everyone seemed normal. John was happy.

  “Guys! We did it!” He smiled.

  “Oh yeah.” Tom took a step back, shrugging. “Let’s head home guys.”

  “What? But we just-“ He faltered as everyone ignored him, packing their stuff.

  “Let’s get away from him, mate.” Someone hissed.

  John couldn’t believe it. What happened? Why were they acting this way? What did he do? John felt horrible. He wanted to shout and yell at them. Just what did I do? He thought.

  He went back to the court that night. It was colder, and there were signs of strong rain but John didn’t care. The cold made his pain easier to bear. It was so painful; the memories were painful. How can they treat him like that? Bring him to cloud nine before dropping him onto the concrete? How could they? Why did they do it?

  John stripped his jacket off, taking pleasure from the cold. They were horrible, John thought. Of course they were horrible. Why didn’t he see that before? He shot hoops again, and again, and again, and with each goal, he wished, not for his friends to return, but for him to disappear. He didn’t belong, so he won’t. He shot hoops hour after hour, past caring about the time or the cold, or the rain. He didn’t belong. He didn’t.

  Tom was the one who found John’s body the next morning, half frozen. Everyone was sad. No one wanted it to turn out that way. All the other twelve year olds thought was that John looked scary with braces. That was it. When he didn’t smile, they were less afraid. He was a good friend. If only he didn’t have braces.