Taming Life

A big gesture

"Okay so what do you want to talk to me about so much?" I asked eagerly. Calum had had this huge smile on his face since I met him that morning and it was now lunch time. Every time I had asked him what was making him smile so much he'd kept saying "Just wait and I'll tell you," until I was absolutely dying to know. I had always been a curious person, I simply had to know. It had been distracting me all day!

"Well okay...so there's kind of sort of a guy." Calum said, and then he giggled. Calum giggled.

"Oh my god there is?! Tell me everything!" I said, so eager I jumped up and down in my seat. My wrist hit the radiator behind me in my enthusiasm and I giggled, not caring. We had taken to having lunch in one of the outside blocks. No teachers went there at any of the breaks so we sat in the hallway eating together, knowing that we wouldn't get into trouble and could still avoid everyone like we wanted to. 

"Well, he's the new boy in my French and maths class. He messaged me last week asking about homework and well we kept talking from there. I've been wanting to get to know him since he got here. He's so funny and really cute. And well, he was kind of being flirty with me so I was flirty back. He's coming over tonight, and I don't think it's just to revise. He's just so amazing and I like him. I just hope he really likes me back, though I'm trying not to get my hopes up." Calum said, and a blush crept up his cheeks. It made me smile; I'd never seen him happy like this. I threw my arms around him and he hugged me back, laughing.

"I'm so happy for you! And I bet he does like you back! How could he not?! Though good luck for tonight, I want absolutely every detail!" I said, and Calum nodded.

"Don't worry I'll be sure to tell you everything, and I really hope you're right!" Calum said, and I could tell how excited he was.

"Hey! You two! You know you're not supposed to be here, get to the canteen before I give you a detention!" A voice said, making me and Calum jump. We turned and Mr Rickson the science teacher was stood in the doorway glaring at us. Me and Calum got out of there quickly, giggling a little once we were out of the door.

"I guess we should head to the canteen now." Calum said, and I sighed but agreed. We walked down there, both of us getting quieter and quieter as we went. Neither of us wanted to go in there, nothing had been easy recently and I was blushing already at the thoughts of people's eyes on me.

"We'll be okay. It's j-just the canteen, right?" Calum asked, stuttering a little. I could tell that he was nervous, and maybe he was saying this more to reassure himself more than me.

"It is, and we can do this." I said, squeezing his hand a little to comfort him. He smiled nervously at me, and the doors to the canteen were getting closer and closer. I took a deep breath and opened them, feeling more nervous with every breath. Calum walked in behind me.

We found a table away from everyone else and sat down quietly. Without meaning to my eyes found Alex quickly, she was sitting with some friends. At first I saw what was normal, her just sitting with girls I would never get on with. But then I noticed that she was staring into space, and the girls were ignoring her. She didn't care.

"...Oh my god he's over there, he just looked at me." Calum said, and I blinked, focusing on him instead of my gorgeous ex-girlfriend.

"He did? He must have noticed you as soon as you came in." I said, and I looked over at Ryan, the boy he was on about. Calum was right, he was looking over at us, and smiling. I hoped more than anything that he liked Calum back; I knew just how happy that would make him.

"I hope you're right. Oh and look who it is." Calum said, and I looked up to see Lily coming over to us.

"Hey! I was just wondering if you had any idea on the maths homework? Because I struggled!" Lily said. I raised one eyebrow, surprised to say the least. This usually happened the other way round; she was the one who was good at maths, I was the one always asking for help. But for a few minutes I proceeded to help her. I tried explaining what I'd done for the homework, because for once I had actually understood it.

"Oh right! It totally makes sense to me now." Lily exclaimed finally, hugging me. I smiled and hugged her back. She then handed me an envelope and disappeared. I looked down at it, all it said on it was "OPEN ME." In bold letters. So I shrugged and did, taking out the piece of paper inside it.

"Hey. It's Alex. Now, don't throw this away. And don't hate everyone who helped make this happen. I miss you, okay? And I love you. I just want to show you what you mean to me. Now, look up." It read, and so I looked up.

Calum had moved and was now placing a chair in the middle of the room. When he stood on it and coughed everyone went silent.

"Alex has something to say. To all of you. But to one of you in particular." He said, looking directly at me. I didn't know what to think or what I was feeling. Alex stood up and in a few movements she made it to the chair. Calum helped her up onto it. I was hurting but I had to admit that I was intrigued to see what would happen now.

"I've been a total jerk. I know that a lot of you personally think that about me anyway. But really, I have been a truly horrible person. I lied to you all, and I let someone else get hurt because of it. That was so wrong of me and I couldn't be sorrier," she was looking at me the entire time that she said this, and it was like her eyes were boring into me. I couldn't look away no matter how hard I tried to. "You were all lead to believe that Hazel was obsessed with me. Is obsessed with me. I don't know, it depends on what you believe. Either way; that is not the truth. Hazel Mason is such an amazing person. There is no one like her that I've ever met before and to every one of you who has talked about her in a mean way or said things to her, bullied her...you're so wrong for doing that. But I've been the worst of all for letting this just happen. I feel sorry for those of you who have never gotten to know her," I could feel tears welling up in my eyes as I looked at her, "because she is one in a million. She is special. So start whispering about me. Come and say things to me. I don't care, I deserve it for what I've done. But please stop being horrible to Hazel. Because we were in a relationship together. And when we were I was happier than I've ever been before." She had tears running down her cheeks, and there were shocked gasps all around the room at what she was saying. A few people whispered but most people were in stunned silence, waiting to see what would be said next, just like I was. I couldn't believe that she was doing this.

"I'm gay. Completely and totally gay. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. I like girls just like straight boys do. People fall for all kinds of people but love is a beautiful thing. Don't ever make fun of someone just because you don't understand their sexuality. Because figuring yourself out is a hard enough thing to do without added pressures of bullying. It's not needed and it shouldn't be happening. Love is love, let it be. Just....here's one advice from me to all of you. Don't ever treat the person you love horribly. Because you will regret it for the rest of your life." Alex then picked up something from the floor and attached it to her blazer. It was a big rainbow badge that read "I am gay and proud". Alex then nodded and fifteen students made a line behind her. Calum and Lily were among them, as well as a few students I knew who hadn't whispered things about me. Ryan was one of them too. They were all holding a piece of paper and all at once they all turned them over. They were all holding a letter, and with them all in a line it read "I am so sorry Hazel". Alex smiled shakily at me, and mouthed the words spelt out to me. And then she turned around and headed out of the canteen, tears streaming down her cheeks. I turned over the piece of paper in my hand, thinking about everything that had just happened, with tears in my eyes. I could hear people talking and laughing everywhere. What had just happened would be gossip for days. Oh Alex. She was so brave and very stupid for doing this for me.

"You don't have to, but meet me at the bike sheds if you want to talk. That's where I'll be after all of this."

I looked around at everyone before getting up and hastily leaving, knowing exactly what needed to be done now.