Plea for Help

               Nobody pays attention. Nobody sees. Nobody hears the tiny pleas for help from the people you see every day. Well, at least some of us do, and the few of us that do, don't do anything. You might see a bruise or cut on someone that you know they got from their boyfriend, but you brush it off as something that you see every day. At another point, you see people walking by a homeless man on the streets as if he where invisible. Society is blind and ignorant, but for us few that grew up on the "hidden" side of society, we don't have such luxuries.

                   My name is Tyler Walker. I'm your average five foot eight quiet guy with dark brown eyes and black hair to match my secluded personality. The only outstanding thing about me was my overall good grades and athletic body. I lost my parents when I was fourteen and was forced to grow up quickly. While my siblings were each taken in by relatives, I was left alone to work out my own problems. It was around this point in time when I started to understand just how cruel and unforgiving this world can be. I was lucky enough to be the oldest and have everything left to me in the will, so at least I would be fine with living in an apartment and with no economic trouble. That's when I noticed that my values differed greatly from those of society.

                  The bell rang and I was dismissed to lunch, shaking me from my thoughts. Sitting at my desk listening to the discussion about society had brought up some depressing memories. Walking out the door and through the hallway watching the people around me as if I was invisible, I could see many things that most people would miss. Like how that girl had put extra "care" into doing her hair this morning in order to impress her friends and that guy she may be crushing on. Or the guy whose eyes were slightly red and his breath still held the faint smell of some drug. Nobody notices or nobody feels any need to point it out.

                That's when I saw her walking past me in the hallway. It felt as if time had slowed down as I was about to pass her. She had long blonde hair, a nice complexion, and at first glance looked like a model girl that any guy would want to date, but there was something different. Something about the way she was walking without really looking at any one and the expressionless look she had on her face reminded me of something that I couldn't quite remember clearly. That was until I saw her eyes and I realized. It was the same pair of eyes I saw every time I looked in a mirror. Continuing to walk past her as everything seemed to speed back up, and I knew. I knew she had seen the same darkness that this world had to offer.

                  My normally clear mind was clouded by this new girl while I walked to my usual secluded spot for lunch. I stopped before turning the corner when I heard the voices of some of the popular kids where I go to eat. I looked around the corner to see a group of about five of the snobby rich kids standing over the girl I saw in the hallway. I don't know if they were trying to be friendly to the pretty new girl for popularity points or trying to declare that they're better than her, but I walked over to where the group was.

                When I was about three feet away from the first person in the group I spoke out, "Why are you in my spot?"

               Upon hearing this, a guy on the outside of the group turned towards me saying, "Your spot? We're just tal-" He stopped midsentence upon seeing me. As if sending out a distress signal to his friends, one of the girls chimed in.

                "Yeah. We just wanted to talk to Elizabeth here," she said with a slight uneasy smile.

                 I replied with a sarcastic monotone voice, "Sure you do." Almost immediately their group moved off and around the corner of the building. I know there are some pretty nasty rumors about me, but I guess it comes in handy sometimes.