A Day in the Life of Fiction (part 2)

Window of Opportunity

The bell rang but unlike the other day, I took my time packing my things away. My whole body had been on edge since I woke up, building up to this moment when I'd see Benny again. But now that he hadn't actually said anything important, my senses were in a state of confusion. Should I be relieved, sad, or maybe even pissed? Hell if I knew.

Benny seemed completely carefree as he took his own time gathering his stuff. I watched him carefully and paced myself so we finished at the same time. He looked at me as I slung my bag over my shoulder, him having done the same thing with his own a moment before.

"Are you all set?"

"Uh, yeah."

"Let's go then," he said with a smile as he walked towards the door. After a moment of hesitation I started following after him.

I grimaced and threw my head back in frustration. What were we doing? Wasn't walking to class together something couples did? Well, friends could also do that, too. But were we really just friends after what happened?

The rest of the walk was as silent as it had started. Apparently my stop came first because soon enough we were approaching the door of my next class. I grabbed onto the handle and threw a quick glance back at Benny.

"Uh, see you."

He smiled and nodded. "See you."

But neither of us made a move to actually leave. There was a drawn out silence that seemed to drag on forever.

Well, say something then.

Whether I was referring to Benny or myself, I wasn't too sure. But I knew this was definitely a window of opportunity for something to happen.

But, that window was slammed shut by another student making me move out of the way for them to enter the classroom. I grabbed the door before it could close and nodded briefly at Benny, slipping into the room.

When I heard the door close behind me I pressed my fist into my forehead. If that wasn't the stupidest move, I didn't know what was. I ran away like some kind of scared animal. I slumped into my seat and went slowly through the motions of getting my notes and textbook out. My mind was heavy with various thoughts and it was all I could do to simply copy what was written on the board, not really understanding what I was writing.

The bell rang eventually and again I slowly packed up, my body mostly moving through muscle memory alone. My head was in a foggy daze when someone suddenly bumped my shoulder, muttering a quick apology as they passed. I snapped out of my stupor to see that I was in the middle of the hallway. To be so distracted as to start heading to my next class without even realizing it? Probably not a good sign.

What was more, I had actually been walking in the complete opposite direction of my third period class. I shook my head at myself as I turned around and head in the other direction. As I walked, I passed by the single person bathroom that was known for being completely out of the way. Another bad sign of just how distracted I was if I had made it to this part of the school.

But, as I continued walking by, the sound of soft sobbing reached my ears. 

Ah, hell.

For being a bathroom that was out of the way, it's most frequent visitors were either students looking for some sort of trouble or students who didn't want to be seen. The latter meaning you'd usually find some sad sap crying in a stall. It was a first come first served system no matter what your reason was for coming to this bathroom.

I rubbed the back of my neck. What was I supposed to do in this situation? Well, really I did know what I was supposed to do. I just didn't want to do it. So the real question was why did it have to be me walking by at that moment?

I was the last person to come to with your troubles. I couldn't even handle my own obviously. The soft sobs continued and at that thought, the memory of Benny crying on the floor came into my mind followed by the memories of the times he smiled at me so genuinely. 

Now, if I had been in this situation a couple days ago, there was no way I would even give this kid a second thought. But, now suddenly I was asking myself what Benny would do in this situation as if he was Jesus or something.

I groaned and walked towards the door. Unlike the last time, I didn't know who I was dealing with and had to consciously contain my inner asshole. Although, in reality, I would rather just slap their sense back into them. This was high school, not some teen movie. Crying all alone in a bathroom stall was uncalled for.

With a hard fist, I knocked on the door several times. The crying immediately died down to quick sniffles, the kid obviously trying to collect themselves quickly.

Alright, I have to channel my inner guardian angel. Say something inspiring and encouraging.

"Come on, I could hear you bawling clear across the hallway. Trying to hide it now just makes you look dumb. So calm the fuck down and do it quickly."

Nailed it.

The sniffling faded into deep breaths which in turn calmed down to silence. I stood by the door for another moment before I smiled smugly.

Lucky for them, I was here to help.

But then my smile faded slowly. As much as I could get this kid to stop crying, the reality was that I still couldn't even solve my own problems. Why were emotions so hard to deal with?

With a light sigh, I rested my hand against the door. "You'll be fine." I had meant it as a parting word for the crybaby but, as the words left my mouth, I knew I was also partly saying it to myself. I slid my hand off the door and shoved it in my pocket as I made my way to class.

Where was my guardian angel when I needed one?