Butterfly Summer

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Aiden and I have a set way of doing things at school. I’m your typical high school bully victim while he’s the popular athletic guy. It’s a long story how we became best friends. You’d think that him being popular would also boost my rep, but that’s not how it works…exactly.

            See, this is what happens. When I get cornered by a bunch of jerks trying to act cool and pushing me around, Aiden comes in and scares them off. I do the same for him when he’s surrounded by too many flirty girls. I just grace them with my presence and they all seem to magically disappear. Granted, his social situation is a bit more preferable than mine, but our system works and I’m cool with it. 

            Speaking of which, a too-cool-for-his-genetic-pool jock randomly stopped in front of me and knocked my books out of my hand. While I was bent over trying to pick them up, he stole my backpack and started walking down the hall with it while he and his three friends were laughing about how absolutely hilarious that was. I chose to finish picking up my books instead of going after my backpack; the books were what I actually needed for the next class anyway.

            “Retard,” I muttered at the jerk’s back, though I instantly regretted it. I normally stayed away from calling people things like that since I’m friends with some really nice legitimately retarded people, but the word was out and there was no taking it back now. The bully—who I just remembered was named Ron—froze and turned back around.

            “What did you just say?”

            “Nothing, I was just thanking you for carrying my backpack for me. It’s really heavy, so I appreciate you helping me out with it.”

            He dumbly looked at my backpack, then at me, then back at my backpack again. Finally, he whipped it at my head and I barely managed to catch it. “I ain’t helping you!”

            Aiden’s voice chimed in from over Ron’s shoulder, "Hey, I apologize, but I’m gonna need to borrow Aaron here for…well, the rest of the day. I need him to do all my thinking for me.”

            “Uh…okay.” Apparently Ron could use a nerd to do the thinking for him, too. Suffice to say he’s not the brightest planet in the solar system.

            “Thanks man.” He started down the hallway, signaling for me to follow him. I scooped all of my spilled books into a heap and hurried to catch up.

        The second I reached him he asked, "Do you mind if I copy your answer for number 15 on the geometry homework? It looked hard."

"Wow, you really do need someone to do your thinking for you.”

            He elbowed me in the ribs. “Hey, I’m just glad to be your knight in shining armor, thou fair damsel in distress.”

            I paused when he said that, thinking once again of the girl I’d left at home. For the first time I realized just how much I wanted to be her knight in shining armor. I didn’t understand it, had never felt that way towards anyone else before, but now that the thought was in my head it stubbornly refused to go away.

            “Hey, you okay man? You just went kinda mesmo on me there.”

            “Sorry, I’m just a little tired.” I shook my head to snap out of it and turned into the classroom. Aiden’s homeroom was farther down the hall, so he waved goodbye and continued on.

            I slipped into an empty chair next to a blonde girl who looked familiar but whose name I couldn’t quite remember. You’d think I would know these people after spending the whole year in class with them, but that just shows how much I normally keep to myself. It’s not that I’m shy or have social anxiety, I just like to be alone. Nothing wrong with liking my privacy. It's called introversion.