45 Days to Save the Bad Boy

Three

“Oh my gosh, I was like, ‘so I was just warning all you gentlemen over here that Georgie Talbot is my girl and I would thank you to back off, or else’.” Dallas was telling me what he had said when he went to Peter’s table.  “Then Peter was like, ‘or else what?’.  Seriously?  Cliche!  Ugh.  So I just glared at him as all the other boys nodded.  Speaking of boys, who is that cute one that’s all silent and bad boy?  He is just my type!” Dallas exclaimed.

“I’m pretty sure he isn’t your type, if you know what I mean,” I laughed.  Dallas winked at me and then his arm was around my shoulder again and his face was really close to mine.

“Here comes the big bad wolf, play along.  We’re a couple remember?” he whispered to me, making adorable faces while he spoke.  I giggled at his expressions.  “Wow, you’re a professional!” Dallas said with a grin.  Peter walked past us with a glare, but didn’t comment.  “Shoo, shoo.”  Dallas flapped his hands after Peter, making me laugh again.  It was nice to have a friend.

“So tell me, what were you writing about in that sparkly little journal of yours?” 

I froze mid-step as Dallas looked at me curiously.  

“You don’t have to tell me Georgie, I was just wondering is all.”

“No, it’s okay Dallas. It’s kind of a secret, but I’ll let you read it.  If I tried to explain I would confuse it all.  After school, alright?  Now here’s your next classroom.  Be a good boy, don’t pick any fights, and if you listen to the teacher I’ll show you where the best ice cream shop in town is,” I told him, patting his shoulder fondly.  “Have fun!”

“Bye my Georgie girl!” my friend called as I skipped away. “You be good now!”  For the first time in a long time, I had a friend again.  And it was a good feeling.

“So basically, you agreed to help a creepy old man save his son, who you don’t actually know but who saved you from a closet Peter put you in, and you don’t know what or who you’re supposed to be saving him from, not to mention you only have forty-five days?” Dallas asked.

“That about sums it up,” I agreed cheerfully.

Dallas stared at me.  “You’re crazy.  The one person in the entire school that I chose to be my friend, and she’s crazy!”

George, I do not agree with Dallas on this.  I’m not crazy.  Really I’m not.  I just can’t say no when people need help.  Probably because no one helps me.  I feel like if I help more people, karma will kick in.  In fact, it already has.  I have Dallas now, don’t I?  Even though he doesn’t exactly know about my bullies, having a friend makes a huge difference.  Although he is a little bit crazy.  I mean, he pretended to be my boyfriend!  That’s a completely insane thing to do.

Dallas ripped George out of my hands.  “Seriously?  You’re writing in this thing again?”

“It’s name is George,” I informed him.

“What are you writing now?”  Dallas opened George and flipped to the page I was just on.

“No!” I yelped, trying to grab my precious journal before he could read that I think he’s crazy.  The bullies too, of course I didn’t forget that.  Unfortunately, stupid Dallas is taller than me.  “Give it back!  George and I need quality time together!  I won’t take you to get ice cream!”  Sadly, my threats did not work on Dallas.  Eventually, I gave up and stood back as Dallas read, watching his facial expressions.  At first, he was victorious. Then, he was sad.  Next came mad, and finally he reluctantly smiled.

“Georgie, are you bullied?” he asked me softly.  I nodded.  “Do they hurt you?”  I thought about it.

“Sometimes Harry gets really mad and can’t control himself, so he punches me. It doesn’t hurt that bad though.  Peter and the others don’t hurt me, but I do their homework.  They call me names and lock me in empty classrooms or closets so that I’m late for class, but they don’t bother me on Wednesdays and all the other days it’s only after I finish my lunch, as long as they didn’t put anything in it.  It’s not that bad, and everyone except Mr. Hollaway and the teachers know what’s going on.  They would step in if it got too bad, and honestly it isn’t bad.”