A Fatal Attraction

Anabelle

I read the message over and over again, not believing what I am seeing. Chase Thompson just sent me a message and said I could sit with him! I met him once, sort of. It was last year, he had just gotten out of hospital after his accident and I held the door for him so he could get his wheelchair through. I never thought he would ever talk to me though, he is like the most popular guy in school why would he talk to me. I try to think of a reply but come up with nothing. So I head to bed and hope tomorrow will be better. 

The next morning it takes all my will power to get out of bed and in the shower, I am dreading having to face another day at school and possibly another day of torment from those people who tipped my bag out yesterday. After my shower I remember the message from Chase, I look at it again and decide to reply;                                                                                                                                       - Hi Chase, thanks for the offer I might come and sit with you sometime and don't worry about what happened yesterday at lunch, I'm sure it will just be a one time thing. :)                                         My stomach churns a little at the thought of sitting with Chase but I brush it off and just focus on getting to school and surviving the day. 

Homeroom is the usual thing, with the notices being read for the day and Mrs Patterson wishing us a good day as we walk out when the bell rings. I look at my timetable and see I have English first, I don't mind English it's one of those subjects that I am pretty good at. I walk in and my teacher this year, Mr Pearson, arranges us into a seating plan. I get nervous when he calls my name as I don't want to sit next to anyone that will bug me for the whole year, he gives me my place in the class and I take my seat. Then Mr Pearson calls someone's name I am not expecting to hear, Chase. In the space of a minute I find out I will be sitting with Chase Thompson for the whole year, I feel my anxiety start to bubble inside me as Chase sits down beside me. "Hi," I say as he sits down. "Hey," he replies with a smile on his face. Class begins and after a short amount of time I feel a buzz in my pocket, it's Chase;                                                                                                           - I only wanted to help you because being bullied sucks, it is not fun and I don't want to see anyone else suffer that.                                                                                                                                                     I read the message over a few times before replying;                                                                                           - Thanks Chase but you don't have to worry about me, I am used to it now.                                             I hit send before thinking over what I have said, I see him read what I have said out of the corner of my eye and my anxiety flares once again. The bell rings to signal the end of class and Chase and I head our separate ways. I forget about the message during the day but when I get home there is a message waiting from Chase;                                                                                                                      - Anabelle, I had a think over what you said and I don't think that's true. I don't think you are used to it, I saw you yesterday at lunch and you looked pretty upset. If you don't mind, I would like to ask you some questions. 1) How long have people been bullying you? 2) Have you told any of the teachers about it,and 3) How have you coped all this time? I am intrigued, let me know. 

I'm in shock, how did he guess? How does he know? Does he know? I have so many questions and I don't know what to do. I am so confused. Maybe I should talk to someone who knows Chase really well and see if he is a trustworthy person, I will ask Luke, his best friend. I message Luke and ask;                                                                                                                                                                          - Hey Luke. Chase sent me a message today and he wants to get know me, I know this is a bit odd but I was wondering if he is trustworthy. I have had some false people share my personal info before and I don't want a repeat. Thanks, Anabelle.                                                                                    I send the message and hope Luke will understand where I am coming from and not judge me because I am being cautious. After a few minutes I get a reply from Luke;                                                  - Hey Anabelle, I understand where you are coming from and I can tell you that Chase is a super trustworthy guy. He knows this one secret about me that he has kept for almost 10 years! It's crazy! So go for it, he is a really great guy.                                                                                                                  His response makes me feel better so I decide to tell Chase the truth. I respond and hope he can see where I am coming from;                                                                                                                                           -Hey Chase, I will definitely answer your questions but I can't do it via message. Tomorrow afternoon mum is going out, would you like to come over? Let me know :)                                                 I hope he says yes because I have an idea to really show him what I have been through this year and these holidays. "Anabelle, can you please help me with dinner," mum calls out. I put my phone down and head out to the kitchen to help mum.