"Forrest."
I stared out the window and tried to ignore her.
"Forrest!"
I groaned and lifted my head. "What do you want?"
Jessica rolled her eyes. "What was the math homework?"
I closed my eyes and tried to remember it. "Um..."
"SYKE!" Jessica screamed as she threw an egg at my head. It cracked all over my hair. My eyes flew open as egg dropped down my face. Jessica and her friends laughed.
"I always knew you were an EGGHEAD, Forrest!" a random girl shouted. Everyone laughed and took pictures of me with their phones. I felt like crying.
"You think you're so great just because your father ran around the world?" Jessica shrieked. "Well guess what: you're just as stupid as he was! EGGHEAD!"
Everyone cracked up, watching the egg roll down onto my shoes. My shoes, which were now dirty, used to be white and clean. Now, they've turned a weird yellow-ish color.
"HEY!"
Instantly, everyone stopped laughing and whipped their gazes towards the end of the cafeteria. And there stood my Emma. The beautiful Emma, who looked so fierce, just like a tiger.
"Leave him alone!" Emma yelled. It was so silent you could hear a pin drop as Emma hurried over to me, grabbing my arm and dragging me outside. She didn't stop moving until we were alone, and nobody could see us.
"Those kids are bullies," Emma told me as she gently cleaned the egg off me.
I put my hand over hers. "I'm starting to think they're right. I'll never be like my father. He was heroic, and not afraid to do what's right." I paused for a breath as the tears started to come. "But me? I'm not brave. I can't even stand up to these kids."
Emma grabbed my shoulders. I looked into her beautiful eyes and heard her beautiful voice, soothing me.
"Don't listen to anything they say," Emma said quietly. "You are brave. You are strong. And you will be like your father, Forrest. I know you, and I know that you won't give up. You're already great."
"Emma..." I started.
"But those kids don't see anything. That's because they don't want to see it. If they believed, even for a second, in the reality of how great you are, then they would see it." Emma continued. "So don't say they're right. They don't know anything about you. But I do. And you do. And your dad does. And all of us love you for who you are."
I was quiet for a second. Emma said she loved me. I had to be dreaming. But when she took my hand, I knew it was real. I could feel a connection between us.
"Thank you," I whispered, a couple silent tears running down my cheeks. "Thank you."
Emma smiled. "You knew that already, Forrest. I just had to remind you of it."
Then, I said the words I'd wanted to say for a long time.
"I love you too, Emma."
