Invisible

Bloody Nose Part 2

I put my bag in my locker and grab my books. I don't out my phone in my back pocket, I turn it on and stare at his contact. I don't really know why. Instead of walking straight into homeroom, I walk by Ethan's locker and wait for him. He finishes getting his stuff and turns around. When he sees me, he jumps a little. I sure do startle him a lot, I thought.

"Hey, just wanted to say hi. Who do you have for homeroom?" I ask, casually.

"Uh, Mrs. Sloan. You?"

I nod my head in the direction of her room just as the late bell rings. "K. Imma go. I'll talk to you at lunch." I turn and walk into homeroom, where I'm greeted by Kayla and Aiden, as usual.

"Hey, Kayla, did you get a chance to text him last night?" I ask.

She squints at me. "Text who?" She says, and stomps on my foot. Then, she rips out a corner of one of her notebook pages and scribbles "Don't tell Aiden about him you idiot". I just roll my eyes.

"So, who was that fag you were sitting with yesterday?" Aiden said.

A bubble of rage forms in my stomach and starts to work itself up to my throat. I form my hands into fists and slam them on the table. "Aiden, will you shut the fuck up. Why are you such an asshole all the time? I have no idea how I've put up with you and your bullshit for 6 years." I manage to say through gritted teeth, trying my very hardest to stay as quiet as I can, though my hands are shaking and I want more than anything to scream at him.

He stands up and puts his hands on the table. "Oh, I'm the asshole? I'm not the one who is always ditching the group to hang out with some new 'friend'. We all know you're just waiting for the perfect opportunity to leave the group, but you're too scared because then you'll be unpopular."

I give up on trying to be quiet. "Fine! I do want to leave the group! But have you ever thought about why? It's because you never do anything but insult us and what we're doing, when we're all better than you! You're in charge of the group and you have us on lockdown! No one can leave and no one can come in. Because you know the second someone new comes in, you'll be replaced, or the second one person leaves, everyone else will follow suit! Because you're a fucking ass Aiden! No one fucking likes you!"

He walks around the side of the table and leans it. His face is barely an inch or two from mine. "If you want to leave so bad, just fucking run to one of your dozens of boyfriends." He places his hands square on my shoulders and shoves me.

The second I feel myself get off balance, I shove him back, harder. Without a second of hesitation, he forms a fist and swings it at my face. He hits me square in the nose, and it immediately starts bleeding, just as it did yesterday. I can hear chairs start to move and everyone around us whispering and talking. Kayla is watching in awe. One kid starts chanting, "Fight! Fight! Fight!" and by the third "fight" everyone had already joined in. I wipe some blood off my mouth with the back of my hand, and swing a fist straight into his stomach. He lets out a groan and backs up a step. That's when I use my leg to trip him and knock him to the ground. He gets up as fast as he can and tries to take another swing at me, but I walk straight out of the room.

"Fucking coward!" Aiden calls from the room. I don't turn around, instead I walk straight to the bathroom.

I lean against the sink and look into the mirror. Blood is still dripping out of my nose, on my lip, and on my shirt. I sigh, grab a paper towel, and start wiping it off of me. My nose is throbbing, and my head is pounding. I turn on the tap, and wipe a cold paper towel on my forehead. I hear the door open, and I try to hid all the blood as best as I can before someone sends me to the nurse for the second time in two days. Though, I'll probably end up getting sent to the office anyway.

I'm not really paying attention to the person who walked in, until I noticed how slowly they were moving.

"Are you okay?" I hear a familiar mumble. I whip around, and Ethan is standing behind me. His head is down, looking at his shoes.

After a few seconds of me just staring at him, he looks up. "Uh, you're getting more blood on your shirt," he points.

"Oh, shit." I grab another paper towel and hold it against my nose.

"So, second nosebleed in two days," he looks back down at his shoes and starts kicking one of the tiles. "Both of which were my fault."

"Neither one of them were your fault. I should have been looking where I was going yesterday, and this one had nothing to do with you." I take a few steps closer to him. "Ethan, I don't blame you. Don't blame yourself." He looks back up and looks into my eyes.

We stare for a few seconds until I break the silence. "You should probably get to class, before you get in trouble with me. I'll be fine. And if I don't have a lunch detention, I'll sit with you."

He lets a smile cross his face. "Okay, hopefully I'll see you then." He turns and walks out of the bathroom.

I stand in the middle of the room. Not thinking, just standing. I pull the paper towel away from my nose, and stare off into space. I'm literally staring at a wall. Until someone else walks into the room. It's Kayla. I expect her to walk right up to me, and comfort me, something different than what she actually does. Instead, she walks to right outside the doorway and leans against the wall with her arms crossed.

"Connor," she says quietly. It makes me nervous, Kayla is never quiet. My heart starts to pound. So now I can hear and feel my heartbeat in three places, my nose, my head, and my chest. I don't have the courage to look at her. "Connor," she says a little louder. I still don't look at her. "You should probably go to the nurse. And..." she pauses. "Find a different table to sit at during lunch, and now that I think of it, homeroom." Then she turns and walks out.

The room starts to spin, and the pounding in my head gets worse every second. My vision goes blurry, and I feel my head pressed into the cold, dirty tile floor. Everything fades to black.