I was walking to English when I saw a group of people huddled around on the left side of the corridor. As I approached, I heard a loud voice say, “You’re so worthless! Why do you even bother trying? No one likes you, Jordan.” I pushed my way to front, and I saw a smaller boy on the ground crying while a bigger boy was yelling at him. I didn’t know what to do, or what I could even say. I just stood in the crowd helpless. I kept hoping someone else would say something, but no one ever did. Just when I thought I would have to say something, a teacher came out and made the tall boy go to the principal’s office, while Jordan and the teacher went down the hallway in the opposite direction.
The crowd quickly thinned, and I headed to English. When I walked in, it appeared that everyone was talking about the event that had just occurred. I felt bad for not saying anything, but then I thought to myself, what was I supposed to do? I was just as weak and helpless as the boy named Jordan, so I wouldn’t have been much help. Better him than me, I guess. I sat in my seat, and took out all the stuff I needed for the class. Finley was sitting in the seat next to me, looking out into space, so I felt it would be a good time to engage conversation.
“What are you looking at, Finley?” I asked.
“Oh, just the walls and stuff. I don’t like this class,” he frowned.
“Why?”
“Because the person I like is in here,” he said quietly.
“Maybe you should try talking to them.”
“That would never work. There’s no way in hell that they could ever like me back,” he said on the verge of tears.
“I wish the best of luck to you.”
“Thanks,” he said, turning to face the front, as class was about to begin.
The teacher, Mr. Hobbs, talked about English literature because we were studying foreign literature this semester, as the school wanted us to get familiar with different cultures. Most of the class sighed, myself included. I didn’t want to study stuff I already knew, since the first thing we would be studying was Romeo and Juliet. Exciting.
