in the middle of a gunfight / jason dean / heathers

; one

OPALS POV

i hated it here. it was your standard high school, supposedly. if you call harassment, suicide, popular girls and sporty guys "standard." it seemed like that was such a usual thing. such an accepted concept.

i, for one, fucking hated it.

i had one close friend- her name was salem. she never came to school, though. i had a couple on the side but they never gave a damn about me.

i caught myself staring at someone. not someone- jason dean, and he had no problem looking right back at me, with furrowed brows and his signature squinted eyes.

i looked away- i swear, this kid fucking hated me. but i was intrigued by him. he scared me beyond belief, but i just wanted to build up the courage to see what he was like behind closed doors. maybe he wasn't so scary.

he looked me right in the eyes when i was getting verbally harassed and just walked away. he always did that. i don't know what he meant by it.

i finally sat down to eat my slop. i kept thinking about who was gonna come up next and threaten to throw it in my face. i kept my head down so i wouldn't look at anyone else.

i squeaked in surprise when two hands slammed down on my lonely table. my head shot up, i would say who it was but i really didn't care enough to learn these fucks names.

one of them swiped my lunch away and on the ground, i tried to stay tough- despite the trembling i was experiencing.  "that was shit anyway, can't you think of something better to pull?" i asked, my plastic fork still in my hand.

"excuse me? do you wanna fucking test us?" another one of them asked. "so do you want a blow then? im fine with a blow, maybe a few." the other one jerked back his fist and sloppily hit my cheekbone, but right when i looked up he was on the ground. another one was being held by the collar.

by fucking jd.

he was a lot more skilled in his blows. his arm went back slightly and he threw his fist at his chin, kicking him in the balls. when they were both crying in pain on the ground he made eye contact with me, for about five seconds, and walked away.

i needed to thank him- but was that really for me? i was too much in shock. now i looked even more like a stone cold bitch. fucking great. i stood up, looking around the cafeteria, and he was gone. just fucking gone.

i ignored the looks i got from just being the center of a fist fight and just ran around the school, trying to find him.

he didn't come to school for two days after that.

when he came back, salem did too. she had already heard all the rumors when i tried telling her- but she didn't think they were true until i told her.

"he's... bad news." she tried to tell me, but i didn't listen. i mean, so was she?

every passing period was spent looking for jd so i could get alone time with him without being yelled at by someone.

they've never actually... touched me before. but he didn't do anything when they talked like that to me.

it was the end of the day and i wanted to be the first on the staircase, so i could see him and just say something. ask about it. thank him. whatever.

although, one of my less close friends tried and talk to me. of course, she was bitching about something, but i kept trying to run. "where the fuck are you trying to go? why are you in such a hurry?" she asked, "just leave me alone!" i yelled, running down the halls and turned my head to see if she was still following me. nothing. my legs stopped moving when i felt myself collide with something and almost fall on the floor. i realized it was a person.

"shit, im-" funny how life works, isn't it? it was fucking jason dean. of course! of course i had to slam my entire body into him. yes, the universe really does work in my favor.

he was about to walk away, but i found the courage to speak up. "wait." he turned around. "i- i actually was looking for you." "hm?" he responded, as if he didn't even remember what happened the other day.

"i thought you- i- fuck." i took a deep breath and tried to speak like a sane person. "why did you do that? you know, punch those dudes for me- or, maybe not for me, but-" he stopped me, i could've sworn i saw a little grin. "figured it was time they got a little taste of what they've been givin'." he explained lazily, having to look down at me. "but you could've done it at anytime, why did you act out when i was the one being picked on?"

"im not an asshole, uh," he paused. "what's your name?" "opal." "i'm not an asshole, opal. they shouldn't be hurting you."

"so.. you don't hate me?" that made him huff out a small laugh. "why would i?"

"i don't know. i just got some weird vibes." i sighed.

"yeah. there's something to that."

"what?"

"see you around, opal."

i didn't say goodbye back, i was too confused. what the fuck did he mean by any of that?