It's a Little Strange

3. WORTH

Ned frantically gestured away. "What are you doing?! You have to apologize, Peter!"

"Apologize?" cried Peter. "She will beat me up before I even have a chance to say sorry!"

Peter's eyebrows came together in distraught. What has he done? That was uncalled for and mean for no reason. Peter should have never let his frustration at home on someone else. He knew that Ned was right, but that still didn't mean he really wanted to confront Michelle... again.

"I'm going," Peter finally decided with a dejected sigh. He lifted himself from his seat, leaving his friend alone. When Peter left the lunch room, he wasn't sure where the look. Suddenly, the school seemed ten times bigger and he felt smaller. Where was he supposed to find Michelle?

Without a destination in mind, he walked ahead through the hallway. His pace was slow and at every intersection, he checked all around in hope that he could spot her. Finally, he heard sniffing around the corner. He followed the sound and the color drained from his face.

The girl's bathroom.

Peter didn't know how long Michelle would be in there... probably for the rest of lunch. And it would seriously hurt him for the rest of the day if he didn't say his apology to her. So, he dared to enter the girl's bathroom for the first time.

When he placed his hand on the door, he cringed. He would get in so much trouble for coming so near. But he decided that the risk would be worth it. Michelle being this upset with him was not something he could easily live with, and not fair to her.

After all, like he said, he and Ned were the only ones who tolerated her genuinely.

Peter pushed open the girl's bathroom door and peeked his head inside. Thank god it wasn't busy, otherwise, he couldn't go through with this plan of action.

He felt like he entered a sacred ground. The girl's bathroom didn't look too different from the boys, just the exclusion of urinals. In fact, it seemed a bit cleaner than the boys, until he noticed little pieces of floral paper on the ground underneath the stalls. Is... that...?

In the biggest stall, the handicap stall, Michelle was crying. Peter bit his lip, slowly approaching her stall door. He gently rapped his hand on the door and she suddenly stopped. She must have seen his shoes from beneath the stall door and she pushed the door hard enough to make Peter go backward. His face hit the door and he grunted from the impact. His hand went to cover his nose and mouth since they too stung.

Michelle stepped out of the stall. Definitely more furious than sad at the moment. Her eyes may have been slightly red, but they regarded Peter as if he was the enemy. Her cheeks were wet with tears that had already begun to dry up.

"You know," she said with her chest heaving impulsively. She squeezed her eyes shut to concentrate as she regained her composure. "I didn't think you'd have the balls to follow me in here."

"Well... I'm here." Peter had no clue what he should say. He didn't know what was the right thing to say to fix all of this. Was there even a fix to this? "Look, I didn't mean to make you cry."

"I'm not crying," she denied harshly. She passed by him and went to the sink. Her hands curled on the sides of the sink and she ducked her head low, refusing to look at him. "And you still said all of that shit whether you wanted me to cry or not, asshole."

"I am an asshole, you're right." Peter hesitantly took a step toward her, but she didn't see. "What I said isn't true-"

"God," Michelle groaned. "Peter don't bullshit me. Every word you said was true." Under her breath, she grumbled, "This is the thanks I get for trying to be nice."