Call Me Klein

Reject

“R.E... You're late. This is not like you at all.” Mr. Carp says as I walk into class and take my seat. If being late wasn't like me then he has no idea what I'm like. He dismisses my refusal to respond and continues his lesson on multi-cellular organisms. I hear shuffling and papers and whispers in the seat next to me. I try not to pay attention though. I doesn't concern me. Before Mr. Carp turns around, someone new is sitting beside me. I look over, past my hair curtain and a sweet, pearly white smile glimmers back at me. “Hey R.E.” He whispers. 'Why is he trying to sit next to me? Or talk to me?' My eyes wander to the front of the room where Marrisa is sitting. 'That's why.' I think. 'She's too far away.' I look back at him as he doodles in his notebook. A blue dragon eating Mr. Carp. I smile to myself and he looks up. Being the only one at this school who's ever seen past my black curtain of hair, he smiles back. “You like it?” He asks, tilting the pad towards me. I nod. He laughs to himself and continues doodling. I then turn my attention to Mr. Carps endless ranting when he starts speaking again. “Hey...” He says, adding spikes to the dragon's back. I look at him in response. He stops drawing and looks up at me. “What does R.E stand for?” I freeze. 'Oh god, if you knew there'd be no chance of you ever loving me.' I want to tell him. But then again... There's probably no chance now. I swallow and let out a hoarse whisper. “Reject.”

His eyebrows knit together when he hears the truth. “Reject?” He asks, making sure he heard right. I nod. He looks to the front of the room then back at me. “Why reject?” I want to explode. 'Don't make me answer that.' I plead with him silently. 'Oh no.' I feel it coming. My incapability to tell a lie. “I was neglected.” He laughs at this. 'Was what I said funny?' He stops cold when he realizes I'm dead serious. “Like... dumped?” He asks. 'In a way.' I answer a lot faster in my head. “Sort of. Except it wasn't by a boy... It was my parents.” I stop. Could I trust him with this information about myself? My gut tells me no but he's understanding eyes twinkle almost expecting me to confide in them. “I live in an orphanage.”

His jaw drops when he hears this. “You're an orphan?” He asks. I nod. Now there's nothing else to hide from him. Everything from here on out is minor, irrelevant compared to this. He looks to the front of the room again then back down at his lap. His hand lands on my ragged arm, but I can barely feel it with all the bandages Trey put over them yesterday. “I'm so sorry.” He whispers. His hand slides down to mine, intertwining fingers. I can't help but smile at his touch, but I can't go along with this. “Marissa.” I whisper, pulling away. He peers at me, his eyes dark and no longer welcoming. Concern taking it's place. “What?” He asks. I swallow back everything I want to say. I want to yell out that I love him and kiss him and I want him to love me back. But a sudden out burst such as that will end me in the redirect office. With Mrs. Prestin helping me “express my emotion through song”. I grab his hand again. No one will care. They'll think he's just helping an innocent emo... He smiles, running his thumb over my knuckles. It feels so natural. Like it should be this way. Mr. Carp sees us smiling at each other, Jason holding my hand in his. I look up, pulling away from Jason but he holds a firm grip. To my surprise, Mr. Carp just smiles at us and passes out the worksheets. I look back at Jason, wondering if he's just as shocked as I was that we weren't called out for this. He just continues drawing with his free hand, his fingers still wrapped around mine in the other.