Cory

Chapter. 7

"You must be crazy"

Chalene blinked at Brandon, not willing to believe that she had actually heard it. They were at his house, and the television was on but forgotten. His mother had gone over to visit Mrs Klein across the street His father was in the cellar workroom making a bird-house.

Brandon looked uncomfortable but determined. 'It's the way I want it, Charlene."

"Well, it's not the way I want it. I think it's the craziest goddam thing I ever heard. Like something you might do on a bet."

His face tightened. "Oh? I thought you were the one doing the big speeches the other night. But when it comes to putting your money where your big fat mouth..."

"Wait, whoa. Charlene was unoffended, grinning. "I didn't say no, did I? Not yet, anyway."

"Wait Just wait. Let me talk. You want me to ask Cory Anthony to the prom. Okay, I got that. But there's a couple of things I don't understand."

"Name them." Brandon leaned forward.

"First, what good would it do? And second, what makes YOU think he'd say yes if I asked him?"

"Not say yes! Why - " He floundered. 'You're ... everybody likes you and-"

"We both know Cory's got no reason to care much for people that everybody likes."

"He'd go with you.'

"Why?"

Pressed, brandon looked defiant and proud at the same time. "I've seen the way he looks at you. He's got a crush. Like half the boys at Ewen."

She rolled her eyes.

"Well, I'm just telling you," Brandon said defensively. 'He won't be able to say no.'

"Suppose I believe you," charlene said. "What about the other thing?"

"You mean what good will it do? Why it'll, bring him out of his shell, of course. Make him.." He trailed off

"A part of things? Come on, Brandon. You don't believe that bullshit."

"All right,' he said. "Maybe I don't. But maybe I still think I've got something to make up for."

"The shower room?"

"A lot more than that. Maybe if that was all I could let it go, but the mean tricks have been going on ever since grammar school. I wasn't in on many of them, but I was on some. If I'd been in Tristan's group, I bet I would have been in on even more. It seemed like. . oh, a big laugh. Boys can be cat-mean about that sort of thing, and girls don't really understand. The girl would tease Cory for a little while and then forget, but the boys ... it went on and on and on and I can't even remember where it started any more. If I were Cory, I couldn't even face showing myself to the world. I'd just find a big rock and hide under it." Brandon said

"You were kids," she said. "Kids don't know what they're doing. Kids don't even know their reactions really, actually, hurt other people. They have no, uh, empathy. Duh?"

He found himself struggling to express the thought this called up in him, for it suddenly seemed basic, bulking over the shower-room incident the way sky bulks over mountains.

"But hardly anybody ever finds out that their actions really, actually hurt other people! People don't get better, they just get smarter. When you get smarter you don't stop pulling the wings off flies you just think of better reasons for doing it. Lots of kids say they feel sorry for Cory Anthony-mostly boys, and that's a laugh-but I bet none of them understand what it's like to be Cory Anthony, every second of every day. And they don't really care."