Loser

Chapter 4

Anna's POV:

Justin? I quickly wiped away the tears which had escaped from my eyes and took a deep breath. My shaky hand opened the girls' bathroom door. He quickly looked up at me, then straight back down.
"Are you ok?" He mumbled shyly, not knowing what to say or do.
I nodded silently, unable to get a single word out of my mouth. We walked together to the next lesson in complete silence, but the silence didn't feel awkward. As we were walking, all I could think about is what she had said to me. I didn't get what was so bad about hanging out with Justin? He can't be a bad guy, can he?
As soon as we got to the lesson, which was Biology, I straight away saw Skylar glaring at me, making me extremely uncomfortable. I looked for a seat that was NOT next to her, and found one that was right at the back of the class. I could already tell that this was going to be a long day.
Suddenly, I felt someone tap my shoulder next to me, which stopped me from falling asleep during lessons, I guess. I looked to my left and saw that a note was in the girl's hand. 'This is For You,' she whispered and I looked around to see Justin looking at me whilst opening it.
*Meet me outside at lunch, we need to talk.- Justin* it said. I looked at him and nodded, knowing immediately why he wanted to talk to me.
Before I knew it, it was lunch and I made my way to outside where he told me to meet him. I looked down and sped up as soon as I saw Skylar passing me. My heart beat would quicken when I see her, as there was no doubt that I was scared of her. She had that negative energy around her which made me shiver. Finally, I spotted Justin under a large tree and I made my way over to him.
"Hey," I said quietly and calmly. He smiled at me in response and urged me to sit down. It was quiet for a couple of minutes until he cleared his throat and started to talk.
"Well, I heard around school what Skylar said to you and I just wanted you to know that I'm extremely sorry for what happened." I gasped under my breath. I had no idea how to respond with the fact that people already know about what happened. He then carried on talking, "and I just wanted to tell you that you're seriously not alone in this, although you probably already know that after what happened to me at the library yesterday." I sighed loudly. I'm just going to tell him, I have nothing to lose anyway.
"But it's not just that, Justin. It's not just about what she said to me."
"Then what is it? Why are you so bothered about Skylar?"
"It's just that,"I cleared my throat and started to play with my hands, "it brought back so many memories of what happened at my last school. It brought back memories on what my friends and I did and I'm so ashamed of what we would do but that's what Skylar reminds me of. She reminds me of myself. And I've learned about how it's like in the other person's shoes and-"
"Woah woah woah! Calm down, Anna," I breathed in and listened to what Justin had to say, "Okay, so if I'm understanding you, you're telling me that you were a bully at your old school and what Skylar did to you made you realise about how bad you actually were?" He said, automatically coming out of his 'shell'. I nodded, unable to make any eye contact with him. I was so ashamed of what I did and the only problem that I have which stops me from moving on is that I was worse.
"I'm sorry, Justin. What I do was wrong and I knew that, which is why I moved schools; to start fresh. I wanted to change and stay away from the people that influenced me to do these things, and when I met Skylar it felt like it was going to happen all over again. I didn't want that. I came here to change, not to be the same person I was." He nodded, understanding what I was saying. I thought that by now, I would get judged by him but it feels like he's helping me without even knowing it.
"So um, anyway..." he coughed, almost as if he were desperate to lighten the mood, "there's a party at my place tomorrow. It's not my party, it's my brother's, who's one year older than me. He told me I could bring someone and... yeah so do you want to come?" He asked, stuttering a lot. I chuckled and nodded. I mean, it sounded fun. Why not?
"Yeah, but I have a question. Does your brother not know about the fact that you get picked on almost every day?" I asked, curiously.
"Um, well, no. Not really. To be honest, he never really pays attention to what I do. It's just that if I tell him, then there will be a hell load of trouble. He's the type of guy to easily get pissed off and to solve the problem, get into a fist fight." He told me, making me confused.
"Are you sure you guys are even related?" I joked, as he shook his head and laughed.
"I wish we weren't related, but when you look at both of us side by side we look so similar so that answers that question." He smiled. His smile was so contagious as I felt one spread on my lips also.
"Okay, well I guess you'll be picking me up tomorrow." I said. His smile widened, "okay." He said as we both got up and said goodbye to each other.