A Reason 2 Smile

I'm Fine

I try to push them away but the hits keep coming. I can feel blood trickling down my lip. RFinally when I could no longer stand, the girls just left as if nothing had happened. I limp to the bathroom and stare at my reflection in the mirror. Why me? Of all people, why me? I start washing the blood off my face and try to fix my smeared makeup when the bell rings. "Come on!", I exclaim. Of course, there's no one there to sympathize with me. I grab my things and start walking to my last class of the day when an unexpected flow of tears begin running from my eyes. My breathing quickens as anxiety slowly takes over. I can't go to class like this, not today. I can't do this anymore!

The tears blur my vision but I run anyways. Where I'm running, I'm not sure. All I know is that it's far away from here. I suddenly collide with someone and fall backwards. The person catches me and helps my to my feet. I rub my teary eyes and try to swallow the sobs. When once I can see clearly I find myself staring face-to-face with some guy. He was in my French class, but I never talked to him. I open my mouth to speak, but I have nothing to say. The boy gives me a questioning look, "Sorry um, are you okay?". All I can manage to get out is a quiet uh-huh.

"Where are you heading? Class did just start."

I regain my senses and look up at the guy, "Anywhere but here."

"Then I'll go with you."

"You really don't have to-", I begin walking towards the front doors when the boy grabs my arm.

"But you don't seem to be in the right condition for having alone time."

"What do you mean?"

"For all I know, you might do something you'll regret."

My breath catches in my throat, "I wasn't planning on...".

"You still might have.", the boy says, trying desperately to let me accept his company. I wouldn't have hurt myself, but he was right to worry. Still, why about me? Before the teacher notices that we're not inside the classroom, I walk towards the door and the guy follows me. We keep walking until we're on the top of the tallest hill in the schoolyard when we stop under a small tree and sit down. The boy looks over at me, granted I know this because I was looking over at him. He had dirty blond hair, sparkling blue eyes, tanned skin, and was well built. This guy was your stereotypical jock. "What's your name?", I ask, realizing I had no idea who this boy even was. "I'm Aidan, and you're Emma right?". I nod.

We spend the rest of the hour talking, mostly about general things. Eventually we hear the faint ringing of the bell, signaling the end of the day. Aidan stands up and I follow as he starts walking back down to the double-doors. Right as we get to the doors Aidan stops me from walking in, this is when it gets more personal. "You never told me what got you so upset earlier.".

I point to my swollen, bloody lip, "I had a run in with the pops.". Aidan's eyes widen and his jaw drops, well, kind of.

"I didn't even notice that!", he exclaims. I'm not sure what else to do but shrug. We walk back inside.

Aidan heads off down one hall to his locker and I head off down another. As I'm walking through the halls I notice Saige and Katie standing slightly in front of me. Great, just great. Saige, a former friend, won't even make eye contact with me. While Katie, the devil's freaking spawn, looks me right in the eyes and smirks, "Nice lip color freak! Oh wait, that's your blood.", she says it as if I care. I roll my eyes and keep walking. Katie's kitten-heels click behind me, "Hey loser! I was talking to you...are you deaf or something idiot?!".

I clench my fists and bare my teeth, "Get out of my way Katie.". She pushes me, "Make me, bitch!". Tears sting the corners of my eyes, I really don't want to do this right now. But do I have a choice? I try to get around her, Katie slaps me and my head hits a locker. My ankle twists and I fall to my knees and groan. Somewhere down the hall someone yells my name. I look up to see...Aidan? He runs over to me a helps me up. I feel a burning heat rising in my chest. My eyes rise to meet Katie's, and all I can feel is hatred.