Smile.

Chapter 2: Bare Gravel

Why do they care so much about what I say. I am a nobody yet they care so much about my words.

A young Clover begins to push through a large crowd with tears falling from her face. She keeps shoving and pushing until she reaches the center. There William laid, on the bare gravel with his head bleeding. 

The young William stood up with his head raised high. Everyone couldn't help but look at the large smile on his face. Clover didn't have a clue about what to say to him. Everyone was watching the two stare back at one another. Clover began to clench her fists and yell out at William.

"S-stay away. From me and my friends, creep."

William didn't know how to respond he felt as if he was stuck in time. It all snapped back to him when Clover called to him yet again.

"Why are you still standing there William, Just leave. Go home."

He felt his heart sink and the weight of his body began to push him down. William calmly whispered.

"I know."

As he began to push himself to move. Despite taking such a beating, he still held his bloody face straight forward with a few tears alongside a large smile. This moment would forever affect William's life moving forward.

____________________________________________________________

"William? Hello, Earth to William?" The teacher called out.

His face rose from resting in his crossed arms.

She asked "Can you answer this question William?"

He shook his head and panned around the room slightly. He made eye contact with one of the girls in front of him and imminently looked down.

He quietly told the teacher"I-I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention."

She exhaled before speaking out in a concerned tone, "You're lucky your acing your tests, otherwise you would have been kicked out of this school by now."

William looked up to her slightly and nodded before looking down at his desk again.

As the class began to quiet down William felt their voices echo in his head. He would hear laughter from a student to his left and another from his right. He would listen as 2 girls began to whisper to one another. He peaked his eye for a second just to see many eyes staring back at him.

William feeling overwhelmed by all of this, kept his face down for the rest of the class whilst holding back a smile.

After an eternity of waiting for the bell, William begins to stand up while looking down. As he approached the door, he walks into 2 large seniors. The larger student pushed and pulled William outside of the classroom.

He was being shoved from locker to locker until they finally reached a door. The door led to the back of school. He was finally forced down to the bare gravel and yet William never tried to fight back, he kept looking down at the ground.

William was drowning in his own mind. The words the 2 seniors were screaming were not reaching him. He still stared blankly as he stood back up, just to be punched to the ground.

He finally snapped back to reality. He reached for the blood coming from his head and looked at it in his hands. His eyes never matched the expression he let off. His face began to force itself into his simple yet disturbing smile. 

The 2 seniors felt so uncomfortable, they chose to leave him alone after that. 

William looked back at the ground with all of his scattered homework. He took his time slowly picking it all up. He began to whisper to himself as he put away the papers.

"Just smile." 

He kept repeating it to himself as he stuttered slowly until he finally stopped his smile.

As everything began to calm down he heard the sound of a girl yelling. He thought nothing of it. He began to zip up his bag and head home until, a voice began to call out to him.

"HEY, William! Wait!"

He stopped walking and slowly turned around to look at her shoes. When she finally caught up with William she told him.

"You need to come with me so we can get that checked by the nurse."

He didn't understand why she wanted to help him. 

"I'm fine."

He replied as he began to turn around and walk away. The girl jumped in front of him and grabbed his face.

"There is no way you are fine! Your head is bleeding. You shouldn't neglect your health."

She yelled in surprise.

William couldn't avoid her anymore, He had no where to look. He could only stare straight at her face. He tried to closer his eyes but she kept peeling them open. William slowly began to feel his face creaking into it's unsettling smile, he spent a second to truly look at her expression. He didn't see the slightest sign of disgust upon her face despite his large smirk and bloody head. William's relaxed, and his smile left just as quickly.

The girl reached for William's hand, and gave him a light smile before asking him.

"Will you please come to the nurse so we can get that fixed up?"

William looked at the ground again and nodded. He peaked towards her and began to ask for her name, but she swiftly cut him off.

"I nearly forgot to tell you, My name is Abigail  Richards."

He whispered back with his head facing the gravel.

"My name is William, William Miller."