My 7th Grade Job

Part 15, You're a Loser!

"What the hell are you doing here Greg?" I ask, annoyed. The whole point of staying inside was to stay AWAY from this guy! God, he's just annoying at this point.

"I came in because I missed you Thomas, " he rebuttals sarcastically. "And it was a nice surprise to find Derrick in here with you too." Derrick looks down a little. I can't tell if he's embarrassed or scared or whatever, but he's obviously upset by something. At this point, the whole Losers Club is on their feet and alert behind the tables. And, for whatever reason, Dillon is still on Liam's back.

"Greg, " I start, "I didn't want any trouble. Can we please just look our separate ways? Am I really such a thre..."

"Save it shaggy, " he quiets. "Yo Derrick! Look up why don't ya?"

Derrick slowly raises his head and looks at Greg straight in his green eyes. As they lock eyes, I realize Greg isn't here for me. He's here for Derrick. Why? 

"What do you want Greg?" he asks.

Greg's tone becomes much more down to earth, his sarcasm fading. "You're friends with these guys now? Really? Damn, man, that, that hurts."

I see a fire start in Derrick's eyes. "You're a piece of shit, ya know? You think you're so much better than everyone, but you're not, you're an ass."

"That's what you think of me now?" Greg looks hurt, an emotion that I've never seen him wear. "You're just saying that because you knew me, and you don't want to admit I'm not that bad." Derrick looks away from Greg, with an expression of shame, of regret. 

I break the silence and speak up. "Listen Greg, I'm --"

"Save it smartass. The first day of school you give me a detention for some stupid bullshit, and I got my ass kicked by my dad for it" -- he waves for his crony to follow him out as he heads towards the door -- "I thought you were just annoying, but clearly, I thought too much of you. Your year is gonna be a living hell, Thomas Arrasta." I start shaking slightly. Whatever confidence I came into this quarrel with has dissipated. 

"Greg..." Derrick wimpers.

"Save it Cane" --- Greg turns the door handle open --- "from now on" --- he glares at me with hatred like I've never seen, then, he turns his gaze towards Derrick --- "you're a loser." He leaves and slams the door shut. 

The room goes silent for a moment. Even Dillon has his mouth closed for a moment. Derrick's voice is like sharp blade cutting through the thick air. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry to all of you." He turns towards The Losers Club. Everyone's eyes are on him. "I shouldn't have thought I could come and hang out with the lot of you, I just bring trouble, I always bring trouble..."

Dillon jumps off of Liam's back. There's a long pause, and then, Dillon says something. "Hey, Derrick, when, uh, when I was in 4th grade, I brought Pokemon cards to school. I just came to St. Angus from another school. I, really, I loved playing the card game and collecting, but I, uh, I guess nobody else did." --- Dillon puts his head down a little --- "I showed a group of kids playing red light green light my collection of cards. I guess they thought I was a weeb or something, because they asked me if I was a loser." 

Dillon stands awkwardly for a moment, till Kevin picks up where he left off. "I don't think it's a secret I'm a little on the chonkier side" --- he makes everyone laugh a little --- "but it didn't make me feel good when anytime I said something, someone made a joke about it."

Pat spins his drawing pen between his fingers and continues. "Me and Josh over here came to St. Agnus around the same time" --- Josh nods his head in agreement --- "I was an arts kid and I loved to draw, and that was all I talked about. Kids were nice to me at first, but I guess I talked about cartoons and drawing so much that they thought I was annoying, and eventually started ignoring me. It made me feel, well, uh, like a loser."

Josh interrupts. "I could barely speak English back then, and everyone thought I was a some weird weeaboo kid when I brought in My Hero Academia action figures to recess. The not-being-able-to-talk thing sucked, the snickering was worse though, it's a universal language."

"I think it's the Hentai that creeped people out, " laughs Patrick. Everyone in the room laughs a little. "And I had no friends until I met Pat, he became my friend." Pat and Josh smile at eachother for moment. Then, in unison, they say "No Homo." Everyone bursts into laughter.

"So this is what we're doing now?" asks Liam. "Well, you can imagine the names I was called when I came to school with a Beatles jacket on. It's how I was raised, I thought it was normal. The teacher thought it was cool, but nobody else liked the fact that I was a music dweep. Plus, everyone thought I was weird because of my allergies to..."

"Everything?" asks Oscaretta.

"Yeah essentially, " jokes Liam with a big smile.

"While we're sharing, " interjects Hailey, "I have ADHD, and it's better now, but it was super bad as a kid. I COULD NOT stop talking about Teen Titans. I was about the most annoying ball of fun you could imagine, and I spit EVERYWHERE." 

"You still do, " laughs Dillon. Everyone nods in agreement and Hailey bursts into laughter.

Oscaretta raises her hand in a mocking manner. "Call on me call one me!" Everyone laughs a little, until Kevin says. "Yes the lady in the back, the one that looks like the Columbine poster girl."

"Jesus Kevin, " laughs Oscaretta, "I'm not that depressing. But I do take antidepressants. I didn't have any friends until" --- she points to me --- "he came along. Now that I think about, he's kinda the one that brought this group together. I swear to God, once we became friends, every kid he saw sitting by themselves he invited to come play with us."

All the attention turns to me. A smile appears on my face. I hope I know what they're trying to do. "So, uh, me. I was pretty fucked up with GAD, panic disorder and panic attacks, agoraphobia, social anxiety disorder, selective mutism, you name it. And then me and Oscaretta became friends" --- I smile at her --- "and that changed my life." She looks back at me, embarrassed.

Derrick finally speaks up. "Why are you telling me..."

"Because, " Dillon explains, "To quote Greg, you're a loser."

"You're one of us, " smiles Hailey. "The self righteous, pretentious as FUCK, underdogs."  

Derrick smiles, and looks down. "I don't want to be friends with you guys unless you want me..."

"Oh shut the fuck up already, " demands Oscaretta. "Stop being modest or I'm gonna rip out your spleen." 

He laughs and smiles. "You gotta it... Ms. Columbine."

"Oh I'm gonna fuck you up, " cautioned Oscaretta while laughing. 

"Come on, " insists Derrick. "You have headphones on, you're depressed, fingerless gloves, you're scary as shit" --- he says this as she gets up to whoop his ass.

"Oscaretta, " I halt. "We don't kill new members."

"Fiiiiiiine, " she moans and we all laugh. Then, a loud RIIIIIIING envelops the room, and we have to go back to class.

"Fucccccccck, " whines Kevin. "We didn't even get to play." He starts putting away his D&D kit shamefully.

"We can show him how to play tomorrow, we're probably gonna be inside here for recess for the rest of the year, " I say. 

"Can we all come to my house like next week to play too?" asks Liam. "Including you Derrick." Derrick looks confused and delighted by the offer, like it's the first time it's ever happened.

"Can't next week, " says Hailey, "but the week after I can."

"I have a wedding that day Hails, " reports Liam. "Ok so like October something. You know what, whatever, we'll figure it out later, Thomas add him to the group chat."

"Got it sir, " I respond. I look over at Derrick. He's looking down, however, I see a rim to rim smile on his face. I'm glad he's happy. 

We all head out of the media center for our classes. I have so many questions, none of which I can ask Derrick right now, like: What was Greg talking about? What does he have in store for me? What goes on in Greg's household? For now though, I just gotta move with the system. And, to be honest, it's been a good day.

Wait I have double science now. Well, it wasssss a good day I guess.