17% of kids are bullied. Big whoop. I thought that this had to be a lie, or at least an exaggeration, because I'd never seen it happen before. Well, happen in real life anyway, because anything having to do with Total Drama is not real. My idea of bullying is like in cartoons, where the bully is this huge guy, with two even bigger sidekicks, then they hold the victim by their feet and take their lunch money. I know that's not very realistic, but I assumed it had to be something along those lines. Truth is, it happens everyday in middle school, and I guess the reason I never noticed it was because it wasn't happening to someone I cared about before.
I was at my locker, about to go to English, when I heard a scream. It wasn't like an, "OMG, you scared me!" scream that girls often do. It was more of a, "Please don't kill me!" kind of scream. Mildly intrigued, I looked around for the source of the high-pitched sound. I did a double take when I saw who it was, and not just because I thought a girl had screamed.
Cody.
The nerd who was on Total Drama with me.
See, I wasn't big on making friends in season one, I spent season two chilling at home and watching the drama on television, and we were on separate teams in season three. Yeah, sure we go to the same school and are in the same grade, unlike most of the cast, but the longest conversation we have probably ever had was maybe twenty words, max.
Cody didn't seem the type to get bullied. He always seemed so... confident. It didn't matter what people thought of him. He just kept doing his own thing, playing video games and getting rejected by girls... Oh. Well, when you put it like that, he does kind of sound nerdy... Never mind. It's not right for anyone to be bullied.
This football player (Jack, maybe) was pressing Cody up against his locker, and saying something I couldn't hear over the chatter of the other 8th graders returning from lunch. His ignorant friend, Andre, who I think is also a football player, snorted and yelled, "Good one, Jack!" Then, Jack leaned really close into Cody's face and whispered something. I bet Jack's breath smells lovely. Cody quickly nodded, mouth slightly open in horror, revealing the gap in his teeth. Satisfied, Jack released his grip on Cody, and sauntered off, Andre following closely behind.
I slammed my locker and headed off to go talk to Cody. Normally, I wasn't one of those "be a hero, stick up for the little guy" type of people, but I felt bad for him. He looked so... fragile.
Before I could reach him though, he sprinted off in the other direction. But hey, can you blame him? I would be pretty shaken up too, if that happened to me. I just hope it doesn't happen again.
Then I realized, in my haste, I forgot my book in my locker. Thanks, Cody.
I didn't see Cody the rest of the day. I wasn't exactly sure what I would've said if I had seen him, so in a way, it's good I couldn't find him. I don't want to make our small friendship even more awkward, by saying something like, "Hey, I saw you and Jack earlier. Is there something going on between you two?" That sounds like something my mom would say when she sees me talking to a girl.
But sure enough, right after lunch, I saw Jack and Andre leave Cody's locker, and Cody ran off, looking worrried. I wish I could tell someone about this, but I have no friends, my parents don't listen to me, and I hate all of my teachers. So, I decided to go to my home-away-from-home. The library.
After school, I walked straight there. I yanked open one of the huge wooden doors. My neighborhood is really old, with a really old library. That's why it always smells musty in there, but once you get used to it, it's kind of comforting. You could spend a whole day there, and not even realize time is passing you by.
I got onto the computer and typed 'bullying' into the search engine. A bunch of results came up, all located in the SSPRT section. I had never heard of that before, and that's saying something, because I'm here almost everyday.
I browsed through aisle after aisle, looked though shelf after shelf, and found nothing. The library had never let me down before, but I was about ready to give up. There was only one other option.
"Excuse me, can you tell me where the SSPRT section is?" I asked a college-aged girl, sitting behind the desk, reading a magazine and chomping bright pink gum.
"SSPRT... Oh! You mean the self-support section?" she asked a little too loudly. I hope no one else heard that.
"Uhh.. sure?"
"Oh! That's not in the main library! It's the second left down that hallway," she pointed.
"Thanks." I walked off.
I had never really been down this hallway before, unless I had to go to the bathroom. I had never payed attention to this part of the library, but sure enough I came to a door labeled 'Self-Support.' I opened it a crack, and it was pitch black. Thank God, no one else was in here. I stepped in and looked for a lightswitch. I found one against the wall, and the room illuminated with only a couple lights on the ceiling. Definately not enough light. Immediately, I noticed the dust covering these abandoned books. I wondered when was the last time anyone had been in here.
They had books on everything in here, such as dealing with debt, unemployment, obesity, being cheated on, depression, etc. It was eerie. Surprisingly, there was only one book on bullying, probably because not a lot of kids come in here. It had black, tattered covers, and in gold letters it said, "The Victim's Point of View. A Book of Poetry Written by Teens."
Poetry? This is the only thing I can find? I looked through the small room again, carefully reading every title. When I came across nothing else, I panicked. I didn't want anyone to think I'd gone soft and started reading poems.
After considering this for another second, I inserted it back in the spot I found it, turned the lights back off, walked straight out the door, and headed home. I barely know Cody, so why am I trying to solve his problems for him? I'm sure he can do it himself. Let the ladies man deal with it.
