Muffins

Taking the usual path through the halls to my locker, up ahead I spotted two girls dressed in very expensive-looking clothing come around a corner, walking in my direction. They were laughing to each other. When they passed me I was able to hear their conversation.

"What a klutz!" One of the girls remarked. "Who would let an idiot like that go to school with normal people like us?!"

"Idiot?" The other girl snickered. "She's a downright retard!"

They both burst into laughter as they disappeared down a staircase behind me.

Jeez. Whatever that was about, it was harsh.

I kept walking until I reached my locker. I had only completed one number of my combination when I heard a sound, so faint it would have been inaudible if I were still fumbling with the lock.

I listened closer. There was a sniffle. A sob.

Someone was crying.

Abandoning my locker, I peered around the corner where the girls from earlier originated from. A few meters away against a wall sat a girl, her face buried in the sleeves of a light gray sweatshirt. Silky blonde hair cascaded straight downward from her head, ending just past her shoulders.

Surrounding her was a wreckage of papers, pencils and other materials that lay scattered on the floor.

I knew immediately what I had to do. Approaching her cautiously, I spoke softly.

"Are you okay?"

"What-" she began, but was interrupted by her own miserable sniffles, muffled through her coat sleeves. "What do you want?"

"To help."

She said nothing for a long time. I gathered her belongings and set them down in a pile next to the girl. Afterwards I sat down a couple feet from her against the same wall. Finally she spoke, lifting her head from her sleeves but still staring at the ground.

"It's my stupid eyes, I hate them! I can't focus on anything. I just... can't do anything right. People call me 'stupid', and 'retarded', and..." she stopped. Her voice began to break. "Why did I get stuck with these stupid, derpy eyes?"

I placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. She flinched, but relaxed after a moment. "You're not stupid," I told her reassuringly.

"How do you know? You don't even know me."

"I can tell."

She looked up and turned to face me.

At that moment I understood what she was talking about. Her eyes pointed in different directions, one looking down and to the right, the other straight at me, both red from crying.

Almost as unusual as the directions her eyes faced was their color. Her irises were a shimmering goldenrod that seemed to glow in the illumination from the ceiling lights above. The unique hue of the girl's eyes fascinated me, and I continued to stare into them until realizing I was most likely making her feel worse. Embarrassed, I turned away, awkwardly scratching the back of my neck. "I'm really sorry. I'm... not sure what else to say."

The girl nodded, looking back at the floor with both eyes.

The bell rang, signaling the end of third period and startling the both of us. Students began to file out of the surrounding classrooms. The girl quickly stuffed her belongings into her backpack. Before we went our separate ways she turned back to face me.

"Thank you." She gave a small smile.

I would have responded, had I not been swept away with the current of students migrating through the halls.

Later at lunch I sat at a table with my best friend, Diane, who was happily munching on a sandwich. Knowing her particular skill of making friends, and more specifically making people happy, I decided to consult her for advice.

"Hey, Diane? You know everyone in school, right?"

"I sure do!" Diane replied cheerily with her mouth full. She swallowed. "Why do you ask?"

"Do you know the blonde girl with the, uh..." I cleared my throat. "The lazy eye?"

"Hmmmm..." Diane stared intently at her sandwich. "Oh! You mean Dezi?"

"I guess so." I shrugged.

"Oh, okay! Yeah, her name's Dezi. Short for Desiree, I think. A lot of people call her Ditzy, though. Or Derpy. Or other mean names! Ooh, I can't stand people who are mean just to be mean!" Diane pouted in anger.

I told her about what had happened earlier that day.

When I finished my story I expected to see Diane distracted, as her attention span was rather short, but instead I found Diane wiping tears from her face.

"That's so sad! Poor Dezi..." Diane sniffled. I was surprised and almost amused to see how quickly my story had made the typically happy-go-lucky girl so emotional.

"Isn't there something I can do for her, Diane?"

"Well..." she paused. The sandwich had been finished off during my story, so instead Diane stared deeply into the empty paper plate in front of her. "I did talk to her once. She told me some things about her... I GOT IT!" she exclaimed, nearly falling out of her seat in sudden excitement.

She then proceeded to explain her brilliant plan to me.

"Hi, Dezi," I said, smiling.

Dezi had been sitting by herself at a table in the corner of the cafeteria. She looked up from a slice of pizza. "Huh? Oh, hi."

"So, I was wondering," I said as I sat down facing her, "after school, would you... Maybe want to go get some muffins with me? I know this great coffee shop that makes 'em perfectly."

Immediately, as if a light switch had been flipped on, Dezi's downtrodden expression vanished and her face lit up. "Sure! I love muffins!" She beamed.

I smiled back at her, relieved to see her so happy. She had a really beautiful smile.

"So, see you after school?" I asked.

"Yeah! Meet me, uh..." She looked around in every direction, then down at the table, then back up to me. "Right here!" She giggled.

"Awesome, see you then!" I walked back to the table where I previously resided.

"Sooo, how'd it gooo?" Diane asked in anticipation. I told her how it went.

"Eeeee!" She squee'd, a noise only possible for Philomena Diane Pie to make, and nearly knocked me out of my seat with a hug. I returned the hug with the same amount of joy.

"Thanks for your advice, Diane," I said.

"What are friends for?" She replied, happily grinning.

That day, as school let out, I met up with Dezi at the lunch table, as promised. She sat there waiting, arms crossed on the table, still wearing the light gray sweatshirt but looking much happier than before.

She saw me. Her smile widened further. "Hi!"

"Hey!" I smiled back. "You ready to go?"

"Yup," she replied, standing up.

We walked to the local coffee shop, which was only a short distance from the school. I picked up on hints that she had been here many times before, but she pretended like this was her first time. We entered the coffee shop and ordered two impressively-sized muffins at the counter, then sat down at a table next to a window.

Shoot, now I have to think of something to say. Uh...

"I like your sweatshirt," I said. "What are those on the side? Bubbles?"

"Thanks, and yeah, they're bubbles! I've had this sweatshirt since I was a baby, but now that I'm old enough, I can finally fit into it."

The sweatshirt still hung loosely on her, but not so much that she looked like a child or anything. She looked cute.

God, I liked her.

I continued to munch on the enormous muffin, a basketball-sized mound of delicious bread, scattered inside and out with blueberries. It was amazing overall. Dezi's muffin was essentially the same, except hers contained chocolate chips throughout the treat.

"How's your muffin?" I asked.

She responded with a moan of delight. "It's so good, I don't think I've ever had better!" She grinned from ear to ear, and took another bite of her muffin.

The muffins took nearly a half-hour to finish, and all the while the two of us got to know each other. Dezi was born with Strabismus, which caused her eyes to point in different directions. She was teased about it her whole life and even had to be homeschooled for a few years.

Then one day, another kid had decided it wasn't right how everyone treated Dezi, and he had befriended her by randomly offering her a muffin one morning.

"I really learned what friendship was that day," Dezi said. "And it was delicious."

The both of us laughed so hard that Dezi nearly fell out of her seat. When everything calmed down, an hour had passed since we entered the shop and the muffins were long gone.

"You know... I haven't had a friend like that in ages. Thanks so much for letting me... live that moment again." Dezi was smiling, yet I noticed her eyes were a bit bloodshot and tears were beginning to form. "I know this probably sounds really dumb, but... can we be friends?"

"Absolutely, Dezi." I told her with a smile.

Oh god, I had to say it. I couldn't help it anymore.

"Your eyes..."

"What about them?" Dezi inquired.

"They're so beautiful."

Her eyes widened. "Wh... what?"

"Your eyes. How they shimmer like gold in the light. How just one good look into them is like looking into a world just waiting to be discovered and explored. Who cares if they go in different directions? They're not retarded. They're just a little... Derpy. And the way I see it, everyone's a little derpy. Why be normal and boring when you can be carefree and derpy?"

She was crying now.

But she wasn't sad.

"Th... That's the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me..."

I gave her a warm smile.

Then, like a dream, we just sat there, staring deep into each other's eyes. Now was the time. I leaned in slowly across the table. She understood perfectly and closed her eyes. I did the same and, before I knew it, our lips were pressed together. A wave of blissful energy seemed to run through the both of us.

The kiss lasted for what seemed like forever, and it could have for all I cared.

When we finally pulled apart I noticed something slightly different about her. Just for a second... her eyes had straightened out. They returned to their original positions after a moment, however, but she never stopped smiling.

"Wow..." she breathed, followed by several attempts to start a new sentence but halted before uttering the first word. Finally she decided on "that was... Wow."

I laughed and agreed with her. She was something special. There was something about her, besides her obvious physical differences, that set her apart from the other girls at school. I couldn't put a label on it, but I didn't need to. She was special. And I couldn't hold the thought back in the depths of my mind anymore.

I was in love with her.

Except, there was one thing I somehow left out this entire time.

"What's your name?" Dezi finally asked me.

I smiled, and told her my name.

"That's a nice name," she replied, beaming.

"Thanks, Dezi. How about I walk you home? It's getting late."

"Sure, I'd like that."

The two of us (after me secretly donating a very large tip to the cashier for making this my best date ever) left the shop and headed in the direction of Dezi's house, the setting sun casting an orange glow on the landscape around us.