Some days were okay.
Others were terrible.
And today was one of those terrible days.
She found herself scuttling along the corridors, head down so no one noticed here, all the while looking for an escape. But here, in the prison confides of Belleville Middle School, there was no escape. The tormentors were everywhere; in the cafeteria, in the bathroom, in the locker room. It was little comfort that she wasn't alone, that there was someone else they taunted too.
"In here," came a whisper in her ear, as an hand grasped her wrist and pulled her sideways.
She found herself being huddled into a tiny room, the door snapping shut behind her. They were left darkness for a moment, before a small click chinked somewhere close to her left ear, shedding light on the janitors closet she appeared to be in. She didn't need light to know who had rescued her, however, and she was not surprised to find a curly haired boy stood in front of her, watching her carefully.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
She nodded before requested, "What about you? Are you okay?"
He nodded. "Spit balls. Nothing I haven't dealt with before."
"But still," she replied, pushing her glasses up on her nose. "You're okay?"
"As okay as I ever am," he replied. "What did they do to you?"
"It was just names again," she lied, but the sharp look in her eye told her he wanted the truth as she sighed and admitted, "And one or two people tripped me."
"Or five or six," he corrected, adding guiltily, "I saw. Sorry."
Of course he'd seen. He was her best friend, her only confidante. And she, his. So they both knew how unhappy each of them were. It wasn't the lack of friends that hurt them so much - all they needed, they had each other for - but the bullying. Ever since they'd started Middle School, it had been progressively getting worse. Especially as they were now at the age that dating was becoming a big thing - the thing, even. Unfortunately for them, dating was definitely out of the question.
She was definitely not the prettiest girl in school. She wore glasses - thick, ugly glasses - and her speech was impaired by her braces. Her hair was coarse and brown, not slick and shiny. All it did was get in her way, so she wore it in two pigtails, which only exaggerated her thick neck and chubby cheeks. She was not thin - no where close. She liked reading, a past time others looked down on. But she didn't care.
As long as she had him as a friend.
He signed, awakening her from her trance. "It'll get better, y'know. It has to get better."
"Well, it can't get much worse."