The Smile
By:
Me
I own nothing, but sure would like to own Atticus Mitchell. Just saying.
oo
He smiled. It was the only way to cover the pain. He smiled when his grandmother embarrassed him in front of his friends. He smiled when his father blamed him repeatedly for his mother having chosen to leave her husband and son. He smiled when he hid the bruises that his father caused when the man got drunk and the teen's grandmother was not around. He smiled when the bullies in school pushed him around. He smiled when the teachers and administration told him if he acted differently maybe the bullies would stop instead of stepping up to help him. He smiled when his best friend began to pull away from him for a girl he had a crush on.
He continued to smile regardless of the hurtful words that were carelessly thrown in his direction.
"Loser!"
"Retard!"
"Weir-do!"
"Freak!"
"Can't you ever do anything right?"
"Your fault. She left and it is all your fault!"
"What have you done now, Benny?"
"I don't have time right now. Sarah and I are going to the movies. Maybe later."
"Try to be more normal, Mr. Weir. It might help."
The smile turned into a grimace as his heart ached in his chest. Alone. Alone the voices screamed in a flurry in his head. The pain intensified as he curled into a ball on the bed. Shuddering the teen calmed himself as he went and sat at his desk to do homework. Grandma would be leaving for her book club soon and Father had already had two bottles of beer. It would be a long evening.
Later he smiled as he soaked in the tub with fresh bruises beginning to form on his chest and back. Tonight had been pretty typical. The boy stood and saw his reflection in the mirror as he stepped out of the tub and his smile faltered for a moment. Would anybody ever care about him if they knew? Probably not. He pasted his smile back on as he covered the bruises with his pajamas.
His smile grew bigger when he read the spell in his spell book. The next week he continued to smile as he gathered all he would need. He spent Friday afternoon at his best friend's house. He smiled as his friends cut into him with each insult they "jokingly" sent his way.
"Can't you ever get a spell right?"
"If it wasn't for your grandmother then we would have all been doomed."
"You are such a dweeb, Benny."
"You are so disgusting and then you take it to a higher level."
"I always do the planning and then you mess it up somehow."
The boy smiled as he waved goodbye to his friends. He smiled as he prepared the spell and mixed the elixir oh so very carefully up in his room. He smiled as he drank the potion down. He smiled as darkness tried to suck him down. He smiled one last smile as he lost consciousness. He floated above his body free of pain and smiled.
He smiled.