Kendall Schmidt opened his locker to see a tiny note flutter out from inside it. He grinned and bent down to pick up the pink index card and unfolded it carefully. Right smack in the middle of the paper was a smiley face, but it lacked a name...or any words for that matter. Despite that, it still made the teen happy. He was used to attention in school, but none of it ever seemed sincere. Whoever left the note must've cared, though. The slim chance of that was enough to brighten his day. He carried on through the halls, the pink paper still tightly gripped by his firm hands.
As Kendall made his way to his next class he spotted a boy in the corner of his eye who appeared to be crying. It made his heartache, but he didn't have the guts to go over and see what was going on. All he could catch was the kid's locker number before passing the scene. Two taller jocks snickered from behind him at the sad teenager. Kendall heard a loud slam and froze. He felt like a complete jerk for not helping.
His reputation was at stake, though. The blonde knew very well that if he stood up for the bullied boy he'd get bullied too himself. Once the group ran off to avoid teachers catching them and the smaller boy scampered to his class, Kendall slid the index card into his locker. Doing that made him feel slightly better. He hoped the paper would make the teen happy, just like it did for him. Maybe it'd cancel out any of the teasing he received that day too.
After Biology, Logan Mitchell went to go get his calculus books. He hated going to school and having to be in fear at every moment. Naturally, when something fell from his locker, he jumped back and flinched, being far too used to pranks coming out, not...pink index cards. He kneeled down and opened it cautiously, expecting the note to read out something mean about him. He was shocked to see a smiley face, though. He couldn't help but smiled slightly. The brunette turned over his shoulder to make sure no one was looking before shoving it into his pocket. His day just felt better after that.
A small idea sparked in Logan's mind as he sat down in his next class. Next to him was James Diamond, single-handedly the most popular guy at his school. The pretty boy often failed tests or took longer on worksheets and Logan never had the confidence to offer his help. Today was different, though. He tapped on James' shoulder while the teacher went into the hallway to make a quick phone call.
"Here." Logan mumbled, handing over the paper to James.
"What's this?" He snarled.
"You always struggle with your work." Logan bit his lip, looking down nervously, "Um...I...I just feel bad."
James grinned slightly, "Why are you giving this to me?"
"To be nice. Um...if...if you ever need help...I...I could tutor you."
The taller teenager nodded, "But don't tell anyone."
"Got it." Logan agreed with a slight laugh.
James took the index card and put it into his backpack secretly, not wanting his friends to catch him with it. He felt embarrassed on the outside, but inside...he still couldn't wipe the smile off his face. He had no clue that anyone cared about his difficulty in class. It felt nice to see that at least one person did. He knew he'd definitely take Logan up on his suggestion of being tutored.
"Alright! We're going to take a break...be back on the ice in ten minutes!"
With that, the hockey players rushed to their bags to get water and chat with their teammates. James still had the note in his backpack. It was so simple, but he liked it even more for that. Next to his he heard a slight commotion pick up. He didn't turn to see what was going on, though, not caring too much.
"Hah! What a fag!" A muscular guy snickered, tossing Carlos Garcia's backpack across the room sending bunches of pink index cards all over the floor.
"Knock it off!" The helmet-clad boy squealed, standing up to retrieve his things.
When Kendall spotted the cards, he slowly made his way over to Carlos, biting his lip, "Um...um...what... are those for?" He asked.
Carlos turned around and smiled up at Kendall, "I just hand these out to make people happier. I gave you one this morning because I heard about your mother's divorce."
"Oh." Was all Kendall managed to reply. He bent over to help Carlos pick up the pink papers.
James could see pink from behind him, so he turned around. When he spotted all the cards, he stood up, but didn't get any closer...he just wanted a better view of what was going on. Logan jumped right in to help, knowing it'd be the nice thing to do, seeing as there were so many index cards. He wondered how Carlos even got that many.
"Thanks." He grinned to Carlos, figuring that the boy had given him the card.
The Latino sighed slightly, "I wasn't planning on giving you one until tomorrow..."
"R-Really? I...I got one today..."
"You're welcome." Kendall beamed to the brunette.
"You left it for me?" He asked in a tiny voice.
Kendall nodded, "I figured you could use a smile after those assholes nearly shoved you into a locker."
Logan laughed slightly, "Thank you, blondie."
"Actually, I'm Kendall...but that works too." He joked.
"I'm Logan."
Before Carlos could introduce himself, James' hand was pushed in front of his face, "Here ya go."
"Huh?"
"You spend so much time making people at school happy, you deserve to smile too. Take my index card." He offered the smiley faced paper once again.
The boy grinned softly, standing up with the rest of the teens who helped him clean the mess of cards. Even though it was his pink paper, it still make him beam. Now he knew what it felt like to receive one, "What's your name?"
"I'm James...James Diamond."
Carlos rolled his eyes jokingly, "I'm Carlos...Carlos Garcia." He mocked in a silly way.
James giggled before putting his long arms out and signaling for a hug, "C'mon...you know you want to."
Carlos flung himself onto James' chest happily and soon after, Kendall and Logan joined.
"You guys should come over to have pizza after practice!" He suggested.
The other three beamed at Carlos, "Sounds like a plan."
I don't know where this idea came from...but I hope you found it cute. :)
xoxo
~EMiLiE