Why...? I peer out the window of the school. Why was I born this way? Everyone else looks in a mirror and gets to see a face. A unique face with traits of all different sorts. You know what I see, I see nothing, for I have not single trait from my mother nor father. I'm an unfinished picture and I always will be.
I turn my head to the teacher who was almost finished with her lecture at the front of the class. I was placed in the very back so I didn't bother or distract any of the other students. The school bell rings announcing for everyone to leave for the day. Two of the students give me a scornful look as they leave. I wait for everyone to depart before grabbing my own stuff and doing the same. I leave the classroom and head to the front doors of the school. Other students from other classes also walk along. I hear them whisper about me. I head down the steps as other students peer over at me. I stop in my tracks making the group behind me nervously go around. A girl with red hair walks past me out of the school immediately catching my attention. She continues on her way as I find myself unable to avert my gaze. She was my crush.
I lower my head and continue on my way when someone suddenly kicks me to the ground. I'm gripped by my collar and brought up to a male student's face. "Don't you dare look at her again." The boy glares at me with anger and disgust before dropping me to the ground. Walking away everyone stares down at me like I'm some bug that he had just squashed. Silently I grab my school book that had fallen and stand back up.
Back at home my parents greet me with happy smiles as always. But this time my parents both held something behind their backs.
"We got you something!" Says my father excitedly. My mother then hands me a thin present from behind her with purple wrapping and a yellow bow.
"Surprise! Happy early birthday!" They say at the same time. I take the present with one hand and look it over.
"Come on! Open it up." Insists my dad. I untie the bow around it and let it fall to the ground now ripping open the present. It was a journal. My father hands me a small pencil from behind his back. "Now you can write down all your ideas!" We're poor so they only get me stuff like this on special occasions.
"Thank you." I say simply putting my school book down by the door now holding the new journal at my side. "I'll be back." I grip the door knob and walk back out.
"Come back soon." Says my mother from inside the house.
I stand at the entrance. I could write here, but I'd rather find an isolated place. Staring over at the houses across the dirt road I raise my head to the large trees that grew behind them, a forest stood. I head there without a second thought.
The forest had a different feeling than I expected it to have. Wondering forward I look up at the branches above me as the sound of dead leaves crunched underneath my feet. Beams of light peered through the trees flashing on me every once in awhile. Birds chirped jumping from branch to branch. A warm breeze found its way through, picking up some of the leaves off the ground and making them dance in mid air. Finding a considerable spot against a tree I sit down with my journal and open up to the first page.
Instead of writing, I drew a circle representing my head but stop myself before drawing eyes. Oh yeah... I cross out the circle and close the book. Leaning against the tree I watch the birds play happily. I stretch my hand out up at the sky when one of the birds come flying towards me and lands on my finger.
"You're not scared of me?" I ask lowering my hand as it jumped from side to side. Students at the school would scare off the birds that had landed on the ground. They flew away before the kids had even gotten all that close. Another bird then came down startling the other one as it landed on my thumb. They both looked at each other before flying away.
The sun soon fell and the moon soon rose. At the dinner table both my parents were talking about their day. They act with joy around me but you can tell in their eyes that they're scared of me. I can only imagine their reactions when I was born.
"And how was your day?" My dad asks turning his head to me as I played with my food. I don't want to eat, mainly because I hate the way they look at me when I open my mouth. Yes, I do have a mouth, a mouth with abnormally sharp teeth.
"Birds aren't scared of me." I state after thinking of something to say.
"Is that so?" My dad sounded interested but was cut off by my mother who asked why I hadn't eaten yet. The thing is, I can't taste anything. Ever since I was young, it's all been tasteless. I never said anything because I wanted to fit it.
"I can't taste it." I admit for the first time.
"What? ...Oh no, Henry, do you think he's sick?" She looks back to me. "Don't worry sweetie, It will come back." I stand up from the table infuriated.
"It's always tasted that way. I can't taste anything." They look up at me in surprise with a hint of fear for they were now speechless. I leave the room. Food has never 'filled me up,' nor have I ever felt hungry. I just ate when they told me to. I've never gotten sick and whenever I get hurt I would just heal in seconds. Locking my door I jump on my bed and sit all the way against the wall. Seeing my journal on the table across the room I get up quickly to go grab it as well as the pencil. Sitting back down I open up to the first page and write "Slender's" above the crossed out circle and "Journal" below. Slender's Journal.
The next day I came in early as usual because I felt safer in the teacher's sight where the bullies can't hurt me. Even though the teacher felt the complete opposite. With nothing else to do I ended up writing a small letter to my crush in my new journal. Once I was finished I teared the letter out and folded it up. Coming up to the teacher at the front of the room I ask her if she has an envelope I can use.
"Were you writing a letter back there?" She asks happily pulling one out from her desk.
"Sort of." I answer. She hands me the envelope. "Um..."
"Hm?"
"Who's the girl with the red hair?" I feel embarrassed because I never bothered to find out her name.
"Oh! Elizabeth?"
"I think so, which desk is her's...?"
"That one over there." She points at a desk near the front of the class. Walking over to the one I thought she was referring to I gesture at it. "Yes, that's the one."
Opening the envelope I slide the letter in. Turning it around I write: "To: Elizabeth" and below it: "From:" What should I write for the name...? Thinking of something I write down: "Your Secret Admirer" I don't care who she thinks it's from. As long as she knows someone out there l-likes her, that's fine by me. I slide the envelope in the desk and run back to my own. About ten minutes later, other students started to show up. I feel anxious at the thought of Elizabeth finding the envelope. Eventually she comes in with a couple of her friends. A sudden strike of nervousness comes over me and I leave the room in a hurry. I head outside the school where other kids hung out as they waited for the bell to ring.
Suddenly someone runs into me as we both fall to the ground. "I'm so sorry-!" She gets up but as soon as she sees me she sprints off. I watch her run away as I get up feeling disappointed. But someone knees me hard in the stomach making me fall once again.
"Whoops." Says the same boy from yesterday in a sarcastic tone. I attempt to get up. "You're so weird." He says in mockery pushing me completely down with his foot. I glare up at him to see two other students with him. He gives a chuckle before kicking me incredibly hard in the neck. Ripping open my skin that covered over my mouth I reveal my sharp teeth and choke in pain holding my neck. "Wow! So it does have a mouth!" He backs away as I sit up and grit my teeth at them. "Only animals have as sharp as teeth as you'res!" He looks down at me in amusement as I steadily start to stand back up sealing up my mouth. Yet the moment I was up all the way he punches me causing me to fall back on the school wall. "Fight me already!" I'm not fighting him, there's no way I'm fighting him. But what other choice do I have?
Standing, I take a step forward and clench my fists at my sides. He laughs coming at me. But this time not with his fist, instead he raises his leg in the air and kicks me back causing me to fall with a thud. It hurts to be kicked around, it hurts to be punched, even if it does heal. I hate it and I hate them. He curses down at me yelling for me to stand back up. I won't stand. I won't fight. He'll just push me down again. Not doing anything just angered him more as he stomps over to me. I put my hands up but, I was too slow. Suddenly everything goes black but returns moments later. I had gone unconscious yet, I could still hear his rampage of words being thrown at me. I rise up and feel a terrible pain coming from my head. I put my hand over the pain feeling an awful sting. I take a look at my hand to see the color black. They went quiet when they saw it too. The color I bled was inhuman. "Freak!" They run off as it healed.
This was my life. A bullies prey, an outsider, with a hopeless crush my days are filled with fake smiles.