Where did I go wrong? I lost a friend
You've been watching him for sometime. Yes, you know his secret. Having been the principal at this school for twenty odd years, you've learned to recognise the signs. Constantly slipping away during attacks, bruises and cuts that are unexplainable (unless you wish to accuse his parents, but really, you'll never go there since you actually know what's happening), missing sleep, and eventually the loss of any friends.
It's a sad fate, sometimes, but you love to watch them grown and learn- they generally are the best students, no matter how avoided or withdrawn they become.
And he's at the top of his class.
You walk down the hallways, sharp eyes picking out the leaders, the followers, the loners, and the outcasts. There's Bucky, sitting next to a girl everyone just calls Flute Girl. She prefers that, actually, over her real name of Gretchen. She had her braces removed halfway through her sophmore year, and this year she was growing into a fine young woman. Bucky had finally his puberty, and his own set of braces was closing the gap between his front teeth. Bash and his class had graduated, and the hallways were generally safe.
As you pass more little groups of loners, you begin to see more students. The followers, if you had to stereotype them as one mass. The kiss-ups- that's what the loners call them. Then, past the mass of followers, you find the leaders. Whether they've made their way there with money, charisma, or threats, they're the top of the high school picking order. There's Morgan, still as stuck-up as she was her freshman year, and there's Heidi, still with her ever-faithful iPad. She's trailed by her younger brother, the other half of the team. You pass them, mostly ignoring them until you reach the empty halls.
Not entirely empty, actually. Within one of the lockers in the corner next to Mrs. Driscoll's room lurks Julian, spending his lunch in the darkness. In the next hall over, you can hear Stevens on his trombone. And as you pass Debbie Kang, listening to her Chinese hypnotism CD, you find the boy you came looking for.
He's perched on a bench, headphones on. He has a binder on his lap, a paper on top of that, and he's scrawling away in black pen. Next to him sits his forgotten lunch tray, ignored in his frenzy to finish the paper he needs to turn in next class. You invite yourself to sit next to him, and he ignores you until you tap on his shoulder. He nearly flies across the hall, dumping his binder and essay on the floor and holding the pen in a white-knuckled grip. You hear a pause in Stevens' trombone practice, and for a moment you let your eyes meet the boy's across the hall. He shakes his headphones down so they rest around his neck and pauses his music.
"Is there something you wanted?" He asks, looking slightly cautious.
"Just to talk," you reply, and he shifts side to side. He looks ready to spew out some nonsense excuse to leave, and you hold up your hand. "Sit down. It's just a talk." Nodding, he slowly sits down next to you and stares at you. "How are things going?" He shrugs, and you nodded. "I figured. Just so you know, there are a lot of people here who would help you." He laughs bitterly, and you look at him, raising an eyebrow.
"If my own best friend didn't, and doesn't, want to help me, who else will?" He replies, his voice dull and monotone. He sighs and looks at his shoes, propping his elbows on his knees and resting his chin on his right fist.
"Well, all of the teachers here have been hired to help people. Not just because they're good at teaching, but because they're good at reaching out," you reply.
"As if," he replies, grabbing his stuff, standing up, and taking off.
Somewhere along in the bitterness
You see him in the hallways between classes. There are times he is truly happy, times he's wryly, bitterly happy, and times he's just full-out depressed. You figure that he's working through things, because sometimes you see him and Howard in the same place at the same time. Then you slash that thought from your head, because the times you've seen them in the same room they have this look that reeks of hatred or longing, depending on which boy you're observing. There's an uncomfortable air in any room they're in together, and everyone notices. Slowly, he withdraws more. He starts to wear his hoodie zipped up, starts to walk with his head down and shoulders hunched more and more. You think you've seen it all, until you hear from Mr. Green that the boy is wearing long sleeves under his gym uniform.
That's when you really notice something is up.
And I would have stayed up with you all night
You're planning on calling him to your office when it happens. Stevens, who had been shoved into a locker and his trombone bent and broken, had been stanked. He was rampaging through the school, and had cornered Theresa Fowler when the Ninja just appeared out of nowhere, shoving Stevens away from the girl. His eyes dart around, and there's a change in his demeanor as he sees something no one else can. He goes from desperate to determined and headstrong. Stevens charges him, and the Ninja darts out of the way, skidding to a stop behind the stanked boy then turning and leaping up on his back. His hands dart in front of Stevens' eyes, grabbing the glasses still on his face, and snapping them. There's a roar and a slam as the ninja is thrown off, hitting a row of lockers and falling to the floor. Stevens is still stanked, and the ninja freezes up.
"How did that not work!" He exclaimes, dodging a foot coming to crush him. The ninja leaps over his opponent, eyes darting around as he looks for whatever it is only the Ninjas see. He doesn't see it, and there's a sharp intake of breath from Theresa as Stevens slams the ninja into the wall, then the floor, then a row of lockers. Squeezing himself out from Stevens' grip, the ninja turns and throws a green ball at Stevens. It bursts, and there's crackling as electricity courses through his body. Lashing out, Stevens grabs the ninja, and the electricity transfers to the other boy. The ninja's screams join Stevens' roars, until the electricity lets up, and Stevens drops the boy. He's out cold, just laying on the floor as the stanked boy prepares to stomp him out of existence.
Looking back on it, if only you had acted faster and been able to be there for the boy sooner, then maybe he would've had the endurance to last through the fight and figure out how to de-stank Stevens.
Your wife tells you it's not your fault that he's dead, but you can't help it.
In your mind, you will always be the reason Randy Cunningham died.
Had I known how to save a life.
Uh I was listening to How to Save a Life by the Fray when this came into my head. It was one of those urgent write things. I don't own Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade Ninja or How to Save a Life.