What is Love?

By

Flynn Roswell

For Evelio

Chapter One

I walked down the stairs from the second floor. I thought about it. You know, along the way. I felt that what happened today really could have happened to anyone. Believe me, I'm used to the whole ordeal of teachers using me as the punching bag for their favorites. Maybe I'm not the most likeable, but I'm not that bad. You should see Jamie; she will give you a beating that'll last through the month (and it's painful, don't make the same mistake I made). But, you get use to it. Like how I'm used to going to office for something so dreadful, it makes orphans cry, she says. She says, she says, she says, oh my, how can you be here?

Lacking around the steps, I felt the need to dance there a bit. You know, like in one of those musicals. I don't really care how stupid it sounds, buddy, I just feel the need to do it. Chris says do what you got to do.

Confidence, my dear friend, you can't live without it.

I danced around the stairs, singing like if I was in the rain, like that one movie. I don't remember its name, but I bet it's close. I kept dancing and dancing around, doing some tricks, even singing.

I began, "I'm singin' in the—crap!" I fell down the stairs when I tripped during the middle. I guess it was all right. I didn't fell from the top. I guarantee you I would have cracked my shoulder, or my head—or any part of my body, for that matter.

I got back up, but I heard a loud crack. I looked around, turning my neck both ways to see if anyone was around. My own neck cracked both ways when I turned. Turned out that crack was from me, from the neck and when I got up.

It's going to be a bad day, I thought, bad day for you, Gumball, really.

After I got back up, I fixed myself up. And by that, I really mean I just threw myself against the wall, hoping it would fix my back.

It did.

Made me smile, knowing that things are ridiculous.

I walked back down—no musical number for me, I'll tell you that.

As I was walking down, I even noticed how our school was pretty clean inside. I felt that it was somewhat of a good sign, in my opinion. Maybe it is, or maybe it's not. You be the judge of that. Heck, some people misinterpret stuff and get so mad about it. Always hated them, never thought anything more. But, I could just be like them. You never know.

I walked past a couple of classrooms, and by the kindergarten room, I saw my brother, Darwin.

Darwin is a goldfish, while I'm a blue cat. We may not be brothers by blood, but I believe that still doesn't mean we're not family. We are, by blood or not. Family means a lot to me, and should to those who understand the meaning, too. We stood by each other through thick and thin. I believe that means a lot.

We are brothers. That's that. Anyone who has a problem with that, well, I can't help who you are.

I kept going, without saying "hi" to him. I felt it was a bit harsh since I saw him, and he saw me. But, little ol' meh, decided to just walk away. I hate that. You see someone, but you just walk away. Feels like they stabbed you in the back, in a way, at least.

I got closer to the office, but I ended up seeing the graduation photos. Saw my peers before me, and before them, and before them. I can't wait for that. You go down in history of this school, like you were here, and you did something to change the world when you came back. They expect a lot from you, but are they really that hard? I mean, come on, all they do is review. I mean, it's all review; you just work on a test, a test of how well you remembered what you were told. Yet, so many people find it necessary to cheat or fail. It makes me ashamed to be here in this world. We are the ones who evolved so much, yet we can't pass a simple test of remembering things they told you?

Damn them. I have no regrets, you know. But that's me. You can't change who I am, but we can't deny the person we are, and what we're destined to be.

I kept walking, and I saw Principal Brown's office. I looked closer at the label:

PRINCIPAL BROWN

That's not much, but I'll admit that's it. Those two words sum up who he is. Me, I can't. My name is Gumball Watterson. What's that suppose to be? I mean—Gumball Watterson.

That's nothing. Who am I suppose to be?

I knocked on the door, expecting him to come out. I waited for a while, but then I decided to knock again. I waited for a bit, looking around the halls, expecting something interesting to come up.

Nothing. I waited for a while. Then there he was, Principal Brown.

He checked his wristwatch. "You're a couple of seconds late, Mr. Watterson."

"Well," I began, "that's kind of your fault for leaving me out when I knocked on your door"—holding up my two fingers—"twice."

He gave me a dirty look.

"Are you suggesting that there's something wrong with my duty as principal?"

I sort of laughed—duty. Sorry, I'm a child.

"Is there something funny about my job, Watterson? I will remind you that you have a record that doesn't need any more complaints about your life, Watterson. Do I make myself clear?" he said, with a deeper, intimidating voice.

I said, barely, "Yes. Yes, sir."

"Good," he said. "Now, what's on the paper?"

"Uh, I, I was sent here by Miss Simian to give you our attendance sheet. She said the computer crashed and didn't send. She had to print this out and said that Brandon was interrupting again."

He became a bit steady, even though he thought I was going to have detention with him again. I gave him the paper. He looked at it to see if it was real. It was. I just hate it when they think you're that predictable. "Martinez or Morgan?" he asked.

"The rat," I said. "Martinez."

"Ah," he said, "I thought Morgan was the dog."

"No, he's kinder. The other is—well, you know."

"Yeah, I can imagine." He stayed there, like he was waiting for something. "Anything else, Watterson?"

"No," I said. "I don't have detention, so nothing like that, sir. I'm a good boy."

"Normally I would say otherwise, but that would cause me to get fired for getting personal opinions involved in a student's life. So believe, believe what you want to, but you can't deny the truth."

That killed my mood. I mean it. I mean, I know I'm not the easiest guy to be with, I'll admit it, but give me a chance to really get to know me. I mean, I'm not this jerk who wants to make trouble. I just…

"Okay," I said. "Okay, sir. I'm…I'm sorry if I disturbed anything you were working on…Principal Brown, sir."

"Good," he said. "And don't be a downer, that's weird and moody."

"Okay, sir."

"Good," he said. He closed the door and went back to doing what he was doing.

I decided to go back upstairs, but I felt out of it. I'm like a writer with writer's block. I wanted to talk to my friends, but I can't. The funny thing is that my only real friend I can count on is Darwin, my brother, my best friend. And the only enemy I know I can hate till the day I die is Tobias.

I hate him for taking away Penny.

What? You didn't know? You didn't know they were together?

Oh, my bad. Sorry, sorry for reminding you.

I'm not the guy you should talk to about when the only girl he ever loved (besides my mother, and Granny Jojo) is now in the hands of your worst friend, and number one enemy.

A lot of people would mope around, or do something about, like in those romantic comedies. You know—guy loses girl, guy does everything he can to get her back, and he wins or loses. Either way, I don't feel like doing anything about it, but I don't feel like doing nothing.

I have the answer, though. You just move on, basically. That's it.