[Ahhh, Chapter 2, Jay's day at school. This chapter introduces one of my OC's, Melbin. He isn't a character that I came up with before, I mainly created him for this story.]
Jay moved quickly through the halls to avoid the incoming onslaught of embarrassment and gossip.
"It's okay Jay, they think that it's on the arms. Yeah, not the actual spot! Heh, arm eczema, that's not weird, that's normal, heh heh, it's totally normal!" He laughed, trying to calm himself down.
Beads of sweat started rolling down his face.
"Whoo, there were only, a few people who heard it, and at least Melbin wasn't there! Yeah! Heh heh, no Melbin!" He whispered to himself.
By the time he made it to his locker he was drenched in sweat, and was now trying to cover his face.
"Just think about something else Jay, something funny! Yeah! Like those 'diddly-darn blood pressure machines!' HA HA HA HA!" Jay cackled.
By the time he realized how loud he was laughing, it was too late, now all eyes were once again on him.
"Dang it! Now everyone is staring at me!" Jay thought to himself.
"What's so funny Junkyard Boy?!" A figure in the audience yelled as it came forward.
Jay knew all too well who that figure was. It was Melbin, the exact person he didn't want it to be.
"H-hey Melbin!" Jay greeted with an anxiously awkward toothy smile.
"Whatcha laughin about, junk?!" Melbin asked.
"What?! Pffft, no, I was, just, thinking about, something, funny, that my dad said." Jay answered hesitatingly.
"Well, I heard about somethin' funny that your mom said." Melbin replied.
"And, what was that?" Jay asked, trying to sound oblivious while maintaining his awkward grin, knowing all too well what Melbin was about to say.
"I heard that she said ya gotta put eczema ointment on your—"
"ARMS!" Jay interrupted. "I have to put it on my arms!"
"Hmm, sure. Well don't forget to put it on Junkyard Boy!" Melbin sarcastically remarked while shoving Jay into his locker with one arm before walking off.
"Yeah! Good one, Melbin! Ha ha ha!" Jay chuckled. His voice then shifted to a quieter tone. "Jerk." He whispered.
"What a weirdo." Melbin said to himself as he walked away.
The next few hours of Jay's day consisted of listening to lectures, going from class to class, taking tests, and doing work. In every class, he could hear people gossiping about him.
"Jay has this!" "Jay's mom said this!" "Jay has eczema on his-" He heard many different stories about where people thought it was, some had even guessed the correct area, much his chagrin. He also spent a lot of the day hiding his face, because the gossipers would occasionally glance at him.
Things only started to look up in his Engineering 101 class, because the students were working by themselves on their semester projects that day, so Jay finally got some much desired time to himself where he could relax, work on his project, and not hear anyone gossiping about him.
"Ahh, you're gonna be quite the beauty." Jay admired while working on the invention.
His teacher told the class that their project had to be something unique and innovative, and it would be graded based on creativity, presentation, and effectiveness.
Jay's project was an automatic cart-like machine that would carry students' books for them. Being a victim of heavy textbooks himself, Jay thought his peers would appreciate the invention.
After having a productive period in his Engineering class, Jay went off to Algebra II, his last period of the day. It was a test day in that class, and Jay finished his test quickly due to his expertise in the subject. Once he was done, he decided to spend the time writing more blueprints for different parts of his project.
Unfortunately, he had that class with Melbin, who happened to sit right behind him, and he noticed Jay writing.
"Whatcha workin' on, Junkyard Boy? Another failed invention?" Melbin questioned.
"Heh heh, you're too funny Melbin!" Jay retorted, somewhat sarcastically. "This invention won't be a failure, and I can't disclose the details at this time."
"It's totally gonna blow up in your face, and then you're gonna have to throw it in your junkyard, with all of your other junk." Melbin remarked.
"No it won't, and when this is successful and everyone loves it, you'll be looking stupid in the face." Jay murmured so Melbin wouldn't hear, not looking at him to hide his scowl.
After class was over, Jay headed to his locker to get his things.
"Finally, it's all over!" Jay cried out to himself. "I've got the rest of the day to myself, at home, away from the gossip, the lectures, and Melbi-"
Jay suddenly realized something.
His parents were waiting for him at the front entrance, and there would be plenty of other students there, waiting to get picked up.
"Oh no, there are gonna be TONS of other kids out there, and when they see me, all I'm gonna hear is laughing and 'Jay this' and 'Jay that'! I'm a total LAUGHING STOCK!" He panicked.
"Ohhhh, this is just PERFECT!" He anxiously and sarcastically exclaimed. "Maybe I can hide myself with, uhhh, something?"
All that Jay could do was put his hood on and pull his hoodie strings so tightly that they covered his face, while also making it difficult for him to breathe.
He quickly walked out the door and toward the jalopy, where his parents were waiting. He was breathing heavily due to the air blockage caused by his tight hood.
He kept his head down in the hopes that no one would notice him.
Unfortunately, it only somewhat worked, as some people were completely oblivious to him, while others were staring right at him.
"There goes Jay, he's the guy I was telling you about, you know, the one that lives in a junkyard. He also has eczema on his-" Was all Jay heard as he walked past the other students, and that person had guessed the correct area as well.
When he finally neared the car he quickly hopped in and closed the door.
"Jay, is everything ok?" His mother asked.
He pulled the hood off of his face to reveal an obviously fake smile.
"Yup, I'm great!" He replied.
"Are ya-ya sure son?" His father questioned.
"Of course Dad, how was the visit to Dr. Burton's office?" Jay responded, changing the subject.
"Well I had to get another golly-gosh darn blood pressure squeezing, and Dr. Burton said my blood pressure's even higher than before! So now I have to eat a special 'low sodium' diet, and no more salt! It's bonkers!"
As his father told him about the visit, Jay could only think about all of the gossip that he was the subject of, and how much he was dreading coming back tomorrow.
[Another chapter down! I really felt for Jay while writing this chapter, and I wanted to incorporate how I felt sometimes when I was embarrassed in school. Lemme know your thoughts and see you guys next week!]
