On Thursday, the sounds of students stampeding through the hallways seemed to be turned down to dull thudding steps that seemed to echo and fade. Larry waded through the sea of his babbling peers, zombie-like from lack of sleep. Each step was slower and more cautious than usual, but he still managed to keep out of sight. At the sound of a high pitched female voice going on about her new outfit, Larry winced and dodged out of sight. The voice belonged to Kate Sanders- the most popular, and bitchy, girl in school. Ever since they were in middle school, Kate just loved to pick on Larry. Of course, he was used to this and it almost didn't hurt as much coming from Kate, because she did that to everyone. A student carelessly knocked Larry into a locker, and his vision blurred for an instant. He shook his head, vowing to get more sleep from now on. At four o'clock this morning his little sister had come screaming into his room again. This happened at least once a week. Sandy had awful nightmares that terrified even him, just from the things she'd told him. She never went to his parents. Larry's mother would yell if Sandy woke her up and his father would probably just tell her she needed to be tough. So Larry had become the comfort his sister would run to when she was scared or sad, or whatever. This fact brought him a small sense of satisfaction, knowing he meant something to someone, but then again, when he thought about it, he also had a sense of resentment towards his sister. From the time of his birth, Larry had been neglected by his mother, and criticized by his father- never really getting a good foundation. However, his mother was slightly better with his sister. At the very least, she would take Sandy to school, help her fix her hair, fix her snacks, occasionally read her a bed time story. And Larry's father had aquired a deep soft spot for "his little girl". Part of Larry felt happy that she may have a better childhood than his had been, but there was a strong feeling of envy coursing through his veins everytime he saw her smiling face.

During lunch, instead of his usually routine of drowning in a good book, Larry lied his head down and tried to sleep. Listening to the peaceful drone of footsteps and conversation and slightly drifted off, but was too soon interrupted by the resounding school bell. Slowly, he lifted himself from the table and wandered off to class.
"Oh, sorry," Larry said as he bumped into a girl with short brown hair. All she did was give him a dirty look and walk off. He made his down to the 300 hallway, looking for his science classroom. Once he found it, he gave a nod towards his teacher -who smiled back at him- and walked off to find a lab table to sit at. They were disecting frogs that day- a project that had been protested against the whole year. Yet Larry felt comfortable with the process involved in the experiment- what bothered him about this, and all group projects was the fact that he would have to find two other people to work with. He sat, scanning the room, knowing he had no choice but to wait until all the groups were full and then find whoever needed an extra person. Anger soon began to build within him as he thought about all the people in his class. His eyes rested on David Gordon. "Gordo" was just as concerned (if not more) about grades than even he was. Gordo wasn't popular by any means- he was merely a side kick. His only real friends were girls. Larry sat there fusing, wondering how this person, who wasn't any less of a geek than he was, had friends. And to make it worse Gordo knew somehow he was better than Larry, or at least acted that was. Larry could feel it. His eyes then settled on Lizzie and Miranda, the two friends of Gordo. Those two girls were more ridiculous and superficial than even Kate was. Yet they were hypocrits because they couldn't even see how completely void of anything meaningful they were. Larry wondered intensely how no one else saw this but him. His pale blue eyes lingered there for a moment and then wandered away casually, next resting on Kate, who he noticed seemed to be walking towards him. In that one instant, she almost seemed beautiful. Deep. He wondered if there was something hidden inside her that no one saw. Then, he realized she really was walking toward him. He froze in confusion, watching her.
"You're in my group," she said immediately.
"Wha-," he paused. "Okay," he replied automatically.
"Come on, we're working with Claire." They walked over to a table in the corner. "I hope you know I'm not doing anything," she said, taking a seat on a stool, crossing her long legs. "I mean, this is disgusting. I can't believe they're making us do this." Claire said nothing, but nodded her head vigorously in agreement. "Okay, so, go ahead, get started."
Larry looked at her for a second. Some part of him wanted to defy this order. Say, 'No way, I don't care who you are, I'm not going to be your bitch.' However, it was the way she spoke. There was a kind of fear in her voice that his senses thrived on. Fear that could have only come from insecurity. He saw it in the way she looked away, and began to stare at the floor. In the way she fiddled with the zipper on her purse. Without question, Larry smiled at her and began the project. When he smiled, Claire gave a look of disgust, yet Kate looked even more uncomfortable. Violated by kindness. Larry smiled to himself once more and they didn't speak again for the remainder of the project.