Chapter 4: The Day His Heart was Broken

A/N: For those who reviewed last time, I've responded to your reviews in my livejournal. Username: p3charmer. This chapter has some more sadness for poor little Gil. I really like it, and I hope you guys do to. Please read and then review! If you do, I'll love you forever.

It had been two years since Gil Grissom had lost his father. He had grown a lot since then. He was eleven years old, and much more mature than his peers. His sentiments over his father's death had changed quickly from confusion, to anger to sadness. Right now, he would have to say that he had reached resigned acceptance. His father was never coming back, and now all he had was his mother.

Marybeth Grissom had always been a strong woman. She didn't like to rely on anyone for anything. Since her husband had died, she had been trying her hardest to raise her son Gil on her own. She managed to hold down a secretarial job, but it didn't pay very much. They couldn't afford many things that they once could. It didn't help that she was now completely deaf.

To Gil's credit, he never once complained. He now helped around the house without being asked. Truthfully, during he had been worried about his mother over the past few years. To the world, she presented a brave face, but Gil knew better. Late at night, she would still cry. Marybeth worked very hard to give Gil everything he needed. He was more worried about what she needed.

Gil's life at school was more satisfactory then it had ever been. When he started middle school that September, something wonderful had happened. For the first time in his life, he had friends. After joining the science, math and chess clubs, he had realized that there were people just like him. His new best friend Eugene didn't share his passion for bugs, but they could be found in the cafeteria, passionately discussing math equations, or the latest scientific theories.

All week long, Gil looked forward to Wednesday and Friday afternoons. Those days, from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. were when the science club met. He had always been specifically fascinated by science, and he loved to talk about it with others. His mother would listen to him talk about it for hours on end, but Gil knew she was only doing it to humour him. The other members in the science club, which was currently going 25 members strong, didn't only want to talk about science, they enjoyed it.

The stimulating discussion wasn't the only reason he enjoyed the science club. He loved all of the friends he had managed to make there. There was one person in particular that made the science club worthwhile. The president of the science club was a 12 year old seventh grader named Melinda Thompson. She enjoyed talking to the club about anything scientific, even, to Gil's great delight, bugs. Not only did she like the same things as him, but he couldn't help but notice that she was extremely pretty.

Eugene thought that Gil had a crush on her. Gil could vehemently argue until he was blue in the face, but Eugene stuck to his convictions. After a while, Gil wondered if what Eugene said was true. While most of his science club peers listened to their discussions, Gil found himself staring at Melinda. She had really nice brown eyes, and her hair was very shiny.

Even if Gil did have a crush on her, which he wasn't really sure of; Melinda would never notice anybody like him. She was pretty and popular. He did have friends now, but to popular people like her, he would be nothing more than invisible. He had managed to become the secretary for the science club in order to have some sort of conversation with her. That plan backfired, as during the meetings of the executive, he remained next to silent.

The upcoming science fair seemed to give him another opportunity to talk to Melinda. He would make the best project ever, and that was sure to impress her. Technically, the science fair was for grade seven and 8, but a few grade sixes in the science club had been invited. He heard Melinda talking excitably about it with her friends. Gil saw this as his big chance.

Today was the day of the science fair. In his mind, Gil also saw it as the day that Melinda would finally talk to him. He had worked for weeks on his science project. He had made an ant farm. For the weeks that he had worked on it, he had enjoyed watching the ants and taking notes on their behaviour. He took his glass case out, and put it on the table given to him as a booth. He only began to feel nervous when people were starting to pass by.

He spotted one of Melinda's friends named Candace. That meant that Melinda couldn't be far behind. Sure enough, he noticed her a few tables away, sitting behind a model volcano. Gil didn't think Melinda was the type that would make a volcano. Although…he wasn't really paying attention to her project. Her blond hair was tied up with a sparkly ribbon that made it shine much more.

Gil straightened up as Candace approached his table. If he managed to impress her, she'd be sure to tell Melinda about him. He took a deep breath and recited the script he had memorized. "Ants are one of the most successful groups of insects in the animal kingdom, and are of particular interest because they form highly organized colonies and…" Gil was cut off there.

"Who cares about gross ants!" she screamed shrilly. "Who are you anyways?" She didn't wait for Gil to finish, as she ran off to Melinda's table giggling.

"What does she know?" Gil mumbled. He watched as she whispered to the gaggle of girls that always seemed to surround Melinda. He felt a sinking feeling as Melinda giggled too. This wasn't working at all how he had planned. If he ever wanted to talk to Melinda, he had to just go for it.

He walked over to her table, shaking from head to toe. He had to go for it…or he would never know. When he reached her, he said, "Hi Melinda." She merely stared at him. He turned crimson, but he didn't move.

"Um…I'm Gil…You might not know me, but I'm the secretary of the science club. I just wanted to say…You're very nice, and I like your hair." He said it all very quickly, as if it wouldn't be as painful if he got it over with. He looked at his shoes, not sure what had just made him do that.

Melinda glared at him. She had a very mean look in her eyes. "So", she said impatiently, "what do you want?" Melinda was making this very difficult for him. He should have just walked away then, but he didn't.

There was a dance next week, and Gil didn't want to be the only one who was going alone. He would give anything if Melinda would go with him. His mother always told him that he would never get anything that he wanted if he didn't even asked. It went against all of his better judgment, but he continued this ill fated conversation.

"You…you know how there's a dance? Next week? Well…um…it would be really…neat…if you would go with me", Gil stammered. He waited for a second that contained eternity for her to answer.

She did what Gil had always dreaded she would do. She laughed. Her laugh was cruel and mocking. Just as they always did, her friends followed suit. " I would never go to the dance with you, not if you were the last boy on earth! You're a weird creepy looking little freak, and you'll never get a date!"

Melinda had spoken quite loudly. Nearly everyone in the gymnasium was looking their way. The girls around Melinda continued to laugh, as if they found the whole thing to be a big joke. Some of the boys considered "cool" joined in the laughter, as if just getting the joke. Even the kindest of students and teachers couldn't help but stare.

Gil would have given anything in the world to be invisible. The laughter swirled around him, entrapping him like a prison. He looked frantically around the crowd of faces, looking for some way to escape. The faces seemed blurred for some reason. The laughing wouldn't stop…Gil wanted it to stop…His cheeks were burning. There were the beginnings of tears in his eyes, but he wouldn't let himself cry, not in front of all of these people.

He spotted the glowing sign that said exit. Without thinking, he bolted towards the door. He ran out into the warm California air, without knowing precisely where he was going. His feet pounded the pavement, tracing out a path for themselves. Hot tears flowed freely down his cheeks now. All he knew was that he needed to get away from his school, and he needed to get away now.

He found himself at the entrance of a small fair that he passed every day, but had never entered. He didn't know why he was there, but he suddenly wanted to go inside. He paid the two dollar entrance fee, and began to walk around. The fair was almost deserted now. He supposed that it was because it was the middle of the school day, and most who went to this fair were children.

It wasn't that impressive. There were a few small rides, and game and food stands. What really attracted his attention was the red steel roller coaster at the far end of the grounds. He saw no line. Right now, what he needed was a thrill to get his mind off what had just happened. He had always loved roller coasters when he had been happy. Now he just needed to find out how he liked them when he's miserable.

The man who ran the roller coaster was very nice. He told Gil all about how the ride worked. Gil found it very interesting. A roller coaster is basically a specialized railroad system, where the track rises and falls in specific patterns with inversions. Knowing the science of it made Gil much less apprehensive then he would normally be.

He settled into the roller coaster, the only passenger. As it went up the steep hill, he found himself going over all that had just happened. What Melinda said to him had really affected him deeply. He wanted to say that he wasn't a freak…but he didn't know that it was true. He was also worried. No one like him could ever get a date. Gil felt as if Melinda had said what all other girls were thinking.

He would never be good enough, and he could never do anything to change that. He would never be cool. He would never be the type of boy girls like. That was all Gil wanted to be. Sitting there, on the top of the hill of the roller coaster, Gil felt like a looser.

The roller coaster went up and down and upside down. Gil found it oddly soothing and liberating. As the coaster car zoomed around the tracks, Gil let the pent up tears fall. The man let him go around the track as many times as he wanted, for the park was still near empty. Gil rode the roller coaster over and over again, and he cried…