"Kevin!" Tara stumbled through the hall, almost tripping on her navy jeans. "Kevin!"

"T-Tara, be careful!" a much taller girl followed the freshman, clutching her flowered bookbag.

Kevin turned around and faced the flustered duo before him. His eyebrows instinctively rose, glancing at Tara. She grinned in reply, the edges of her eyes crinkling. Tara gestured towards the other girl, who, in turn, blushed.

"Kev," Tara panted, "This is Katelyn. Katelyn, Kevin."

"Yeah, uh, hi," Katelyn replied, a smile appearing on her lips.

"Hi," Kevin's eyes searched for some way to get rid of the situation. It wasn't attracting attention, but socializing was too much.

"So," Katelyn's lips closed together, creating a thin, awkward smile, "What's up? How do you know Tara?"

"Uh," he wasn't really in the mood for this sort of thing… talking, "Comic Con."

"Comic Con," Katelyn nodded.

Kevin's eyes closed, the sweet sound of the bell ringing in his ears.

"Well, I've got Pre-Calc, so, yep," Katelyn's closed smile grew wider, "Bye."

At last, the girl left, swinging the bag over her right shoulder as she strolled down the hall.

"So?" Tara's head tilted to the left, her brown eyes glittering.

"I said I didn't need a girlfriend," Kevin simply replied, and then thinking better of his words, "I'm sorry... I just don't know anymore."

"It's fine, man," Tara nodded, looking down at her shoes. "I get it, and I won't bother you anymore. Afterschool again? Library?"

"Yeah, I've got time," he shrugged, pulling his backpack strap over his shoulder.

"Thanks, Kev," she grinned.

And with that, Kevin weaved his way towards English class.

"I'm giving up on you, Kevin," Tara looked up at him.

Kevin turned to face her. How had he let her down? What did he do? What was wrong with her? Was he the reason for that suicide message? Oh no, of all the things he could do… It was make someone kill themself.

"Oh, Kevin, it's a song," she replied, analyzing his frightened face.

"Oh," he looked back to his shoes.

"I'm feeling so small. It was over my head. I know nothing at all," Tara repeated from memorization, "And I, will stumble and fall. I'm still learning to love. Just starting to crawl."

"It sounds like a song that's very not you," Kevin bit his lip, afraid of her answer.

"Everything's not me these days," it was her turn to look at her shoes.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong. What's wrong with you? You have absolutely no motivation in life, man," she smiled again.

"Mhm," he replied, staring straight at the library, "Are we going inside to do homework or something again?"

"I know this sounds really awkward, but I think I'd rather just stay outside for today," Tara glanced at the grass.

"Mhm," Kevin mumbled, walking towards a bench that stood next to the sidewalk.

"Mhm," she teased, following him.

What was wrong with everything today? Everything felt out of place. Not going to do homework or internet browsing. Something was wrong. And it was Tara Pham.

At last, they reached the brown bench. It wasn't anything special – polished wooden bars crafted into a large chair. Kevin placed himself on the far right of it, placing his backpack on his left. His dark brown eyes watched as Tara dropped her backpack next to his and sat on the far left. She leaned onto her thighs, placing her elbows on them and her hands on her face. Her hair fell over her eyes as she watched the ground.

Kevin leaned his back on the bench, watching her think before staring off at the cars. She never was this way. Bright, bubbly, big, beautiful Tara never was so very quiet. Something happened last night. Or today. Maybe it was Katelyn.

He opened his mouth, his dried lips parting. What was he supposed to say? And why was he worrying about this now? He didn't have any crush on Tara. Too dramatic. He wasn't a special part of her life… But she was one of his only friends. Kevin had to say something. Oh, this wasn't going to go well, was it?

"Tara?" he cleared his throat.

"Yep, I'm fine. Don't worry about me, Kevin," she sniffled quite loudly, still staring at her shoes.

"Well, why the trenchcoat?" Kevin tried to lessen the emotional atmosphere.

"Oh," Tara wiped her nose with her hand before clasping the trenchcoat between her fingers, "Oh, some of Edlund's books leaked. And it's Fandom Friday. And so after Dean came back from Hell, it was an angel that pulled him out. And the angel wears a trenchcoat. And right now I need an angel in a trenchcoat."

"What's the angel's name?"

"Castiel," Tara turned to him, her eyes crinkling, "And I think he sounds so cute, and he sounds so wonderful."

"He's your favorite character then?" Kevin bit the inside of his cheek.

"Oh, no… I don't know. Dean is still my favorite. And I love Sam, I do. But there's something about Castiel that just… intrigues me," her eyes filled with hope again as she stared up at the sky.

"Tara?" Kevin ventured again.

"Yes?" her eyes settled on him.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing's wrong," she replied, her bright smile fading.

"Something's wrong with you," Kevin murmured, looking down at his feet and then back at her.

"Would you really care so much, Kevin?" Tara pleaded. "Would you care so much for someone you barely know? I mean I'm just an afterschool friend. You're supposed to be some big shot senior that has no time for short freshmen. Something's wrong with you, and not me. Or something's wrong with the both of us. And I'm in the process of figuring it out."

"Oh," Kevin replied softly, dumbfounded by her reply.

"I'm sorry, Kev. Lately, I've been very much like John Green," she stretched herself out on the bench. "I've been thinking deep things, and all they help with is making me more aware. And sometimes ignorance is blissful. Know too much and it can hurt you."

"It's okay," he looked back down at his shoes.

"Kevin," Tara's eyes stared straight at him, "What's wrong with you? Why won't you tell me?"

"Mhm," he answered awkwardly, unwilling to share his part in her world.

"Will it help if we did exercises for the brain?" the right side of her lips curved up, revealing a smile.

Kevin shrugged.

Tara stood on the seat of the bench, bending her knees so that she hung over the bench's back. She hung upside-down, her hair falling so it made her look quite insane. Well, she was insane – but a good kind of insane. Kevin leaned over the bench's back, watching her as she grinned at him.

"C'mon, Kevin," her face crinkled with that smile again.

"Okay… I don't know about this," He watched for his "friends" again, afraid that they might find him awfully in love with a freshman.

At last, he bent his legs and hung upside-down, turning his head to watch Tara. She was looking at the cars, her dark brown hair hanging down in the air. Why did he even decide to do this? He bit his bottom lip, embarrassment creeping into his mind as he thought of the rumors that would spread. Drama was annoying and difficult to live with. Kevin had no time for that. He blinked, and suddenly Tara was facing him.

"What's wrong? Don't like a little weird?" she grinned.

"Mhm," Kevin turned away, watching his legs that hung over the wooden bench.

"This feels so awkward," she confirmed, her brown eyes shining as he turned back to face her.

"It feels like we're going to kiss or something," Kevin hesitantly replied.

"Do you want to kiss?" Tara stared back at him, her eyes unnaturally widening.

"No," he replied, "I don't like you that much."

"Obviously," she pulled herself up, sitting on the edge of the bench's back. "I don't love you, Kevin. You're a disgusting, old senior who's already got a girlfriend."

"I don't have a girlfriend," Kevin said, pulling himself up.

"Yes, you do. And her name is Katelyn, and she loves you so much that she feels like she's going to burst with love," Tara laughed.

"Mhm," Kevin mumbled, looking at his backpack.

"What's wrong with you, seriously?" she cocked her head.

"Nothing's wrong with me… But what's wrong with you?" he looked up. "There's obviously been signs of…"

"Of what? Depression? Suicide? Death? Pain? Cutting?" her smile faded. "Well it's not… I'm too strong and important for that."

"Then what is it?" Kevin inquired, watching as a smile crept upon her lips.

Tara collapsed onto the seat of the bench, her hair tangling into microscopic knots. She laid down on her backpack, placed her hands behind her head, and stared back into the sky. Her faint smile still shone on her face, gleaming with future philosophical words. The strange girl surveyed the blue sky and its puffy clouds intently. A sigh escaped her lips, and she closed her eyes.

After a while, Tara's eyes opened, and they were gleaming with ideas. She settled upon Kevin, watching him keenly. He gave a small nod, requesting that she continue. And Kevin did want to hear it. He really did. He truly did want to know all about this weird, significant little freshman.

"Well, Kevin, since you want to know," she looked back up the sky, her mind somewhere else now. "I'm going to be honest. And this may sound like the stupidest or deepest thing you've ever heard. Don't judge, or do judge. Your choice. But… shortness is so tiring. People make fun of you, and they make all sorts of jokes. And average people are fine, they're the ones making the jokes. Tall people get jokes from average people too, but they pick on us short ones. Do you get it? It's metaphorical… kind of.

"But you know what I think? I'm just tired – tired of being looked down upon and having to look up to people. To look up to these significant people who've done so much great in the world and I'm tired. I'm tired of having to go, 'Wow, I want to be like them.' I want to do something. I want to become someone very important. And when I'm grown up and very important, I want people to know that looking down on people is not nice. Figuratively or literally. It's not nice, and it hurts."