The Ribbon Campaign

fourteen || of food and opportunities

The following weeks are hectic.

The end of the school year is approaching, which means finals. Not only that but Ryan's graduation (and Caiden's graduation, though he insists on paying for everything on his own) is coming up, which means trips, college plans and celebrations. Along with that, I miss school for weeks at a time to go talk to schools about the Ribbon Campaign. After just a couple of visits, it blows up.

Bryce is with me to witness it all. Somehow, we convince Kara Deline and my mother and his mother that Bryce is my manager and must come along with us. It really wasn't too hard- almost all three of them just chuckled and went with it. It was a lot easier with Bryce standing backstage as I talked- I have to admit. And the huge smiles he would always give me after never hurt either.

People didn't fall asleep during my speeches- which was reassuring at the time- but I didn't realize just how much Kara Deline's offer had helped until one day Bryce and I were driving home and Bryce was scrolling through his phone. He said he had counted a total of fifteen tweets on his newsfeed in the past hour about the campaign and I swear I almost started crying at that moment.

One day in late May, when the weather has already mostly warmed up and I can feel the schoolwork inevitably beginning to pile up, I decide to get a twitter account and search up the Ribbon Campaign. I do start crying when I see a total of two thousand tweets about it- that's an insane amount of it. I scroll through every single one, retweeting the photos and sweet messages that people have left about it. I text Bryce my twitter and tell him to look at all the amazing support to which he responds by calling me and freaking out on the other side of the line with me.

The next day Bryce doesn't show up to math class, which I have to admit I'm slightly disappointed by. Twenty minutes into class when it's obvious he's not showing up, I turn and talk to Sadie, telling myself not to get hung up on it.

When I tell Sadie about the tweets, she grins boldly. "Ellie, that's amazing! I'm so proud of you!" We hug, ignoring the slightly strange angle of both sitting in chairs. When we pull away, she says, "I'm sorry I haven't been able to help much with it. It's amazing you've been able to carry it out this far, though."

"Oh, it's okay," I tell her. Even though it's true that Sadie doesn't help too much with the campaign anymore, she still raises awareness about it, wears a ribbon and always shows her support which is more than enough for me. I couldn't be more grateful to her; after all, she was the one who told me that I had to stop being doubtful and go try to make a change before I claim that I can't. "Bryce has helped me, anyway, so I'm not totally alone or anything."

Sadie wiggles her eyebrows but one smack on her arm from me is enough to keep her mouth shut.

I text Bryce at lunch to ask where he is. I don't see him at lunch and only get a reply from him after lunch. He says that he's out with friends- I roll my eyes and don't bother replying. I  thought that he learned his lesson after they got him drunk and let him walk out onto the street alone, but I guess not. Bryce has been stuck with the same reckless group of people since he came to high school, so I guess I can sort of see why he doesn't want to give them up, but they're obviously not good people to be associating with. Not that Bryce cares, but still.

I don't see Bryce at all for the rest of the day which I have to admit, sort of dampens my mood. I'm not even sure why- I guess I've just grown so used to his loud presence that without it my day just feels a little... empty. Oh well.

I'm waiting by my locker when I see Bryce's friend- Chris Foller- walk by. Instead of going straight past me like I expect him to do, he approaches me. Chris Foller's voice sounds like he's been smoking cigarettes since the womb days. It's rough, hoarse and combined with his strong New York accent is just all in all intimidating. I don't talk to him much which is why I'm incredibly surprised when he asks me in his rough voice, "Have ya seen Newton?"