Fractures → Jonathan Crane / Scarecrow

Zero → Prolouge

jonathan

I watched as Desi read the note I had placed in her locker. Usually, I would never have had the audacity to perform such an action like that. I wasn't sure whether or not she knew if I was watching, but I hoped she didn't.

Her fingers unraveled the paper and it only took her a few seconds to read it. I watched as her lips curled into a smile and she let out what I assumed was a giggle.

She folded the note back up, placed it in her bag, and looked around the hall. I'm guessing she was looking for me, but right now wasn't the best time for us to talk since her group of 'friends' were heading her way.

To this day, I still don't understand how she could even be friends with them. She was a gem compared to them, and out of that whole group, she had never once been cruel to me.

I could feel jealousy crawling inside me when one of Bo's friends wrapped his arm around Desi's shoulder. I think his name was Daniel, but I wasn't too sure.

The jealousy quickly subsided when I saw her gently push his arm off of her. He gave her a look of confusion and she either ignored it or just didn't see, because she continued talking to Sherry.

He should feel lucky enough to even be that close to her, instead of trying to pull a move on her. When I saw them making their way towards my direction, probably to head outside, I looked for something to do.

It's not that I didn't want to face Desi, but I knew the torment that would await if I caught her friends' attention.

My attempt of making myself appear invisible didn't work, because Bo somehow still managed to find a way to mess with me.

"What are you looking at, Ichabod?" Before I could respond, or attempt to, his hand made contact with my books which quickly slammed down to the floor.

They all erupted into laughter, except for Desi, as I tried to maintain a blank expression. I didn't want to let my embarrassment show and give them the satisfaction.

I started picking up my books when they started walking away. "Hey." Looking up, I saw the face of the only person who treated me like a human in this school. "The note was sweet."

Her friends were too busy laughing about something that they hadn't noticed her walk away from them to help me. I was thankful for that, knowing that they would cause a scene if they saw us talking. "Thank you."

We picked up my books and fallen notes in silence. With her it was different though, it was a comforting type of silence.

"Here you go." She said, as she handed me my belongings. "I'm sorry about them, by the way. I don't know what goes through their head to think this is funny." Her lips, where there was once a smile from reading my note, formed into a frown as she talked about her friends.

"I grew used to it." I told her, which was the truth. After more than three years of being tortured by them, it wasn't something new. "Thank you again."

"Desi!" I didn't recognize the voice but when I looked at the end of the hall, I groaned when I saw it belonged to Daniel. Desi laughed at my reaction and looked over at Josh too. "Come on, stop talking to that lanky freak!"

Daniel waited for her to walk over to him, and Desi sighed. "I'll talk to you later, Johnny." I wasn't sure if my cheeks were red since I could feel them heat up a bit at the nickname, but I tried to brush it off.

Desi ran over to Daniel and he tried once again to wrap his arm around her shoulders. This time she didn't fight it, probably because she knew he wouldn't stop.

I couldn't help but feel angry at the sight. The anger only grew more when he looked back and made a face of disgust at me.