Mocked: A Marcel Fanfic

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Twelve



Friday comes around and i'm completely focused on school. I get to my classes and ready myself ten minutes before the bell like I always have. These past couple days have been the normal routine of life for me. I go about my day in school being picked on by everyone, their whispers following me, and trying to avoid people. Veronica, although she has returned to class, has not spoken to me at all except for a couple times in literature when she needed to borrow some paper. After school we're assigned new projects and we're split up in different places. She doesn't make a move to come and rescue me.

At home my situation has returned to normal as well. Mother doesn't talk about my bruise that has almost completely healed and I don't come home late enough for her to complain. We eat dinner at the table every night and then I go to bed.

No excitement. No spontaneity. Just the way it has and always will be.

At lunch I grab a pizza and sit at a different table in the cafeteria when I see my previous table is occupied by the entire football team. Veronica is sprawled across Aiden's lap, laughing loudly at some joke someone says. She looks up and her eyes meet mine for a split second before flitting away again. I keep my head down for the rest of lunch.

In the hallways I'm shoved against lockers and made fun of with every step I take. My books are taken and thrown. My bag is yanked away. My glasses are snatched and tossed to the ground, forcing me to crawl around and search for them. No one steps on them and I find them on the top of a water fountain, out of sight, just waiting for me to find them.

By the end of the day I'm drained. I don't want to be at school where I'm the center of the wrong attention. I go to my locker, shove in my items, yank off my tie, and slam the door shut. I've had enough for one day and I can't even go home.

My body feels too heavy to keep up and I slide down to the floor, my back against the lockers. I put my glasses on the ground and place my head in my hands. I don't cry because I'm afraid someone will find me, but I remain completely still.

And that's how Veronica finds me.

"Harry? What are you doing? Did you get hit again?" She sounds concerned and I hear her lower herself to the ground beside me. Why does she care? She hasn't been around often enough this week to possibly care about what happens to me.

I straighten up and stare at the lockers ahead of me. "I'm fine," I say. I don't even convince myself.

Veronica sighs and gets up. "Alright." She turns to walk away and I gape at her retreating back.

"You're just going to leave? Just like that?" I sound pathetic even in my own ears.

She turns and looks at me confused. "What do you expect me to do, Harry? You want me to hold your hand? You want me to sit here with you and mumble little incoherent things about how every thing will get better with time? Do you want me to lie to you?!" Her words are sharp and I feel the stab of them.

I swallow back the tears threatening to come. "No, I don't expect any of that from you. And I don't want you to lie to me." I look at my hands, knowing that she's watching me. "I just want to have one person that doesn't make me feel like absolute shit all the time."

To my surprise, she laughs and comes back to me, sitting back down within seconds. "Ooo, Harry said a cuss word! How fun! Say another."

"It's not really me. Mother doesn't like when I use bad words." I scowl at the mere mention of my mother.

"Do you ever, I don't know, think that maybe you should stop letting her rule your life? I mean, you don't even eat meat," Veronica fakes a gasp that makes me laugh. She pokes my cheek suddenly, her nail digging into my dimple. "This is very cute."

I blush and feel the need to cover my head. Veronica calls me things no one ever does. I look at her and suck in a breath when we're a few inches apart. Her brown eyes are kind, a different look than anyone else has given me. Her pink lips are parted slightly, allowing her breath to fan across my face a bit. I notice she doesn't smell like the typical cigarette for once.

"Your eyes are green," she whispers suddenly, her brown eyes staring into mine. "You should invest in some contacts. The glasses hide something beautiful from the world." My stomach flips at her words. For her to say something like that...it makes me feel...weird.

"Why did you ignore me this entire week?" I widen my eyes at my voice. I didn't even know I was thinking that question.

"I was waiting for you to notice me," she looks away, her head dipping low as she examines her nails. "I don't get it either," she whispers.

"I noticed you," I say and look at the lockers. "I noticed you every single day. Your smile when you're with Aiden and your friends. The way you laugh louder than everyone because you like knowing they're watching you. The small way you curl into yourself when in class and Madam Thustle wants to share your art with the rest of us unskilled mortals. And mostly how you toss your hair like it annoys you when it falls in your face." My words just flow out of me without thought. I can't believe I notice so many things about Veronica.

Veronica shakes her head, putting her own head in her hands, in the exact position I had been in when she came to me. It's funny how things have turned so suddenly.

"You notice a lot of things." She doesn't lift her head when she speaks. "But you're not the only observant one, Harry. I notice you too."

I can't help but laugh at this. Everyone notices me. Everyone knows Marcel and how pathetic he is. "You notice just as much as everyone else," I tell her.

She looks back up at me, her eyes narrowed and suddenly angry. "You think I'm just like everyone else?"

"No, I don't." I can't believe I'm going to say this. "And that's why I like you," I whisper and I immediately want to take the words back. They're foreign and I can't keep my head in the clouds all the time. "I'm sorry," I mutter embarrassed and hang my head.

Veronica pats my hand. "Don't be sorry," she gets to her feet and holds her hand out for me to grab. "Let's get out of this place." I let her haul me to my feet and I put my glasses back on. She leads me out of the school and to my car.

She doesn't once bring up anything related to the fact that I just told her I like her.