The bell rang. I was excited that I am able to go home now. I grabbed my books and started walking towards my locker. I saw Bernard standing right in front of it. Part of me just wanted to turn around and run away but there was something different about the way he was acting. I thought maybe I could chance it and continue walking to my locker, so that's what I did.
As soon as Bernard saw me he smiled. Right then and there I knew I shouldn't have walked over to my locker. He looked me straight in the eyes and I tried hard not to look away from him, in fear that he would punch me. Instead of him punching me he said, "Hey, look, I heard about the whole Eva, Brian, and Vicky thing that happened to you today. I was just going to ask you if you were alright. He looked at me up and down and continued, "You look pretty beat up."
He seemed really sincere but, should I really trust it? Does he expect me to talk to him about it? Is he wanting to embarrass me in some way? Maybe I should talk to him about it. This could all backfire on me though and he would probably say something along the lines of, "Haha loser! You really think someone cares about you?" or maybe even, "I don't actually care, I just wanted to know why you told on them!" The only problem with that is, I didn't tell on them, they got caught.
I decided to respond. "Y-yeah, I-I'm f-fine, t-thanks." Shit! I stuttered! Now he's definitely going to beat me up. He lifted his hand and of course I flinched. He noticed and he set his hand back down as his side and said, "Hey, I'm actually not here to hurt you, for once. You don't have to flinch like that. I'm actually here to talk to you." I looked down at the floor and then back up at him. He was looking at me like no other guy has ever looked at me before. He was actually showing some little bit of hospitality and I actually felt happy for once.
"I-I'm s-sorry. I-It's just that y-you always b-beat me up." I guess he doesn't care if I'm stuttering anymore because he actually smiled at me. "Yeah, you see, that's what I actually need to talk to you about." Bernard reached into his pocket. My eyes got wide and all I could think about was, "What if there's a knife in his pocket right now and he's going to stab me!" I backed away a few steps and he didn't notice it, so I was okay.
Bernard looked back up at me and he had a small, folded up piece of paper in his hand. He looked me dead in the eyes and said, "I'm sure you have a cell phone. Here's my number. Text me later tonight so that we can talk about this, okay?" I smiled as he handed me the paper. "Weren't you a little closer when we first started talking?" I got so nervous in that instant and I replied, "Y-yeah, s-sorry, I-I thought you were going to s-stab m-me with a pocket knife or s-some-thing." He laughed and set his hand on my shoulder. I slightly laughed awkwardly.
"Nah, I'm not as mean as those three. I wouldn't have other people hold someone down for me to beat them up for no reason, ya know?"
I quickly added, "Well, w-what about what happened at lunch today? Y-You seemed pretty m-mean then!" He noticed how defensive I was getting and I could tell that he was kind of scared of me. He sighed and looked at the floor.
I noticed that he actually felt bad for what he had done. I decided that now would be a great time to start talking again. "S-So, y-you umm..." I was stuttering to much, I just need to calm down and start talking again. "... I-I will text you later. I have to d-drive home now." He looked back up at me and he had tears in his eyes. I didn't know what to think.
He removed his hand off my shoulder and grabbed my wrist. He studied it for a few seconds before saying, "I should've never even made fun of you for this!" He slowly rolled up his right, blue plaid, long sleeved shirt. I could see two new cuts. My eyes were filling with tears and I couldn't hold them back. I knew exactly what I had to do. I hugged him.
He kind of jumped but slowly wrapped his arms around me to accept the hug. He whispered in my ear, "I know that I don't have as many as you but, I also don't know why you did it. I need to text you about it though. Please, don't forget to text me."
I looked at him in the eyes and responded, "I promise, I won't forget to text you." I shot him a cheesy smile and he laughed. Bernard asked, "Do umm d-do you want to maybe uhh walk out together?" I realized that he was starting to get nervous but, I had no clue why. Maybe he's scared that he will be judged by his fellow bully friends for talking to me.
I nodded my head and he flashed a great big smile at me. He seemed like that little ray of sunshine that I've been needing for quite a long time. We walked towards the door together. "Hey, do you umm maybe wanna go get lunch together sometime? Like, I don't know, I feel like I should make it up to you in some way. I feel really bad for making fun of you. I'm sorry!"
Woah! Did he really just apologize, to me? I was standing there, left speechless. He put his hand on my shoulder but, this time, I didn't flinch. I felt like we were going to have a great friendship.
I replied, "Yeah, that actually sounds really nice, thanks!" He smiled and then got into his red sportscar. I waved at him as he drove off. I began walking towards my car and I saw Principal Markins standing there with a clipboard and some papers. I slowly walked towards him. I had no clue what was going on, but it didn't look good. He noticed that I was walking towards my car and he signaled me to come over to him. Now I definitely know that this can't be good.
When I finally reached my car, he clicked his pen and said, "Are you alright, Mrs. Bailey Adams? I see you got beaten up pretty well." I replied, "Y-Yes s-sir, I-I'm fine." Based on the way I sounded when I responded, I'm guessing he didn't buy it. "Mrs. Adams, you don't look fine! I am expelling all three of those kids. You won't have anything else to worry about." He said it so nicely like it was supposed to make me proud of him or something.
I had one question that still lingered in my mind though. "So, umm, w-what about Mrs. Peterson and Mrs. Flinn? A-Are they alright?" Mr. Markins gave me a confused look and replied, "Well, I fired Mrs. Peterson and as for Mrs. Flinn, she's doing quite alright to my knowledge."
Fired?! He fired Mrs. Peterson?! "Y-You fired Mrs. Peterson b-because of m-me? That doesn't seem r-right!" That's the only way I could respond to this. He sighed and replied, "I was doing you a favor, Mrs. Bailey. You can go home now and report to my office in the morning if anything else goes on with any bullies. I don't want to get sued for this!"
Was that statement supposed to make me feel better or something? "I don't want to get sued for this!" How in the world is that an okay thing to say to someone when they just got beat up for no reason? He clicked his pen again and lowered his clipboard to his side. He looks like he just got finished with a job interview and the guy told him, "You did great, welcome to the job!" No, he didn't do great and no, I hate his job. What he did was uncalled for. He could've at least given them the "In school suspension for a month" like he said he would do in class. This, I am not okay with. Those four are going to kill me because of this!
Mr. Markins waved at me before turning around and heading towards the school. I looked around outside. I could hear birds chirping and flying away. I could see the leaves falling from the trees. Nature helps calm me down, so, I decided to stand in front of my car for a few minutes before hopping inside. When I felt like I was ready to sit in my seat, I began to cry. This day has been so screwed up! A bunch of bad shit happened and one good thing came out of it. Bernard.
I plugged my phone into the Aux cord. I felt like music would help me stop crying but, it only made it worse. I was listening to depressing music. I'm guessing it was a sign or something. I always feel depressed. There can be absolutely no reason for me to be depressed, yet, I will still find a reason to feel the way that I do. I wonder if this can be fixed? I have realized that nothing really helps get rid of this pain, not even cutting. I decided that it was time to start driving home before I do something regrettable. I need to stop thinking about it. I grabbed my phone and started playing a pop playlist. I thought maybe the beat might make me happy.
