Background Character

Chapter 16

"Speaking of people who suck," Olivia pointed over to B, who had her back turned to the two. She was switching out books, one said Latin I think.

I walk over to her. I'm not sure if I can touch her, I mean I've been able to sit on desks and I didn't pass through her bed that time I sat on it. Then again, nobody has touched me. They seem to instinctively know to walk around me, even if they can't see what they are avoiding.

I place a gentle hand on her shoulder and again, everything around us freezes.

Hers eyes meet mine as she drops her books. We both kneel down, shuffling books into the tattered bag. It takes a few tries, but she's able to close the bag with a little elbow grease.

She glances up, looking at me from underneath her long, caramel lashes, "Hey B."

It takes a few moments, but she suddenly becomes aware of how close we were. She pulled back and slung her backup over her shoulder as she got up. "Hey Ian."

She and I walk together, careful to avoid knocking into the people frozen around us. Though I try to catch her eye again, she seemed to look anywhere but me. "So," I sift through my head for something to say for her, "Are you excited for Prom?"

"Not particularly," She breaks away from me, walking ahead as I struggle to catch up. When I do, she stops and turns to me. "You can probably guess why. Your friends over there have been making my life hell for weeks."

"They're not my friends," She ignores my comment, blankly staring at Laura and Olivia who were mid-laugh. "Have they really been so horrible to you?"

"I almost considered not going to Prom because of them." She laughs sardonically. I can see that they hurt her, her words were full of anger and singed with sadness. "After all the notes and the dirty looks, the whispering behind my back and the fact that all of my friends left me, I really didn't want to go to Prom. Of course I decided I wasn't going to let Laura ruin what's left of my senior year so Prom it is."

"Can I ask you about..."

"I don't blame Olivia," She sighs, stealing another glance at her, "I really like Olivia. She sees me as the girl who hurt her best friend, some homewrecker who ruined their perfect relationship or something. Olivia's a good friend."

"Are you saying you didn't...you know?" I don't know, I don't know what happened in that bathroom.

I had assumed it was the truth, but a lot of what I know I learn in the moment. Hannah's secret was something I knew very little about, only that she had this secret that affected her. Part of that might be characters only want me to know so much, it could be possible for them to keep things from me, I don't know.

"If you're asking if I blew Sam in the girl's bathroom, the answer is no." She grips onto the strap of her bag a little tighter. Once she calms down, she looks at my curiously, "You didn't know that?"

I observe the two, trying to see them as she does. Part of the problem is that I'm the narrator and they are my heroes, flawed as they are. It's difficult to see my heroes as villains, as being unreliable and human. People lie, they construe things in ways that fit their agenda, and I guess I have to take everything they said, everything that B says, with a grain of salt.

"No," I admit, "I guess I'm not privy to everything."

"Huh," She muttered, and before I can stop her, she walks back over to Olivia and Laura. "That doesn't make sense to me, but I guess that's because I'm not the narrator."

"It doesn't really make much sense to me and I am the narrator.'

What is my purpose as the narrator? Do I just tell their story and observe them? Is that all I am? Am I supposed to be just a background character to the story? The same way that I disparaged B the very first time I met her, saying that she wasn't important to the story, I'm not important.

I had my chance to stand out in the beginning, but then the story started and I fell to the background. I'm not a character as they prattle on about their insecurities and problems, I'm just a plot device to further along their story. I guess I am just a background character. Calling myself a narrator is just a fancy way of saying I'm really some nameless mouthpiece.

The words spill from my mouth before I can stop them, "Will you tell me what really happened? Why did she, why did Laura tell everything everyone that you...blew her boyfriend in the girl's bathroom."

The question stopped her, so she paused before continuing, "Because I saw."

"Saw what?"

"I needed to use the bathroom so I ignored the sign saying the bathroom was out of order. I walked in to find her on her knees, blowing Sam although I have to admit he didn't look like he was enjoying it. Sorry," Did she seriously just say that? "I'm just letting my anger get the best of me. Ignore that last part everyone."

"That makes sense." Laura hated the idea of having sex when she wasn't ready. I'm well aware that Sam had tried to pressure her into it, she said as much earlier. "So she was afraid you would tell everyone what you saw, so she made up a lie and spread it around? I can't say that doesn't match up with what I know about her. In one fell swoop, she got back at you for finding them and Sam for pressuring her into it."

"From what I heard, it was a last-ditch effort to keep them together." She reaches her hand out to Laura, though she doesn't touch her. She just stands with her hand outstretched, "Sam's an asshole, but I'm kinda thankful for him. He's one of the few people treating me decently now. I guess it's not just for my benefit, but he's been trying to convince people that Laura's lying. I heard most of her friends stopped talking to her after it, I'm guessing some believe him and the rest can't stand to be around her after it. She apparently became insufferable, it's all she would talk about."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah, well Olivia's the only one who just accepted what she said. The rest were a little more hesitant. Her friend Marnie told me most of this, she said that she caught Laura in a lie and became so fed up with her shit." She turns to study Olivia, "She's a good friend, and she makes Laura happy. That's good. Laura may be kinda shitty, but Olivia's a good friend. She's so reserved, it's a shame she doesn't have more people."

"You should have more people."

"Like who?" She asks with a laugh.

Like me.

Everything around us begins to start, first in slow motion, but it eventually begins to catch up to normal.

B looks at me, wide-eyed and terrified until she fades away, back to her original position.