He stops at a door and looks at the number, “This is it!” He pulls me through the door and what I see stabs me in the stomach. There sits Jeremy and his little gang of kids. He snickers at me, but the smile falls off his face once he sees who is holding my hand.
He walks forward with his arms crossed, “Who are you, dude? You new?”
“Yeah, I’m Robert.” He lets go of my hand and reaches it forward towards him.
Jeremy dismisses it and says, “Since you’re new I’ll give you a little bit of advice. That girl, you don’t want to hang around her. She’s a freak.” Jeremy looks at me with disgust as he says this, “You might want to stay as far away from her. Or-“
“Or what?” Robert says looking at Jeremy weirdly. He withdraws his hand, “She’s my friend. I can hang around anyone I choose to.” He turns away from Jeremy and towards me. He smiles and says, “So, where do yah wanna sit at?”
I shrug not really caring. He grabs my hand again and tugs me to the far side of the room, away from the gaping Jeremy. We sit down and I stare at this Robert boy in wonder. Did he really just stand up to Jeremy and call me his friend? I don’t understand…
He continues smiling and he still talks to me about the beach, even when the teacher is talking. He whispers to me in every class talking of surfing on the waves, making sang castles, the sea gulls, collecting shells. He paints me a beautiful picture with his words and I can’t help but long for this place.
Jeremy or any kids don’t even come close to me while Robert is around. They just stare with hate and anger surrounding them. Throughout the day I start feeling like Robert is an angel sent down to protect me from the monsters, but the day ends too soon.
Robert waves at me as he gets on his bus, “I’ll get you to talk for sure tomorrow!” Then just like that my guardian angel disappears and I’m left unprotected. I stare at the giant yellow bus in front of me. The kids pile on, looking back at me and laughing. I’m suddenly very aware of them all. I climb on the bus last and sure enough only one seat is open.
Jeremy laughs, “Where’s your friend?”
I sit down beside him, not answering. All the kids turn around in their seats, watching, listening. Their eyes shine with lust to see me unhappy.
Jeremy grows angry, “Why don’t you ever talk, huh? Are you dumb? Are you an idiot? Really I thought glasses are for smart people.”
He takes the glasses from my face and throws them on the ground, “You won’t need those anymore they’re only for smart people.”
The bus erupts in laughter, but I don’t know what’s so funny about this. Why is watching someone else suffer so funny? Why can’t they all be nice like Robert? Why are they all so mean to me? I reach down trying to find my glasses. Finally my hand finds them. Jeremy’s foot crashes down on my hand, and I hear a crunch.
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