“Okay, okay. I’m sorry,” he backtracked immediately. “Does this guy like any of you back?”
“Well, he practically bullies me at school every single day.”
“How romantic.”
“I know, lucky me,” I muttered sarcastically.
“Maybe Kathy will come around,” Hector assured me, resting his hand on my shoulder. “The two of you have been friends for so long now. She’ll realize it soon enough.”
“I hope so,” I whispered, looking down.
“Good luck, Romai,” Hector ruffled my hair before walking out of the room. I was left once again alone with my thoughts. Now that I didn’t have Kathy by my side, it was going to be an interesting day at school tomorrow. I was going to have to be all on my own.
The next morning, I walked down the school hallway, gripping the strap of my bag firmly. As I navigated the crowd, I couldn’t help but notice that a pair of eyes followed me wherever I went. Whispers trailed my every step, and I could tell that people were talking about me.
“There she is.”
“Wow, I can’t believe she actually showed up.”
The whispers were followed by sniggering laughter and judgmental stares. Suddenly, I felt as though someone had put a spotlight on me.
“What gives?” I said, looking around when I finally got tired of the staring. “Do I have something on my face?”
As I reached my locker, my heart nearly sank at the sight in front of me. Someone had spray-painted the word LOSER on top of the metal surface.
All these years, I was used to being bullied. Since I was quiet and minded my own business, the kids at school saw me as an easy target.
Bryan was my biggest bully, but even he had never once resorted to vandalizing my things. I knew that this was the work of someone else entirely.
Someone who had more of a personal grudge against me.
But before I could spend more time thinking about who it could be, the bell rang to indicate the start of the first period. Sighing loudly, I parked my anxious thoughts to the side for a moment and opened my locker to get my folder out.
Detective work was going to have to wait. I had a maths class to attend.
The staring and whispering didn’t even stop during class. Multiple times, I saw my classmates exchange looks amongst themselves and pass notes as if they were talking about me behind my back.
Had I gotten even more unpopular suddenly overnight? Something was off, and I had to get to the bottom of it.
As I left class, Lily, one of my classmates, stopped me and pulled me to the side.
“Hey,” she said, her expression full of sympathy, “ I just wanted to know if you’re doing okay.”
Lily and I weren’t exactly friends, but we had worked together on a few class projects, and she was a warm acquaintance to me.
“I feel like I’ve grown an extra pair of limbs,” I admitted with a sigh, “It feels like everyone’s talking about me this morning.”
I looked towards Lily for some sort of explanation for this deranged behavior. Her frown deepened. “Oh, so you haven’t heard, have you?”
“Am I supposed to know something that I don’t?” I asked, raising an eyebrow in your direction.
“Well, let’s just say that people have been saying stuff about you, and I don’t want you to let it get to your head. I know you’re a good person, and you mind your own business. This is really unfair.”
The lines on my forehead creased, and I squeezed my elbows together. “Lily, do you happen to know what they’re saying?”
“It’s just stupid teenagers saying unkind things. You don’t have to know.”
“I would really appreciate it if you could tell me,” I pressed, desperate for an answer.