Cleveland.”
“Cleveland? What, were you in a gang or something?” one of the other girls asked, giggling.
“No, why would you think that?” I asked back stupidly.
“So what do you like to do Ellen-from-Akron?” the lead girl asked in a bored voice. I swear she just glanced down at my bruises.
I self-consciously touched my neck while racking my brain for something fun and exciting to say, but ended up just sputtered out, “I.. well, I like to read… and… ugh..”
A couple of the girls laughed at my response and I could feel my face begin to burn. The lead girl rolled her eyes and turned to walk away from me, not bothering to get out of hearing distance before saying, “I told you she wouldn’t be worth our time. Just another loser.”
I could feel the tears coming, but I refused to let them fall. I turned and stood there staring into my steel grey locker and tried to collect myself. I wished I could just crawl inside. When I finally walked to the cafeteria and went through the lunch line, I barely even noticing what the servers put on my tray.
As I was waiting to pay for my lunch, there was a tap on my shoulder. I turned my head and saw quite possibly the sexiest guy I had ever seen in real life. He had tousled blonde hair and his eyes were such a bright shade of blue that I couldn’t stop staring into them. I felt my brain melt to goo.
He smiled and said, “Hi… Ellen, right? I was wondering if you wanted to go out with me sometime.”
I think my jaw dropped to the floor. I was about to say God knows what when the group of guys standing behind the boy erupted into laughter and smacked him on the back. Clearly it was hilarious that a guy like him would ever ask me out. I was mortified as they high-fived each other and nearly ran out of the cafeteria, but I knew that would only make them laugh harder. I quickly turned back around, took several deep breaths, paid for my lunch, and walked out into the cafeteria.
I was hoping to find a nice empty area to eat, but there were people spread out everywhere. I stopped to look around and after a few moments I could feel people’s eyes begin to turn to me. My mind kept screaming at me to just sit somewhere, anywhere, but I didn’t know which way to turn. There were literally no empty tables, so I would have to choose a group to join immediately. And what if they said no? How many tables would I go to before someone would let me sit with them?
One of the boys who had laughed at me in the lunch line pushed past me, almost making me drop my tray, and yelled, “MOVE!” Every head turned to see what was going on. Every eye was on me. I felt as if I were about to have a full-blown panic attack. My heart raced and I felt my knees begin to wobble. To make it worse, I caught sight of Austin at a table in the center of the cafeteria, casually sitting on a table. He was laughing at me with a big group of people. My breath caught in my throat.
I was about to turn and run from the room when I noticed a boy walking up to me. He seemed incredibly tall and broad at the shoulders, and I watched in awe as everyone standing between us moved out of his way as soon as they saw him coming. I instinctively took a step back, afraid of whatever would posses him to come towards me.
When he reached me he smiled and took the tray from me. I hadn’t realized my hands were shaking like leaves. His eyes were a rich, deep brown and held me to my place. They looked kind. He switched the tray to one hand and with his other he reached out and touched my arm. His touch lasted only a moment, but his hand was warm against my skin. I took a deep breath. Finally I could breathe again. I couldn’t help but look down at the spot just above my elbow where his hand had just been. When was the last time someone touched me so kindly? For an instant it was like nothing in the world mattered except for this boy and this moment.
“Hi Ellen,
“Cleveland? What, were you in a gang or something?” one of the other girls asked, giggling.
“No, why would you think that?” I asked back stupidly.
“So what do you like to do Ellen-from-Akron?” the lead girl asked in a bored voice. I swear she just glanced down at my bruises.
I self-consciously touched my neck while racking my brain for something fun and exciting to say, but ended up just sputtered out, “I.. well, I like to read… and… ugh..”
A couple of the girls laughed at my response and I could feel my face begin to burn. The lead girl rolled her eyes and turned to walk away from me, not bothering to get out of hearing distance before saying, “I told you she wouldn’t be worth our time. Just another loser.”
I could feel the tears coming, but I refused to let them fall. I turned and stood there staring into my steel grey locker and tried to collect myself. I wished I could just crawl inside. When I finally walked to the cafeteria and went through the lunch line, I barely even noticing what the servers put on my tray.
As I was waiting to pay for my lunch, there was a tap on my shoulder. I turned my head and saw quite possibly the sexiest guy I had ever seen in real life. He had tousled blonde hair and his eyes were such a bright shade of blue that I couldn’t stop staring into them. I felt my brain melt to goo.
He smiled and said, “Hi… Ellen, right? I was wondering if you wanted to go out with me sometime.”
I think my jaw dropped to the floor. I was about to say God knows what when the group of guys standing behind the boy erupted into laughter and smacked him on the back. Clearly it was hilarious that a guy like him would ever ask me out. I was mortified as they high-fived each other and nearly ran out of the cafeteria, but I knew that would only make them laugh harder. I quickly turned back around, took several deep breaths, paid for my lunch, and walked out into the cafeteria.
I was hoping to find a nice empty area to eat, but there were people spread out everywhere. I stopped to look around and after a few moments I could feel people’s eyes begin to turn to me. My mind kept screaming at me to just sit somewhere, anywhere, but I didn’t know which way to turn. There were literally no empty tables, so I would have to choose a group to join immediately. And what if they said no? How many tables would I go to before someone would let me sit with them?
One of the boys who had laughed at me in the lunch line pushed past me, almost making me drop my tray, and yelled, “MOVE!” Every head turned to see what was going on. Every eye was on me. I felt as if I were about to have a full-blown panic attack. My heart raced and I felt my knees begin to wobble. To make it worse, I caught sight of Austin at a table in the center of the cafeteria, casually sitting on a table. He was laughing at me with a big group of people. My breath caught in my throat.
I was about to turn and run from the room when I noticed a boy walking up to me. He seemed incredibly tall and broad at the shoulders, and I watched in awe as everyone standing between us moved out of his way as soon as they saw him coming. I instinctively took a step back, afraid of whatever would posses him to come towards me.
When he reached me he smiled and took the tray from me. I hadn’t realized my hands were shaking like leaves. His eyes were a rich, deep brown and held me to my place. They looked kind. He switched the tray to one hand and with his other he reached out and touched my arm. His touch lasted only a moment, but his hand was warm against my skin. I took a deep breath. Finally I could breathe again. I couldn’t help but look down at the spot just above my elbow where his hand had just been. When was the last time someone touched me so kindly? For an instant it was like nothing in the world mattered except for this boy and this moment.
“Hi Ellen,
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