Welcome To My Life

After English class was over, I packed my stuff and walked outside. I was about to pull out my schedule and map when someone grabbed my arm and dragged me down the hall.

“Jack, don’t hurt her” I heard someone say behind me.
Realizing it was Jack who was dragging me with him, I halted and I yanked my arm from his tight grip.

“Don’t touch me” I groaned, turning to face him and Alex.
“I told you to stay away from my friends” Jack snapped.
“You can't tell me what to do. But just so you know, Alex came up to me, not the other way around” I answered stiffly.
“You could’ve told him to leave” Jack said.
“Are you kidding me right now? Why would I?” I hissed.

“Jack, this is none of…” Alex tried to interfere.
“Shut up Alex, don’t defend this freak” Jack hissed at him.
“Don’t talk to him like that” I snarled at Jack.
“Liz, it’s okay…” Alex muttered.
“No, it’s not. I have had it with his bullshit attitude, walking around here like he’s better than everyone else” I spat.

“You should be nicer to me, considering you’re living with me and my parents” Jack said sharply. “You wouldn’t want us to kick you out, now would you?”
“Oh gladly!” I exclaimed. “I don’t exactly want to live with you. At all.”
“Yeah well, too bad you don’t have anywhere else to go, since even your parents want nothing to do with you” Jack sneered.

I fell silent, in disbelief. Alex looked at me quizzically.
“You did not just say that” I said with a thin voice.
“I sure did” Jack said, looking proud of himself for making me fall silent.
“Fuck you Jack, fuck you” I yelled at him, before I ran past him, bumping his shoulder on purpose.

I had to get out of here. I felt my breathing fasten and my chest started to hurt. Not now, I thought, not on my first day here. Fuck. I ran outside, as fast as the pains in my chest let me and I collapsed onto the grass field in front of the building, trying to regain control of my breathing. I pulled up my legs and rested my head on my knees, forcing myself to take deep, slow breaths.

“Hey, are you okay?” I heard a voice above me.
I looked up to find Alex standing next to me, but I didn’t feel capable of talking yet. Alex sat down next to me and waited for me to calm down.
“What are you doing here, Alex?” I sighed.
“Checking up on you of course” he replied.
“Why? You don’t even know me” I said.

When Alex didn’t reply, I continued.
“Well, turns out Jack is right, I really am a freak” I laughed bitterly once I felt better.
“Don’t say that” Alex said silently.
“I’m surprised Jack let you go after me” I muttered.
“Jack’s not the boss of me, I make my own decisions” Alex replied.

We sat next to each other for a while in silence.
“Is it true what Jack said? About your parents?” he asked.
I nodded. “Pretty much.”
“Why don’t your parents want anything to do with you?” Alex asked.
“That’s a story for some other time” I said, avoiding Alex’s gaze.

After that Alex stayed quiet again, probably thinking I didn’t feel like talking to him. Which was kind of true, I would like to be alone, but since Alex was one of the few people who had been nice to me so far, I didn’t want to ask him to leave.

“Shouldn’t you be in class?” I asked him instead.
“Yeah, but I wasn’t feeling it” he answered.
“Alex….” I started. “You don’t really want to be hanging out with me. Trust me. Nobody does. My parents don’t, my family doesn’t, no one does.”
“I refuse to believe that’s true” Alex said.
“Have it your way” I shrugged.

“Why is Jack such a jerk to you?” Alex asked me.
“Why do you ask so many questions?” I asked in return.
Alex didn’t reply, so I figured I should probably just answer his question.
“I don’t know why Jack is so mean to me. He didn’t use to be like this. I think he’s afraid I’ll ruin his reputation here.”
“Still no reason to be so mean” Alex shrugged.
“Yeah, tell me about it” I replied. “Does he always treat you like that?”
Alex shrugged. “Sometimes.”

“Then why are you friends with him?” I asked him.
“Because we can have a lot of fun as well” Alex replied. “Don’t we all have friends we don’t always get along with?”
I shook my head. “Not me.”
“Oh, so you get along with all of your friends all the time?” Alex asked, raising his eyebrows.

“Yeah, I don’t have any” I replied.
“I’m sure that’s not true” Alex said friendly.
“Well, then you’re wrong” I shrugged. “I’m not that much of a people’s person. I prefer to be alone. People have the tendency to suck.”

“Well, aren’t you a ray of sunlight” Alex joked.
“Yeah well, should I?” I said, sounding more irritated than I had meant to, causing Alex to stop talking.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to snap like that” I muttered. “I’m just not exactly used to people being nice to me.”

A sympathetic look appeared on Alex’s face.
“Don’t” I said, causing him to give me a quizzical look. “Don’t look at me like you feel sorry for me. I really don’t want your pity.”

Notes

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Title credits: All Time Low - Do You Want Me (Dead?)