Unconditional Validation

Chapter 11

Tyler.

"Are you sure you want to finish the rest of the school day?" America asked me with concern in her voice while slightly turning her head at me.

"Yes, I'm sure", I replied with some confidence behind my statement.

"Ok, I'm just making sure", America smiled and looked back at the road. I smiled and nodded, thankful for her concern.

The two of us were hurrying back to school because we realized that the end of class period bell was going to ring in the next five minutes. America parked the car not too far away from the doors when we finally made it. We grabbed our backpacks and ran through the front doors. Luckily, Principal Herrera wasn't around so we were off the hook for now. Unlucky for me, however, when I ran into him. For the fifth time, since I'm counting now. I accidentally bumped into Justin and almost fell onto my ass.

"Gotcha", Justin smiled as he saved me from my embarrassment and held onto me.

"T-Thanks", I paused while blushing, "Again, for like the fifth time."

"It's no big deal", Justin responded softly with a smile while he set me standing back up, "As long as you don't get hurt."

"T-That's sweet of you", I stammered with a sheepish smile. There was a bit of an awkward silence.

"Tyler, I have to ask you something", Justin started to ask, breaking the silence.

"Yes?" I responded with curiosity in my voice.

"Do you want to hangout with me after school tomorrow?" Justin asked me with a smile.

My heart fluttered with emotions, a lot of emotions. I didn't know what to say at first, but I needed to say something. I went with what I wanted deep from my heart.

"Y-Yes, I want to hangout with you", I smiled back at him with a bit of a stutter at first.

"I'll let you know the details by-" Justin was about to tell me, but America cleared her throat next to me.

"Tyler, we have to hurry to class!" America exclaimed and quickly went into the direction of her class.

"O-Oh yeah!", I forgot about my class, "Sorry Justin, I have to get to class."

"It's fine, I'll text you tomorrow", Justin smiled with a cool tone in his voice.

"Okay", I smiled back at him and hurriedly went into the direction of my class.

I barely made it to the class on time. Sitting down at my desk in science class, I didn't feel like learning about whatever the teacher was talking about. I wanted to go lay in my bed and just shut out the world. Being out and about with my friends was so much more fun than being stuck around the people who hate or envy you at school. It was also better than having to deal with my career at the same time as everything else. When the teacher was done giving the lesson, she assigned us a couple of worksheets to do during the class period and at home as well. Once everyone was doing them, I asked to go to the bathroom, which she let me do.

I wasn't going to go to the bathroom, I needed to take a breather before I shut down. After walking to the nearest men's bathroom, I checked to see if there was anyone in any of the stalls. The coast was clear, so I went over to the sink, looked up at the mirror, and just started silently crying.

I hate being myself! Why does everything have to fall apart?  Negative thoughts just started pouring into my head left and right. I just wanted the day to be over with.

Justin.

I headed to my next class after Tyler ran into me again. I chuckled to myself because it was like fate was pushing us closer each time. It was also cute how he reacted whenever he ran into me. I sat down in my seat as soon as the bell rang. Today there was a pop quiz in my math class, which I thankfully studied for. She passed out the quizzes, which were only ten questions.