Jane [h.s.]

five

Harry

Jane was sitting by herself under the big tree at the end of the playground. She liked to sit there now, but he didn't know why.

The card in his hands felt heavy because he had written out some very personal thoughts and he knew that she probably didn't feel the same. He really liked Jane and Valentine's Day was the perfect time to let her know.

Everyone had to give everyone in the class a card, but he had been up late working on her card because she was the only one he really cared about. All of the other kids were mean to Jane because she was different and, in turn, they were mean to him because he was nice to her.

Today, Jane wasn't looking around frantically, instead she had her knees up to her chest with her shoulders crossed over top and her head was resting in the crook of her arms. She looked sad and that made Harry sad, even as his heart swelled with just seeing her in general.

Harry walked over to her with his card on display in his right hand. Jane didn't look up until he was standing right in front of her. He knew that she was sad and he smiled in hopes that it would cheer her up, even if only a little bit.

"Here's your Valentine. I waited to give it to you because I wanted you to know that it was me and not someone pretending to be me."

Jane looked up at him with glossy eyes that were a mixture of sadness and anger, "I don't want it."

Harry's smile dropped quickly into a frown, he felt like he'd just been punched square in the chest. "I...why? What did I do?"

Jane picked up the paper bag beside her and threw it at him, "You're just going to be mean like everybody else."

He stuck his hand inside and pulled out a few handmade cards that said horrible things. One said that she was ugly and that no one liked her, another said that she should die, and another one said that she was a freak.

Harry's eyes matched hers as they met, "Jane..."

Jane started to cry. She shook her head quickly and closed her eyes, "No. Go away! Go away, go away, GO AWAY!"

Harry didn't listen and cried with her, "No! I'm not like them, Jane! I'm not!"

Jane was tired of being picked on because she had voices in her head that made her scared and she was too hurt to remember that Harry was right, he wasn't like that at all. The voices took control again after a brief disappearance and she yelled at him to leave her alone.

He was crying too, but she didn't know that it was because of what he'd written in the card that was meant for her. Harry's fists clenched at his sides and he dropped the card before walking away.

He felt like an idiot because he couldn't just tell her that it said that he liked her and that it wasn't mean like the rest of them. He was also incredibly angry that their classmates had written all of those mean things to her on a day that was supposed to make people feel nice and loved.

Jane looked up after she'd heard him walk away and she saw the big and colorful hearts drawn all over the front of the card. The voices were quiet and she felt giddy despite how sad she was. A gentle wind started to blow and sent the hurtful cards fluttering away.

She panicked and grabbed Harry's card immediately before it could fly away with the others. Jane didn't know why she did it, but she just couldn't let it fly away.

Harry was making his way over to the teachers, a small voice told her that he was turning on her and she felt incredibly sad. Jane looked back to the card in her hands. He was a boy, but he'd certainly made her a pretty card, even if he drew funny looking hearts.