Speak Up

Chapter 1

I hug my books close to my chest, staring down at my feet, unable to make eye contact with her.

"Are you alright, Zach?" I hear her voice.

I glance up and see her standing there in front of me, holding my textbook out at me. I stare into her dark blue eyes, unsure what to say to her. Thank you is what I should say, but my mouth was frozen shut. I wonder what Emily actually thought of me. She probably thinks of me as a wuss for not being able to stand up for myself.

Without answering her, I snatch the book from her and hurry down the corridor, clutching the books close to my chest. The moment I do this, I instantly regret for not thanking her. What was I thinking, snatching the book out of her hand without thanking her for getting it back for me?

Emily calls after me. I ran faster, pushing past everyone until I reach my locker. I dial my combination and open it. Before placing my textbook inside, glance down to see what Liam had scribbled on my book. He had crossed out my name on the label and had written Four Eyes. I shove the textbook into my locker.

The bell rings. I close the locker door and wander off to homeroom, hoping this day wouldn't get any worse than it already is.

I was thankful I had no classes with Liam that day. I do have German with Emily, but not until this afternoon.

After surviving the first three periods of the day, it was lunch. It wasn't my favourite thing of a school day, due to the fact I mainly eat my lunch on my own or it's when something bad will happen. I had no friends. Making friends was just something I wasn't very good at.

I stand in the lunch line, waiting to be served. I see Liam enter the cafeteria with his friends. I force myself not to look his way or he will make his way over here. The last thing I wanted was for him to make a scene.

The line moves along and I choose my food. I grab a hamburger, fries with ketchup and a carton of chocolate milk. I pay for my food and look around for a table to sit at. There was no empty tables in the cafeteria, and I doubt it that anyone would allow me to sit with them. The geeks may let me. I get along with them very well, and none of them give me a hard time for anything.

But today it looked like I wasn't going to sit with the geeks. They were sitting at a table beside the trash can, and there were no empty seats. I guess I was eating lunch on my own.

I turn to leave the cafeteria to maybe sit out in the corridor or to hideout in the bathroom to be alone and eat. I knew it was hygienic to eat in the bathroom but it was the only place I felt like I could get away from Liam and eat in peace.

I pass Liam's table. I make no eye contact with the jerk. But just when I thought I could make it out of the corridor alive without anything happening, Liam sticks out his leg as I past him, and trip.

I fell to the ground hard. My food and drink spill everywhere - on me and the floor. My glasses fall off my face, hitting face down on the floor. I hear the sound of laughter coming from the other students.

"I think you need thicker glasses, Four Eyes," Liam says as I sit up, picking up my glasses off the floor. "They don't seem to be helping you to see if you're tripping over your own feet."

His friends laugh at his joke.

I try my best to ignore their laughter, but it wasn't easy doing so. I glance down at my glasses, noticing a crack in the right lens. Great. That's going to cost Mom three hundred dollars to replace them.

I stare at the mess in front of me, feeling bad that the janitor will have to clean this up later, as well as feeling dirty. My black shirt was soaked after spilling the milk, along with the ketchup. I start picking up the fries and what was once a hamburger, placing it on the tray and not wanting to make the janitor feel like he has to clean everything.

As I start to clean, someone throws something at me, hitting my back followed by laughter from Liam and his group of friends. I reach behind my back, grabbing a slice of white bread with peanut butter and jelly on it. I drop it on my tray. I get to my feet, turning to Liam and his friends, clenching my fist and narrowing my eyes at them to tell them to stop it. I had enough of this. I couldn't let them do this to me anymore.

I open my mouth to say something to them, but froze, my mind telling me that speaking up would be a bad idea.

Liam stands up from his chair and folds his arms across his chest. "Do you have something to say, Four Eyes?"

I look from Liam, to his friends, to everyone else in the cafeteria. No one seemed to care what was happening to me as they ate and talk to their friends. I see Emily sitting two tables away from us. Her friends were chatting to each other while she was staring at me. She looked as if she was unsure if she should come over here and tell her boyfriend to knock it off. I quickly turn away from her before Liam catches me staring at her, looking at the floor. I stare at it for a brief moment before turning to run out of the cafeteria, humiliated. One of Liam's friends calls me a wimp for running off.

Because that's was what I was: a wimp.