Wish You Were Here

Chapter One

Chapter 1         

She looked at me.            
    "What?" I asked, while we both looked away blushing, neither of us wanting to answer the question I had just asked.
   
    My name is Atticus Matthews, and honestly, I'm a pretty unattractive guy. I had dark brown hair that was swooped left over top, parted on the right, and shaved underneath. The hair was just like pretty much every other guy in the history of West Plains High School. That was maybe the only normal thing about me.
    I wasn't even well known around my school. Nobody hardly even knew I existed unless I was doing something to tick someone off, which I was apparently always doing, even if I didn't realize it. If anyone was built entirely out of flaws, it would be me. My eyes were two different colors. Not like the super pretty ones you see on the internet or on a cat, with green and blue or blue and brown. My eyes were a super dark brown and bright, bright gray/hazel. My build was terrible, I was literally a stick. It may seem like a blessing to some, but I was way too small. I can hardly eat anything without it causing extreme pain, and I couldn't explain it if I tired. I didn't want to be this small, I was born this way. Almost every piece of clothing I owned was too big, but that may have been a result of my family having a huge shortage of money, pretty much all the time. I had a huge bandage on my nose from where it had recently been broken. I almost always had some kind of brace or something on me, I was always getting hurt or bullied. If someone can't find me, they shouldn't worry, I'm most likely being bullied or hurt. They wouldn't care anyway. Just a few of the joys of being Atticus Matthews.
       
    It didn't really matter. I was a loner and I was grateful that I didn't have to answer questions or worry about if my friends would like something. All I need is my brother Sean. I don't care, I don't need friends to be happy. Well, I didn't care.

It all started last week.

   
1

I had bumped into Cole Mason in the courtyard. "Watch where you're going! Oh, it's Addie," he said in his deep, menacing voice. He had called me that way too many times.
"Don't call me that." I mumbled in response.
"What did you say, punk?"
"Uh....nothing."
"I wanna hear what you said, Addie."
"I SAID DON'T CALL ME THAT!"
                           
I spun around struck him square in the face, sending him falling to the ground with a thud.
Everyone stopped in their tracks. I had attracted looks from the entire campus.
"You want to play that game? Alright then. You don't know where, or when, but you've got it coming. You better sleep with one eye open Atticus Matthews, because soon, you're going to get something you'll never forget."
     He walked away and everyone returned to their normal, noisy high school lifestyle. I was scared, this was Cole Mason in his full form. I don't think I had ever pissed someone off worse.
Continuing to class, I heard various remarks, with people saying things like:
"He's way too pissed to wait and plan something good."
"He's got it coming soon."
"He's not gonna forget this."
"His life is probably going to be terrible from here on out."
    As if my life was good now. It was already pretty shitty, and it was about to just get worse.

I rushed to my engineering class, trying to ignore the stares and murmurs. I had just punched out the star quarterback, who also happened to be the biggest bully in our school. At least he was to me. Everyone in the school knew better than to disrespect Cole Mason, and out of all the people, I was the one to punch him. Me. I was scared for my life, but also felt a sense of pride. I knew I was about to be tormented for the rest of my life, but I was now seen somewhat differently. I was actually seen. I wasn't just another bundle of atoms put together to take up space in a hallway. I was the kid who punched out the star quarterback. So I thought.

As I sat down in Mrs. Jones's engineering class, I looked behind me and saw two new things.
One: Cole Mason looking madder than I'd ever seen.
Two: A beautiful new face looking at me.
I was so starstruck I couldn't even think about Cole. This girl was like, the entire definition of hot. She had bright, fiery red hair that was layered, rested on her shoulder, and was parted to the side. Her face was delicate and light. She had a small cluster of freckles on each cheek and piercing blue eyes that would make a robin's egg jealous. I didn't realize I was staring until she said something.
2