Bully (Chardre)

5

»The New Girl«

'Leo!' I heard Conor call after me as I was walking out of my first class of the day.

I directed my attention to towards where he was standing, yawning tiredly, and made my way to him. 'Yeah bro?' I smiled.

Then my eyes drifted towards the unfamiliar face of a girl standing next to him. She was shorter than me, very pretty, had brown hair that somehow looked gold in the light and pale skin. Once her green eyes met mine, she smiled a very welcoming smile, with a light shade of pink dusted over her cheeks. It seemed to immediately light me up and put me in a better mood than the one that I was already in. She was beautiful.

Too bad I'm gay.

'Leo, this is Molly. She's new here', Conor introduced her to me, 'She's friends with Jade. I have a feeling that you two would get on very well'.

Conor winked at me, implying that this new girl Molly and I should date. I felt a bit sick in my mouth, but then realised that I hadn't yet come out to him or Noah, so I couldn't really blame him for trying to set me up with her.

'Nice to meet you', I grinned politely at her.

'You too', she spoke softly. If I was straight, she would be the definition of perfect.

I really hoped that Molly wouldn't catch feelings for me, however, and that we could just be friends. She seemed nice.

...

Later in the day, I was sat at a table, laughing with Conor and Noah whilst they ate their lunch. I wasn't feeling so hungry at the moment, so I just occasionally sipped from a bottle of water. In the distance, I could see Molly deep in conversation with Jade, Conor's girlfriend.

I turned back around to face my friends and was greeted by the sight of Conor raising an eyebrow.
'So, what do you think about Molly? You seemed to be staring at her so I'm assuming you like her', He smirked suggestively.

'Um-', I was just about to explain that she 'wasn't my type', which was code for 'I'm really not interested in females because I am extremely gay', when Conor interrupted me.

'I mean you two would get along so well. She even said that you're just her type. And I've never even heard you talk about any girls before'.

'I don't know...' My eyes reverted to the ground awkwardly.

'Please Leondre, just give her a chance'.

'Okay fine', I sighed, giving in, even though I knew that it would never actually work out between us.

Noah was oddly quiet during all of this, but I decided not to think too much of it.

'Ah, good! I knew you'd come around', Conor smiled happily.

What have I gotten myself into?

...

It was now the end of the day, and I felt myself become relieved at the fact that Charlie couldn't do anything to me. I was in power now.

Although I couldn't just smile widely in the corridors as that would be extremely weird, I did feel a sense of happiness wash over me.

I made my way to the school exit, backpack swung over my shoulder and not a care in the world, when I heard somebody calling after me. I stopped in my tracks, with the daily fear that I had experienced for the past year suddenly consuming me, before realising that the voice was in fact feminine and belonged to somebody that I had met earlier in the day.

Molly lightly jogged up to me. 'Hey', she smiled.

'Hey Molly', I smiled back, watching as her eyes lit up.

Suddenly, her feet started shuffling nervously whilst she played with her fingers and I watched both with curiosity and confusion as she inhaled a deep breath. 'Sorry to bother you, but I was wondering if you would like to do something with me sometime. I mean you don't have to if you don't want to but-'

She watched sadly as she noticed the bright smile I had on my face a few moments ago falter after she had offered. I felt almost angry in a way as it pained me that I hadn't come out to anyone yet, not even my own mother! But then I remembered what Conor had told me earlier, like how he wanted me to give her a chance. So, I mentally sighed, and replaced my current frown with my previous smile and started to accept her offer.

'Sure, I would love to', I answered, watching as she immediately became happy again.

'Wow I didn't think you say yes. Thank you so much, Leo!' she wrapped her arms around me, taking me in her embrace.

I hesitantly wrapped my arms around her too, grinning into the hug. Sure, this felt nice, but it also felt so so wrong. Not only the hug, but me having to go out with someone who I'm not even remotely interested in just for the sake of a friend wanting me too.

In the corner of my eye, I spotted the familiar face of somebody who didn't seem to be so happy. Charlie stood nearby, with his arms folded as he stared at me hugging Molly.

Once we had both pulled away from the hug and said our goodbyes to one another, Charlie made his way towards me. I gulped in fear, although I knew that he couldn't do anything to me without his school reputation being ruined completely.

'Who's the girl?' He asked.
'Her name's Molly. She's new'.
'Do you like her?'

I nodded slowly. I mean, that wasn't a complete lie. I did like her, but only in a friendly sort of way.

'Ha', Charlie laughed, 'Good luck with that. I bet she only hugged you because she feels so-'

I shot him a look that said 'you know what I'll do if you continue', so he stopped what he was saying and sighed heavily, a look of reluctance and fear evident on his face.

I couldn't help but notice how vulnerable he looked. I'll admit, I felt kind of sorry for him. His features seemed very different to when he had his usual intimidating expression on. And I couldn't stop myself from thinking of just how cute he looked.

...