Short stories +++

Never Give Up

“What the hell are you doing? You stupid idiot!” oh, God, oh, God, oh, God! Tom was definitely the stupid idiot. How could you call someone who was about to jump off a bridge, a stupid idiot? Especially someone who was going to jump because he was bullied, and who did not have a bungy jumping cord,

“I-I-I d-didn’t m-meant t-toooo.” Bill looked like a dear caught in the headlights. “I-I’m s-s-so s-s-sorry. I-I w-wasn’t really g-gonna j…” it was obvious he could not finish.

“Hey, dude. It’s okay. Just why would you do something like that? I mean it’s so … stupid.” Stupid question, stupid Tom, and the stupid-count was currently at four or five, Tom was loosing count.

“I-I’m sorry. I-I wasn’t r-really gonna d-do it, y-you know…” He trailed off.

“Man, you look a mess. Let’s just step away from the edge, and clean you up, huh? Whaddayah say to that? Hmm? Come on now, nice and easy.” Tom felt…stupid, again. He had no idea how to speak to someone who had just tried to… to kill themself. But apparently it worked to speak like he would to a two-year-old.

When Bill was standing next to him, he realized how tall Bill really was. Tom was one of the taller guys in his year, but Bill was a few centimetres taller. Tom also noticed that close up, Bill was very pretty. He had flawless skin except for a beauty mark on the right side under his lip. The eyes were the most mesmerizing things he had seen. Long, black lashes, and perfect eyebrows enclosed them. Tom was sure that if Bill was a girl he would be in love, the whole school would. That was part of the problem though, Bill looked so feminine and fragile. He never stood up for himself, and he had no self-esteem. Tom caught himself thinking that the only thing that was not perfect about bill right then, was his makeup.  He snapped out of it.

“Uh, so, lets get you home then.“ Tom trailed off.

“Sorry.” That seemed to be Bills favourite word. That bothered Tom.

“Would you just quit saying sorry all the time? It is so annoying!” Tom often said things without thinking, and could see that this had hurt Bill.

“Sor-“ Tom cut him short with a glance.

“Forget it. Where do you live?” Bill stared walking.

When he got home, Bill was still in shock. He had been wrong, someone did seem to care. At least enough to stop him.  The guy with the blond dreads seemed nice. Bill recognized him from school, but had no idea what his name was. Bill did not bother with names; he just categorized people into bullies and ignorers. Tom did not fit into any of the categories. After a lot of thinking, he fell into an uneven and troubled sleep. Bill was not looking forward to school. Dreadlock guy had probably told everyone he knew, and that seemed to be the entire school. The bullies would be worse than ever. Bill had to hurry to get to school in time, he hated being late. Everyone would stare at him, and laugh. Bill did not have time to do his hair, but hurriedly slapped on some make-up. That was the one thing he could not live without. It felt good to paint a mask over his own face. Bill looked at his watch.

“Shoot!” Five minutes until the bell rings.

Bill was out of breath and clammy when he reached school, but at least he was in time, barely. He sprinted to the classroom while trying to dodge people. Luckily he arrived before the teacher, but there was only one seat available. It was the seat he wanted least of all, it stood in the centre of the room and shared a desk with a tall blond with dreadlocks. Bill froze when he saw everyone look at him. Looking at his feet he shuffled over to the empty seat and the guy with dreads. He was asleep.

Tom woke with a shock, disoriented and with a splitting headache on one side of his head. He looked around to see a terrified black-haired kid. A kid with eyeliner and tight clothes. Everyone was laughing, except for Bill. Then he heard a tap, tap, tap, and looked up to see the teacher staring angrily down at him. He looked innocently up at her and yawned.

“At least try not to snore, would you Thomas?” She asked with a hint of evil sarcasm.

“My name isn’t Thomas.” Tom replied, but she was already leaving and did not hear him. So instead he turned to Bill.

“Why do I have a headache?” as if Bill would know.

“You were snoring, so Mrs. Stronghold picked your head up and then dropped it back down on the desk. It was funny.” Bill was definitely weird, but that was what Tom liked about him. He was not afraid to be himself. And he had to admit, it did sound funny. There was something about Bill that seemed different. Tom did not see it at first, but then noticed that Bill had his hair down, without any gunk in it, and he was smiling. Then an idea struck him and Tom stuck his index finger in the air, he probably looked like an idiot, but he only got a great idea every so often.

“Hey, do you wanna come over to my place after school?” Bill looked like he needed a friend, and Tom liked him, he was cool.

The question caught Bill off guard. He was in a total state of shock. Bill had learnt the hard way that no one could be trusted, but Tom had saved his life, or at least cared enough to try to stop Bill from jumping. That must mean something, right?

“Um, I-I don’t know, I’ve never been at anyone else’s place before…” He trailed off, Tom must think he was a total looser, of course he probably thought that already.

“Okay, I’ll meet you at the gates after last period.” Then the bell rang.

A year had passed and Bill was back on the bridge, but this time he was not alone. Tom was there with him. They were friends, and they were happy. Bill was not teased as much, but still had the same style as always. Bill and Tom had started writing songs together. Tom played the guitar, and Bill sang. Together nothing could get them down.