We all loved Sunny. He was not much of a talkative person due to an accident he had, but he was a great listener. He would listen as we vented out our frustrations, comforted us whenever we needed it, and would give us advice. Looking back, he never asked to vent to us; instead, he kept his feelings inside. We never knew that he would do this.
Sunny walked with us to school today. Hero wasn't feeling well so Mari stayed home to take care of him. Basil and Kel were discussing cacti while Sunny walked up to us.
"Hey, Sunny. How are you today?" I asked.
Sunny waved, cliff-faced as usual.
"I'm fine." He said.
Kel and Basil notice Sunny.
"Sunny! My dude! How was your weekend?" Kel says, in his usual excitement.
"It was decent, Mari and I fought again but that's all I remember." He said.
I put my hand on his shoulder.
"Why? What caused her to be mad at you?" Basil asks.
"I-I don't know. She was mad at me because of how close the recital was. I just haven't felt like playing."
Sunny stood there, silently he took out his water and took a small sip. We all looked at him.
"Hey, what if we talked to her?" I ask
Sunny shakes his head.
The bus arrived and we sat down. Sunny sits next to me. I offer him a stick of my gum, but he declines.
"So, Sunny? Have you thought about what you want for your birthday?" Kel asks.
He shakes his head.
"Awww," Kel says in disappointment.
"I think I know what I'm getting you," I tell him.
"You don't have to."
I could tell his throat hurt a bit.
"Too bad! I already got it. It's at my house."
I give him a big smile. His eyes seem to shimmer a bit but he remains neutral in expression. The bus lets us off. Kel and Basil walk the other way as I and Sunny walk to the first block. Sunny glances at me for a second before looking away.
"Hm? You alright Sunny?" I ask.
He looks away, almost embarrassed at me noticing.
"Sunny, you don't have to be embarrassed."
He looks even more embarrassed.
"Do you want me to leave you alone?" I ask walking a little faster to give him the distance. He grabs my arm.
"...No," He says, holding my arm. His voice is weak.
I shrug and we walk together the rest of the way.
"I dunno if you noticed but I dyed my ends and a streak pink in my hair!" I say excitedly.
"I did notice. It looks pretty." I could hear him struggle to say.
Sunny sits down at his desk as I sit at the desk next to him. Sunny grabs out his notebook and starts taking notes. A piece of paper hits him on the head. I take it and read. It was calling him a freak and telling him to commit death.
"Hey! Fuck you assholes! You wanna mess with Sunny, you gotta go through me!" I yell.
"AUBREY! Headmaster's office now!" The teacher yelled.
Sunny watched as I grabbed my stuff and left with a sigh.
The trip to the headmaster's office was boring and I kept hoping Sunny was okay. Sunny stopped by the office after class when they let me go.
"Oh! Hey Sunny." He catches me off guard.
"...Hi," He says.
"I didn't think you would wait for me," I told him.
"... I'm sorry." He says.
"For what? You didn't do anything."
"I got you in trouble. I didn't want to."
I grab his head and hold it.
"Look at me, Sunny. I will protect you no matter what. Got it?"
He nods.
I let go of him and he hugs me.
"We should get to our classes."
"Agreed."
I walk Sunny to his class before going to mine. The people from earlier stop me after my class. They try to look threatening. They fail, and I laugh.
"Oooh so scary~ Anyway, fuck ya I got lunch to eat."
Kel runs up to me as I walked to the cafeteria.
"Hey, Aubrey!"
"Hey, Kel, what's up?"
"When is Sunny's birthday again? I kinda forgot."
"Ugh, Kel. His birthday is next Tuesday, remember? We get out of school tomorrow for the break?"
"Right. Thanks, Aubrey."
We go and sit at the table with Sunny and Basil.
"Anyway, Aubrey? Who were those guys you were talking to before I came up to you?"
I put my hand on Sunny's shoulder.
"Do you want me to tell them?"
He shrugs. The others look at me confused.
"A bunch of dudes was making fun of Sunshine over here. I was telling them off."
Kel brings out his phone and starts texting someone while everyone is insulting the dudes.
"Who ya texting Kel?"
He looks at me.
"Hm? Oh, I'm texting Hero about what happened."
"Why?"
Kel almost laughs.
"Hero just told Mari and she's pissed."
The table went silent. Sunny looks a bit scared. I put my arm around him.
"Sunshine, she isn't mad at you. She is mad at the people who made fun of you, and even if she would be mad at you, we all got your back."
He calms down. The rest of the day flies by. Sunny, Basil, Kel, and I head home. I walk Sunny inside. Mari was waiting for him. She looked pissed. Sunny moved behind me.
"What happened?" She sternly asks.
" Hero told you everything we know."
"Aubrey, I asked Sunny, not you."
"I don't care, you can't talk to him until you're calmed down."
" What?" She looked furious.
I take Sunny away from her. He seems thankful for my actions.
"Get back here. I'm not done. Sunny, will we forget why we were arguing last night?"
Sunny looked at me for comfort.
"HERO! CALM YOUR GIRL!" Hero ran out to see what happened.
"Sunny? Aubrey? What's wrong? Why is Mari so angry?"
"Hero. I want Sunny to tell me what happened."
"I told you everything that happened. Plus you're scaring Sunny."
I held Sunny closer to me, I could feel small tears fall onto my shoulder. She noticed and immediately ran to him.
"Sunny! I'm so sorry! I just wanted to know!"
Sunny moves past Mari and goes upstairs. Hero, Mari, and I were standing there.
"Umm, I guess we should go home."
Hero leaves and I follow. When I get home I text Sunny.
"Hey, Sunshine, how ya holding up?"
"I'm okay. Sorry about earlier."
"It's all good Sunshine."
The next day, I opened my door to see Sunny about to knock on my door. He was looking at the floor, almost like he didn't notice that I opened the door.
"Morning, Sunshine."
He jumps up, spooked by my sudden speech.
"H-hi."
I giggle to myself.
Sunny and I met everyone at the park.