Opposites Attract

Finley Moore laid in her bed as she usually did on school mornings, staring at the ceiling. She counted the stripes on her quilt, murmuring the numbers to herself. “33… 34...35… 36…” Once she was finished she squeezed her eyes shut, recalling the names that almost everyone at school called her. “Freak”, “loon”, and “nutcase” were a few. Having severe OCD only allowed the list of names to grow, as the other students at her school weren't particularly kind. Her mother came upstairs and knocked on the door, reminding her that the school bus would be at the bus stop in ten minutes, and that she needed to get up and get dressed. Her mother then went back downstairs, grabbed her suitcase and went out to the waiting cab to head to the airport and back to her husband and other children, who all lived a few states away, as her father was a prominent politician who didn't like his daughter's "issues" sullying his image.

Finley reluctantly rolled out of bed once her mother was gone, changing out of her pajamas and into a simple outfit, pulling on a jacket as she grabbed her backpack and went downstairs, tying her shoes before she headed out of the house. After making sure to lock up before she headed to the bus stop at the end of the street, counting the cracks in the pavement as she went.

Ryan walked towards the doors of the school with his friends, holding his gym bag. He had never been one to hate school like others. Ryan has plenty of friends, the teachers loved him, he was captain of the football team, and he was a happy guy. He did notice that sometimes this friends weren't the nicest to people. He sometimes fell victim to acting the same way. Afterwards he did find himself feeling bad.

When he got to his locker, he leaned against it. He grinned as his friend made a joke. Suddenly, he seen his friends look over at some people coming in. He noticed a familiar face. Finley Moore. He didn't know much about her, but he did know that people bullied her for being different. Ryan opened his locker, shoving his stuff inside. He heard his friends teasing her so he reached over and spun her lock on her locker. He knew she had OCD and it would bother her.

"Sorry." He teased, chuckling with his friends. He could hear their laughter behind him.

@ katahdin

@ XXGhostyXX

Finley did her best to ignore the teasing and jeers as she walked into school, heading straight for her locker, although the teasing only followed her. As she started to put in the combination on her lock someone reached over and spun it the wrong way, a deep frown appearing on her lips as she looked at who did it. The captain of the football team. Normally he didn't really instigate the teasing, but he'd join in with his friends and egged them on. She stared at him for a moment, as if trying to decided whether or not to say anything before she looked away, focusing again on getting her lock open. It wasn't worth interacting with them, they'd never listen, and they'd only tease her more.

Once her locker was open she began switching out her books and papers for her first class, and was nearly finished when one of Ryan's friends decided to slam the locker door shut on her fingers as hard as he could, the group erupting in laughter. Her hazel eyes widened in shock and pain afterword, biting her lip hard to keep her face as straight as possible, pushing the locker open again to get her injured hand out of the way, tucking it out of the way while she quickly locked up her locker again before taking off toward the nurse's office, convinced her fingers were broken.

Ryan watched as the door was slammed on her fingers and he quit laughing. He looked at his friends as they kept laughing when she walked off. Ryan was all for teasing, but he didn't like when they actually harmed people. He shut his locker, pushing through them.

"Ryan, where are you going!?"

He looked at his friends, "To class, obviously." He said as he walked down the hallway. He stopped, seeing that she was headed towards the nurses off. He sighed and headed over to her. He waited til the nurse went to check on one of the other kids before knocking on the doorframe. Ryan's eyes met hers. "Are you okay?" He asked.

@ katahdin

@ XXGhostyXX

Finley glanced up when she heard the knock, instantly frowning when she saw that it was him. Her eyes were a bit watery from unshed tears, and her fingers were already starting to bruise and swell, although they didn't look broken, even if it did look like it hurt like hell. She looked away from him as quickly as she'd looked away from him, giving a curt little nod as she focused on her hand, trying to keep from trembling while she waited for the nurse.

"I'm fine.." She mumbled softly, taking a little step further into the office, hoping the nurse would hurry up and at least give her an ice pack or something.

Ryan looked at her hand, seeing how bad it was swelling. "I'm sorry that they did that to you." He said. He had noticed that his friends were getting a lot harsher when it came to the bullying. He set his bag down on the chair near him and stepped a little closer to her. "Let me see it." He said, grabbing her wrist gently. He looked at her fingers, then looked at her. "It looks like they are just badly bruised. They don't look broken. Aspirin and ice should help." He told her.

Ryan moved over to the nurses fridge and pulled out an ice pack. He offered it to her. "Don't worry Ms. Peck won't mind." He said.

@ katahdin

@ XXGhostyXX

Finley frowned as he suddenly stepped forward and took her wrist, tensing as she began to panic a little, not very fond of people touching her. She got her hand free of his grasp as quickly and painlessly as she could, taking a few quick steps back when he moved to get an ice pack. After taking it and setting it on her fingers with a little sigh she glanced over at him, studying him suspiciously. It all had to be part of the prank, some sick joke where he pretended to be nice to her and then his friends show up and play some dumb cruel joke on her.

She wasn't going to fall for it though, so after taking the aspirin that the nurse gave her she quickly left the nurse's office, heading not toward her class but toward the exit that let out toward the football fields. During the day when everyone was in class she liked to sit outside, where it was quiet and no one bothered her or called her names.

Ryan watched as she left and he sighed. He knew that she didn't trust him. He had two options, go to the class he hated or go try to talk to her some more. He grabbed his stuff, before following her. He was surprised to find her out by the football field. Ryan walked over to her and smirked.

"You really hate me that much, huh?" He asked as he glanced out at the football field. He looked over at her. "Why would you want to spend your time out here?" He asked.

@ katahdin

@ XXGhostyXX

By the time Ryan caught up with her she'd taken a seat on one of the bleachers and pulled out one of her books for class, attempting to flip through it with one hand, although she only ended up dropping it. She glanced over at Ryan with a frown when he began to speak, shifting a little on the bleachers to get more comfortable, shivering a little in the cool autumn air.

"... No one hates me out here." She admitted softly as she looked away, expecting him to laugh or tease her. She'd have to find somewhere else to go during the day now, as he'd surely tell his friends where she was, and they'd never stop bothering her.

Ryan looked down at the book, before picking it up. He sat down on the bleachers next to her, handing her the book. "I don't think they hate you. I think they think you are just an easy target." He said as he looked at the football field. Ryan set it stuff down and leaned back on the bleacher behind him.

"I am sorry it got out of hand though. I wasn't expecting them to do something like that." He told her. He didn't understand why people didn't like her. She didn't seem that bad.

@ katahdin

@ XXGhostyXX

Finley carefully took the book from him, murmuring a small "Thank you" as she shoved it back into her bag, afraid she'd drop it again. She shrugged a little as he spoke, adjusting the ice pack on her fingers as she shivered from the cold.

"They throw rocks sometimes when I'm walking home... The bruises only hurt for a day or so, so it's not bad.." she mumbled, focusing her attention on the football field, quietly counting the yard markers. The simple act helped her to calm down when she was feeling stressed, whether it was counting tiles on the floor or the stripes on her shirt.

Ryan couldn't believe that they were throwing rocks at her. He shook his head, "You shouldn't think that it is okay for them to do that." He said, shaking his head. Ryan looked out at the football field. "Maybe they are just taking things too far with you. He frowned when he heard the laughter of his friend nearby. Ryan knew that he couldn't let them know that he was talking to her. Ryan stood up, staring at her as his friend came around the corner. He gave her a look to let her know he was sorry before he grabbed her bag and tossed it down the bleachers. His friends began the laugh and so did he.

"Get the hell out of here!" He yelled at her, laughing.

@ katahdin

@ XXGhostyXX

Finley tensed as she heard his friend's laughter, frowning as she watched Ryan stand. She started to protest as he grabbed her bag, hurrying down the bleachers to go collect it, quickly shoving the books and papers that had fallen out back in as Ryan and his friends laughed at her. Once everything was packed up she stood to leave, intending to leave school for the day, as she didn't think she could handle much else.

However, once she was standing one of Ryan's friends grabbed her bag from her arms, laughing as he and another tossed it back and forth in a little game of keep away while Finley tried to get it back. After a while one tossed the bag into a mud puddle, erupting into a fit of laughter. "Get the hell out of here, freak. You'll leave your disease behind and we'll all catch it." He said, giving her a little shove before he and the others headed back to class.

Ryan walked off the bleachers as his friends tossed the bag back and forth. he frowned as they shoved her. As his friends walked off he glanced over at her. "Ry, let's go!" His friend yelled. Ryan shook his head, before grabbing his stuff and going after his friends. He sighed as he walked into the school. He knew that she would probably not be returning to class because of them. He stared at the clock the whole time until the bell rang. Ryan knew he couldn't just leave class because he had practice after school. His parents would kill him if he missed that. Maybe they wouldn't notice he was gone if he came back in time. He tossed his stuff into his locker and headed out of the school. He knew where Finley lived because knew year people pranked her house.

Ryan walked up to her front door and knocked, glancing around at the porch.

@ katahdin

@ XXGhostyXX

Finley thought it was odd for someone to be knocking on her door, especially during this time of day, but she stopped what she was doing to go answer, assuming it would be the mailman or someone looking for directions. She was surprised to see Ryan on the other side when she opened the door, evident by her shocked expression, but it quickly gave way to one of panic as she started shaking her head, moving to close the door quickly.

"No no no no no." She mumbled to herself, assuming that he was here with his friends to pull some sort of prank on her. "No one is home, have a nice day."

Ryan placed his hand on the door so she couldn't shut it. "Wait, it's just me." He said. He didn't push the door open, but he was hoping she would open it. "I just wanted to apologize for earlier. I didn't think they would take it that far." He explained. "Please let me in." He said. He knew she probably didn't trust him. Ryan sighed as he stepped back from the door.

@ katahdin

@ XXGhostyXX

Finley peered out at him skeptically through the crack in the door as he spoke, frowning deeply. After opening the door a bit wider so she could peek out and make sure no one else was waiting behind him she hesitantly pushed the door open enough so he could come inside, chewing on her lip nervously.

"A-Alright.. But I-I was making lunch, and I don't have enough for two... But you can have mine if you're hungry. I don't mind." She offered as he stepped inside, hoping that maybe if she gave him her lunch he wouldn't trash her house or come back with his friends. The house was small and perfectly tidy, although it felt quite cozy.

Ryan stepped inside, glancing around her how. "I don't want your food. I can't really stay long because I have to get back to school. I can't miss practice." He said as he put his hands in his pockets. "I am sorry about what happened though. I thought maybe they would leave you alone if I did something. I was wrong. Are you okay?" He asked as he looked over at some pictures the walls. "You have a nice place." He said.

@ katahdin

@ XXGhostyXX

Finley frowned a little as he spoke, moving back to the kitchen to make sure that her meal wasn't burning, but she kept an eye on him, not completely trusting him not to make a mess or reveal that this was some kind of joke. After a few minutes of silence she looked back over at him, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Why do you care?" She asked with a frown. "You laugh and joke around with them all the time. It's never bothered you before today. And if you're really bothered by it that much, why not tell them to knock it off?" She shook her head a little as she focused her attention on making her lunch, letting out a little sigh. "You just think you think what they're doing is wrong.. You must have had a bad night's sleep, or hit your head or something.. By tomorrow everything will be back to normal." she murmured quietly to herself, as if trying to convince herself that by tomorrow he'd leave her alone.