Every Inch of Sanity

"That's Ray over there, with the Afro and the headphones." , she continued, pointing to a slightly tanned boy sitting two seats behind her."That's Frank, the one with the black hair and lip ring, and that's Jamia, his girlfriend beside him.The blond one with the lip ring is Bob."

I nodded as she pointed each one out, gaining grins from them in return.

Turning herself in her seat,she said, "And this is Mikey, Gerard's younger brother."

The tiny, nerdy looking boy looked up at the mention of his name, and I was shocked to see his eyes behind his square rimmed glasses.
They were red.Bloodshot.
Looking extremely tired and miserable, he nodded.Purple shadows were under his eyes, making him look a lot older than he is.
I hesitantly took a seat next to his battered form, curiosity pulsing through me.

The rest of the bus ride was silent except for the chatter of the surrounding people.I had tried using my iPod and to my luck, it was still working, although the screen was a disaster.I had known my way around the songs, for I hadn't changed the play-list for almost a month.

As I lightly tapped my finger on my knee to the beat of the music pulsing in my headphones, I saw a single tear slide down Mikey's cheek.

I straightened from my slouch in the seat, and pulled the headphones from my ears, staring at him.
At that moment, Eliza turned around in her seat to look at me over the back.

"So, where are you - "

Her sentence was cut of as she saw I was staring at something.She stared at me, then slowly followed my gaze to the now soundlessly crying Mikey.
A soft sigh of sympathy escaped her lips, sorrow and worry creasing her eyebrows.She adjusted herself in her seat, and cupped Mikey's wet cheeks in her hand.
Eyes glassy from crying, he stared up at her.

"Mikey, hon, just forget about her.", she said softly, attracting the attention of Gerard.

He turned in his seat to face us."She was a pain in the ass anyway." , he added, matter-of-factly.

Both Mikey and Eliza shot him a glare, and Mikey pushed Eliza's hand away.Wiping his eyes, he stepped out to the aisle, and darted to the back of the bus, sitting on an empty seat beside the window.

I sent both Eliza and Gerard a questioning look.

Sighing softly, Eliza said, "He just found out his girlfriend of two years was cheating on him with this rich dude, since they first began dating."

Sorrow covered her expression as Gerard added , "It really destroyed him, he really loved the bitch."

I nodded in understanding, turning in my seat slightly to look at Mikey at the back.

"So...", Gerard started, "Tell us more about yourself."

Astonished at how fast he dismissed what just happened, I engaged into a long boring explanation of my fucked up life.Between the divorce, my drunk mum, having to move a lot and my annoying sibling.

I wasn't planning to get any more friendly to those guys than I was to the kids in my school back at NY, but I have no idea what happened.They seemed to be very nice, and curiosity filled me about Mikey.
Call it a sixth sense, but I had a strong feeling that I'll somehow be staying for a while in New Jersey, more than just a year.
Might as well spend it with friends.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The bus made a sharp stop in front of what I believed to be my new school.Everybody stood up, carrying their bags and continuing their excited chatter.
I descended the steps, Eliza and everyone behind me.
After a little chitchat with everyone in the bus, I had gotten to know every one of them a tad bit better.Well, except for Mikey
He had refused to join us, preferring to sit alone at the back of the bus.Everyone seemed to know he'd do that, so they didn't comment.

I took a minute to take in the old building.A small , battered sign rose high above the red bricks.
'Belleville High' , it read.

Pretty much everywhere we went, people greeted Eliza and the others.They seemed quite popular, on a certain basis.

Is there one in every school?, I thought bitterly, as I saw Reese throwing disgusting looks our way as she was rushed to the clinic,blood-wet Kleenex in her hand.

We entered the crowded building, and after I asked Eliza where the Principal's office was, I ran off to get my timetable and locker number.

"Miss Kendra Nielson?", the old secretary asked and I nodded, taking the slip of paper with my timetable , homeroom number,locker number and code on it.

Thanking her, I ran outside to meet Eliza and the guys again.

As soon as they were in view, I ran to them ,seeing Mikey was there.
He was there, but he wasn't.
If that made any sense.
No sound came out of him.He was just standing there behind them, silent and staring into space.
I kept my eyes on him as I halted before them, but was distracted when Eliza snatched the paper from my hand.

"Oh cool, you're in the same homeroom as Bobert.", she said, and Bob nudged her arm playfully.

I smiled at their playfulness and as the bell rang, Bob shouted for me to follow him.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Thank you guys for showing me around today.", I smiled genuinely, grateful.

For the first time in what felt like forever, someone had showed me around, took me to my locker, and sat with me at lunch.
It was a good feeling, having company.And I was starting to love it.

"No biggie.", Frank laughed, his 5'4 form standing beside Jamia, his arm draped casually around her waist.

Laughing internally at how short he was, I snatched my bag higher up my shoulder.

"Okay then, I guess I'll see you later.", I smiled, deciding I'd walk home.

"Okay sweets, see you tomorrow.", Gerard said, and a chorus of good-byes issued from everyone.Everyone, except Mikey, that is.

I watched them walk away, Mikey hanging back behind them, his steps small and sluggish.

Poor guy.

He seemed so....broken

Thinking I knew nothing about heartbreaks and regretting it, I started the long walk to my new house.