I'm With The Band

I was ready, I could do this. I was not going to fall, I was not going to snort and shoot milk through my nose, and I was not, I repeat not, going to make a fool of myself. Not today on the first day of school. There was no way in hell.

That was...Until I used the bathroom.

There was one thing I vowed I would never in a million years do, and that was use the school bathroom. But I made an exception after eating a bad taco. In other words I got the shits, so I had to go, I just had to.

After feeling good enough I flushed the toilet and picked up my bag, I washed my hands and exited the bathroom. I walked with pride outside to get some fresh air. That's when I started to think about Brandon.

We hung out a few times during the summer, mainly working on my documentary, which he became a big part of. We went to our local water park and filmed the people who made a fool of themselves and made commentaries on them.

Brandon would laugh when I'd march behind a fat guy covered in white sunscreen. And I would blush when he told me I did it a little too well.

I was so focused on what happened to me this summer I didn't hear the snickers and random bursts of laughter coming from behind me, I brushed them off like they were no big deal. That was, until someone pulled me by my arm and pushed me up against a wall.

"Ow! What the hell dude?!" I cried. It hurt being shoved up against a wall. This guy was staring at me with serious eyes. Seriously cute eyes. They were a soft blue, his hair was blond and he had cute lips. He was possibly cuter than Brandon?

"You...Wow, you just committed social suicide." He said in such a serious tone I began to worry.

"What the fuck are you talking about?" I asked, confused as hell. I didn't know what in the world he was talking about. This stranger reached for my butt and before I could slap it away he pulled toilet paper from it. He waved it in my face as if to say "Ha-ha loser".

My eyes went big and tears began to form in my eyes. I had really just walked through the middle of the cafeteria with toilet paper butt.

"Oh," was all I could muster to him. He just shook his head and tossed the paper in the trash can.

"You...are...screwed." He said. I sighed and shook my head.

"No, I refuse to believe that. Not everyone saw that. No one knows me. I'm new here. They will forget about this in a couple of days." I think I just convinced myself...

This unknown boy laughed and began to walk away.

"Believe what you want to believe, but no one forgets what happens to the fat chick." And with that he turned completely around and walked away. Tears threatened to fall and I held them in long enough to walk out to the parking lot to Brandon's car. Of course he wasn't going to be there, this wasn't summer band.

I slid down the side of his car and cried my eyes out. This was my first day and already I was being called fat, and already I made a fool of myself. How were they ever going to get to know the real me?

"Haley?" I looked up to the familiar voice of Brandon. When he saw my tears his eyes went all big and he dropped to his knees and pulled me into a hug. "Haley? What happened?" He asked, his eyes were completely filled with worry. I wiped away my tears.

"I already made a fool of myself. I want it to be summer again, when it was just you and me making fun of the people that were fatter than me..." My voice carried off as I said the last few words.

"Oh Haley, you're not fat!" He defended. My voice turned sharp and cruel.

"Brandon! You just met me! I'm fat okay! I'm never going...to...to..." And then I broke into another round of sobs. He held my face again and forced me to look at him.

"Never going to what?" I tried to look away but he made me look him straight in the eyes.

"Be skinny enough for you..." That's when I stood up, grabbed my bag, and walked off. I heard him call my name, and when he said it, it just made me stop dead in my tracks. I turned around and looked at him. He ran to me and engulfed me in a hug, and he didn't let go.

"Haley, you're an amazing person. You're going to find the one for you."

"This isn't about that! No one cares about my personality if I'm not the right size for them!"

"Stop it!" He yelled. I was taken aback. He never yelled like that.

"Stop?"

"Yes! If you're going to call yourself fat like that, I don't want to hear it okay? I like you for you. Get used to it. Now, I have to go back to class. I'll see you in band class alright?" He hugged me once last time and I nodded my head. He wiped away a tear from my cheek and then turned and he walked away.

I was falling for him.

But was he falling for me?

Sometimes I get my head in a dilly
Feeling so lost, ticking you off
Now boy, you know me well
Said, I’m that kind of filly
That kind of soft, that kind of silly
But when I’m in doubt, I open my mouth
And words come out, words come out like
Baby, there’s a shark in the water
There’s something underneath my bed
Oh, please believe I said
Baby, there’s a shark in the water
I caught them barking at the moon
Better be soon...