Misery Loves Me

The day starts normally. I wake up. I walk to school. I try not to think.

--

I’m at maths. There’s a new boy standing in front of the class. I look at him. He looks different than other people on my school. His clothes are weird, more like mine. He’s happy. I’m not.

--

The boy wanted to sit next to me. I let him. He asked me my name. I scribbled it down for him. He said he was Mikey. Now he asks how I’m doing. I stare at him. Why would he care? He asks it again. Some people yell things at him about me. He ignores them. He smiles at me. I’m confused. He starts to talk to me. I don’t have to talk back. He’ll stop if he annoys me. It’s not annoying me. It’s weird. Nobody talks to me like this.

--

Mikey has just moved here with his family. He likes comics. He likes games. He doesn’t like the other kids in my class. I’m really confused. Everybody likes them. No one likes me. Why is he talking to me?

--

It’s break. People are yelling at me. It doesn’t hurt me extra anymore. I hurt all the time.
Mikey notices me. He starts yelling at the people. The people yell back. An older boy stands beside Mike. He’s yelling at them too. The people walk away. They look pissed. And slightly scared?. I look at Mikey and the boy. They ask if I wanna come with them. I slowly nod. Why are they being nice?

--

The older boy is Mikey’s brother. His name’s Gerard. They talk to me. They talk to each other. They laugh. I never talk. I never laugh. I’m confused.

--

I’ve another class with Mikey. He’s still talking to me. He’s still being nice. He doesn’t ask me any questions. He knows I won’t answer. I haven’t taken part of a conversation since forever. I like this.

--

I start to scribble down a question. It keeps nagging me. I give the piece of paper to Mikey. It reads “Why are you being nice to me?” He smiles at me.
“Because I like being nice to you. I think you’re a nice person, you only have to show it.”