The Last of October

Walking into her best friend's boutique, October had a sad and troubled look on her face that Lynette easily picked up on. Lynette smiled and excused herself from a customer to attend to her friend, who sat on one of the chairs.

"What happened to you? You look like your dog got shot," she joked sarcastically. Her hands were on her hips as she stood in front of October.

Groaning, October reclined on the chair. "I did something really, really stupid."

Lynette's eyebrows rose as she sat beside the troubled girl. "What exactly did you do this time? Did you throw your PS3 controller out the window because your killstreak was ruined?" she asked sarcastically.

October was known to be a huge gamer girl, having stood in line for hours just for the midnight release of Call of Duty Black Ops. She was often made fun of by her friends for spending more time on her PS3 and Xbox than going out to party.

Rolling her eyes, she rested her head on the wall behind her and closed her eyes. "I agreed to get back at Amber's boyfriend for dumping her."

"So? You're gorgeous, I'm pretty sure it isn't a big deal getting his attention. Let me guess, Amber put you up to this?"

"Why does everyone keep saying that I don't have a problem getting guys' attention? Sure I get more attention from guys than most girls, but let's face it once they realize how geeky and weird I am, they would drop me like hot potato," October ranted. "Besides that's not the problem. The problem is that her boyfriend, or rather ex-boyfriend, is Jonathan Toews."

Lynette snorted. "Jonathan Toews, really? That doesn't seem hard. I mean all they want is ass, and they're shallow. It really isn't hard to get him hooked on you," she laughed and got up to fix one of the mannequin's.

October followed suit and started to hover around Lynette. "Yeah, see that isn't a problem, if Jonathan Toews, wasn't high school Jonathan," she revealed.

Eyes widening, Lynette pulled on October's wrist and dragged her closer to her. "Holy shit!" she cursed in a shocked manner. "Jonathan Toews went to Shattuck with you? He was the same guy that made your high school life a living hell?" she hissed.

October nodded her head innocently, trying to push back her tormented high school years because of the cruel joke Jonathan and his friends had played on her. It was a part of her past she wanted to get rid of, to never remember so she was able to move on with her life. There was no way she was going to let some boy or cruel joke dictate the rest of her life and how it was going to turn out.

"Woah, when you said Jonathan, I never thought Jonathan Toews. Never pictured Captain Serious to be such an asshole," Lynette shrugged. "Are you going to go through with it? I mean can you handle seeing him again?" she asked worriedly.

"I don't know, I mean, I'm sure he won't recognize me. It's been six years since we last saw each other. I highly doubt that he remembers me or anything," she tried to convince Lynette, who just looked at her disbelievingly.

"Only if you're sure you're up to this. I don't want to see you hurt."

*

It was late at night and October found herself in her apartment alone. The whole apartment was dim and quiet; October watched the city below her from her window. She rested her head on the cold window, a glass of wine in her hand. She sighed, closing her eyes and allowing the memories of five years ago to resurface.

October Brehton wasn't the most popular girl in high school. Like the rest of the student body, she was awkward, and still trying to find her place in the world. There were the only few that knew who were really comfortable with themselves, and showed it off. They were known as the popular group.

The only difference between October and the rest of the awkward student body that made her the target of many name calling and jokes was her weight. At only 5'5, October was already pushing 180lbs; she was considered one of the heaviest people in the school. Of course people wanted to make themselves feel better by poking fun of her and calling her names.

Walking to the cafeteria, she could hear many people laughing and giggling by the lockers, all pointing in her direction. Usually, they would leave her alone and not pay any attention to her, mainly because they were all in the same awkward boat. Her usual torturers were the 'popular' group, the cheerleaders and the jocks.

The cafeteria was filled with a lot of chatter. Instantly, her eyes searched for the table where all the cheerleaders and jocks sat. There, in the middle of the cafeteria, as if there was a spotlight on them and they were the center of attention, they sat, joking and laughing amongst each other.

She lined up and took a tray, piling her plate with various foods. As she waited for the lunch lady to give her plate back, October didn't notice cheerleader extraordinaire, Ashley Johnson approach her with a smirk on her face.

"Hey October," she greeted the brunette.

October looked around, fear flashed in her eyes, scared that Ashley would start making fun of her again and call her names. She backed away from Ashley only slightly, smiling at the lunch lady when she handed October her plate.

"I was wondering if you wanted to sit and eat with us?" she asked, looping her arm on October's as if they were the best of friends.

Like any teenager, October strived to be accepted by her peers. Hesitantly, she accepted Ashley's offer and approached the table where Ashley and her friends sat. Suddenly, she started to feel self conscious about her weight, what she was wearing and how much food she had.

Compared to October, the people who sat on the table were fit, they seemed to make the uniform look better and it seemed like the only people that rivalled her plate were the jocks, or hockey players. The cheerleaders had nothing but an apple, salad and water on their trey.

"You guys remember October right?" Ashley asked in a sickeningly sweet voice.

Everyone in the table looked at her, it seemed like they were snickering, but October was just too happy to notice it or to even notice that they had a hidden agenda. Ashley commanded to people to move over so that October was sitting between her and Jonathan Toews.

Jonathan Toews. He was the new 'celebrity' in Shattuck-St. Mary's. The moment he stepped into the school yard, it seemed like every single girl instantly had a crush on him. October was no exception. He smiled at her as she sat down and started to talk to her in a friendly manner.

Letting a tear escape her brown eyes, October quickly wiped it away. She lazily walked over to the kitchen counter, setting down the glass of wine and took the tequila bottle from her alcohol cabinet, walking back to her window.

She downed the rest of the tequila she never realized that she had been drinking. Sighing heavily, she rested her head back on the cool window, making the fever slightly disappear. Back then, October should have known that they were just playing a cruel joke on her.

People like them, never accepted someone like her. She was too different from them and at that time, she might have hated being different from them, but she realize, growing up, that it was better to be different than like everyone else.