Give Me Anything

There are so many things in life worth anticipating: birthdays, holidays, taking my driving test for the first time, actually passing my driving test after three tries, college, graduation.... Today, surprisingly, happened to be one of those days. I had been waiting for today since my freshman year of high school (but trust me it's much less exciting than you're probably guessing), but still, I couldn't seem to stop the jitters as I drove into the parking lot. It was finally here, my senior year of high school. I almost couldn't believe it had already come, and in less than 12 months I would be away at college, finally living the life I had always been waiting for. Even walking into the building for the first time in three months or receiving my schedule couldn't make it feel any more real to me. That was until I saw the approach of a tall, unfriendly figure coming my way. Before I could even react, I felt the shove of a strong shoulder and the laughter of several others around me as I was thrown into a wall of lockers. A scowl appeared on my face as I realized that even though it was my last year here, I still wouldn't be catching any breaks from my usual tormentors.

"Welcome back, faggot."

Maybe today wasn't a day worth anticipating after all.

At least I made it inside first, which is more than I can say about the last three years. My freshman year I hadn't even gotten on the bus before my biggest bully, Corey Mills, stole my backpack and then proceeded to beat me with it. These "friendly" encounters between Corey and I had been happening ever since 4th grade when he moved in next door and his parents became close friends with my own. At least now I was old enough to get out of Sunday dinner at the Mills' household, where Corey would use me as his personal stunt dummy and throw me down every staircase in his home (which, let me tell you, is more than three; they are loaded. You'd think people with that much space and money would invest in an elevator or something).

Okay, I know I probably sound like a whiny bitch, but that's only because that's what everyone seemed to believe I was.

My name is Benjamin Reid, by the way. I guess it would've been more helpful to mention that earlier, but I doubt a little background information first couldn't hurt. You're probably assuming that I'm a scrawny nerd from all of the talk of bullying. I'll be honest, most of that assumption is probably true. I've always been skinny and awkward looking, and incapable of playing any sports, that I can't deny. But one thing I'm not is a nerd. That doesn't mean I get bad grades, don't get me wrong, but I'm definitely not top of my classes.

I guess I was what you would call a loner in high school. I have only one good friend, Mya Collins, who was really all I needed when you think about it. Even still, I often found myself wishing I could be more social, but years of being shy and weird made me doubt my ability to shake my introverted ways. I blame most of it on my parents for spending so much time with my older siblings and not me. It just taught me from an early age that a majority of people won't care to get to know me, so trying was a waste of time. At least, that was the best excuse I could come up with to explain my poor social habits.

Going into this year, I had expected everything to be exactly the same as every other year spent at Fairville High School; boring and monotonous. But something, I'm still not quite sure what, gave me the idea that it would be different. I shook those thoughts away. No point in getting myself worked up over nothing, right?

Wrong.



After enduring the last few hours of unbearable classes, I had finally reached one I actually enjoyed; film. One thing I loved, one thing I was actually good at, was filming movies and making videos. Ever since I was little, I always wanted to be a director.

"Class, settle down, please," the bell hadn't rung yet, so all of the students (all but me) were talking loudly and catching up with friends. They paid no attention to the teacher, no matter how many times she tried to calm them down, and continued to be as obnoxious as they pleased. Well, they did until she walked in.

It was all so cliche. As soon as she walked into the room, everyone seemed to drop what they were doing and turn to stare at her. She noticed the immediate attention and a smile instantly found it's way onto her pretty face. Aleta Dellis. I was almost ashamed I had even bothered to memorize her name. I usually tried to ignore every member of the "in" crowd, but it was hard when she was all anyone ever talked about. She practically owned this school, and she had barely lived in this town a year.

But before anyone could try to swarm her with questions about her summer, the bell rang and everyone reluctantly sat down. I stayed put in my desk and waited patiently for the teacher to begin speaking. It seemed I was the only one, for everyone else was nearly bursting in their seats. I guess they were just excited for the period to end so they could go back to being loud and annoying.

As happy as I was to be in this class, I still couldn't force myself to listen to the droning of our too-young-to-be-a-teacher teacher. She must have been about 23, but her young and girly facial features made her look 16, which I assumed is why many of my classmates found it unnecessary to pay attention to her.

"At the end of this year, you're going to have your biggest project due," she made sure to put extra emphasis on 'biggest,' which inevitably caught my attention, along with many of the other students. I heard a few sighs and grumbles coming from the back of the room. Obviously, they weren't a very motivated bunch. "I am going to pair you up into groups of two, and by the end of the year you will put together a complete profile of your partner. You will learn everything about the other, and will put it together into two separate projects. Each of you will have to make your own, so I know no one will be slacking on their partners." She gave us all a disapproving stare, as if she already knew we would be lazy enough to make someone else do all of our work for us. She was probably right. "You'll be interviewing them, any close friends or family and editing it into your own little documentary about them."

"Do we get to pick our own partners?" someone called out from the back. I rolled my eyes. 'Did she not just say she was picking our partners for us?'

"No," there was another chorus of sighs as she said this. I could tell she was losing her patience. "I'll be pairing you up, actually..." her words trailed off, a new idea coming to her mind as she walked over to her desk. "I'll give you your partners now," I could feel the color drain from my face as my heart sped up and my palms started to sweat. My anxiety peaked as I looked around the room to find I knew absolutely no one.I tried to calm myself as best I could, but it was hard knowing that whoever she put me with, would eventually know everything about me.

My name was the last to be called, right alongside Aleta Dellis. I could feel my stomach drop as soon as she said our names. It seemed like every guy in the room was glaring daggers at me, but they weren't at all what had me so nervous. There was just no way this was going to work. I doubt I would even be able to talk to her, let alone spend my whole senior year with her.

I was starting to think that taking this class was a huge mistake.