Scars

“Dude, you’ve been staring from afar at the Ice Queen for weeks. What’s the deal?” Jeff asked casually one day at lunch. In the past two weeks he had noticed one of his closest friends trying to make googley-eyes with the Princess of Frost.

“Huh? No I’m not!” Gabe retaliated, shaking her off his mind and staring down at his sandwich with tinged cheeks. Ever since she had transferred to their school two months prior everything about her intrigued Gabe, the boys thought she was a stuck up, prissy bitch; but he saw different he knew she had scars. Everyone had scars; it didn’t make them a bitch.

Jeff smirked and pulled a five out of his back pocket, tossing it down on their lunch table and taking a bite of his peanut butter sandwich. “Five bucks says you go over there and talk to her and she straight up ignores you. She’s in my Marine Bio class and she literally never talks, never smiles, never even acknowledges people in the class. Straight up bitch. She won’t talk to you.” Gabe looked down at the money, which had now been added too by Mattie and Mike.

“Seriously?” Gabe asked, referring to the money that was now laid out on the table. Both of the other two shrugged their shoulders and looked onto the direction where she was sitting.

“You going to do it or what?” Jeff asked, collecting the money and counting how much was now up for stake. “$12.45,” He shrugged, pushing it into the direction of where Gabe was sitting, he shook his head at the money and began to get up from the bench.

“Of course I will,” he shrugged. “The ladies love me, but I’m not doing it for the money.” Jeff cackled at his friend’s cockiness and slid the money back towards himself.

“Okay, Don Juan, show us your stuff.” He challenged as soon as Gabriel began to make his way over towards her.

~~~~~

She didn’t like being here. She didn’t like being anywhere. School was just a temporary fix to the insanity she constantly felt. It wasn’t something that made her happy, she didn’t have friends, everyone didn’t understand her—it was no longer any use trying to explain it—so she gave up and became the outsider. They called her a bitch behind her back; she knew it, along with a laundry list of other names. Some of them asked her why she was the way she was, but the ignored silence that followed on her part only solidified the names.

Sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never hurt me. She had to remind herself multiple times in the day. There had been a time when she did care, when everything was a little less complicated and her life wasn’t just one big screw over. In the past two months her wounds had began to heal, the scars were now being left behind and she was forced to pick up the pieces once again.

She had seen him staring. Everyday at lunch, everyday in their English class—the only class she was able to stand—everyday at the parking lot as she waited by Ryan’s car so he could give her a ride back home. He had never spoken a word to her; he just stared in complete wonder—like the rest of them. Except she felt like it was a whole different staring, whatsoever.

~~~~~

This was beyond a bad idea. He had no clue what to say to her or even how to start the conversation off. Turning around right before he got to her table he looked at his friends who all had hopeful smirks on their faces. He was going to do this.

“Um, hi,” he smiled down at her. She was intently reading the book that she had placed in front of her. She looked up, smiled small and then looked back down at her book. In the back of Gabe’s mind, he could hear his friends laughing up a storm. “I’m Gabriel, but you can call me Gabe.” He introduced himself in true Swedish manner. Again she looked up from her book, this time placing the small paper bookmark in it and closing on the table. She nodded.

“I know.” Gabriel laughed nervously and scratched his head; this certainly wasn’t going like he had expected it too. “Chandler,” she finally spoke, introducing herself. Gabriel grinned and met her hand.

“You’re in my English class, right?” He asked cautiously, he didn’t want to come off as a complete creep even if they did in fact have the same class. She nodded and pointed towards the book she was reading.

“Did you read the last chapter for ‘Catch 22’?” She asked, taking a bite of the apple sitting in front of her. Alarmed, he shook his head. Had that really been one of their homework assignments? School, in actuality, had taken a backseat since hockey season had started. “Would you like me to recap what’s happening?” She asked, pulling out a piece of paper from her backpack.

“Would you mind?” She smiled again, it was small, but a smile nonetheless.

“Not one bit…” She shrugged, taking a pen and beginning to write up a study guide for the hockey star on the infamous novel.

~~~~~

“Think you got it now?” She asked for what seemed like the twelfth time. Gabriel shook his head with a grin and she began to feel as if he were just saying that. “Are you just saying that so that you can continue to sit here and bother me?” She asked with a raised eyebrow. For the past twenty minutes she had spent going over the previous chapter that they had to have read for Literature in case of a not-so-pop quiz. Gabe’s face turned redder than a tomato and he looked down at the floor to avoid her gaze.

“Me? Never.” He countered, holding up his hands as if he were innocent. She laughed—full and wholeheartedly—but stopped herself when she realized his friends were walking up to the table.

“Huh, you did get her to talk.” The medium height one with girlish dimples joked (though it sounded more mean-teasing, than joking), Alexis semi-remembered him being in her Marine Bio class that semester. Typically he was being sent to the Principal’s for insubordination, and hadn’t spent much actual time in class. Slowly, she sank back down into her shell. “Surprised. Here’s your money, Landy… It was well worth the fight of dealing with the Ice Queen, I’m sure.” Once again Jeff opened his mouth and stuck his foot right down his throat. Gabe, looking nervously over at Chandler, tried to ignore his friend. Her face had no emotion on it whatsoever, it was a complete 360 than what she had been just two minutes prior.

“Here, in case you still need help,” she offered, shoving the piece of paper into Gabriel’s direction without any eye contact and picking up her stuff off the table, “I guess I’ll see you in class.” Her voice was straight, monotone, and there was no more life.

Jeff.

Getting up, she tossed her backpack over her shoulder and made her way out of the cafeteria. There was only so much she was able to handle in one day.

~~~~~
Gabe sat, stunned, at his friends stupidity. “Did you really just say that in front of her?” He asked, already knowing the answer. Jeff shrugged and slapped the money down on the old wooden table. Gabe scoffed and began to get up, pushing past his best friend.

“What did I do now?” He asked as Gabe turned back around.

“What haven’t you done?” Gabe asked with a bite on his tone. He needed to find Chandler, and he needed to apologize.

~~~~~

Following Chandler out of the cafeteria, past the science labs and into the courtyard he finally caught up to her. “Gosh, you walk fast you know?” He laughed as she turned to face him. Her eyes were glassy—he couldn’t tell if she had been crying or not, and her nose was pressed deep into the book she had been reading. Blinking back at him, she continued on at a hasty pace.

“Listen, I’m really sorry for the way Jeff acted back there. Don’t take it the wrong way what he said, he--” He tried to finish his sentence but was interrupted by the blonde -haired girl.

“Didn’t mean it?” She posed, accusatory. Gabriel suddenly felt as if he were the one under fire and crept back just a little bit. “That’s what I thought. You won your bet and even got a free study session out of it. Just… Leave me alone. It’s enough that I heard it from him, I don’t need it from you too.” She sniffed, wiped her nose on the sleeve of her sweater and then began off towards the Learning Lab.

“I’m really sorry.” Gabe tried to call, but he was almost one hundred percent sure he had just shot any chance of ever talking to her right in the foot.