Status: Active
Fake Your Death
This Is How I Disappear
“Hey, cutie,” a voice called from behind me. I shut my locker and turned to face the source. David stood mere feet from me. I felt my heart start pounding. “You busy tonight?” I stared at him in awe. I shook my head. “Sweet. I was wondering if I could pick you up, take you out somewhere.” I looked around, just making sure he wasn’t talking to anyone else, before looking back at him.
“Uh… Sure… Yeah… That’d be cool…”I stuttered. He flashed his award-winning smile.
“Pick you up at six, cool?” I nodded slowly. He winked at me and walked off. In hindsight, I should’ve known that the star quarterback and prom king asking me, a total loser, out on a date would end badly, but in the moment, I didn’t care. I headed out the door, still awestruck that he even talked to me. I hurried home to get ready, and I just sat and waited until he showed up at my front door.
“Hey,” I greeted nervously.
“Hey there. You ready to roll?” I nodded and followed him to his car. He drove us to the theater, talking the entire way about some sport-related bullshit. I didn’t care what he was saying. I was still starstruck. I had been crushing on him since junior high, and here I was, sitting in his car. When we got to the theater, he let me out of the car and draped his arm around my shoulders as we walked inside.
“Nora!” A voice called from one of the tables in the lobby. I turned to see Gee, waving me over. When I didn’t walk over to him, he came to me. “Hey, I was afraid that you might have forgotten.” I put my hand over my face.
“Not now, Gee,” I whispered, motioning towards David, who was buying tickets. He looked at me, and I swear I saw his heart break.
“I thought we were going to see a movie tonight. Just us, like a date, right?” I heard laughter from beside me.
“You thought that you had a date… With her? Are you kidding me?” David scoffed. I felt my face burn.
“Yeah, we had made plans,” he said defensively. David laughed again as he shoved him. “Nora, tell him…” His eyes pleaded for confirmation.
“You must be confused… I never said anything about a date,” I lied. I felt a stab of remorse as I saw tears form in his eyes.
“Let’s go, babe. This loser doesn’t deserve to talk to you,” David taunted. He pulled me towards the concession stand. I looked back and saw Gee leaving the theater with his head hung low.
That was the last time we spoke to each other. When we passed in the hallways, he would look down at the ground or turned the other way. The worst was yet to come. In the following months, I spent almost all my time with David and his friends. I was a girl in love. I followed him around like a lost puppy. The popular girls tried to turn me into one of their own. I thought I had made new friends. I would constantly make up excuses as to why I couldn’t hang out with the guys. I stopped caring about how I was upsetting them. I was just happy to finally be accepted by the cool kids.
As it turned out, they were only trying to get close to me for one reason. To make my true friends’ lives as miserable as they could. One of the girls had come to stay the night, and while I was helping my mom with chores, she found my diary, which she took to school and let all of the assholes of the school read it. The very diary that I wrote my most personal thoughts and feelings in. The one that I wrote every secret that I had been told in. Before I could even figure out what had happened, they were making fun of Gee for his weight and his feelings for me. They mocked Mikey for his anxiety and anorexia. There wasn’t as much about Frank, other than some things about his parents and a semi-gay experience he had encountered. Then, these newfound friends turned on me, and I’ll be damned if David wasn’t in on the whole fucking thing. By the time it culminated, it was only a few days shy of graduation. I spent the last days of my high school career avoiding everyone. I couldn’t face the guys after what I had done. I couldn’t walk the halls without being ridiculed. The day after graduation, I took all of the money that I had saved, and I just left. No plan. No destination. I just left.
“Uh… Sure… Yeah… That’d be cool…”I stuttered. He flashed his award-winning smile.
“Pick you up at six, cool?” I nodded slowly. He winked at me and walked off. In hindsight, I should’ve known that the star quarterback and prom king asking me, a total loser, out on a date would end badly, but in the moment, I didn’t care. I headed out the door, still awestruck that he even talked to me. I hurried home to get ready, and I just sat and waited until he showed up at my front door.
“Hey,” I greeted nervously.
“Hey there. You ready to roll?” I nodded and followed him to his car. He drove us to the theater, talking the entire way about some sport-related bullshit. I didn’t care what he was saying. I was still starstruck. I had been crushing on him since junior high, and here I was, sitting in his car. When we got to the theater, he let me out of the car and draped his arm around my shoulders as we walked inside.
“Nora!” A voice called from one of the tables in the lobby. I turned to see Gee, waving me over. When I didn’t walk over to him, he came to me. “Hey, I was afraid that you might have forgotten.” I put my hand over my face.
“Not now, Gee,” I whispered, motioning towards David, who was buying tickets. He looked at me, and I swear I saw his heart break.
“I thought we were going to see a movie tonight. Just us, like a date, right?” I heard laughter from beside me.
“You thought that you had a date… With her? Are you kidding me?” David scoffed. I felt my face burn.
“Yeah, we had made plans,” he said defensively. David laughed again as he shoved him. “Nora, tell him…” His eyes pleaded for confirmation.
“You must be confused… I never said anything about a date,” I lied. I felt a stab of remorse as I saw tears form in his eyes.
“Let’s go, babe. This loser doesn’t deserve to talk to you,” David taunted. He pulled me towards the concession stand. I looked back and saw Gee leaving the theater with his head hung low.
That was the last time we spoke to each other. When we passed in the hallways, he would look down at the ground or turned the other way. The worst was yet to come. In the following months, I spent almost all my time with David and his friends. I was a girl in love. I followed him around like a lost puppy. The popular girls tried to turn me into one of their own. I thought I had made new friends. I would constantly make up excuses as to why I couldn’t hang out with the guys. I stopped caring about how I was upsetting them. I was just happy to finally be accepted by the cool kids.
As it turned out, they were only trying to get close to me for one reason. To make my true friends’ lives as miserable as they could. One of the girls had come to stay the night, and while I was helping my mom with chores, she found my diary, which she took to school and let all of the assholes of the school read it. The very diary that I wrote my most personal thoughts and feelings in. The one that I wrote every secret that I had been told in. Before I could even figure out what had happened, they were making fun of Gee for his weight and his feelings for me. They mocked Mikey for his anxiety and anorexia. There wasn’t as much about Frank, other than some things about his parents and a semi-gay experience he had encountered. Then, these newfound friends turned on me, and I’ll be damned if David wasn’t in on the whole fucking thing. By the time it culminated, it was only a few days shy of graduation. I spent the last days of my high school career avoiding everyone. I couldn’t face the guys after what I had done. I couldn’t walk the halls without being ridiculed. The day after graduation, I took all of the money that I had saved, and I just left. No plan. No destination. I just left.