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Description
Next morning; Tuesday. Today, Christian said he’d come to school. I was happy about that and my heart felt lighter than last night and I was happy that I got to sleep off all the pain. I did my morning routine and had some time left before it was time to go. I straightened out my plaid blue and white skirt and navy blue polo shirt—the uniform—and sat on one of the chairs in the kitchen, playing with my phone, not expecting texts from either Germán nor Christian. And for some reason, I didn’t feel too bad about it. Maybe I’m getting over this whole thing faster than I thought.

As soon as I got dropped off at school, I grabbed my stuff and headed to the Ramada. I totally forgot about my first period books, but I needed to sit down and think. Think about other, more important things.

I sat down on one of the tables and took out a yellow, small thick notebook covered in white polka-dots, and I opened it up. There were notes about homework, projects, and story characters, but nothing about college. So that’s what I focused on. I pulled out a pencil and turned to a blank page in the notebook and started writing:

Careers:
1. Criminal Justice
2. Nursing
Possible Colleges:
SDSU (Calexico and San Diego)
NAU (Northern Arizona University)
Arizona Western
IVC (Imperial Valley College)
All have criminal justice program.
*NAU out-of-state
• However, I’m close to border. Don’t have to pay out-of-state tuition.

Community colleges:
IVC
Arizona Western
-not recommended I go there.
~IVC, however, has good Nursing Program
*SDSU Calexico
-Close to home. Ideal choice.
*SDSU San Diego
• Two hours away
• May have to pay for room/board
*FAFSA
*Scholarships
Grants – Pel grants
-all recommended

That was all I could come up with on the spot. I sighed and looked up from my notebook to see Christian walking towards me. Oh no. Okay, stay cool. I inhaled and exhaled slowly, and then I put my notebook back in my backpack. Christian’s shadow shaded me from the sun, and I looked up. He looked alright, physically. Not too sure about emotionally.
“Hi.” He said.

“Hey.” I replied. I took out my phone and began looking through it in order to distract myself. When I get bored with it I’ll just take out my book for English. I have to re-read some of it anyway.

“Sleep well?” He asked, and he sat across from me.

I nodded and started looking at old pictures. I guess it’d be polite to ask if he did, too. I was reluctant, but I asked after a short pause, “Did you?”

“Yeah.” He said. “Hey, I just wanna thank you for last night.”

My heart skipped a beat. “For stopping you?” I asked, looking at him.

He nodded. No duh, idiot. I thought to myself. “Well, you’re welcome. Don’t ever think about doing it again.”

“I won’t, don’t worry.” He said.

I wasn’t worried. I was just… looking out for a friend. I distracted myself by looking at several pictures of Germán. All of my other friends arrived soon after Christian did.
“I’m gonna go get the bulletin.” He said, and he stood and walked away. He always got the bulletin in the office for our first period teacher. She’s really nice and knows how to teach, unlike some of the teachers in school. There’s one chemistry teacher I had during sophomore year, and all she did was talk about stuff, and didn’t actually show us how to work out whatever the heck we were supposed to do. And yet, I passed with an A+. How? Don’t ask me.

“Sharon.”

I recognized that voice. It was Juan’s. “Hey.” I replied.

“I need to ask you something.” He said, looking quite serious for the first time since I’ve known him. I cocked my head to one side and nodded for him to continue.

“Are you and Christian, you know…”

I didn’t let him finish. “No, we’re not. I’m still with Germán.” I forced a smile. I only hoped he couldn’t tell. His face lost his seriousness and he said “Ok.” And he patted me on the head. I really smiled that time and playfully swatted his arm away. He chuckled and went to talk to my other friends. I sighed and realized I was sitting alone now, except for one girl sitting on the far left of the bench. Her name is Lily. Well, her English name at least; she’s from China. She recently dyed her hair from black to orange, but when she took it out some of the orange stayed and she has a faded horizontal stripe right smack in the middle of her hair. It doesn’t look bad, though. She’s smart in pretty much all her classes, but she can be a little lazy sometimes- “Boo!”

I jumped in fright when I felt someone grab my shoulders and shout. And then I heard giggling. I turned to see my friend Karen, smirking and walking away as if to avoid my counter attack. Lucky for her, I was too afraid to try. She’s a strong one. I smiled back and pretended to shoot her with my imaginary gun. Just then, Christian came back, and the bell rang. I soon realized I hadn’t bought lunch. Not worrying about it, I headed to my first period class. And I realized, too, that I had that class with him as well. I tried to make myself feel bitter about that fact, but I couldn’t. He’s still my friend, but just not as close as before.

The day went by in a blur. It’s the same thing everyday during the week: Listen, be quiet, work quickly and efficiently, “quality not quantity”, write down homework, listen to a few teachers lecture the class about how loud they are, read, stay in the background unless you’re needed… but I added something to my school routine: Avoid to look at Christian as much as possible. I think he was actually trying to avoid me at one point. I don’t blame the guy.

The rest of the week went by slowly, but during lunch on Friday, I witnessed something by the seniors lockers that I’ll never forget.

The bell rang, and the class I had before lunch was P.E., which took place in the gym. I was conveniently first in line since the cafeteria was right there inside. I got my lunch, chicken salad and rice, and I went to the Ramada. Some of my friends were already there, sitting on our usual table. Christian was sitting at another table just behind ours, alone. He was on his phone. Idiot. That could be taken away. I thought to myself. Rolling my eyes, I decided to sit across from him. He looked up and gave me a brief smile before looking back down at his phone. It was so brief, it was as if we never even had all those moments together. I was happy that he seemed to be getting over it, but… still. Deep down, he probably wishes it didn’t have to be this way. I distracted myself from thinking the same by chewing slowly and playing with the rice.

“Hey!” Someone yelled. I looked up to see some of the sophomore boys laughing and looking at me. Wait… they were looking at Christian. I kept my eye on them, and one of them—I knew him; Alejandro—turned and picked something up, and then turned back around. It looked like a pasta noodle. And then he tossed it at Christian’s head. On instinct, I jumped up, my food falling to the ground, and I pushed Christian’s head out of the way just in time. It hit my finger instead. Christian looked up in surprise and scooted out of my way. I looked at him briefly, then back the boys. They were laughing really hard now and they walked off, gossiping in Spanish. “You… dropped your food.” Christian pointed out. I nodded and watched the boys leave. When they disappeared around the corner, I sat down and realized my hands were shaking. I didn’t notice how nervous I was. I noticed all eyes on me, and I walked calmly to the restroom to grab some paper towels to clean up the mess. I was almost finished anyway, so there wasn’t much.

I grabbed a long strip and then headed back outside. Christian was getting something out of his locker, and the sophomore boys that were at the Ramada were walking by. I started walking, but then stopped short when they also stopped. One of them went up to Christian and pushed his head up against one of the locker doors. I saw that his head was slammed against the lock itself. And at that moment, I snapped. I really snapped.

“HEY! GET THE HELL AWAY FROM HIM!” I screamed, and they turned toward me, laughing. I realized that I wasn’t getting over this change between Christian and me. I still cared in that loving way so much that I’m even making a scene about this incident. Anyone would scream at someone for doing something like that… this is normal. I stormed towards them, unable to think anymore.

The boy, blonde and tall, a guy named James, backed up with a smirk on his face. Christian had crouched, holding his hand up to his forehead, blood gushing out. His face was distorted and he was moaning in pain. My heart beat so fast I almost couldn’t breathe. And the smell of blood made it even worse. I turned to James and slapped him. The sound of “Ooooh”’s echoed amongst the boys. Just as I was about to slap him again, I heard a familiar voice call from just around the corner. I helped Christian up slowly, and then I saw the vice principal. “Oh…!” She seemed too shocked to say anything else, and she walked up to me and took Christian off my hands. “Who’s responsible for this?” She asked calmly, but firmly. I noticed a small tremble in her voice. I grabbed James and pulled him towards the vice principal. He hardly struggled. “Why?” She asked, a pained expression on her face. She didn’t wait for an answer, and she took Christian with her, walking slowly. I turned and saw the boys walk away. James was expressionless, and he walked off too. He tried to talk to one of the guys, but he waved him off. The rest of them ignored him. I almost smiled at James’ rejection, but I decided to follow the vice principal and Christian to see if there was anything I could do to help.

I waited outside of Ms. O’s office, shifting around nervously on my feet. Christian was in there and I peeked in through the window. He was sitting now, facing her. I saw that he was holding an ice pack. If only I could see your face… I sighed and went to lean against a nearby pole, some of the blue paint peeling off already. I didn’t realize how nauseous I was until now; it was the first time I had ever seen someone mercilessly smash someone’s head against a locker door. And the blood… I can still smell it.

I walked over to the door again, and Ms. O had gotten up and was hugging Christian now. My heart started beating rapidly again as I found myself thinking, That should be me. I should be hugging him right now.

Description
Next morning; Tuesday. Today, Christian said he’d come to school. I was happy about that and my heart felt lighter than last night and I was happy that I got to sleep off all the pain. I did my morning routine and had some time left before it was time to go. I straightened out my plaid blue and white skirt and navy blue polo shirt—the uniform—and sat on one of the chairs in the kitchen, playing with my phone, not expecting texts from either Germán nor Christian. And for some reason, I didn’t feel too bad about it. Maybe I’m getting over this whole thing faster than I thought.

As soon as I got dropped off at school, I grabbed my stuff and headed to the Ramada. I totally forgot about my first period books, but I needed to sit down and think. Think about other, more important things.

I sat down on one of the tables and took out a yellow, small thick notebook covered in white polka-dots, and I opened it up. There were notes about homework, projects, and story characters, but nothing about college. So that’s what I focused on. I pulled out a pencil and turned to a blank page in the notebook and started writing:

Careers:
1. Criminal Justice
2. Nursing
Possible Colleges:
SDSU (Calexico and San Diego)
NAU (Northern Arizona University)
Arizona Western
IVC (Imperial Valley College)
All have criminal justice program.
*NAU out-of-state
• However, I’m close to border. Don’t have to pay out-of-state tuition.

Community colleges:
IVC
Arizona Western
-not recommended I go there.
~IVC, however, has good Nursing Program
*SDSU Calexico
-Close to home. Ideal choice.
*SDSU San Diego
• Two hours away
• May have to pay for room/board
*FAFSA
*Scholarships
Grants – Pel grants
-all recommended

That was all I could come up with on the spot. I sighed and looked up from my notebook to see Christian walking towards me. Oh no. Okay, stay cool. I inhaled and exhaled slowly, and then I put my notebook back in my backpack. Christian’s shadow shaded me from the sun, and I looked up. He looked alright, physically. Not too sure about emotionally.
“Hi.” He said.

“Hey.” I replied. I took out my phone and began looking through it in order to distract myself. When I get bored with it I’ll just take out my book for English. I have to re-read some of it anyway.

“Sleep well?” He asked, and he sat across from me.

I nodded and started looking at old pictures. I guess it’d be polite to ask if he did, too. I was reluctant, but I asked after a short pause, “Did you?”

“Yeah.” He said. “Hey, I just wanna thank you for last night.”

My heart skipped a beat. “For stopping you?” I asked, looking at him.

He nodded. No duh, idiot. I thought to myself. “Well, you’re welcome. Don’t ever think about doing it again.”

“I won’t, don’t worry.” He said.

I wasn’t worried. I was just… looking out for a friend. I distracted myself by looking at several pictures of Germán. All of my other friends arrived soon after Christian did.
“I’m gonna go get the bulletin.” He said, and he stood and walked away. He always got the bulletin in the office for our first period teacher. She’s really nice and knows how to teach, unlike some of the teachers in school. There’s one chemistry teacher I had during sophomore year, and all she did was talk about stuff, and didn’t actually show us how to work out whatever the heck we were supposed to do. And yet, I passed with an A+. How? Don’t ask me.

“Sharon.”

I recognized that voice. It was Juan’s. “Hey.” I replied.

“I need to ask you something.” He said, looking quite serious for the first time since I’ve known him. I cocked my head to one side and nodded for him to continue.

“Are you and Christian, you know…”

I didn’t let him finish. “No, we’re not. I’m still with Germán.” I forced a smile. I only hoped he couldn’t tell. His face lost his seriousness and he said “Ok.” And he patted me on the head. I really smiled that time and playfully swatted his arm away. He chuckled and went to talk to my other friends. I sighed and realized I was sitting alone now, except for one girl sitting on the far left of the bench. Her name is Lily. Well, her English name at least; she’s from China. She recently dyed her hair from black to orange, but when she took it out some of the orange stayed and she has a faded horizontal stripe right smack in the middle of her hair. It doesn’t look bad, though. She’s smart in pretty much all her classes, but she can be a little lazy sometimes- “Boo!”

I jumped in fright when I felt someone grab my shoulders and shout. And then I heard giggling. I turned to see my friend Karen, smirking and walking away as if to avoid my counter attack. Lucky for her, I was too afraid to try. She’s a strong one. I smiled back and pretended to shoot her with my imaginary gun. Just then, Christian came back, and the bell rang. I soon realized I hadn’t bought lunch. Not worrying about it, I headed to my first period class. And I realized, too, that I had that class with him as well. I tried to make myself feel bitter about that fact, but I couldn’t. He’s still my friend, but just not as close as before.

The day went by in a blur. It’s the same thing everyday during the week: Listen, be quiet, work quickly and efficiently, “quality not quantity”, write down homework, listen to a few teachers lecture the class about how loud they are, read, stay in the background unless you’re needed… but I added something to my school routine: Avoid to look at Christian as much as possible. I think he was actually trying to avoid me at one point. I don’t blame the guy.

The rest of the week went by slowly, but during lunch on Friday, I witnessed something by the seniors lockers that I’ll never forget.

The bell rang, and the class I had before lunch was P.E., which took place in the gym. I was conveniently first in line since the cafeteria was right there inside. I got my lunch, chicken salad and rice, and I went to the Ramada. Some of my friends were already there, sitting on our usual table. Christian was sitting at another table just behind ours, alone. He was on his phone. Idiot. That could be taken away. I thought to myself. Rolling my eyes, I decided to sit across from him. He looked up and gave me a brief smile before looking back down at his phone. It was so brief, it was as if we never even had all those moments together. I was happy that he seemed to be getting over it, but… still. Deep down, he probably wishes it didn’t have to be this way. I distracted myself from thinking the same by chewing slowly and playing with the rice.

“Hey!” Someone yelled. I looked up to see some of the sophomore boys laughing and looking at me. Wait… they were looking at Christian. I kept my eye on them, and one of them—I knew him; Alejandro—turned and picked something up, and then turned back around. It looked like a pasta noodle. And then he tossed it at Christian’s head. On instinct, I jumped up, my food falling to the ground, and I pushed Christian’s head out of the way just in time. It hit my finger instead. Christian looked up in surprise and scooted out of my way. I looked at him briefly, then back the boys. They were laughing really hard now and they walked off, gossiping in Spanish. “You… dropped your food.” Christian pointed out. I nodded and watched the boys leave. When they disappeared around the corner, I sat down and realized my hands were shaking. I didn’t notice how nervous I was. I noticed all eyes on me, and I walked calmly to the restroom to grab some paper towels to clean up the mess. I was almost finished anyway, so there wasn’t much.

I grabbed a long strip and then headed back outside. Christian was getting something out of his locker, and the sophomore boys that were at the Ramada were walking by. I started walking, but then stopped short when they also stopped. One of them went up to Christian and pushed his head up against one of the locker doors. I saw that his head was slammed against the lock itself. And at that moment, I snapped. I really snapped.

“HEY! GET THE HELL AWAY FROM HIM!” I screamed, and they turned toward me, laughing. I realized that I wasn’t getting over this change between Christian and me. I still cared in that loving way so much that I’m even making a scene about this incident. Anyone would scream at someone for doing something like that… this is normal. I stormed towards them, unable to think anymore.

The boy, blonde and tall, a guy named James, backed up with a smirk on his face. Christian had crouched, holding his hand up to his forehead, blood gushing out. His face was distorted and he was moaning in pain. My heart beat so fast I almost couldn’t breathe. And the smell of blood made it even worse. I turned to James and slapped him. The sound of “Ooooh”’s echoed amongst the boys. Just as I was about to slap him again, I heard a familiar voice call from just around the corner. I helped Christian up slowly, and then I saw the vice principal. “Oh…!” She seemed too shocked to say anything else, and she walked up to me and took Christian off my hands. “Who’s responsible for this?” She asked calmly, but firmly. I noticed a small tremble in her voice. I grabbed James and pulled him towards the vice principal. He hardly struggled. “Why?” She asked, a pained expression on her face. She didn’t wait for an answer, and she took Christian with her, walking slowly. I turned and saw the boys walk away. James was expressionless, and he walked off too. He tried to talk to one of the guys, but he waved him off. The rest of them ignored him. I almost smiled at James’ rejection, but I decided to follow the vice principal and Christian to see if there was anything I could do to help.

I waited outside of Ms. O’s office, shifting around nervously on my feet. Christian was in there and I peeked in through the window. He was sitting now, facing her. I saw that he was holding an ice pack. If only I could see your face… I sighed and went to lean against a nearby pole, some of the blue paint peeling off already. I didn’t realize how nauseous I was until now; it was the first time I had ever seen someone mercilessly smash someone’s head against a locker door. And the blood… I can still smell it.

I walked over to the door again, and Ms. O had gotten up and was hugging Christian now. My heart started beating rapidly again as I found myself thinking, That should be me. I should be hugging him right now.