Will Flanco may be the oddest kid I’ve ever laid my eyes on. He sat alone at lunch everyday, with his cheap, plastic headphones and his baby carrots. I’ve never seen him talk to anyone, and I’ve never seen anyone talk to him. After school, a black SUV would pull up to the curb five minutes late, he would hop into the backseat and close his door, and then they’d be off. He never joined any clubs or any extracurriculars: at least none that I’d heard of. He wore the same Gap pullover everyday, paired with blue jeans and some Converse, but they’d somehow always be clean. I don’t think I ever saw him smile. I’m looking at his table right now. No one has sat even close to it since.

Some of the guys shoved him around. Not in a nice way. They’d shove him straight into the side of a locker, hard, and he’d keep walking as if nothing happened. It was almost scary. He didn’t even flinch. If I had tried to help, it would’ve done more hurt than help. 

“What’s going on, Armani?” Sandra interrupts.

With sandwich still in my mouth I responded, “Oh, nothing.”

“Okay then.”

If I told them, they’d assume that I have a crush on him.

That day, at lunch, he left the cafeteria to go to the bathroom or vending machines or something, but right as he was leaving, a table full of nincompoops started laughing and whispering with each other, peeking over at him or his table every once in a while. Right when he walked out of the door, one of them walked over and slid his lunch box off the table. His carrots flew straight onto the greasy cafeteria floor. A couple kids around the cafeteria chuckled. When Will came back, he just looked at his food splattered on the floor in dismay. Then, he turned around and ran out of the cafeteria while half the school laughed at him. 

Apparently, he left the building all together. He wasn’t in any of the rest of his classes that day, but the next morning, he was right back in first period. That reaction was all they needed to persistently make Will’s life hell.

I can’t imagine how or why he kept coming to school every day. He knew what was going to happen but just dealt with it, or at least he seemed fine first period each morning. He didn’t seem fine, he just seemed normal.

Why didn’t the school or at least his parents do something about it? He couldn’t have gone unnoticed. Everyone knew him to be a complete loser. Speaking of which, the gags just got worse and worse. They started hiding, stealing, trampling, and breaking his stuff. He’d be horrified every time. Then, the next day, he’d just have a new notebook or pencil bag as if he never lost one in the first place.

One day, Will didn’t show up to school. He never came back. Rumors say that he moved to a different school. I don’t know where that could’ve come from. No one knew his family or anything.

If I’m being honest, I still worry about Will. Something tells me he ran away. It makes more sense. I regret ignoring him. I regret not standing up for him. I never knew Will. I wish I could say sorry. 

“Seriously, Armani, what’s going on?”

“I told you, Sandra nothing.”

“Tell me what’s on your mind.”

“I was thinking about this whole situation with Will.”

“Will?”