I sat on that bench and watched all the happy people with their friends. Laughing, joking, hugging. Not one noticed that I sat here, being sad. I never left until it started getting dark, and the custodian yelled at me to go home.

At that point, I would rather die than go home.

My aunt and I live in a small shack with only one bedroom. That Aunt Rita uses. I sleep on the floor behind the couch. “Out of the way.” Aunt Rita said.

I opened the door, and the putrid smell of cigarettes and alcohol struck me like a bullet. My aunt was a heavy smoker and an alcoholic. She couldn’t go a day without about seven boxes of her ‘Fun Sticks’.

She was forced to take me in when my parents died in a car wreck on their way home from the supermarket. They left me with Aunt Rita to babysit me, and she was forced to keep me, and feed me and clothe me. By her parole officer of course.

“Oh dang. I thought you were gone for good.” she said so seriously. “That’s what I get for wishing.”

I absolutely hated Aunt Rita.

I walked towards the bathroom, when a knock came at the door.

Hey kid!” yelled Aunt Rita. “Get off your fat butt and go get that!”

I didn’t argue. I tried that one time, and I got a concussion. I would’ve died if my neighbor hadn’t have been in a good mood that day.

I opened the door, and saw a girl standing there. I didn’t know her, and obviously she didn’t know me, because she smiled.
She had curly brown hair put into a ponytail, and she held a clipboard and a pen. She was slightly taller than me, and about the same skinny waist as me.
“Hi!” she said. “My name is Jaime Elizabeth Quinn!” she was so excited and happy. I wondered if this was all just an act.
“Crap!” yelled Aunt Rita. She ran out the door, shoving Jaime out of the way. A police car sat out there.
I walked up to Jaime, and helped her up. I didn’t have a reason to hate her. Yet. “Oh. What was that?” she looked back. “Is this a bad time?”
I shook my head.
“Okay, good. I’m doing a project for school on abuse on teens. For statistics, I’m going around, and having teenagers in each home to fill out this questionnaire. May I come in?”

I nodded, and let her walk in. She coughed from the smell, and tried to be polite by not commenting on it. But I knew she didn’t like it.

“Are any other teens in your house?” she asked.

I shook my head.

“Okay. Would you be all right filling out this questionnaire? The name is an optional part.”

I nodded, and grabbed the piece of paper from her hands.

“Do you mind if I come back tomorrow to collect it?” Jaime asked me.

“That’s fine.” I said quietly.

Jaime smiled, held her clipboard in her arms, and walked to the door. “Bye!” she said. She walked out the door, and closed it.

I looked out the window. Aunt Rita got arrested again.


I sat in bed at night. The phone rang, and I went to answer it. “Hello?”

“Kid, this is your Aunt.” she said. “I got arrested again. This is gonna last a while. Got some rules. Don’t touch any of my stuff, don’t eat too much food, don’t rip anything, don’t break anything, and especially don’t even look at my Fun Sticks. Got it?”

“Yes ma’am.”

“Gosh darnit kid, I’m not a lady! Just say ‘yes’! Got it?”

“Yes.”

“Okay.” she hung up, and I put the phone back.

I grabbed the questionnaire that Jaime gave me, and looked at it. Might as well....

I filled my name in, address, and date in, and looked over the questions.


1. Have you ever been bullied?


2. How? Cyber, Verbal, Physical, Other (Specify)


The next seventeen question were details on bullies. I filled each one out totally truthfully. There were some on guardian abuse, and I was honest. There was more on other kinds of abuse, and I answered each honestly. There was some on my opinions of myself, and I answered those honestly. I went to sleep, and I was pulled away into the world of my dreams.

The only place where I can smile.

When Jamie came to the door Saturday morning, I wasn’t glad to see her. Than again, that was nothing new, I never was glad to see anyone.

“Hi! Did you fill out the questionnaire?” she asked.

I handed her the paper, and she looked at it. The phone rang, and I went to get it.

“Hello?” I asked.

“Kid, so I went to court today, and apparently, the judge is stupid and gave me two months in prison. Same rules as for last night. Don’t do anything!” Aunt Rita hung up.

“My Aunt just got into prison.”

“How long?” asked Jamie.

“Two months.”

“Oh, you can stay with me!” she said.

“What?”

“You can stay with me. While your Aunt’s gone, I can have my parents help take care of you!”

I felt like a baby. “No I’m good.”

“You sure? I don’t think this is a good place to stay for two months, and based on what you wrote down, it’ll be good for you to stay with us.”

I didn’t know what she meant by this. If only I did at that time, then I wouldn’t have said, “No. I’m good.”

“Oh...okay. Well...bye...” Jamie walked out the door, and closed the door.

I was glad for it.

I didn't follow any of Aunt Rita's rules. I ate as much as I could, took glorious showers, and I watched everything on tv.
On the next Saturday, I opened the pantry.
"Oh crap." I said. It was almost empty, and I still had seven more weeks left.
A knock came to the door, and I answered it.
"Hi Greg!" Jamie exclaimed. "I thought you might like something to eat!"
She held out a large tray with tin foil over a large bump. I peeked inside the tinfoil, and tried to not flip out. Ham.
I've never had good ham before. I picked a piece, and ate it. It was delicious!
"Thanks." I said, taking the ham and closing the door.
I was kind of annoyed by Jamie, but she was nice. She made me feel special.

It had been another week, and the ham had been gone for about nine days. It was pretty good.
Jamie came to the door again, and she said he signature, high-pitched, "Hi!"
"Don't you have friends?" i asked. "Or a boyfriend maybe?"
She laughed, thinking it was a joke.
"You're my friend!" she replied.
"Whatever you say." I turned my head, finding the stain on my carpet very interesting.
"So I'm asking you again, Greg." Jamie said. "Please stay with my family."
"Why?"
"Because you need a friend, and I can be that friend." she shot a smile at me. Her teeth were really white.
"I have friends." I lied.
"Dude, I saw you answer to number thirty eight on the questionnaire.
I remembered that question. Do you ever seek help in friends?
My answer? I have no friends.
I turned red.
"I can be that friend." she replied.
I shook my head.
"That's a no?"
I closed the door. But I still knew she'd come back.
I'd only get her to stop if I said yes.

Life went on as usual. Going to school, home, sleep. I found myself slightly looking forward to the daily visits from Jaime.
I learned that she was fourteen years old, and went to high school. She wanted to be a computer programmer when she grew up, and she played volleyball and soccer in her spare time.

Whenever Jaime came, she would bring me food, or even a bored game. Sometimes I’d be nice and let her inside to play or eat. I might as well return the favor.

On that particular day, I walked home. I was finally done with school! Done with middle school! I still didn’t smile that day, but I somehow knew what would be waiting for me when I got home.

Jaime Quinn was standing on my doorstep. “Hey!” I called out to her.

“Oh! Hi Greg!” she said, waving and smiling.

“Didn’t you have school?” I asked.

“High School got out early today. How was your day?”

“Terrible. As always.” I replied, I opened my door, and let Jamie inside. The smell of cigarettes was still lingering inside, but I had managed to clean up a bit. Aunt Rita would go crazy when she got out of prison.

“So Greg,” she started.

Oh no, here it came.

“I’m gonna ask you just one more time, I promise. Will you come stay with my family?”

I looked at Jaime. She glared into my eyes with the old puppy dog look. I sighed. “Fine.” I replied. “Fine I’ll come.”

Jaime’s face lit up instantly. “Oh yay!” she exclaimed.


When we got to her house, I couldn’t help but let out a quiet, “Wow.”

“Like it?” Jaime asked. “Just me and dad live here.”

“Wait, you said your parents. You only have a dad?”

“Well, I have a mom. Everyone does. But I never knew her. She apparently got pregnant by accident, and she blamed my father for it. So she just left me on his doorstep with a note. My dad says it’s probably the best thing that’s ever happened to me. My dad got remarried I like to think of her as my mom.”

I nodded. “I wish something like that happened to me.” I whispered.

“What happened to your parents?” Jaime asked. I turned my head. “Sorry. That’s a no-asker.”

I nodded again, as she gave me the tour. When she showed me where my bedroom was, my jaw dropped. It was big, and amazing.

I was gonna like it here.

I lay in the bed. When Jaime saw that I owned no pajamas, and the only clothes I had were a pair of blue jeans and a white t-shirt, she and her step-mother left for a minute. They told me to just stay put while they were gone. I had no idea where they were.

So I sat on the couch, waiting. Waiting for whatever was coming.

BARK!!

The loud noise made me jump. I looked around, and saw a giant Siberian Husky running right at me. I panicked, and jumped up on the couch. But the giant dog, he must’ve been at least four feet, shoved it down.

I fell on my back on the carpet, and the dog stood next to me. He tongue hanging out. He found his dinner.

“Stop! I’m not moist enough!” I said in desperation. I panicked, okay?

The dog held his face about an inch from mine, and his licked me. All-out licked me.

He then sat down next to me. I reached my hand over his neck, and scratched his ear. He smiled, and his back leg started rapidly slamming on the ground.

“I see you met Maxwell.” said Jaime, who had just walked through the door. “We’ll take your new clothes up to your room.

I was not expecting this. I woke up to something other than Rita kicking me. I woke up to the warm sun hitting my eyelids. Making it hard to not move. So I sat up, and stretched my arms. It was so much more comfortable than the floor.

I looked in my closet, and saw all the clothes Jaime and her step-mom bought me. What should I wear? I’ve never had to make a decision like this before.

In fact, I’d hardly ever had a decision at all. I looked around for hours, literally, until I heard a knock on my door.

“You need help finding clothes?” It was Jaime.

“Kind of.” I replied. She opened the door at walked in.

“I’ll help you look great. Put...this on, and.....this on.” she gave me a white Aeropostale t-shirt and a pair of dark jeans. She grabbed a pair of shoes that I couldn’t even name the brand on. Jaime left the room and I changed.

I walked out, and Jaime looked at me. “Hmm...no no no. You look too skinny we need something.” she walked back to the closet. “Something big, that goes with that outfit...hmm...”

I walked over to the closet. “How about that?” I pointed to a large blue plaid button up shirt.

“Oh! That could work!” she pulled it off its hanger. “Put that on. Don’t button it up, and roll the sleeves up to just above your elbows.

I put it on, and did exactly what she said. She fixed the sleeves a bit, and moved things around. I felt slightly uncomfortable.

“Perfect.” she said stepping back. “You look like a stud.”

I went red. I never had anyone compliment my looks. Especially not a cute girl.

I stood there, shivering.

“C’mon Greg! It’s great!” Jamie called from the middle of her massive swimming pool. I didn’t think so. One, Jaime had begged and begged and begged for me to come with her to this. Two, I was wear next to nothing, and with my body, that’s not good. I’m skinny, and pale. I anyone from school saw me wearing this, I’d be eaten alive! Three, I had no idea how to swim. The only water I’ve ever been in was in my bathtub. I didn’t know how.

I sighed, and jumped into the cold water. Actually...it wasn’t too cold. It was actually really warm. I found I was tall enough to barely touch the bottom everywhere. Jaime went underwater, and I saw her try to grab my legs. I flipped back, and started to float on my belly.

“Jeez Greg,” she laughed, coming out of the water. “Didn’t think you’d do that.”

“Neither did I.” I replied. “I can’t even swim.”

“Well you got half of it right now.” she said. “Try pushing yourself.”

I moved my arms like I’d seen swimmers do, and I actually started moving. It was amazing! I started going faster, and faster, and faster! I finally stopped when I rammed into the side of the pool.

I went underwater for a minute, and came up, taking a deep breath. “You all right?” Jaime asked, while laughing.

“Just fine.”

“Hey, I know what we’re doing tomorrow.” said Jaime.

“And what’s that?” I asked.

“You’re getting a workout.”

I woke up with a pair of shorts and a sleeveless shirt on top of my blanket. Probably Jaime.

I changed, and put on a pair of socks and gym shoes.

When I opened the door, I spotted Jaime sitting right there. She was wearing a grey t-shirt with shorts on.

“Oh, hey.” she said, “I see you’re ready? I nodded, and she stood up.

“Well, what are we waiting for? Hanukkah? Let’s go!”


We walked inside her dad’s personal gym, and I didn’t even know what most of the machines did or how to use them. Much less what they were called.

“Well Greg? Shall we begin?” asked Jaime.

She led me to the treadmill, pretty much the only machine I knew how to use, and I stepped on. “Ready?” she asked.

“Yeah.” She pushed a button on it, and I started running slowly. She walked over to a machine, and started moving stuff around.

Suddenly, I tripped. Stumbling, I continued to run, but I had to catch myself on the control panel. My hand pressed the button used to speed it up, and I tripped again.

This time, I wasn’t so lucky and didn’t catch myself. I instead fell flat on the conveyor, and was thrown by the treadmill against the wall.

Jamie got up, and ran over to me.

“That looked pretty funny, I’m gonna be honest.” she laughed as she helped me up.

Was she laughing at me? Of course she was. But why? I thought she was my friend. Oh yeah. Nobody ever wanted to talk to me save to insult me. But I still couldn’t believe that Jamie was like that.

Was this entire friendship fake? Would she call her friends later and tell her hilarious story? Would she become instantly popular for doing that to me?

I got up, and ran out. I ran back to my bedroom, and slammed the door shut.

I sat on the ground. My entire body ached. It had hurt quite a bit. But to anyone other than scrawny little me, it would tickle. I was a wimp. I couldn’t even stand a little fall. Not to mention it was hilarious. Not to me though. Jaime was laughing her head off. She really wasn’t my friend. She was just a jerk.

A brisk series of knocks came at the door.

“Go away!” I yelled.

“Greg, I’m not leaving, and neither are you.”

“I am leaning!” I called, my voice starting to crack. I knew that I wasn’t going to cry. Because I couldn’t.

“Look Greg,” started Jaime, “I’m really sorry about laughing about the treadmill. I tried not to, but I couldn’t help it. You probably won’t ever forgive me but...”

She was darn right I was never going to forgive her. She acted like the first and only friend I’ve ever had, and ruined my life. Which I never thought of as possible.

But she was apologizing. So maybe...

I lowered my head, and I sniffled. A tear fell from my eyes to the floor. I brought a hand up to my eyes, and rubbed one eye.

When I looked at it, it was wet. I really was crying again.

“Greg, I really don’t want you to leave.” said Jaime. “I know that originally I invited you here to be nice. Out of pity. But you’ve become my friend.”

More tears ran down my face.

“I’m not just being your friend out of pity or as a joke. I really am your friend.”

That was when I threw my door open, and hugged Jaime. She was just so nice to me. Unlike everyone else was.

I decided to look at my reflection again. Jamie had taught me how to tan, and helped me beef up. All in just this first week.

In just that first week of staying with the Quinn’s, my skin had gone from a ghostly white, to a dark orange. My biceps had ripped many of the new shirts Jaime had bought me, and my rib were now hidden with a thick layer of pecs and abs.

Jaime knocked on the door, and I scramble to get my shirt back on. “Come in!” I called to her.

She opened the door. “Hey, I wanted to help you with a few things.”

“Like what?”

“Making friends. I wanted to kind of give you lessons.”


“Okay, the first thing I need to teach you, is to be confident.” began Jaime. “Because there’s a big difference betweens guys who slump through the day, and guys who aren’t afraid to show anything off.”

“But I am afraid.” I replied.

“Don’t say things like that. You’re actually getting pretty cute. Deal with it.”

I blushed. “Fine.”

“Okay. Now walk from here to Maxwell.”

Maxwell the Husky was sleeping over by the kitchen table. I stood up from the couch, and walked to him.

“Wrong.” she said. “Just wrong.”

“How was it wrong?” I complained.

“Where do I start?” First, you gotta hold your head up. Your feet won’t run away if you look away. Second, you avoid your obstacles. Like that little trash can there is gonna eat your legs. Plow right through it! Or at least step over it. If it’s a person, don’t be afraid if they touch you. Third, you slouch too much. Let your shoulders help hold you up. You’re tall, so show it off. Try it all walking back.”

I sighed, and stood up straight.

“Now you look like you about to salute Hitler. Loosen up a tad.” I let my shoulders drop slightly, and loosened my arms. “Better.”

I brought my head up. “Okay, now you look like you’re praying. Look ahead. Not up.” She really should’ve been clearer. I straightened my head, and started walking, kicking an empty cereal box out of the way, and stepping over the trash can.

When I got to Jaime, she smiled. “Great job. See, you got potential.”

Over the remainder of the month, we followed a loose schedule. Breakfast, workout, lunch, lessons, free time, dinner, bed.

The next week I learned how to greet people in a cool way, and when I can also use the high fives and stuff. The week after I learned to have a decent conversation. That lesson rolled into that next week.

Today was the 29th. The last week. I was going to learn how to be nicer. I was plenty nice. It was just how I applied it I think.

“You ready? This ought to be one of your final lessons.”

“Totally ready. Being nice?” I replied.

“Yep. First, you gotta know the magic words. Please, thank you, sorry, excuse me, et cetera.”

“Yeah. I know ‘em.” I felt like I was three and still learning these words.

“Prove it. Imagine I just bumped into you. What do you say?”

“Sorry?” I guessed.

“No!” she corrected. “You say ‘excuse me’. What do you have to apologize for? I bumped into you!”

“Fine. Excuse me.”

“Better.” We spent about an hour on these magic words, until Jaime felt comfortable with me knowing them. “Alright. Next, it’s adding on the greetings.”

“Like?”

“Say you just walked in, I would smile at you and say, ‘Hi, Greg.’”

“Smile? I don’t smile.”

“You have to. Nobody will like you if you don’t smile.”

“Too bad.”

“Smile!” she yelled.

“No!”

“Darn it Greg, you better smile!”

“Deal with it!”

Jaime’s face instantly starting moving in weird ways. “What are you doing?” I asked.

“Making funny faces!” she replied. “Trying to get you to laugh!”

“Please stop.”

“No!”

“Cut it out!”

Jaime’s face stopped moving. “Fine. But are you ticklish?” her hand rapidly flew at me, and squeezed my side.

“I’m not ticklish.”

“Darn it. But you need to smile. I bet you’d look great. You already do.”

I went red.

“Trust me, I’m imagining a smile on you, and it looks amazing. You got everything else down. You got an awesome tan, hot muscles, and you’re starting to become really nice. But you need to smile.”

“Why should I?” I went even redder.

“Because girls will be all over you. Trust me, I’m a girl, I’d know.”

I felt my muscles in my face twitch. I held it down.

“Look Greg, you’re really cute, and a nice smile would make it a full package.”

Slowly, I felt the corners of my face move upwards. Until I went into a full smile. I couldn’t believe it! I was smiling! Actually smiling! This was amazing!

Jaime squealed like I’ve heard girls do over guys many times. “Oh my gosh!” she said. “You have dimples!”

Dimples? Really? “What’s so great about dimples?”

“They’re cute! Girls are gonna love those! Just think. If you never smiled, you would’ve never found out about those!”

My smile grew. Then I realized what Jaime did. She flattered me, and got me to smile. And the best part was, I knew she was telling the truth the whole time! My smile grew even bigger.

It was the day before that last day at the Quinn’s. On the first of August, Aunt Rita would get out of prison. Not something to look forward to.

I was cheered up when Jaime told me about the ‘Finals’. I listened to what she would say.

A couple weeks ago, Jaime had included me in their family’s phone plan. So what she wanted me to do, was go to the mall, and get at least three girls’ phone numbers. Seemed pretty easy. She had slightly covered flirting in some lessons, and everything contributed to this.

When Mrs. Quinn dropped me off, I said “Thank you,” and sighed. This wasn’t going to be too hard. The worst that could happen was rejection, right?

I walked in, a instantly, I was overwhelmed. So many people. Moving so fast.

Oh crap. What have I done?

When I started walking, I instantly noticed everybody was staring. I was attractive, I knew it. But was I that attractive?

I walked around for a while, and got a bit hungry. I make sure to ask a guy where the food court was, so I could get a number fair and square.

“Uh, sure thing bro. If you you that way, and turn right, it’s just around the corner.”

“‘Kay. Thanks, man.” I said walking away.

I followed his instructions, and saw an entire area of the mall dedicated to food. I was way hungry. I ordered a cheeseburger, and looked around for a place to sit. When I saw a cute girl sitting alone on a bench, I smiled and walked over to her.

I sat next to her, saying, “Now if you’re so pretty, why are you all alone over here?”

She gasped slightly when she looked at me. I knew she was caught on my looks. Now to reel her in.

“Oh. My friends all ditched me to hang out with their boyfriends. I didn’t want to be a third wheel.”

“I’m guessing you’re single?” I asked.

“Yeah.” she said. “My boyfriend broke up with me yesterday.” Tears formed in her eyes, and she covered them with her hand, then her knees.

I wrapped an arm around her, and scooted slightly closer. “It’ll be fine. If he broke up with someone like you, he’s an idiot.”

The girl looked at me, her eyes just were screaming, “This is too good to be true.”

“If you ever need a shoulder to cry on, just call me.” I gave her my number, and she gave me hers. She told me her name was Wendy Samson. She went to a different school than I did, but would go to the same high school.

I stood up, and threw away my burger wrapper, the burger now fully consumed.
That was easy.

The second number came fast. A girl named Patricia Edwards came up to me, and sang the chorus of the song, “Call Me Maybe,” and literally gave me her number. I sent her a quick text after she left saying, “I love that song.”

The next girl I saw was gorgeous. But the problem was, I knew her. It was Sadie Lyn. One of the most popular girls in my grade. There was no way I was going to try to get her number. I left, and looked for another girl, but couldn’t find a decent one. What kind of world is it when you go to a mall and can’t find cute girls?
I got back to where I was, and saw Sadie again. “You know,” I told myself, “I like a challenge.”

I walked up to Sadie, and said, “How can I focus on my day if you keep distracting me?”

She looked at me. “Do I know you?”

She didn’t recognize me. Terrific. “You might. Lots of people do. But I don’t know you.”

“Oh. Well I’m Sadie Lyn.” she said.

I looked at the watch on my wrist. “Oh no. I got to go. Hey, we get can to know each other. You got a phone?” I lied.

She gave me her number quickly. I didn’t give her mine though. I walked away, but she called out to me. “Wait, is that...Are you..Greg Whilson?”

I turned back, and saw her behind me.

“It is Greg Whilson. Isn’t it?”

“Yeah. It is.” I verified. “What about it?”

“You...you’re hot though.” Sadie said, confused. “How can you be hot? You were so awkward just two months ago!”

“People can change. I’m surprised you even knew me in the first place. I thought nobody knew I existed.”

“You kidding? Everybody talked about you. Just behind your back. Everybody thought you were just a loner or something, and didn’t need anyone around.”

“Really?”

“Really. In fact, it was the main gossip when you flipped out at Mr. Larson. You were like a hero. He apparently got fired!”

I laughed. “He did? He can whip his dogs now.”

Sadie laughed. “Wait a second, I never noticed you had dimples! They’re so cute!”

“You’re not the first girl to say that. Well, I really do gotta go. See ya.” I walked away, waving, and she waved back.

I dialed Jaime’s number. “Got all three.” I told her.

“Wow. Nice Greg.” said Jaime looking at the numbers. “Patricia? You got her number? She’s like that most popular girl in my grade! How’d you do that?”

“Actually that one was the easiest. She made the first move.”

“Haha. Nice. Now finally, you gotta ask one of these girls out on a date. Any of these numbers in your phone. Ask them out.”

She handed my phone back, and I looked through it. Wendy? She was really cute and nice, but she might talk about her ex the whole time. Patricia. She was a little too into me. She had already sent me about twenty-six texts since I got her number. Sadie? I felt like she was out of my league. I flipped around the three numbers in my phone. Then I came across a fourth. I knew who to ask.

“Jaime,” I said, “Would you like to go to a movie sometime?”

“What?” she asked.

“You said I could ask any of these girls whose number is in my phone. Your number is in my phone, so I choose you to ask out.”

This time she went red. “Really? You want to ask me out? I’m like a year older than you.”

“So is Patricia. And your parents are like four years apart. So is it a yes or a no?”

Jaime cracked a smile. “Alright, alright.” she laughed. “I’ll go with you.” She brought her mouth to my ear. “I secretly was hoping you would ask me.” she whispered.


When we got there I did everything. I held doors open for her, bought her ticket and snacks, and did everything a good date should.

When the movie ended, the lights turned back on, and two girls walked up to us. “Is that the little loser Jaime Quinn?” said one. I raised an eyebrow. “Who’s this? Your little brother?”

“Actually, Holly.” said Jaime, “He’s my date.”

Holly let out a loud laugh. “Haha! Darcy, get a load of this. Jamie, on a date!”

Darcy and Holly started laughed hysterically. “Hey, buddy, how much did she pay you to go out with her?”

My face tensed up. “Not every romantic relationship needs payment. Although you probably wouldn’t know that.” I said.

Holly stopped laughing. “What was that?”

“Are you deaf, or stupid? I insulted you.”

Holly and Darcy walked up to me. “Listen, I don’t blame you for not knowing, but I’m only, the Holly Stevens. The most beautiful girl in this town.”

“Who gave you that title?” I said. “A blind man? C’mon Jamie, let’s go.” I grabbed her arm, and led her out of the theater. We walked back to her house, and I looked at her. She was crying.

“What’s wrong?” I asked her.

She sniffled. “Those girls. They just...”

“Hey, don’t let them get to you. What do they have against you anyway?”

Jamie sighed. “Well, I was a loser in middle school.

“Kinda like me?”

She giggled a little. “Yeah I guess. But everyone hated me. Insulted me, beat me up. Then I decided to change my image. It took a while, and a lot of work. But I finally got people to like me.”

“But not those two?”

“They aren’t the only ones. There’s about twelve or so people in my grade who just hate my guts.”

“Why?” I asked.

Jamie shrugged. “How should I know? I tried to become their friends, but they just...hated me. I don’t know why. But I learned something then. You can’t please everyone. It’s impossible. But you can tolerate everyone. And I...try.”

“So they just hate you...to hate you?”

“Yeah.”

“Hey, haters gonna hate.” I said, smiling at her.

She laughed. “I’m glad you started smiling. It really makes me feel better. Well, we should go to bed. You’re going to leave tomorrow in the morning. Back to your horrible aunt. Visit me. You haven’t asked for a second date yet.” she laughed.

When I got back to that horrible house, I reached for the door handle. I heard a loud barrage of curses coming from inside. Oh no, I hadn’t gotten more food.

“I’m going to kill that kid!!!” Rita yelled.

I gingerly opened the door, and instantly got lifted by the shirt by Rita. “There you are! You little brat!” Just a note, she didn’t say brat. I just don’t like swearing. “What the heck is wrong with you? I leave for two months to prison, and you eat my food, leave my house looking like a pigsty, and you even had the guts to take my Fun Sticks?” She swears a lot, so I’m just going to replace them.

I stared her in the eyes. “You are never leaving this house again! And guess what, the judge said no parole.” she smiled. “So you got no one to help you.” She tossed me to the ground. The floor had places with no carpet, which often had several nails sticking out. One sharp nail drove itself into my side. She slammed her foot into my side, and walked to her bedroom, spouting swears under her breath.

I stayed on the floor. Not daring to get up. I couldn’t believe this was happening. I had spent an entire month with Jaime Quinn. She had taught me how to make friends, and got me to toughen up. And this is what I came back to?

I stayed there the rest of the day. Rita didn’t feed me. All she did was kick me out of the way as she passed. My blood stained the floor more than the dirt did. She connected the phone, and locked the door.

When night fell, she kicked me one last time, and went to bed. I curled myself up in a ball behind the couch, and starting crying. Suddenly I felt something vibrate in my pocket. My cell phone! Jamie let me keep it! I pulled it out, and I saw a call from Jaime.

“Hello?” I whispered.

“Hi Greg.” she said. “I just wanted to see how you were doing.”

I sighed. “Bad. Rita is treating me actually worse than earlier. It’s terrible.”

“Dude, that’s bad. Okay, tell you what, the second you hang up, call the police.” Suddenly, a clammy hand ripped the phone away from me.

“Give it back!” I yelled to Rita.

“No. Where’d you even get this?”

“My friend!”

She burst out laughing. “Friend? What hopeless loser would be friends with you? What is he, a rock?”

“Her name is Jaime Quinn. She’s nice, beautiful, and an overall great friend. And she’s not a rock, otherwise I’d throw her at you!”

Rita’s eyes widened. She swore at me several times, and slammed the cell phone on the ground. For good measure, she stomped on it with her large foot, to destroy it.

“Now you can’t talk to your girlfriend anymore. You deserve this you little-”

“What did I do to deserve this? You took me in when my parents died, and abused me ever since! I haven't had a friend in the world until Jaime, and you expect me to be the best behaved kid in the world? Where did you learn how to raise kids? A mental hospital?”

“Same one your little Jaime was in.”

“I bet Jaime’s learned more in kindergarten than you’ve ever learned.”

“Too bad she a little slow. The only one slow enough to want to talk to you.”

“I hate you Rita. I’ve never liked you in my life! From that first moment when I stepped in that door, I hated you! You’ve abused me! Cared about your stupid cigarettes more than me! And now, I’m tougher. Both mentally and physically. You do not want to mess with me!”

For once in my life, I truly wanted to hurt Rita. And I could. A loud knock came to the door. “It’s the police!” they called.

Rita glanced at the door, and burst down the hall.

“The door’s locked!” I called. “Kick it down! Than go right!” I dashed down the same hallway my aunt did, and tackled her while she was trying to escape through the window. “I told you I was tougher. I held her down, no matter how much she punched and kicked and bit. She struggled until a police officer came in the door. Than she just sat there. “Mind holder her down? I’ll want to show you a few things. Two more officers ran in, and I led them around the house. I didn’t want Rita away for just child abuse. I knew so much more.

“Okay, so you’ve probably heard about child abuse, right?”

“Yeah. By a girl named Jaime Quinn. You know her?”

“Yeah. She’s my friend. But I’ve got other things to show you.” I showed them everything. The drug horde she hid in her closet. The evidence of shoplifting, robbery, and piracy. I even found some evidence of a murder. Quickly, the officers arrested Rita, and read her rights. I smiled as this happened. My life could only get better.

It’s about one and a half years after all that. Rita was charged with child abuse, possession of illegal drugs, internet piracy- well, you get the idea. A lot of things. She was charged with life in prison, and I was briskly put into custody of a new family.
The young couple, Matt and Annie Paulson, were a whole lot nicer. And their home was a lot like the Quinns. In fact, they lived just three houses down from the Quinns. They actually took care of me as if I were their son. After all, Annie was incapable of having children of her own.

At school, it took a while rebuilding my image. Although when I walked into the high school totally different, it helped quite a bit. I quickly gained friends. They wanted to hang out with me. Some just wanted to hear the entire story that they saw in the news. I discovered what certain people like, and at least tolerated everyone. Although there was still some other people who hated me. Who cares?

I’ve also gotten a job. Although it’s just an after school job at a hot dog place, it pays nicely. I use that money quite a bit.

Now I’ll quit stalling and tell you about me and Jaime. We went on about three dates, then we started calling each other boyfriend and girlfriend. That made a lot of girls jealous. I’m with her quite a bit, and manage to balance my friends, girlfriend, homework, real work, and free time all fairly well.

My life has changed a lot. I never thought that it could do this. I did a u-turn in my life, turned it around. And it’s all because of a mouth with Jaime Quinn.