Bullied, But not Broken

3. Something Odd

Garrett

Garrett Steele was used to getting his way; he was a football star, he did alright in his classes and he was handsome enough that he could choose from the girls who he wanted to be seen with. Although he was among girls now, since he had his hands full with football and school, he didn’t need to add a demanding girlfriend to that list.

Life was good, until his second day as a senior. He was moved away by the ever eccentric Mrs. Middleton to sit next to the oddity in their school, because he was apparently too disruptive. He had retorted that he didn’t want to move, but was given the option of being in detention instead.

His father and Coach would kill him if he had to take detention, so he grudgingly took the only empty seat next to Sasha Panders, the faded boring wall flower with mud-brown eyes too large for her pale face and equally unimpressive dull hair who always wore throw-away clothes that seemed at least two sizes too big for her, like she didn’t take any pride in looking presentable. But he was surprised to see that she didn’t seem too thrilled about the situation either.

What was she upset about? It wasn’t like she had to sit next to herself. He was an absolute pleasure to be around. What did she have to complain about?

And then Mrs. Middleton added insult to injury by pairing them up for a group project in his least favorite class, art. He had taken this class simply because he thought it would be easiest to keep his marks up, since he was rather good at drawing, but he had been sorely mistaken. Mrs. Middleton was impossible to please and she called all his work empty and prejudiced.

After she had paired them for the project, she asked them to take out their assignment on ‘Alone’. He had simply sketched out a single person standing in the middle of an open field; that was alone, right?

But a splash of red caught his eye from Sasha Panders’ side, when she opened up the ugly bag that held her artwork and he stared in wide-eyed shock and horror at the picture she had made. Was that a human heart?

Mrs. Middleton was doing her rounds, taking in the art, and then she stopped short at what Sasha had done. The teacher stared at the work for long moments and he was surprised to find tears in her eyes, when she looked up at Sasha.

He couldn’t completely see her art from where he sat, because she had attempted to hide the work. So he had seen red and then black and he was sure that red wasn’t just painted.

“Sasha, you have really captured the emotion vividly in this artwork. I have to put this up in front!” She cried, snatching the cardboard Sasha had done her art on from her and all but flew to the front of the class before she turned to face them all.

“You have all done your views on Alone, but I have to share Sasha’s work with you. If you do not feel anything by looking at this, then you have no heart at all.” She declared passionately and promptly put it on the easel in the front so they could all stare at it while Sasha sank down in her seat and dropped her head between her arms on her desk with a groan. Clearly, she had not wanted everyone to see it.

Garrett’s eyes were riveted on the cardboard on the easel. There was a cracked and broken, perfectly made human heart on it, and reaching out from inside the heart was a charcoal-drawn girl with tears running down her face, holding out her hand for someone to grab hold of it, but the charcoal-drawn crowd either laughed at her or turned their backs on her. The emotion in the charcoal-drawn eyes was so raw and ragged that he couldn’t tear his eyes away from it.

Silence fell over the class while everyone stared and then some turned their eyes away, clearing their throats guiltily, because they all knew; like the girl reaching out of the heart, the one who had created it was very much alone in this school. No one talked to her or gave her any kindness. She was the embodiment of the sentiment just as much as her art was.

Mrs. Middleton glanced around the class and her eyes landed on Sasha, where she still hid her face. “Sasha Panders, I want you to know that you perfectly showed the embodiment of ‘Alone’ and not only do you get full marks for this project, but I am entering this into the young artist competition that we have running with several schools. You should be proud of your work; do not hide your face when it is truly something to be proud of.”

Garrett felt a lump form in his throat while he continued to stare at the girl in the broken heart. It was painful to look at and he had a sense that she understood the word better than most. But what really caught him, was that he had a sense of feeling some of that in his everyday life.

Yes, he was popular; yes, he seemed to have many friends. But few of them would be there for him if he really needed them and didn’t have a cent to his name. He didn’t doubt that for one moment. He was popular, because he was a football player and because his dad was a prominent lawyer in the town and obviously had money to spend.

But he had no one to share his innermost thoughts with and he wondered if other children their age felt the same sometimes. But he now knew without a shadow of a doubt that Sasha did. But what had she made the heart of? It wasn’t just paint, because it stood out in a way that made it look 3D.

Mrs. Middleton gave them a chance to talk in their groups to plan the art work they would create for ‘Momentum’, but Sasha didn’t raise her head from her arms once and his eyes kept returning to the art she had handed in.

He was both confused and overwhelmed by what he saw; she had opened his eyes to see things differently around him. Eventually, he cleared his throat. “So, you want to discuss how to do this project?”

“What’s the point? I’ll end up doing all of it anyway.” She muttered without raising her head from her arms.

“It’s my grades too.” He retorted, annoyed. He was not used to someone not being more than willing to go along with everything he said. Most girls in school would love to have the chance to spend alone time with him; she seemed to be the only girl that was the exception and he felt slighted by her disregard.

“I just got full marks for this project; you have nothing to worry about.” She answered drily, still not raising her head.

“Look, I don’t like this any more than you do…”

“Exactly; so just let me do this project and save us both the torture.”

“Hey! What’s that supposed to mean? I’m a delight to have around.” He answered indignantly.

“Of course you are.” She answered drily and picked up her backpack when the bell rang, interrupting their disagreement.

To say he was pissed was an understatement. He’d never been so completely disregarded in his life; it was insulting! Who was she to take his opinions and choices away from him? He was Garrett Steele; everyone loved him and went along with whatever he said. She had no right!

But when he picked up his backpack, his eye caught her art and he winced. Maybe she had more right than most to push people away, considering her life here at school. She must be miserable, but it couldn’t be that bad, could it?

“So Mad Middleton paired you with Mud-pie?” Tony Moss, one of his usual crew fell into step with him. “How are you going to work with that?” He asked with disdain and raised his chin towards where she was just opening her locker that still had the phrase ‘Trailer Trash Sash’ painted on it in white.

“She won’t discuss anything with me, just told me she’d give in the project when she was done.” He admitted.

“So? Let her; she got full marks for this project, so you have a free ride to extra marks with her doing it. It’s more than you usually get in Mad Middleton’s class.”

“How do I know she doesn’t bomb the project because of who she’s paired with? If my marks fall my dad will have my hide.”

“You’re kidding, right? She did an English project that I was paired with her and she actually raised my marks for that class. Wish they’d pair me more with Mud-pie; I’d have infinitely less work to do to stay in the team.” Tony snickered and he frowned.

Was that how it always was with her? No one bothered to help her with the projects, so she just assumed it would be the same with every one of them. He didn’t like leaving things that were his responsibility.

He might be popular, but he still had standards and morals. They were supposed to do the project together; it was partly his responsibility. He didn’t shirk his responsibilities.