The Butler

SLAM. The breath gets knocked out of me, and my eyes start to water from the pain of being pushed into the locker and the healing bruises on my back coming into contact with the hinges of the lockers. With fits of coughing, I try to reach into my pocket for my phone while staring at the ground to try to NOT give the bullies a satisfaction of making me cry. "What do you think you're doing, you ugly b***h?" I hear a voice sneer. I look up after my eyes dry up to see that Caleb Dune, the basketball star of our school, is speaking to me while laughing mockingly with his company, a whole bunch of popular kids. With blonde hair and blue eyes, one would perceive him as a standard decent looking guy. His uneven nose was something I'd like to punch- call it plastic surgery if you will. I stare back at the ground so my desire of punching him doesn't control me and make me run rampant. "Did you hear me? I asked you a question. Are you trying to call Damon Williams? You're really going to try to call that rich boy to help you? Football boy? Your best friend coming to save the day as always by saying he's going to call the teachers and sue us?" Caleb taunts as he rolls his eyes. My hands start to get sweaty, and my heart pumps rapidly. My vision becomes sharper or as sharp as it could be. I form my hands into a fist. You know what this means fellas? My adrenaline is pumping and someone- or should I say some people- are going to get punched. As my head instantly shoots up from staring at the ground to staring defiantly at the bullies, I grit my teeth, "you can belittle me all you want but don't make fun of him." "Or what? He has a daddy comple-" I scream to cut him off as I start sprinting to punch him in the nose that I wanted to do so badly.  Before I could reach Caleb's face, I hear a loud booming voice call out to me.  "STELLA RISE" I instantly halt. I know that voice making me shiver. The half circle that formed around me starts to open up to reveal my best friend walking towards me in his full glory. His kind hazel eyes now looking harsh and serious, his straight nose that I would NOT like to punch, his full lips and his bulging biceps leaking through his shirt-all walking towards me. I cower. He condones a lot of my mishaps, so it's rare and scary when he shows his anger towards me. An easy indicator is addressing me by my full name. He walks in front of me with his back towards me so my that my vision is blocked. I peek my head to the right to see that crowd has left and the only ones remaining is Caleb and his posse. The observers left because they didn't want to get in trouble if Damon did call the teachers for watching bullies wreck a little girl. Observers are just as guilty at our school. "Hey Caleb. You want a matching scar on the left eye after school? Or should I save you the embarrassment and talk about calling the teachers" Damon asks with a smirk on his face.  Caleb's face contorts into anger. His right eye twitching which brings more attention to his scar that Damon gave him. We all stand there in silence expecting a fight to explode between the two star athletes of our school. I glance at Damon's back to see it tensing up in anticipation of the possible exchanges that will occur. Damon is tall enough to tower over me but isn't as tall as the giant known as Caleb but makes it up with bulkiness. "Whatever p***y. Keep calling the teachers, you snitch," Caleb waves his hand in the air to dismiss the tension as he walks away. Until Caleb disappears around the corner, Damon's back stays tensed in case Caleb, the rat he is, decides to try to sneak a punch in. "That makes literally no sense. He's calling you a p***y, but he's resorting to the latter and not the former of fighting with you," I ramble with logic with hopes that Damon is sidetracked or at least humored. His back fully relaxes, but I tense up in anticipation of the wrathful Damon. He turns around to give me a lecture. His face shows a bit of amusement knowing that the rambling helped loosen his agitated state.  "You know that if you get in trouble, your mom is going to kill both of us. I'm supposed to look out for you since your mom is stuck in the hospital. I'm glad you screamed because I could hear you from around the corner. God knows what would of happened if you tried to fight them on your own. A little girl trying to fight seven people. Half of them were guys," he gently knocked on my forehead to make sure I was listening.  "Yes father. I really tried to hold it in, but they REALLY got under my skin, " I say as he gives me a look to show me that he's not impressed. "But I can make it up by preparing dinner for us." He sighs. "Fine. It better be my favorite grilled cheese with homemade tomato soup," he surrenders.I nod furiously.  Hearing the first bell ring as a warning, we both rush off into our respective classes. As good looking as he is, he isn't as smart as me. I guess it makes him more human because if he was THAT good looking, athletic and a genius, no one would have a chance on this earth. I am destined to be valedictorian, not to brag or anything, but I do work hard. I dream of a world where my mom would be cancer free. A world where a daughter would not have to worry when parting with her mom if that day is the last day of talking with her. I tear up as I think about my mother but quickly shake it off to focus as I sit down for class. Another two mundane hours of school.