Unknown by Christopher Bejarano (best ereader for manga .txt) 📖

Lunch was over and sadly I had to try and continue my day at school. I walked through the halls hoping once again, no one would take notice of me but sadly I was wrong. Brittney and her group of cheerleaders pushed me into the lockers and just stared at me with an evil grin. I was scared they were gonna finish what they did this morning. “You never learn do you” she slapped me across the face while the other girls pinned me to the lockers making sure I couldn’t move. She slapped me again “Why don’t you just kill yourself. No one here likes you or wants you.” I looked down not wanting to show her my fear in my eyes. I look up to see one of her friends holding my bag wide open for Brittney. My eyes opened wide open when she starts to pull out my Teddy Bear.

“you better let him go right now or I’ll murder you!” She looked up almost astonished that I would even say anything after what she did. She looked down at the bear and back at me.

“Wouldn’t it be just a shame if something were to happen to this poor bear?” My eyes were in tears and I was struggling to get out of the team's grip to just kill her. As I struggle to put up a fight I heard a rip. My whole body stopped as I look up to see Brittney with my bear's body in one hand and the head in the other. “Oops did I do this?”

“NOOOO!” As my screams echoed the halls the girls begin taking off. I dropped to my knees and I stared at what was left of what I had to remember my mom. My tears started streaming down my face. It felt like the strength I had left was just gone. As I hear footsteps running down the hall I see Mrs. Castillo stop at where I was at. She looked down but didn’t say a single thing. I picked up what was left of my bear stuffed him in my bag. “I’m sorry Mrs. Castillo I'll get to class right away.”

I walked into class and I was only two minutes late. I’m guessing Mrs. Castillo called because he didn’t send me back to the office. As I took my seat in the back of the class I dropped my head and began crying silently to myself. I tried to figure out how anyone could have such a cold heart and be so evil. My mind was running so much that I didn’t realize everyone was staring at me. I looked up to see a kid standing in front of the class. His hair was brown and shined like glistening chocolate. His warm eyes were like smooth raindrops of blue and green swirling together. My eyes traced his tall, built figure. His clothes were pretty plain, contrasting deeply with his face. He wore a regular sweater with regular cuffed jeans and a plaid jacket.

“Good to know you’re awake Ms. Hernandez” I kept my head up, but my eyes low so I wouldn’t make any eye contact. “Well everyone this is our new student Phoenix, and he comes from New Mexico.” I looked around to see every girl staring at him like a dog to marinated steak. I kept my eyes low because I knew no one like him would even take a glance in my direction. “Alright, Phoenix pick your seat so I can continue class” I looked around to see the empty seats scattered around the class.

There was one at the corner of the room closest to the exit, which, by the way, was right near the cheerleaders who I saw moments ago. They giggled and smiled as he got closer and then stopped immediately when he walked right past them. Next was right in the middle of the class were the obnoxious jocks sat. They for some odd reason got this bright idea to think they were better than everyone else. I clearly thought with the way he looked he would sit with them, but again he passed yet another seat. The only seat left in the class was the one right next to me. I hoped that maybe this was a joke and he would walk right back to the jocks or cheerleaders. Nope, he seemed more than determined to take his seat right next to me. As he placed his stuff down I put my head back down to listen to the lecture. Without anything to distract me listening was the key to passing all my classes. As I laid there I felt a slight poke on my shoulder. I panicked and looked up to see Phoenix staring at me with a broad smile.

“Do you have a pencil I can borrow?” I looked at him as if something was wrong with him. I reached for a pencil from my bag and turned back holding the pencil.

“Do you mind if I ask you a question” He gave me a confused look. “You are new but yet you didn't come with any pencils?” He gave a slight smile and looked down.

“I had to find an excuse to talk to you” I blushed handing him the pencil quickly and placed my head back down. This was not happening!

As the final bell rings at the end of the day I walk out of class and quickly to the bus without being noticed. I make my way to the back without being noticed or ridiculed. The anticipation to get home has hit a high today, and it’s driving me insane. I put on my earbuds and blast my music so I’m not disturbed unless the bus gets full, which rarely happens. I sit right next to the window and place my bag on my lap checking on my teddy bear who had his head ripped off today. My eyes start to water as I start to become emotional. As I place my head on the window I begin to feel a slight tapping noise against it. I look over to see Phoenix standing there with a stupid looking grin on his face. I take my earbuds off and push down the window to see what he wants

“Can I help you?” He continues to stare at me, which at this point is starting to creep me out. After about a minute of silence, I begin to close my window when he finally says something

“I’m sorry I was lost in my train of thought. I was wondering if you knew which bus goes to Ash Street.”

“This one goes to Ash Street actually.” I wasn’t going to tell him I lived on the same street. I think I’ll let him figure it out on his own, but even without the information he still seems to have that sparkle of happiness in his eyes.

“That’s awesome! I’m going to hop on save me a seat next to you!” He said that a little too loudly for comfort. Phoenix seems sweet and all but I know this attention won’t last long, it never does. In this train of thought, Phoenix comes out of the blue and sits right next to me. “Hey, your name is Serenity, right? I’m not really good with names but I forgot I never gave you your pencil back.” He shuffled through his bag which was filled with a few notebooks and from what I could see a fair amount of pencils. Well at least I know he was prepared and not some guy who can’t remember anything. 

“You don’t have to worry about the pencil you can keep it. I have plenty more in my bag as it is.” He stopped and chuckled a little bit. He continued to talk to me asking me how my day was and apologizing for the embarrassing moment in class. Just as I tell everyone I told him my day was alright and told him time and time again not to worry about it. He seemed like a nice kid. There wasn’t anything about him that made him stand out and he seemed like a normal guy to me. I was enjoying our conversation.

The bus driver has a thing where he calls out the students for each stop. He usually doesn’t do it for me since I know when to get off. However, since there was a new kid on the bus he had to call both our names. “First stop! Serenity and Phoenix!” I don’t enjoy being put on the spot and right now was one of those times.

“That’s cool we get off at the same stop!” he laughed and allowed me to stand up and let me go ahead of him. I was halfway through the bus when I was tripped and laughed at. I began to shed a few tears trying my best not to let anyone see. Suddenly I hear Phoenix behind me talking to someone. I turned around to see him grabbing what I dropped and telling the kid he better not do that again. He helped me up and we proceeded off the bus where he made sure I was alright. “Does that happen all the time? If so I can ride the bus in the morning to make sure it doesn’t happen again.” I wondered why I didn’t see him this morning.  

“It’s alright I’ve been used to it. You don’t have to protect me.” I eyes looked away because I didn’t want him to see how weak I was. I started walking away and I heard his footsteps right behind me. I started to feel uneasy. I stopped and jolted around to look at him. He had this goofy look on him as if he was trying to hold in a laughter. “I told you I don’t need any help, so why are you following me?”

“Because my house is in the same direction. I’m sorry if my comment bothered you. I just don’t like when people are jerks. It’s not right” we continued to walk in silence when I finally got to my house. He stopped and kind of looked at me “Is this your place?” he started to observe the house and the yard, which hasn’t been mowed in quite some time. He then went from looking at the place to looking at me. I looked away because I knew my eyes were red from the tears I had earlier.

“Well, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.” I took a quick glance to see him smiling. “what are you smiling about you were mad not too long ago.”

“I’m just enjoying the fact that not only are we classmates but we’re also neighbors.” He points at