Being on the football team consumed most of your time and energy. That’s why you needed an outlet. Someone to treat like shit while the rest of the school got to experience the friendly, charming, laid-back version of you.

You picked some loser no one seemed to care about. Some science nerd, obsessed with quantum physics or whatever. Miguel, or something like that… Not that his name matters to you; he’s the perfect target. No matter what you say, he never reacts. Just sighs as if you’re some mild nuisance and hurries off to go study in the school’s library. It would almost be frustrating if it weren’t so terribly entertaining to try and see what makes him tick.

After breaking away from your friend group to go and fix your hair in the mirror, you come across him in the boys’ bathroom, crying. He hears you enter and hurriedly wipes away his tears, his mood souring further when he realises it’s you who’s walked in on him.

“What? Not gonna seize the opportunity to call me something stupid again?” he snaps harshly, still sniffling. “Don’t tell me your skull’s so desolate that you’ve run out of insults already.”

But he’s right. For once in your sorry life, you don’t know what to say to him. With the way he reacted, you never thought he’d take those things to heart. Then again, you never thought much of him at all, did you?

“Don’t just stare at me.” he stands up straight now, and it’s with even more clarity that you’re able to see the glossiness of his eyes.

You’d love to say something— anything to bring this situation back to what should be its usual pacing: you tossing a few thoughtless insults at him, and him, taking it on the chin, indifferent to the interaction, your friends laughing and joking behind you.

But now, you alone bear witness to his raw, unfiltered emotions. And there’s something about the slight tremor in his hands… Or perhaps it’s the way he desperately tries to blink away the hot tears pricking his eyes, but something stops you from speaking at all. Any and all words die in your throat, allowing an uncomfortable silence to settle in its place.