- A girl tries to get a boy in her class to smile -

Smile For Me
♡ ♡ ♡

She tried. She tried many times to make a smile brighten up his features.
It was her junior year of high school and she had just moved to a new school in Albuquerque. It was hot, and the school was different than she would've expected. Although she was new, she adapted quickly, and made new friends.

"Good morning," the girl said to her friend Matilda.

Matilda smiled at the girl, grabbing her hand and dragging her into the classroom at a break neck pace. "Hurry! You have to get a load of this kid!"

As the girl was led into the class, she noticed the seat that she sat next too was now occupied. The boy was drooped low in the seat, his head covered by a hoodie, with a bit of his brown hair seeping from his hood. His left cheek was being held up by his left hand, and he stared out the window. He was tall, gangly almost, and had this depressing aura around him. He was really average looking, from what the girl could see, but he didn't feel average.

"That's the new kid," Matilda whispered in her friends ear, lips brushing her earlobe. "He's so weird. He won't talk to anyone, and no one knows his name but the teachers."

The girl frowned and looked a lot Matilda.

"Why are none of the new kids even cute?" She said loudly.

The kid turned his head and looked straight at the girl, whose breath froze in her chest. The boy looked painfully sad, and when his eyes locked on her own, her heart stuttered. "M-Matilda," the girl said, whipping around. "You shouldn't say that. What if he's really nice?"

Matilda snorted.

"He looks like he kills puppies for fun."

"Don't say that."

"Why are you taking his side?"

The girl paused. She wasn't sure how to answer. She didn't want to be aliented. She knew if Matilda didn't like her anymore she'd have no reason to even go to school. She'd be pushed around, or ignored. She didn't want that, but she didn't want Matilda picking on some kid who looked so sad. It reminded her of the look her baby brother gave her when their dog died.

It was almost like watching someone kick a kitten.

The girl ignored Matilda and took her seat next to the kid who shifted farther away from her, his eyes looking out the window again. It went like this for an entire week. Matilda would say something sly about the new kid, and when the girl would try to defend him, she was met with resistance. Eventually she stopped trying and just ignored Matilda, who started to bad mouth the girl as well. She no longer had anywhere to sit at lunch, so she would sit under a eucalyptus tree that gave her a perfect view of the football field.

Barely any clouds littered the sky as two boys walked past the girl, muttering something and then turning around to glance at the new kid.

He hadn't talked not once since being at the new school. People thought he was stupid. Maybe a mute. The girl knew he wasn't stupid though. They were paired up as partners in Calculus, and every answer he put down was right. In fact, he was borderline genius, or maybe she was just the stupid one. Math was not her strong point.

"Yeah, apparently he moved here because his mom was convicted of murder. She was put on death row or whatever, Tony said he saw the kid on the news," the boy on the right said excited.

"Whoa! You mean that Sante Fe kidnapping thing was real? Where the mom killed her daughter and like three other kids? I thought Dan was just pulling my leg..."

The boys looked behind them and glanced at the new kid who only kept his head down low and his hands in his pocket.

"No wonder he's a freak," the boy on the left said. "His mom's a killer. Shit, if my mom killed someone I'd be messed up too."

The other guy nodded, and then they were out of the girls ear shot.

She looked down at her ham sandwich and frowned. I hope he's okay, she thought. She wanted to do something for him. I've never seen him smile. Maybe I can get him too.

As the boy walked past her, she began to think.

"I'll get him to smile!" She shouted, and then gasped as she realized she said it outloud.

○ ○ ○ 》》

"Today in art class we'll be sketching a person of your choice. If you can't think of anyone, do your seat partner. Today I'll be assigning partners for class, so stand up please," Ms. Vargas told the class.

The girl squealed inside as she waited for the teacher to call out her name. Ms. Vargas was her mother, and she had told her about her plan to make the lonely looking kid smile. Her mom agreed, and decided to place them as seat partners for the rest of the semester. "Ian Summer with Gia Vargas!"

Gia stood up and placed her bag at a random table, the boy showing up not a minute later.

His bookbag thudded on the floor, making Gia flinch, but then she was back to bouncing on her bottom in excitement. After Ms. Vargas gave instructions, Gia began to sketch the boy next to her. She closed one eye, and looked at him until he looked at her. The boy quirked a brow, but she stuck out a tongue, gasping and then scribbling on her page again. Towards the end of the class, Gia finished.

"Hey," Gia turned toward her partner who gazed at her, confusion written over her features.

She shoved the pictures into his face, and when he pulled it away to look at it, Gia crossed her fingers. It was a crude picture, looking like it was drawn by a five year old. The boy, Ian, was sitting in a field of flowers, a sun with sunglasses looking down at him. Gia was sure it was going to make him smile, but he just stared at it and when the bell rang not a second later he handed it back to her and was out of class faster than she could blink.

"I was sure he was going to laugh," she said to herself. "I'm a horrible artist!"

° ° °

Over the next few days she tried everything to get him to smile.

She gave him notes full of puns.

She gave him a cupcake.

She tried to tickle him in gym, but only managed to get hit in the face with a dodge ball and sent to the nurse.

She tried everything in the book, for whatever reason he would not smile.

It was then she trudged her way out of the cafeteria, close to her lunch spot, pulling out her ham sandwich and biting it angrily. As she was not paying attention, Gia's foot caught on a rock and she tumbled down, her bare knees skidding across the ground. Her body rolled to the side, and her books and sandwich scattered all around her. Gia cried out, and caught herself on her hands, which scrapped up as well. Her eyes teared up at the pain, and then she couldn't stop it. Her frustration - frustration at Matilda, and Ian - and the pain of her knees and hands all made the tears flow.

Suddenly, one of the books by Gia's leg was picked up.

Her eyes rose up and met up with the new kids.

He was taken aback as he saw the snot dribbling down her nose, the redness of her eyes, and the tears running down her face.

She grimaced and rubbed her eyes with her hands, embarrassment welling in her core. She tried to pick herself up, but her face fell and she cried harder. Ian looked at the girl and felt an inexplicable feeling inside his chest. He pushed his hood back, and ripped up his sleeve, exposing his pale, smooth arms. He wrapped an arm around Gia's waist, and looked down at her. He mustered all his strength, and then lifted the bleeding girl up. She scraped her knee so badly that her knees were just spilling blood.

He handed her the ripped pieces of his hoodie, and instructed the girl accordingly. "Wrap this around your knee," he said in a surprisingly authoritive voice. "It'll hold the blood. Apply pressure."

Gia, a mess of tears and blood did as Ian instructed and held the cloth to her knees, but gasped out in pain as it stung. The new kid bit his lower lip, and shifted his weight to his left foot as he held the girl bride style in his arms. She buried her head into his shoulder and cried, her shoulders shaking. Then, he was off. He quickly sprinted into the school building, abandoning the hot weather outside for cool air conditioning.

Ian ran through the empty hallways, and arrived at the nurses office, who nearly screamed when the tall boy stampeded into her office with a crying, bloody girl in his arms.

× × ×

"Okay, Mr. Summers, you can come in now," the nurse said.

Ian silently entered the room, and sighed in relief when he saw that the girl who had been trying to get his attention was okay. She was sitting up on a nurse bed, her legs wrapped in gauze. She apparently had skidded so hard that she lightly scraped the muscles on the surface under her skin. Luckily, it was just a scrape.

"Are you okay?" He asked after examining her.

Gia looked at Ian and looked at his clothes. He had tattered sleeves, and there was blood on his sweatshirt. Not only that, but it seemed that there were wet spits from where she had pressed her face against his shoulder and chest.

"Would you mind if I gave you a new hoodie?"

Ian looked down at his hoodie and grimaced. "Not at all."

^^

Gia hobbled on her crutches as Ian and herself made it to her locker. She pulled out a bag, and threw something green at him. When he pulled it away from his face, he frowned.

"Why does this say girl scouts?"

"I was a girl scout when I was twelve. My mom kept the sweatshirt they gave her. I keep it in case it gets cold in the school."

"Oh," was all that he had to say.

The pale boy pulled his torn sweatshirt off and threw on the green sweat shirt with the words GIRL SCOUT COOKIES ARE BETTER THAN WOOKIES! A picture of a star wars ship was underneath the lettering, making the shirt that much more hilarious.

"Thank you," he said, although forced.

"No problem. I should thank you," Gia said. "Really."

Ian stared at the girl who grinned at him, grateful that he had been there to help her. He felt the sides of his lips tug up in a little coy half smile, when tears were brought to her eyes, and she threw her arms around Ian.

"W-what are you hugging me for?" He asked, trying to pry the girl off of him.
"I'm just so happy you smiled, that's all," Gia said.

She had finally gotten him to smile.

-
Fin