I softly turned the page in my book, cutting the world around me out and pretending it didn't exist. It wasn't that I was somewhere dangerous, in fact I was in school with bunches of other kids...it was the fact that even though I was with all those other people not a single one was my friend.

I had gone through a few grades in my life and each time I seemed to lose more people I cared about. They would just up and leave like I meant nothing. Not only was I afraid to try again, but no body else liked me and it was like I was invisible.

I brought my knees closer to my chest, the cold feeling of morning air and loneliness tugging at me as I sat on the dangerous cement playground. I was just under the shed so I wouldn't get rained on but by doing so I was closer to the basketball players.

Suddenly I felt a person next to me and I tensed up, my mind filling with various answers as to who this could be yet all of my guesses were wrong.

"Hi. My names Ryder. I'm probably like intruding on your reading and I'm sorry about that, but I really love that book. Do you want to talk about it?"

My face turned a light pink and I was thankful I had decided to wear a hoodie. Him being next to me made everything seem warmer which was nice after being freezing for so long, but I shook my head anyway indicating that no I didn't want to chat about a book.

"Okay...look I'm really not good at this stuff...I just want you to know if you need someone to talk to....I could be that person. I-in like a friend way."

I bit my lip feeling slightly annoyed at him saying the word friend, I didn't have any reason why though so I let it go. My heart sank as he stood up and I watched as he walked away, leaving me in the dark all over again.

A little while later the bell rung making the other children and young adults line up to go inside. I hated this part cause people could clearly see me amongst the brightly dressed students. I usually only wore black or dark colors so I didn't attract attention and the worked except for now.

"Hey it's that girl, the creepy one. Do you think her and the boy were planning to blow up the school?"

I turned my head slightly so I could listen better to the girls talking not to far from me. They should learn to keep their stupid mouths shut...it was one thing to drag me down but a whole other to drag Ryder too.

"Nah I bet they were both talking about freaky sex stuff. I mean neither of them have any friends so what do they do when no one's around."

"That is not true!" I snapped and shouted back at them absolutely horrified that someone could think that about me. I'm only thirteen! "He asked if I wanted to talk I said no so leave him out of this and talk about your stupid hair that's deflating cause all the hairspray in it!"

I sniffled and tried not to smile from how proud of myself I was. Sure it wouldn't last long and she actually didn't have that much hairspray in her hair but for once I had came up with a good comeback at the right time! It was like a movie and it gave me a small boost of confidence as I walked to my class.

Then it all faded away as the girl pushed me in a locker and I fell to the ground, my right shoulder in pain as her friends laughed. My father always said if there was a fight to finish it if I got hurt first and I wasn't about to let the dumb fish best me.

I stood up feeling dizzy and my head hurting, but before I could throw a punch Ryder was in front of me. His skin seemed paler than usual and his body was shaking like he was scared. The girls looked at him like he was crazy and told him to move so they could get to me but he just shook his head.

"(Y/n) isn't weird. She's hurting and y-your part of the reason. Leave her alone before i-i do something..."

People around us were starting to stare and laugh like all of this was a joke. I now worried I was ruining Ryder's school life. What if they started to bully him because of me? I would never forgive myself, without thinking I grabbed his hand and pulled him away to a place by the library.

"Look okay your super nice and I'm happy you stood up for me but it's a death sentence for you. Just go away and you will be fine. I won't judge ok-"

I jumped halting my sentence as he wrapped his arms around me in a tight hug. He didn't whisper but his voice was so quiet and close to my ear it made my face bright red. I had never dealt with this before and the only thing I could do was hug back, letting my forehead lay on his shoulder.

"I'm annoying. I won't leave you alone (y/n) but I might drive you crazy."

I nodded finding the clean laundry smell from his shirt calming and wondering if I would actually be okay with us only being friends. One day we could be more...I could feel it.

The end