By lunch, I am all but fucking exhausted. I take one look at the cafeteria teeming with people and head to the library. Last year, I'd taken to eating my lunch among the shelves of books there.

Looks like nothing is going to change this year.

The library is almost always deserted at lunchtime, except for the occasional outcasts like myself, who never pay me any mind. I make my way to the last row of books, where the contemporary young adult section is. This is where I find most of the books that I am able to escape into; I hate to admit it, but I am a hopeless romantic. I like to read about romances across seas, forbidden lovers, and even time-traveling partners who are destined to be forever apart. Most of the contemporary section glosses over love with a fine-tipped pen, but occasionally, I find stories that don't end happily. I like those. It shows the truth of reality, which is that not everything ends perfectly. Hearts can be broken. Souls can be crushed. People can be unhappy.

People can be unhappy and still be in love.

I am pulled roughly from my thoughts when my hand, which was tapping incessantly on the ground next to me, is met with the thin texture of notebook paper. I pick it up, intending to place it with the trash from my lunch, when my name, scrawled in messy pencil handwriting, catches my eye.

I unfold the paper and begin to read what is written on it.

OMG, did you hear what happened this morning with that Daniel kid and Cooper?

No, what happened?!?!

They totally made out in the hall!!!

NO WAY.

YES WAY. One guy got it on video and a ton of people took pictures!

I wanna see!

Just a sec. I'll send them to you.

I crumple the paper into a ball and throw it across the library as hard as I can. The note brings back memories of that fateful day in seventh grade, the day that started it all.

"Hey, Coop!" I wave to the boy with the tousled brown hair as he walks in the door, bag swinging from his shoulder. I can tell he hears me, because he locks eyes with me. However, before I can smile at him, he quickly looks away. I frown, confused. Cooper has been one of my closest friends for several months now. Why would he just ignore me like that?

I see Cooper stop in the middle of the lobby, run a hand down his face nervously, and then make a beeline for me, almost as if he's afraid of something or is being chased by something.

"Dan," he gasps out when he sees me. "Dan, I've got to tell you something." He hesitates, drops his bag, and then adds, "Well, it'll be easier if I just show you. I don't know if I can get the words out."

With that, Cooper takes my face in his hands and kisses me.

I'm too shocked to respond at first; this is my best friend, and he's kissing me right now. Cooper, my best friend, is kissing me right now. In the hall. In front of everyone. On the lips.

I am aware of laughter surrounding us, and I hear a few electronic sounds that remind me suspiciously of the noise that smartphone cameras make when snapping pictures.

Finally, I regain my senses enough to push Cooper off of me. My first response at seeing his surprised, disappointed, and painfully vulnerable expression is anger. Rage wells up inside of me and I see red.

"What the fuck was that?" I shout at him, spitting out the curse word with a good amount of bite. "What - I - how - what the fuck?"

"I'm sorry," Cooper says, staring at the linoleum tile beneath his feet and not meeting my eyes.

I look around us, and am not surprised to see everyone staring. At least half of the hall have their phones out, snapping pictures and probably taking videos. The other half are laughing at us or simply staring in bewilderment. I hear assorted whispers of "fags" and other obscenities. This only makes me angrier.

"Get out of my sight!"

Cooper's head snaps up at that and he locks eyes with me for the first time since I pushed him off of me. "What?"

"I said, get out of my sight!" I cry, becoming more and more agitated as the whispers around me shift to focus on me; things like, "Damn, didn't see him going there," and "Wow, looks like Danny's a pretty big fag."

"Just go!" I scream at Cooper. Before he has a chance to respond, I take it one step further: "Go! I don't want to fucking speak to you ever again!"

Cooper's eyes fill with tears and he grabs his backpack, rushing off into the crowd, who immediately attack him with questions and some physical assaults.

People begin to descend on me, as well. Their comments seem to burn themselves into my brain. A few boys from the football team begin to kick me, and I fall to the ground, using my backpack to try and shield the most sensitive parts of my body from their attacks. Their brutality inspires others, and soon, I am being punched, hit, kicked, and spat on from all directions.

All I can do is clutch my bag tighter, close my eyes, and wish for it to end.

Ever since that day, the bullying has only grown worse. It's old news now, what happened in the hall. But no one in this school has ever forgotten the fact that Daniel Evans was caught "kissing" another boy.

It doesn't matter that I'm not gay.

It doesn't matter that Cooper moved to another school shortly after the incident.

It doesn't matter that I don't even like boys.

I'm still their punching bag.

The bell signaling the end of lunch rings overhead, startling me from my heated thoughts. I push down my anger at Cooper for causing what he caused two years ago and get to my feet. I throw my uneaten lunch in the trash can on the way out, the rage cooling and being replaced by the heavy feeling that I have grown used to over the years. A hazy fog settles over my mind and I shove my headphones over my ears, praying silently for an uneventful afternoon.