Tale of an Eighth Grade Nothing

I have always hated chocolate, so I was more surprised than anybody to find myself standing outside the quaint chocolate shop on the outskirts of town. I stared in blatant distaste at the deteriorating building as I considered whether or not this was worth it.

“Winn?”

I shoved my hands in my pockets and turned to face Maria Reed, the cutest girl in all of Sugarcreek, Ohio. Though I guess that isn’t saying much seeing as you can hardly walk two feet without seeing someone who had probably changed your diaper at some point or another. And when someone does say something like that, I never know what to say. Am I supposed to go, “Oh hey! Thanks for wiping my butt all those years ago, you’re a real one!”

“What are you doing here?” Maria questioned, looking mildly amused at my obvious discomfort. She knew good and well what I was doing here, but I answered her anyway, trying not to sound like the biggest loser in all of eighth grade. Not that I really care what she thinks. She’s probably just an airhead anyway.

“Oh, you know, just picking up a little something for Jayme.” 

Just then, Jayme, my sixth-grade little brother, let out a long, loud wolf whistle from where he was standing over by our beat-up bikes.

“Sorry bud, she’s a little out of your league.” I heard a voice say behind me. I turn around yet again to see Trey Kelly put a beefy arm around Maria’s shoulder. Her slim frame is dwarfed by Trey’s massive figure. I guess that’s what eating nothing but protein shakes and the souls of the weak will do to you. “I was just talking to Sato here about the dance earlier today,” he drawls, a lazy smile playing across his chapped lips. 

If by talking to me he means shoving me up against a locker and telling me to "keep my eyes on another bitch" when he caught me staring at Maria, then yeah, he talked to me earlier about the dance.

I motion for Jayme to get out of the truck and I start towards the door, hoping to avoid any more confrontation. I was about as evenly matched with Trey Kelly as an ant against the bottom of a shoe.

“Hey, where ya going?” Trey leered as I pushed past him and Maria. Speaking of Maria, in case you're wondering, no. I don’t like her. Not even a little bit. Not even her glossy black hair. Or the way she only has one dimple. Or the way she twists her lips to the side when she’s concentrating on a test in geometry. 

Oh god.

I’m not that cliche, am I?

“Hey!” Trey moves in front of me and gets up in my face. “I was talking to you, Sato,” he growls. I can smell the sloppy joes we had for lunch in the cafeteria on his breath and it makes me want to gag. Hasn’t he ever heard of gum?

“What’s it to you?” I mumble, recoiling.

I start to walk away, but I don’t get far before he shoves me hard in the back. I stumble forward, tripping over the curb, and land hard on my palms. My hands sting and I feel tears start to come to my eyes. No. No no no no no, I cannot cry. Not in front of Maria. 

I know I should stand up and shove him back, or at least say something back, but I can’t bring myself to do it. Instead, I push myself up quickly and take off, away from the chocolate shop, and away from Maria.

ꕤꕤꕤ

“Winnyyy!” My adoptive mother, Laura’s, shrill voice pierces through my thin bedroom wall and I groan, shrinking further into my desk chair. “Time to get ready for the dance honey!” She bursts through my door, a hopeful smile on her worn-out face. 

“Lauraaa!” I groan, rolling my chair away from her when she holds up the suit she got off of Amazon for exactly $23.81. 

“Come here, Winn! Try this on!” she says excitedly, clearing off a space on my bed and setting it on top of my Star Wars comforter. “You’re going to look so handsome!” she gushes, pulling her Polaroid camera out of her purse and holding it up. “We can take pictures to send to grandma!”

“No, Laura, please no,” I splutter, standing up. I can’t go to the dance. Not after what happened at the chocolate shop with Maria yesterday. I can’t face her, I just can’t!

Much to my displeasure though, thirty minutes later I am standing at the base of the stairs in a suit, feeling about as ridiculous as a cat in a Christmas sweater.

Laura is beaming at me and wait… are those-? Are those seriously tears in her eyes?!

“Lauraaaa!” I groan again, covering my face with my hands in exasperation.

“You’re just so grown up now! It seems like just yesterday when I brought you home for the first time. You were so happy to have a family, even if it was just the three of us,” she says, a singular tear trailing down her face. I never really know what to say when she gets emotional about the whole adoption thing. I don’t even really know why it’s such a big deal to her. As far as I’m concerned, I would have been a loser no matter what poor saps ended up with me.

“Whatever,” I mumble, embarrassed and putting my head down.

“Alright,” she says, wiping her eyes hastily and remembering herself. “Don’t forget to keep an eye on Jayme and be home by 9:00!”

“Okay, okay,” I huff, unlocking the front door hastily.

“And Winn?” she calls.

I heave a dramatic sigh and turn around again. 

“Yeah?”

“Itoshi teru,” she says, stumbling over the Japanese phrase, her tongue too used to English.

“Yeah,” I say, giving her a meek smile, “I love you too, Laura.”

ꕤꕤꕤ

As soon as Jayme and I pull up to the dance on our bikes, I can tell that I’m not dressed right. For one, all of the guys are wearing jeans and plain shirts. Apparently, you aren’t supposed to be wearing a suit to a middle school dance. Who makes up these rules anyway?

“C’mon!” Jayme urges, dropping his bike carelessly onto the front lawn of the school. If I keep sighing as much as I do, I’m going to have the clearest head in all of eighth grade.

When I walk in the gym doors, I am greeted with speakers blaring out I Want it That Way by the Backstreet Boys and lights flashing in my eyes. I squint against them and look around as Jayme runs off into the crowd to find his date, Jenny Montoyez. Instead of getting her chocolate like we originally planned to before Trey showed up, he ended up getting her a $15 Amazon gift card and if you ask me, that’s a way better gift anyway.

I spot Maria in the corner dancing with Trey. Well, not dancing exactly, more like swaying side to side like a piece of kelp in the ocean. In fact, that’s what pretty much everyone does. I weave in between the kelp dancers, a fish among them as I make my way toward Maria, though I don’t know what I’ll do when I get there.

I’ve almost made it when Trey moves and blocks my path, a big stupid grin on his face.

“Well, look who it is! I didn’t think you’d have the nerve to show up after earlier today. Did mommy patch up your boo-boos?” he mocks, bending over with laughter. Other people around him start laughing too, but I ignore him.

“Hey, Maria,” I say, looking over Trey’s shoulder at her. I expect a smile, but instead, she sneers at me.

“What do you want, loser?” she says, in a tone of near disgust. I can feel the smile fade off my face and I take a step back. 

“Wh-what?” I stutter.

“Wh-wh-what?” Trey mimics cruelly, laughing again.

I can feel my face burn and the tears starting to well up as Maria starts laughing as well, all traces of warmth gone from her face. I turn and start back towards the gym doors, pushing past dancers as I go. 

I knew this was a bad idea. I knew it, and I came anyway. Why did I think anything was going to be different this time?

ꕤꕤꕤ

I’m sitting on the curb outside the gym now, listening to the sounds of music and laughter filtering outside. My stupid tears have almost dried when it starts to rain. It starts with a light sprinkle which quickly turns into a torrential downpour. 

I quickly get up and run to the shelter of a nearby tree to try and wait it out for a bit. There’s no way I am going back inside. 

Just then, the headlights of a car turn the corner blind me. I raise my hand to shield my eyes as I hear the driver’s side door open.

“Winny?” I hear Laura’s voice call as the car door slams shut behind her. A mixture of embarrassment, terror, and relief fills me. Embarrassment because I’m the only guy in all of the eighth grade missing out on the dance, terror that I’m about to get yelled at for leaving Jayme alone, and relief because it just feels so good to know I’m not alone anymore. 

The headlights shut off and I can see her now, making her way towards me through the mud. She’s wearing her favorite pair of sweatpants and the top part of her hospital uniform. When she reaches me, she wraps me in a hug that I don’t resist. 

“I’m sorry those kids are so mean to you, baby,” she says, smoothing my hair down and kissing the top of my head. I say nothing, just hug her tighter. After a bit, she loosens my grip and crouches down a bit so that she is at eye level with me. I can hear the beginning verses of Hey Jude! By the Beatles filtering through the gym doors as I raise my near-black eyes to meet her bright green ones.

She holds out her hand to me, and with water streaming down her face asks, “May I have this dance?”

With a smile, I take her hand and we begin an awkward sort of dance under the tree, slipping and sliding on the wet grass. We laugh until we can barely breathe and we end it with her wrapping me in another one of her hugs, which I again, don’t fight. 

“Hey, Winn?” she asks, giving me a squeeze. 

“Yeah?” I respond, laying my head against her chest.

“Itoshi teru,” she murmurs, laying her head on mine.

“I love you too, mom.”