"Duncan! Are you sleeping? Lazy-bones!" Melissa twitters, plopping down next to me, "So, where have you been? Taking a little vacation?" I open my eyes, frowning in confusion. Melissa doesn't wait for a response, though, plowing on, "I mean, it's a bit early in the year for that, but I guess with how hard the classes are here, I understand. Duncan, I'm kidding!" She finishes, with a shoulder-to-shoulder nudge. I jerk away so violently that my hood falls.

Melissa gasps, her eyes rounding to match her open mouth. "Duncan, oh my god!" She leans forward and stretches out her hand, "What happened?" I turn further away as embarrassment and shame rise, and she stops moving. She leaves her hand hanging in the air as if she were afraid that any movement will make me flee, like a wounded animal.

"Jus' lemmie alone," I tell her. Standing to my feet, I shove the book in my bag and start away. Melissa stares after me, her face filled with concern.

"Duncan, wait! Are you okay? Hey, don't leave!"

I hear her scramble to her feet when I don't stop, and I curse her in my head. Can't she just leave me alone like everyone else? Melissa catches up with me, grabbing my elbow as I round the corner of the gym. "Duncan, just wait a minute!"

I yank my arm out of her reach, snarling, "Jus' fuck off!" Melissa pulls her hand back and gives me a hurt look.

"Duncan, what's going on? Did I do something? Why are you mad at me?"

I feel something inside me snap. How is she making this about her? Disregarding the mummers of the other kids that were starting to stare at us, I let my anger loose.

"Leave me th' FUCK alone, bitch," I tell her, and Melissa takes the words like a slap, her mouth dropping open.

I spin on my heel, thinking that I can solve two problems here: I can avoid her questions and make her hate me. I'll never have to worry about Bruce using her as just another excuse to fuck with me. Melissa apparently has other plans: she reaches out and grabs my arm, spinning me around. Grabbing me with both hands, she puts her furious face close to mine, and I'm taken aback as she starts yelling.

"All I'm trying to do is be nice to you! You don't ever get to treat me like that, Duncan! We're friends, in case you forgot!" She pushes me away, and I stumble back under her furious gaze, "If you don't want to talk to me about something, just tell me; don't start yelling at me like it's my fault!"

As Melissa takes a breath to continue, I cut in, "Didj'a forget? I'm a asshole. I ain't gotta tell ya' shit, an' I ain't gotta be yer stupid friend! Now fuck off an' leave me th' hell alone." I turn to leave again, and this time Melissa doesn't follow.

Instead of going to class, I find the stairwell to the roof and slip inside in the confusion of students scrambling not to be late. By the time the bell rings for lunch, I'm baked enough that my ribs don't burn anymore, and I make my way down the stairs, thinking that I'll have to find someplace new to crash, now that they're patrolling the park more closely.

The river's out; it's getting too cold to be camped out down there without at least a jacket, and I only had my ratty old hoodie. There was a couple abandoned old factory buildings that weren't watched too closely, but I didn't really like the guys that stayed there: spun-out tweakers like Bruce made me just a little uncomfortable.

I'm making my way to the library in an effort to avoid Melissa, who I was sure would be looking for me outside. Turning a corner, I run straight into Chad.

"Watch where you're going, you- Oh, look who it is, guys." Chad's face twists with glee as he reaches out to push me against the wall and his friends chuckle around him, "What happened to your face, Duncan?"

Letting out a soft grunt as my back hits the wall, I've got my hands on Chad's wrists in a split second. My lips curl back from my teeth as I snarl, "Not NOW, Chad." Breaking his grip and tossing his hands back at him, I duck and try to slip around the corner I'd just come from, but Chad's too fast.

He grabs me by the shoulder and slams me back against the wall, one of his cronies moving to block my escape route should I try again. I hiss as my back makes contact with the wall once more, and Chad laughs.

"Now that's not nice, Duncan, we just wanna' talk, buddy." He grins and taps my split cheek, making me wince. "We're concerned about you, man." Chad's buddies all laugh at this, and I shift my weight in preparation of driving my knee into his stomach, but I don't get the chance.

"What's going on? Duncan? Chad? What are you guys doing?" Melissa is standing a few feet down the hall, a book clutched against her body. Her eyes are wide as they dart between me and Chad. As she steps closer, Chad throws me a look of disgust and lets go of me, making a show of smoothing out my shirt before he turns to Melissa.

"We were just talking. Isn't that right, Duncan?" Chad turns a threatening look on me, and I snort and shove past him. "Fuck you, Chad."

As I storm away, I hear Chad continue to Melissa, "He's just really shy about getting bullied; especially around girls, poor guy...it's hard to be there for him sometimes, but that's just the nice kind of guy I am- Hey! Where are you going?"

Melissa catches up with me just as I lay my hand on the library door. She doesn't say anything, just follows me inside, and when I plop down in a seat at a table in the back, she slides into one next to me without a word.

I cross my arms and glare at the table, but Melissa ignores me and pulls out a book and some papers. When she gets up and tells me she's going to go get a book on the world war one, I realize she's working on our history report. I groan loudly enough to earn myself a glare from the librarian.

When Melissa returns, she doesn't say anything, just sets the book down and begins flipping though the pages a little more forcibly than necessary. I sigh and uncross my arms, putting my hands on the table in front of me.

"Lookit," I began, but Melissa cut me off, slamming the book closed. The librarian shoots a look in our direction. Ignoring this, Melissa spins to glare at me and hisses, "I don't want to hear it!"

I slowly close my mouth, letting myself fall back into my chair. Melissa huffs in annoyance and opens the book again, grumbling that she's lost her place. I let her find the page and begin scribbling down notes before I try again.

"A' least lemmie help; we're s'posed t' do it together." As Melissa slowly turns to frown at me, I fumble onward, "I mean, it ain't fair if ya' do all th' work; I told ya' I'd be yer partner..." I trail off when Melissa doesn't relent, turning away and shrugging. "Sorry."

"I just..." She sighs, and I clench my jaw, "It's fine. You copy down these paragraphs and I'll work on the stuff I've already got so far." She pushes the book over to me along with the notes she already has. Pulling a second pencil from her backpack, she puts in on the table between us and opens up her binder.

She won't speak to me as I copy down what she points out to me, responding to my quiet attempts with shushing noises. I finally give up and just push the book toward her so she can flips pages and wordlessly show me what else to copy. When the bell rings, she snaps her binder closed, gathers her things, and leaves me sitting at the table, still without a word.

I groan and lay my head on my arms, wondering if this day can get any worse. As the librarian comes over to tell me to get to class or she'll put me in detention "so fast it'll make your head spin", I decide I've had enough of school for the day.