The next day, Haze was in school as usual, he stood by his locker, moving as still as possible to avoid being noticed by anybody.
The events of the previous day replayed in his mind and he had to grip the locker tightly as a wave of pain washed over him and threatened to knock him over.
He had managed to hold the tears back as he walked home, he did this so none of his neighbors would stop him to inquire of his predicament. As soon as he entered the house, the dam broke and his eyes flooded with tears. He crouched against the wall and sobbed heavily, the movement racking his frail frame. His father came home late in the night and took one look at his tears-streaked face and dropped the pack of food he brought.
"Dinner", He said and disappeared into to his room.
The sound of a locker slamming shut snapped Haze out of his reverie, he blinked and checked the time, the bell would soon ring.
His eyes suddenly caught a movement, he focused on it and it was Mei, his crush and the most beautiful girl he'd had ever seen. She had long, thick and shiny black hair, her skin was jade color and was smooth like that of a baby and she had a slim body figure, with well rounded curves in the right places but most impressive of all was her face, it was exceptionally pretty and was framed by thin lips.
Haze's mouth watered as he stared at her. She walked past him and stopped at her locker to pick her stuff. Haze's gaze swept up and down her body focusing especially on her backside.
She must have felt someone watching her because she stopped midway and turned to him, then their eyes locked.
Haze tried to say something but he felt his tongue turn to lead.
Say something you bastard!, He screamed in his head but his mouth refused to cooperate.
Mei turned away from him, the bell rang.
Haze shut his locker and walked to his class but he couldn't get his mind off her, he'd been seeing her everyday of school and it seemed like she got more beautiful everyday.
I need to ask her out, He thought to himself.
Throughout class, Haze couldn't concentrate. He keep thinking about Mei and how he could ask her out. Eventually, he decided to ask her out during lunchbreak.
I'll cut a rose from the garden and give it to her, He thought and smiled to himself.
Haze couldn't wait for the class to be over, even his teachers noticed his enthusiasm and were surprised although they ignored him as usual.
"Probably he won a lottery or something", They thought and continued teaching the class.
The bell signaling the lunch break rang and Haze got off his seat like it was stacked with pins. He packed his stuff into his backpack and sped out the class, bumping into some of his classmates on the way.
He didn't stop running till he got to the garden. The garden was protected by a low fence and was normally off limits to students as stated by the small red and brown sign in front of the gate but Haze wasn't going to let that stop him.
He scanned the area for any presence and seeing none, he hoisted himself on the fence and leaped over it in one single motion. He went to the rose section of the garden and immediately started inspecting the bushes for a suitable flower.
Haze finally settled on a rose and carefully cut it from the stalk. He didn't have a knife so he had to use his key to cut and as a result the end of the stalk was uneven but Haze didn't care, the rose looked good overall.
Satisfied with his flower, he put it in his breast pocket and jumped out of the garden. He had hardly gotten to the exit when the gardener strolled inside, whistling loudly. He seemed startled at Haze's presence.
"What are you doing here?", He demanded in a harsh voice.
"N..nothing", Haze stammered. He used his right hand to cover his breast pocket and hide the rose.
"This place is prohibited, now run along", The gardener said meanly.
Haze smiled uneasily and started to walk away but the gardener's eyes caught the rose.
"What is that?", He yelled but Haze took off running and slipped out the door, he could hear the man cursing loudly as he ran.
Haze ran till he got to the door of the cafeteria, then he stopped running and checked himself to see if he was presentable. He ran a hand through his hair and adjusted his collar, then he pushed the door open.
The rusty cafeteria door groaned as it open and a good number of eyes fell on Haze, he blanched and kept walking. The students seeing it was Haze and no one special turned back to their food.
Haze sat at his usual table but he didn't bring out his food to eat, he didn't buy an apple either, instead he sat and waited patiently for Mei to show up.
After five minutes, she entered the cafeteria, followed by her best friend a chubby girl. The room seemed to light up when she entered and the students' conversations became more animated.
Haze waited till she sat at a table with her friend before he stood up and held his rose in his hand. He walked quietly towards her table, gathering his courage before he got to her.
Haze stood at her table and took one last gulp.
"Hi", He said in a small voice.
Mei looked up inquisitively at him, her friend also looked up.
"Uhmm...I...w..wanna tell you you're pretty", He said and cleared his throat.
"Oh", Mei replied in confusion.
Haze immediately fell to one knee and raised the rose up.
"I think you're very beautiful and I want you to marry me, Mei!", He declared in a rush.
Mei looked at him with surprise, half of the cafeteria had turned to them and were now watching the drama unfold.
"So what do you say, Mei?", He asked, still on his knee.
"Uhmm...I...", Mei started to say but was interrupted by laughter.
Haze looked up sharply and saw it came from none other than Adam, Cage and Zach, the three guys who bullied him.
Oh god! why did i forget about those three, He thought. Of course they'd disturb me, I should have done it somewhere they're not, He hit himself mentally.
Cage got to him first and stood in front of him laughing.
"Why will she marry you?", He asked with a mean smirk. "Your skinny, weak and ugly, no girl will want a guy like you".
He put his arm around Mei.
Mei wants a guy like me, who's big, strong and popular. She could never date a nobody like you.
"That's not true", Haze shot back before he could hold his tongue.
"Such things are superficial, what matters is the heart", He turned to Mei. "Right Mei?"
Adam and Zach came close to him too and laughed, Adam snatched the rose from his hand and pushed him back. Zach held him in place while Adam and Cage punched him repeatedly while laughing, other students in the cafeteria joined the laughter as Haze got beaten.
Then Cage let him fall to the ground and picked a bowl of soup from the table, he poured it on Haze's face.
"Nobodies like you don't deserve anything, don't be delusional".
Then the three of them left him alone, laughing.
Haze laid on the ground humiliated, with the whole school laughing at him.
He felt sad, he was in pain and he felt embarrassed but most of all, he felt hatred.
He looked at the retreating figure of the three boys and a dark cloud washed over him.
I will kill the three of you if it's the last thing I do!, He thought in anger.