In our society there are two types of people with mental illnesses ;The ones we fear and the one we make fun of. Unfortunately (or fortunately) for me I was the latter .
I got bullied everyday by a group of guys who hated me because I wasn't like everyone else.
On monday I got my head dunked in the toilet. On Tuesday I got beat up at lunch time. On Wednesday I got called a slur . On Thursday I got my homework stolen and on Friday I was still stupid enough to come to school .
" Crazy right ? " Carmen's friend Mellissa said as they sat beside me in class.
" Totally. I also heard Bryan is throwing a party the same day as my birthday ."
"No way !" Melissa replied in shock , she was wearing way too much make up for a College class and her shirt was a crop top that barely even covered her boobs.
Mellissa was always making a show out of her self but Carmen , Carmen was the girl that I liked.
" Obviously me and Bryan are meant to be. " Carmen said and I felt horrible. The girl i liked had a crush on my bully.
I turned my head from the white board and finally got the courage to lay eyes on her.
Her Blonde hair glistened more than a sea that was illuminated by the rising sun.
I fixed my glasses on the frame of my nose and I blushed .
I turned my gaze away from her quickly as she continued talking to Mellissa , their words fading into the background as I opened up my chemistry book to write something silly for her.
Bad Bitch
Mad Bitch
Best you ever had bitch
Crazy c**** is always bigger
Wanna F*** a savage ?
I tore the note from my book and called after Carmen who was sitting beside me .
With all the couage I had I stretched my note out towards her
I blushed and felt happy until I saw that a person's shadow was casted onto my book.
I look up to see Bryan standing over me with an angry smile on his face.
He snatched the note right out of my hand.
" The Mental Case is writing love notes! " Bryan announced as he laughed, waving the note back and forth into the air.
" Maybe you should stop writing love notes to girls who are out of your league and starting writing them to a therapist. A pysche ward would be YOUR perfect match ." He laughed mockingly and I held onto my desk , trying hard not to retaliate or fight back in any way.
Whenever there's a fight the person with a mental illness is always wrong whether they're right or not and if a person with a mental illness wins the fight they are seen as an attacker whether they were just trying to defend themselves or not.
They're are 5 rules you have to follow when you're a person with a mental illness if you want to be treated as human :
Rule #1. Never win a fight unless it's a fight against the urge to eat fast food everyday
Rule #2. Don't do anything that people might consider weird
Rule #3. Be as nice as humanly possible
Rule #4. Be ok with constantly proving that you are not a threat
Rule #5 . Love Peace more than your own human rights
Did you write them down ? Maybe you can be human now.
I shut my eyes and count to ten as Bryan shouted at the top of his lungs , calling me names , telling me how worthless I am , saying no girl would ever love me.
He read out the whole entire note for the class to hear and everyone laughed , including Carmen. I knew she was laughing because I had memorized her laugh. It was soft and girly but always cold and cruel.
Why must I love the people that hate me so much?
" You really believe any girl would even look in your direction. You'd got to be crazy to think that ....Oh right ." He stopped as if he just realized something then the whole class laughed at his stupid joke.
"Today marks the day that you will become known as the craziest bastard in history. From this day forward your new name is PsycHOE . Fucking Pervert " Bryan slapped me in my face and blood went flying as I fell over , crashing to the floor with my chair and I whinced in pain.
The school bell rang and I watched Carmen and Mellissa leave with Bryan as if nothing happened.
I wonder what it's like to be equal ?
What does it mean to be Human ?
I left the class and headed towards the nurse's office.
Carmen didn't even care that I was hurt.
" You're Bleeding!" A girl with British accent exclaimed as she walked quickly towards me , she had dark skin and an afro. Her hair bounced as she moved towards me.
"What happened? " She asked and I couldn't ignore the genuine concern that I heard in her voice.
" Are you new here ? " I asked and she nodded.
" Today's my first day in College and I never expected to see a cute boy with a bloddy nose walking by himself in the hall."
" You think I'm cute ?? " I asked shocked as i turned to stare at the dark -skinned girl as my cheeks became red.
She just smiled and I tried to hide my excitement.
"Well It's not like I had an option I just don't have any friends."
" Really ? Well you can lean on me. " The girl said as she pulled me closer to her and gave my arm a squeeze.
"My name's LUNA what's your name ? "
" It's Albert. " I muttered under my breath. I didn't really like my name.
"You mean like Einstein? Cool ! So why'd I hear people calling you Psycho ?"
" Wait you heard THAT ? " I asked, feeling shocked and embarrassed.
She let go of my arm and folded her arms across her chest as she furrowed her eyebrows at me.
" What ? Was I not supposed to ? "
"No. It's just a nickname." I lied and she continued walking beside me until we got to the nurse's office.
Luna sat down in the nurse's office and waited for me as I got my wound treated.
The nurse was an older woman with black hair that had grey roots. It was obvious that she kept dying her hair and she wore long red nails that stood out in a professional setting.
After the nurse treated me she said I could go home for the day.
" Excuse me. Is this boy your friend? " The nurse spoke to Luna and the girl smiled as she saw me walk back into the room.
Is a girl really smiling this big for me ?
" Yes he's mad cool." Luna said and for the first time a word like " mad " didn't bother me . Her voice was like a warm blanket that could comfort me on a cold winter and her words were like a reassuring embrace.
"Ok make sure he gets some rest and please keep him from getting into any more fights. " The nurse said and Luna's eyes widened and her smile disappeared.
" You were in a fight ?" She turned to me then she got up out of the chair.
I tried to make up an excuse but Luna pulled me out before I could make myself seem more foolish.
" I'll see you tomorrow PsycHoe . I mean . Can I call you PsycHoe or do you only give that privilege to close friends ."
It's fine. " I said trying not to put a wall between me and this kind girl who didn't seem to understand how much of a loser I was yet.
"See you tomorrow Luna ." I said and she went back to her classes as I headed home.
As soon as I entered my house the lights came on and I saw my mom sitting in the living room with a disappointed look on her face.
"You're cousin told me you were in a fight ." Mom said , her lips pressed into a thin line.
" Oh my gosh.Not this again. Why is Anthony always blabbing to you. I wasn't in a fight mom. Bryan punched me in my face. "
" So he just got up and punched you .....for nothing ? "
" I wrote a dumb note it's no big deal ."
"So you wrote a note about Bryan ?" Mom asked and I didn't want to talk about it.
"No i wrote it about a girl and he saw it." I told her and she raised an eyebrow questioningly.
"Can we make this the day when you actually believe what i say ?" I asked frustratedly as I took my bag off and sat on the couch.
"Ok Bryan is evil and he bullied you for nothing." Mom said sarcastically and I felt angry and sad all at once.
" When are you going to realize that not everyone likes me ? He bullied me , Mom. Is it that hard to believe ?"
I got up immediately and went upstairs to my room.
Why doesn't she ever understand? Kids get bullied all the time why is it so hard to believe when I say it. You'd think she'd believe in her own son.
I threw myself on my bed and looked up at the Superhero poster that was attached to my ceiling.
I used to wish I was a Super Hero when I was younger but now I'm in college and I don't even fantasize about being a Super human hero anymore because I was too busy trying to be Human.
My room was covered with posters of heros from comic books and I had a lava lamp by my bedside.
I almost fell asleep but then I got a text from Anthony.
' Get down here now or else '
My phone beeped and I groaned frustratedly.
" Why does Anthony want to make my life a living hell ?" I groaned as I put a hoodie on and got up.
I went back downstairs to see Anthony and my mom grinning from ear to ear talking about other people's business.
I gritted my teeth in anger.
What the hell is this annoying pest doing in my house ?
" Hey Albert I told Anthony to watch over you. I really hope his charm will rub off on you someday." Mom said and Anthony smirked at me.
" Mom I don't want anything to do with this parasite." I said , feeling all the anger consume me.
Anthony stopped smirking and walked over to me wrapping his arm around my shoulder.
"Don't be like that Albert. I'm just looking out for you , that's all. Why don't we go for a walk ?" He said and I held back the urge to punch him in his face.
" Awww. You're cousin wants to spend time with you." My mom smiled and Anthony smirked again.
" Make it quick. " I told him and we headed out with his arm still around my shoulder.
" Where are we going ? " I asked and he just kept walking bringing me along with him.
We headed down a familiar road where a convenience store was and he stopped suddenly pushing me into a wall.
I whined in pain.
" You know that pretty girl with the British accent? " He asked angrily.
" Luna ? " I said and he nodded, still smirking a bit.
" Stay away from her. She's out of your league besides don't you already have someone you like?" Anthony stated angrily, pulling me by the collar of my shirt.
" Yea I do like Carm-" I started to talk but Anthony let me go and pulled out some photos out of his pocket and showed them to me.
I looked at him in shock and his smirk became bigger.
No one was supposed to know about that.
The photos he showed me were pictures of me kissing a boy in my old apartment. I was shirtless in them and the boy I was kissing had tattoos all over his arms.
" No wonder people call you psycHoe. You're such a slut." Anthony said and I just stood there speechless.
How did he get those photos ? He's not going to out me is he ? What would people think if they knew I liked other guys?
I was already treated differently. I'd have no chance to be human.
I broke down crying infront of Anthony and his smirk grew bigger.
I bent over weeping as tears kept streaming down my face.
" Please don't tell anyone about this." I begged him and I reached out and tugged the end of his shirt.
" Ok I won't tell but there's something I want you to do in exchange for me keeping your secret." Anthony said smirking the whole time.
" What do you want me to do ?" I asked as I looked up at him, still crying my eyes out.
I knew that whatever he said next would change everything forever.