Jess's PoV

I sat at my desk, basking the the sunshine. I was in class during lunch just studying for my Chemistry test which was the next day. Most people avoided me because they didn't want to catch the... 'egghead' disease. Those types of people who thought that studying was stupid.

Twirling my pencil, I underlined my answer with a confident blue stroke. "No, it's supposed to be oxygen." someone said, their shadow casting over my book. I refused to look up, not knowing or caring who it was. "Look, H2o is water, so-." I rolled my eyes.

"I know. Now can you stop bothering me?" I asked, looking up. A boy with red hair looked back at me. It was Romeo, the guy who was always teased because of his name. Because, during Literature, we were doing a play of Romeo and Juliet. And whenever Romeo's name was mentioned, everyone just looked at him and laughed.

I knew what it was like to be teased because of your name. People said that my name was a boy's name but I pretended not to hear them. Romeo slid into the seat in front of me, his eyes still on the Chemistry book.

"Do you need help? I think you did some of these questions wrongly." he said softly, pointing to the questions. I glared at him, even though he was still looking at the book and he couldn't see me, and snatched away my book. "No. I don't need your help, Romeo." I must admit, I said his name in the same tone whenever the others teased Romeo about his name.

Romeo bit his lip and nodded. "Okay. I'll just-." he got up and left the classroom, making me glare at the window. Why. did he have to interfere? I was doing fine. I flipped the book over, to check the answers and true enough, I almost got everything wrong. I felt tears brimming in my eyes and sat back.

What was I doing wrongly? I studied everyday. Didn't sleep at night. And yet... I looked down at the book and ran a finger over the pages, feeling that heavy weight on my chest. Maybe Romeo was right. I needed help. Looking at the door, I packed my things and left the room.

************************

I sat outside this time, taking in the cool breeze of the spring. Maybe sitting outside would help... I opened my book again, looking at the pencil markings and trying again. We did another Romeo and Juliet scene today for Lit and the whole time, I realised how upset Romeo was every time our classmates teased him.

Teasing wasn't good. I knew that. But he, Romeo, looked like... I swallowed and focused on my book. He looked like he needed a friend to get through this. "Hey Jess.!" my best friend, Petra called as she walked away towards the gates of our school. I smiled and waved. Petra was my best friend until she met Lukas and the two of them hit it off.

Nowadays, I've been seeing her lesser and lesser. Like how I felt inside. "Hey Egghead!" Hadrian called, walking over to me. I said nothing and focused on my book, wishing hard that he wouldn't tease me. But I knew my wishes didn't come true.

It didn't come true when I wished for my mother to come back home. It didn't come true when I wished for my parents to get back together and it also didn't work when I wished for my old friends to forgive me. I knew wishes were something you were wasting your breath on.

"Hey Mevia, Otto, some take a look at this loser!" Hadrian laughed, surrounding me and Mevia snatched my book from my hands. "Hey!" I shouted, sounding soft even though I used all my will to shout at them.

"You're so stupid, egghead. You got all these questions wrong." Mevia laughed, nudging Otto, who was looking at me pitifully but he didn't help. I clenched my fists and said nothing.

-End

Pt 2 completed. Thanks for the suggestion Arctic_wolf_919 👌🏻💕