As he had told Maria, Timothy went to see the principal this Friday morning, before classes started. He had woken up early - doing his best to ignore the fact he'd cuddled up to Maria when he fell asleep - and skipped the morning football practice, just so he could go there. And of course, he made sure to contact Maria's parents to tell them she was safe, something they both forgot to do the night before.
The thought of taking care of this mess had been on his mind since he first learned she was being bullied, but only was it yesterday when he actually made it a concrete belief in his mind.
Maria didn't deserve any of this. She was a sweet girl, she wouldn't dare harm anyone. And yet, because of how she acted and looked, people thought it was okay to hurt her like this.
She didn't deserve this. This was unfair.
And worse, she had convinced herself she did something wrong. That the constant suffering she'd been enduring for five years was due to a good reason. It hurt him, to see her like this. He knew she could be so much more than what she was now. How much potential and talent she was holding back because of the pain.
He was going to fix that.
As he walked up to the principal's office, and stared at the polished wooden door, he felt his heartbeat pick up the pace. It was definitely going to be hard, doing this. He'd never talked to the principal before, but hearing Maria talk about it, it was obvious he wouldn't budge so easily.
He knocked, slowly, and breathed in.
Let's go.
"Come in."
The room was clean and proper, and the air had a faint smell of old wood, and disinfectant wipes.
Sitting behind his desk was the principal, in his suit and tie, sitting up straight with a stern face.
"Sir, if I may… I need to talk to you about something. It's really important."
The principal smiled politely, and nodded to a chair in front of the desk. "Timothy Gallagher right? You're the transfer student in class 5-B, am I correct?"
Timothy nodded, and sat down.
"Yes sir."
"I have some free time on my hand. I'm listening."
"Do you know Maria Bélisles?"
Immediately, his expression hardened. "Yes. I know who she is." He then frowned. "Are you here to tell me to help her too, Gallagher? I've already had people come to me about this."
He probably remembered Maria's parents.
"Y-yes, b-but sir, you'll have to listen. She's really suffering, and she-"
"Bullying is a natural part of life. She'll get over it."
Oh, now Timothy could understand what Maria meant.
"It's unfair, sir!" Timothy exclaimed. "You shouldn't be asking this of her! She's 17, she's been going through this since she was 12, can't you understand that?? Don't you remember when you were 12?"
The principal sighed.
"Gallagher, I was hoping you would be here to talk to me about something else…"
"B-but sir, this is-"
"Kids are kids. Bullying isn't something to be concerned about. Especially not in her case. Not like she's making it any easier with how she's acting."
Timothy's eyes widened, and his heart sank. Oh.. no. He didn't just say that, did he?
"How she's acting??" Timothy exclaimed, a bit louder than he'd meant for it to be. "What does that even mean?? She's innocent, it's inhuman, it-it's cruel, heartless to make her suffer like this!"
The principal stood up, looking down at Timothy with an annoyed gaze, and groaned, rubbing his eyes. "I'm not going to listen to this again." He said. "Get out of my office."
"B-but sir-"
"Get out. I don't care."
Angry beyond any reason, but not wanting to hit someone who had authority over him, he wasn't crazy, just annoyed, Timothy stepped back, and walked out. He shoved his hands in his pockets, and grunted.
How dare he say that?? Of course, it was obvious he was someone with this mentality, else this bullying wouldn't have gone on for this long.
What should be do now? Let it go? No way. Another way would be to let the higher ups know. The ones who had authority over his own authority. But how should he even contact them? It wasn't as simple as to just walk in their office, wherever it even was.
Timothy swore in his head. This whole interaction had soured his mood. Why did it have to go like that?? Why couldn't he just listen?
As he was walking down the corridor, Timothy bumped into someone.
"Hey, Tim, what's up?"
Oh, it was one of the guys who dragged him away from Maria back at the party.
He stayed silent. He wasn't in the mood for smalltalk.
"Hey, Tim, I was wondering… are you like, actually going out with that freak, cause I've been hearing some things, man, and they're not prett-"
Timothy turned on his heels, and stared at the guy.
"Stop talking." He mumbled, before turning around, and walking. The guy gasped, and laughed. "Holy shit, no way! What's keeping you? Is the sex really that good?"
Timothy could feel his blood boil right now. If this guy would just stop talking, and leave, that'll really be great.
"C'mon, there has to be something right? How much she paying you? I mean you can't tell me you like her for real, right?"
Timothy stopped, and breathed in, then out, trying his best to remain calm. "Shut the fuck up."
"Aww, did I hurt your feelings? Sowwy, I'll stop talking about your donkey girlfriend, alright. Satisfied?"
The punch came out of nowhere. Timothy, in reality, despite his size and muscles, wasn't a big fighter. He would rather solve things with words than with violence, and that usually was what he did. But right now, what triggered it was probably a mix of the anger that was already there, the urge to find someone to blame, a culprit to hurt, added to this guy getting on his nerves, and tiredness. It was just too much right now. He needed an outlet to let out his frustration and apparently this guy would be it.
The next thing Timothy knew after that one punch was thrown, was that he was fighting the guy. Pinning him against the wall, kicking and punching, and getting the same treatment back.
In his fury, he could faintly acknowledge that there were other people gathering around, and eventually he felt other people pull on his shirt collar, his hair, his jacket, and punch him and kick him. Soon enough he was on the ground, trying to get back up to push away the new assailants, but there were too many.
Two teachers arrived, stopping the fight, and Timothy weakly stood up. He could taste blood, his face and his body were numb from the pain, and all he could think about right now was Maria.
Hopefully, she'd be okay. It was a shame he wouldn't be able to be with her today.
Hopefully, she'd be okay.
*****
When Maria arrived at school, she saw an ambulance. She was, of course, a bit worried, but that worry wasn't too big. That is, until she heard two girls mention that Timothy got into a fight, and that he was the one in the ambulance.
She eavesdropped on that conversation, curious to know what exactly happened that lead to a fight, hoping it wasn't what she thought.
Apparently, he had just come out of the principal's office, and a guy tried to talk to him, but in return, Timothy punched him. Then other people joined, and eventually the fight had to be stopped and he had to be brought to the hospital for stitches.
One of the girls noticed her, and scoffed, turning back to her friend.
"If he didn't start hanging out with that Maria girl I bet none of this would've happened. Heard she's manipulating him, tch."
Shocked and appalled, Maria turned back, and ran. She ran to her house. She couldn't do this anymore. It was too much. She wasn't a very healthy girl and her thin legs could barely support her for so many meters, but nonetheless she just kept running. Tears clouded her vision, her lungs were like dry ice and her feet were starting to hurt.
It was her fault. It was all her fault.
She arrived in front of her house, ran inside and to her room, and shut herself in. And she cried. For maybe an hour or more. She didn't really keep track of time.
She shouldn't even bother going to see him. He'd suffered enough because of her. She was just a burden to him.
If it hadn't been for her, he would've been able to make friends, have a normal life…
Maria looked up, and sighed.
Normal…
What even is normal?
She heard something outside, and looked at the window. There was a bird there, singing, sitting on a branch right next to her. A small tit, staring at her, its high-pitched chirp being heard rather clearly through the window.
Maria took out her phone, and snapped a picture of it. Staring at the screen for a second, she sighed, and smiled softly, then sent the picture to Timothy.
Oddly enough, it was seen rather quickly, and he responded.
"Aww, cute <3 Are you not at school?"
Quickly, she replied.
"TIMOTHY!! Are you okay?? Also yeah, I felt kinda sick…"
"Aw. I got into a fight. I'm at the hospital rn, St-Agnes."
"Do... do you mind if I come to visit?"
"Nah. It's really boring here, I'd be happy to talk to you."
And just as quickly as she ran home, she ran back out, to the hospital.
Thankfully, she had her bus card with her, and so, it wasn't going to be as exhausting as her run home was.
When she got there, she texted him again, asking for the room number, and quickly found her way in.
Timidly, she opened up the door, finding Timothy sitting on a baby blue bed, phone in his hand and legs crossed.
"H-hey…"
As soon as he saw her, his face lit up, and he stumbled out of bed, a bit clumsily. He hugged her tightly and chuckled. "Oh, I'm glad you're alright!" He said happily, then wincing, probably because of his injuries. Maria squeaked. "M-me? Don't worry about me, worry about yourself!"
He quickly motioned back to bed, and made a sign of his hand to have her come sit next to him. "Heh, sorry, it's just… I was gone and I was scared something was going to happen again, like last time, y'know?"
Maria smiled softly. She should've guessed.
As she looked at him, she realized just how bad the injuries were. He had a red nose with a bandage on it, which was either broken or in a very bad condition. Then there was his right eye, completely swollen black, and his lip, busted. He had a few bruises and cuts on his arms and face, as well as a large bandage covering the side of his collarbone, and going under his hospital jacket.
The condition he was in made her realize just how much she felt bad. That was her fault, what happened, wasn't it? He got into a fight because of her. And because of her, he was hurt. Badly.
"Timothy… I'm so sorry…"
Timothy smiled, and pat her head. "S'alright. It's not your faul-"
"Yes! Yes it is!" Maria exclaimed. "Ever since we met you've been hurt and rejected. You lost a bunch of friends, and now you're in the hospital. Because of me!"
Timothy looked at Maria, and his eyes widened. "Maria.."
"You're really great, and you've helped me a lot, but… this isn't fair! You're suffering too! I hate this! I hate seeing you suffer, knowing it could've just been avoided by not interacting with me! I heard people earlier who were saying it was all my fault. They were saying I was manipulating you! Those rumors started because we're friends! Because you hang out with me!! I-I wish I could stop them but I can't. I'm too weak. And-"
She was stopped by Timothy's arms around her, pulling her close.
"Maria. It's okay. I don't mind." He sighed. "You're worried for me, and I'm glad that you are, but… I don't mind hurting a bit, if it's to help you and make you feel better. That's what friends are for, right?" His arms slipped around her shoulders and onto her back and head, and she hugged him back, breathing heavily.
"I-I'm so-"
"No, don't apologize. You have nothing to apologize for."
Maria chuckled softly, and buried her face in his chest.
Friends…
"It's Friday today, right?" Timothy asked softly. Maria nodded.
"Wanna hang out at my house tomorrow? I'm probably leaving the hospital tomorrow night, you could come with."
Maria smiled, and nodded again.
"Yeah. Yeah I'd like that."
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