The World is Ugly

I ate lunch in the bathroom again.

The whole day, I was terrified of running into the girls. I ran to all my classes as fast as possible without setting off my asthma. We got out 2 periods earlier than usual, which for me was after health. I was upset, I knew that vocals would help me take my mind off of the thought of being beat up, but had to deal with it. I really had to pee after the final bell so I ran to the bathroom. While washing my hands, the door swung open. The sounds of giggling and clicking heels filled the room.

It was them.

The girl, the leader one, looked up and saw me. "Oh, look! It's the poor emo girl!" Her clique laughed. "What should we do to you today?" She walked towards me, arms outstretched. Without thinking, I dropped my stuff and ran down the hall. I didn't even know where this hall led, I just ran. I could hear the clicking of heels behind me. My legs eventually started to ache but I focused on moving them. Left, right, left, right, left ri--

I fell to the floor with a thud. I had apparently run into someone. When I sat up, I saw it was a boy drenched in sweat. I could hear squeaking tennis shoes from the corridor he came from. Jocks. I frantically looked around for a place to hide. There was a janitors closet right next to us. I grabbed his hand and dragged him inside with me.
"I'm s--" he tried to apologize.
"Shh!"
We clacking of heels and squeaking of sneakers stopped in front of the door.
"Where the hell did they go?!" yelled the girl.
"Dunno. Probably ran off."
The girl huffed and I heard her walk away, the squeaking shoes going in the opposite direction.
That's when my asthma kicked in. I suddenly felt like someone was gripping my throat.
"Oh my god, are you okay?!" frantically asked the boy.
"Can't. Breathe. Asthma. Inhaler. Backpack. Floor. Bathroom," I managed to croak between wheezes. He ran out of the closet and returned a minute later with my blue rescue inhaler. "This?" I nodded and grabbed it from his hands. I took a few doses before I calmed down. Once I could breathe normally I bothered to get a good look at him.

He had a matted mess of black hair that looked like it hadn't been brushed in a few days. His skin was pale, but not any more fairer than my own. He noticed I was staring and smiled. Shit, his smile was cute. "I'm Gerard," he told me.
"Rose." I replied. "Sorry about that, my asthma acts up when I exercise. Especially since I was under a great deal of stress by being chased by those girls. God, they want my head but I don't even know their names."
Gerard stared at me in shock.
"What?"
"How do you not know Tiffany Matheson and her godforsaken clique?"
"I-I'm new."
"Oh. She's the head cheerleader here. The girls who follow her around are the rest of the squad who want to look cool."
I scoffed. "Tiffany? That's the most stereotypical cheerleader name ever." He laughed. "Who were those people chasing you?" I asked.
"Jacob 'JJ' Johnson and his friends. Head quarterback. He's hated me from my first day last year. Dunno why. It's like I've been dropped in a cliché teen movie. While I remember to ask, what year are you?"
"Sophomore."
"Me too. I thought you looked familiar. You got vocals as last elective?"
"Yes! My group is Cell Block Tango."
"You got the Ukrainian girl, right? Your voice is perfect for her."
"Th-thanks!"

Did I just make a friend?

Notes