The World is Ugly

I checked my watch. How the hell was it already 2? Early release was at 1:15. I excused myself and was gonna go get my backpack when he grabbed my arm. "Let me walk you home," he said.
"I don't want to inconvenience you, it's fine, really--"
"I'm going to anyways. If they're out for your head you need someone with you." I sighed.
"Okay, just let me get my stuff."

At first, our walk was silent. But after a couple minutes he asked, "What school did you come from?"
"Northwest Academy. I'm from Portland."
"Dude, seriously? I've always wanted to go there!"
"It's a nice place, but filled to the brim with meth heads."
"Not much different from where we are now," he snickered. "Why did you move?"
"My family needed a new start."
"What do you mean?"
"I've known you for, what, an hour, and you want me to tell my family's sob story?" I sighed. "My mom and dad divorced. Huge custody battle. My mom thought the best thing was for us to find a new start. Why here? I really don't know."
"That must be rough. Sorry. So, about Tiffany, what did you do to her?"
"Nothing! But only the first day of school, her and her clique and some jocks beat me up and..."
"And?"
"Nothing."
He stopped walking, crossed his arms and just stared at me.
"They tried to drown me."
"Oh my god, that's terrible." He hugged me. It was a bit awkward, he was a good 4 inches taller than me. He smelled like nicotine and vanilla coffee. At least it was vanilla and not black like my mom has, it smells terrible. "Sorry," he said as he pulled away, "that was weird."
"It's fine, really." I looked around and realized we were at my house. "Thanks for walking me home. It was super sweet of you."
"No problem. Say, you have period 4 for lunch?" I nodded. "I'd like to introduce you to some of my friends." I smiled and walked up to the front door. Before I could even put the key in the door I felt a hand grab my arm. I screamed, but it was Gerard. He ran down the street, dragging me behind him.

We eventually stopped to catch our breath. "What the hell was that?" I asked him.
"I saw someone in the bushes. Blonde hair. Like Tiffany's. Sorry, I freaked. They beat you up and tried to drown you. I didn't want to think what would happen if the person was in fact her."
"WHAT THE HELL IS THEIR PROBLEM?" I yelled.
"Huh?"
"What the hell did I even do to them to deserve this?" I broke down. Gerard hugged me once again, and let me cry into his shoulder. This has been an eventful week.

Notes