I remember the day you were late to walk home. I waited by the bike racks for what seemed like forever. I was about to come and find you when I saw you walking over the hill that lead towards me. You seemed to be limping slightly and I squinted my eyes towards the sun that beginning its descent behind you.

You finally got close enough and I saw. The bloody lip, the blackening eye, the tear stains down your face. My lip quivered and I grabbed your hand and we ran home. I felt you struggling to keep up with the pull of your body weight but I didn’t stop.

I closed the bathroom door and sat you on the toilet with the seat down. You burst into tears. I ran to the kitchen and got ice for your eye. I got a cold washcloth to wipe the blood of your lip, the snot out your nose, the tears off your cheeks.

I asked you who did it. “Sam Miller and Tony Mikkelson.”

I asked you why. “They said they had a problem with you.”

Me? I was the cause of this.

I asked you where you’re glasses were. “They took them.”

I ruffled your hair. Tomorrow, I said, they’re dead.

“Don’t kill them, Gerard. They’re not worth it.”

I nodded. I agreed; you were right. But I didn’t agree not to do it.

The next day, I told you to meet me in the library. I didn’t go to the library. I just didn’t want you to watch me kill those boys. I asked them why they did that to you. They laughed it off. They didn’t think I could do anything about it. I showed them I could. I began on Tony. His acne infested face had always left me feeling queasy. I never liked him much. I beat him to the floor. Blow after blow until he was screaming. Sam was trying to pull me off, trying to stop me. There was no stopping me. They hurt you.

While finished up on Sam, I felt more hands trying to pull me off. I thought it was Tony but he was still on the floor, paralyzed in pain. I looked back and you were there. A pained look in your eyes.

I stopped what I was doing. You helped me up and we walked home, my hand in yours. Later that night, you hugged me and thanked me. I nodded but didn’t say anything.

The next day, I was called to the office. Sam and Tony were sitting there with tattered faces and bruised egos. The principal asked me why I had done it and I never mentioned you. I just shrugged my shoulders and tightened my lips.

I had to stay home for a week, but it was worth it. Worth you hugging me that night and holding my hand when we walked home every day from then on. Sam gave me your glasses the day I came back.