I keep only seeing rain
I will say no
But you keep crawling in my brain
I wanna get lost, run away
In the dark is where I will stray

“Where’s April?” I asked as Frank carried a donut in each hand.
“She should be coming down the hall right now.”
We looked down the hall to try and see her.
“I heard Anthony tried to talk to you.”
“Yep,” I replied as I laid my books in my locker.
“Congratulations for not pummeling him this morning.”
“Didn’t cross my mind. And as long as long as he doesn’t bother me then I don’t care what he does.”
“Very mature of you, Jo,” Frank replied with double pat to my shoulder.
“Thank you. There she is.”
Frank held up one of his donut-laden hands to flag April down, as if she couldn’t see him.
“Your rosquilla, mi señorita,” He bowed down to one knee and handed the pastry over to her.
“He means it, that’s the best Spanish I’ve ever heard from him.”
“Thank you. Jelly-filled?”
“Bavarian cream. You gotta get there early to get the best.”
“You’re always going to be thinking about me, aren’t you?”
“Of course. In fact, if you want both of these donuts, you may have them,”
“I want us to have one each.”
“As you wish,” Frank replied as looked to the floor. “What is that?”
The three of us looked at a folded piece of paper that had, apparently, fallen out of my locker. I picked it up and pleaded in my mind that it did not have my name on it...alas.
I wanted to just throw it away without looking at Perhaps flinging it into the nearest trash can like a shuriken, but someone could eventually find it. If only I smoked, then I could light it on fire.
“I hate notes like this.”
“I thought girls loved loved sending and receiving those.”
“Not I. You can’t open one without everyone knowing.”
“Mr. Acuff once told Nola to open one in class.”
“How did that go?” April asked as I began opening the folds.
“It was blank. You know, maybe it was written in invisible ink?”
I rolled my eyes at that. I couldn’t think of anyone in our school who would put in THAT much effort. That being said, whoever sent this one to me deserved kudos for their origami skills.
“You know what this means, Jo?”
“It means someone has a lot of time on their hands.”
“No, it must be an admirer. I’ll bet it’s a ‘MASH’ note.”
“Swell, a seventh-grade suitor.”
I had the note down to the final fold and could see something was glued onto the paper. I could feel butterflies in my stomach, and I could feel face flushing with anticipation. I wanted to think it was from someone who liked me. Perhaps they were afraid about what others would say or maybe they were a member of the introvert club. There was always room for another member.
I opened the note and tried to decipher the magazine-clipped letters as they were kind of jumbled around. I read the note and lowered my head down.
“Happy news?”
“No,” I replied as I gave it to him.
“‘The tranny dies.’ That son of a bitch.” Frank handed the note back to me.
“You think it was Tony too?”
“Can’t think of anyone else. Let’s go kick his ass.”

“Frank, wait, wait!” April called.
I did not look back to see if Frank was behind me or if he stayed with April. I didn’t really care and maybe it was better if he didn’t assist me as we were about to go overboard on Anthony.
I stomped past the restrooms and down to the end of the hallway where Anthony stood next to his locker.
“What the hell, Anthony!”
His eyes were wide as saucers as I shoved the almost now crumpled note into his face,
“I don’t know. I-”
I didn’t give him a chance to respond as I punched him the stomach and then slammed him against the locker. The hallway fell silent as I hit him again.
“I didn’t write anything, I swear!”
I hit him in the shoulder. I was aiming for his face, but he had moved over.
Anthony refused to put his hands up against me, but it didn’t stop two other guys from stepping in and grab my arms.
“Let her go!” Anthony barked through a coughing fit.
The two let my arms go and stepped back,
“Come on, Anthony, you little fan club has your back, you them.”
Anthony looked down the hall to see Mr. Cain approach with a crowd of students. I could see Frank still standing near April at the other end of the hall.
“Mr. Riesche and Miss Peterson. My office, Now,” Mr, Cain ordered. I straightened my dress, flipped my hair away from my face and walked on the opposite side of Anthony. The crowds parted like the Red Sea until we got to the office door.

“Were we not doing this just yesterday?” Mr. Cain asked as he sat in his chair.
Anthony nodded.
I kept my eyes staring at the table.
“This note. Did you write it, Mr. Riesche?”
“No sir, I swear I did not. I don’t even know how to fold something like this.”
“You paid someone to make it,” I muttered.
“I didn’t do anything. I am telling you the truth. I have no reason to do, say, or cause anything for her, Mr. Cain.”
“Liar,” I replied as I glared at him.
“Miss Peterson, you cannot just physically attack a fellow student without provocation.”
“Next time I’ll use an emotional attack, hmm?” I asked Anthony.
“Mr. Cain, I don’t want anyone to have any trouble. Just let her go back to class and I’ll deal with whatever you want me to do.”
“You admit to sending it?” I asked as I stood up and leaned over the table.
“No, but if it will make you feel better, I’ll take the punishment of starting the fight.”
Mr. Cain looked back and forth between the two of us. “Miss Peterson, you may go on to third period.”
“Thank you,” I replied as I walked out of the office.

The hall was quiet as I gathered my books. I looked around, hoping to see Frank so I could tell him off for not helping me and then scream that I was proud I could handle myself. I may have made a few enemies, the ones who would come to Anthony’s defense, and I would take them all on if I had to.
“I’m sorry, Jo, but you were already kicking his ass, so I stepped back.”
“I did, didn’t I?”
“You should go out for wrestling.”
“Where’s your shadow?”
“She said she had to go to her next class, as we need to.”
“It was a great punch, wasn’t it?”
‘Mike Tyson would have approved.” Frank replied as we walked down the hall,

I felt so much more relieved than I had the day before. It was like I got a second chance to let Anthony taste all of the piss and vinegar I had stored in so long about him. Maybe my therapist would shake her head, scowl and then scribble something on my charts but I could at least smile during our next session.