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The next morning, there was an annoying dripping sound going on and on. What was it coming from? A leaky faucet? But it sounded like it was coming from outside. Not unlike the sound of water dripping from a gutter, which, Gerard thought, was probably what it was. He lay in bed, half asleep on Saturday morning listening to the soft patter of rain hitting the pavement outside, and the gutter, which he felt, had started it all.
“Mom?” he called. No answer. He called again and then remembered that she had told him last night that she was leaving for work early. Really early, because she had already left. As Gerard listened to the rain, he felt as if everyone was deserting him when it was only one person.
He sat up in bed, and then went to the window and slid open the curtain. It was not only raining but it was pouring. Gerard felt disappointed because today was Saturday and he wanted to go to the graveyard and study for his history test. But now, it would even be too wet to go out and get the mail. He reached for the box of cornflakes he kept on his bedside table and started munching casually. As he looked outside, his history test seemed farther and farther away. He lay back in bed, cornflakes and went to sleep.
* * *
Monday.
If there was one thing Gerard hated, it was lunchtime. Rows and rows of those long tables with nowhere to sit, hundreds of beady eyes staring at him as he passed with his lunch tray, topped with drippy turkey stew and watery milk. He missed his friend Edison with whom he usually sat with. Gerard had also searched everywhere for a napkin. He found a bunch of clean ones in the trash, but he knew what they’d call him if he picked them out.
Gerard went outside and sat all alone in the chilly air at a picnic table behind the gymnasium. He didn’t even know why he was sitting there. He would only half eat the turkey stew. He watched it drip from the spoon back into the Styrofoam bowl. The dripping noise was not unlike the noise that the gutter had made. The stuff looked like it had come from the gutter.
He pushed it aside and focused on the milk. Next to the turkey concoction, it wasn’t half bad and he chugged it down. While he was drinking, he felt something hard whiz past his ear. He didn’t see it but he heard the thing hit with a big clunk about five feet away. He looked down on the ground and saw a red brick. Gerard looked around. About ten feet away from him were two kids from his English class, really big football guys.
They looked very angry, especially the bigger one, malice in his eyes. “Oh god what have I done now?” Gerard thought. They were coming closer, and out of sheer cowardice Gerard hid under the table cowering. He was going to be beat up again. Third time this week? While he was hiding he wondered desperately where they had gotten the bricks but he kept his mouth shut.
They were really close, and he could hear what they were saying.
“She’s mine. Mine! Don’t think you can have her, because you can’t. She’s my girlfriend.” The bigger one said in a nasty voice.
The smaller one began to speak. He had a rasping sort of voice. “She sure talks about you a lot. Do you hear me? Because I know you do, cowering under there.”
“Who’s she?” asked Gerard gasping.
“You know who SHE is, you miserable piece of crap. She’s my girlfriend. And you’re trying to steal her.” Snapped the bigger one.
“I have no idea who SHE is. I would never steal someone else’s girlfriend.” Gerard said in the most powerful voice he could muster and slid out quickly from underneath the picnic table. He began running, and they began following him, bricks in their hands.
