The next day, people bombard Tomika and Connor with questions.  Connor is understandably annoyed and threatens to punch people who try to ask him anything.  Tomika is ecstatic to be getting so much attention from people all of the sudden. That’s until people start asking if she’s dating Connor.  Her grin goes to deep confusion as people scream in front of her and behind her. Connor did a good job with his crowd, although Nick still tries to get to him.

        “Hey, man!” Nick greets him with a stupid, white smile.  “Congrats on the new girl!”

        “I’m sorry?” Connor replies, practically shouting as people still try to get to him.

        “That nerdy seventh-grader?  You two are a thing?”

        “Who said that?  Who even bothered to care about us?”

        “C’mon, bro, you know I care about you no matter what.”

        “I dunno, Nick.  The only reason you talk to me is that you don’t have any other friends.”

        A few “Oh”s come from the bystanders surrounding them.

        “Connor, I have other friends than you, you know.”

        “Nick, you only talk to the jocks besides me.  You just like to talk behind my back with them; they aren’t really your friends.”

        Nick scoffs, “So?”

        “‘So’?” Connor mocks.  “Nick, get real with it: They obviously don’t like you!  No one does!”

        Nick presses his lips together, then “Fuck you, Connor!  Asshole!”

        This is the first time Nick left without a pat on the shoulder.  He just storms off to class. Or maybe the bathroom to start crying.  Connor can’t really tell. Regardless, everyone gets the message to just leave him alone.

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        At lunch, Tomika meets up with Connor with a concerned look, “Connor, we need to talk.”

“        Talk about what?” he asks.

        “What do you mean ‘what’?  The rumors!”

        “They aren’t true.”

        “Duh-doy!  Not everyone realizes that.”

        “So, you know they aren’t true, right?”

        “What does that have to do with anyth—”

        “Answer the question,” Connor demands.

        “Yes, I know they aren’t true.”

        “Why bother trying to turn this around, then?”

        “What?” Tomika scoffs.  “‘Why bother’?! Connor, people think I’m willing to just go for anyone!”

        “But, you know you aren’t, right?”

        “They don’t know anything about me, Connor.  They still think I’m the loser.”

        “Why do you care what they think?  That’s why you’re such an insecure nerd.”

        “Why do you not care about any of this?”

        “You wanna know why?” Connor asks.  “It’s because people don’t want to hear the truth.  They only want to hear what makes them happy, even if that means being lied to.  Middle school is fueled on lies of people on low self-esteem who are on the edge of just ending it all.  Once people learn the truth, it all fades away and everyone is back to just being worth nothing at all.”

        Tomika’s jaw drops, but no words can really escape her mouth.

        “Face it, nerd, it’s how it works.  You hear how people want to change that, but there will always be someone ready to just change how it all flows.”

        “Connor!  That’s horrible!”

        “Hey, if you wanna cry about it, then go ahead.  Then after that, you can realize that maybe it isn’t so bad once you get used to—”

        “Fuck you, Connor!” Tomika screams, running away.

        “Hey, wait!” Connor calls after her.

        No reply, just footsteps of her running.

        “Tomika!” Connor screams.  She stops dead in her tracks.  Her name—her actual name; not nerd or loser—bouncing off the walls and ringing in her and Connor’s ears.  Then, she just starts crying and runs off again.

        Connor slides down against the wall and hugs his knees, trying his best to hold back tears of his own.