Nobody

Ghostlike he roams the hallways. Ignored by the living, the popular, the jocks and even the nerds. He is a clique of one. School is both his greatest joy and his most bitter curse. He thrives in the academic environment but he is being torn apart by his loneliness. There are no friends for him to turn to. No clubs that want him as a member. Even teachers overlook him in the classroom and fail to notice him in the halls.

In the classroom, he sits in the front row. Pencil in hand taking notes and absorbing all of the knowledge his teachers have to share. Though he is a straight A student he has never possessed the confidence needed to raise his hand in class. Though he knows all of the answers is voice is never heard.

In gym class he prowls the sidelines. Watching as the other boys bond and grow together. His mind aches with the desire to belong, but he lacks the courage to stand up and demand his place in the game.

During lunch while the others join in various circles of gossip and jocularity he finds a quiet corner. Back against a tree he is soon lost in the worlds of Asimov, Bradbury, Clarke and Heinlen. In his minds eye he imagines himself the hero of one of their grand space operas. Slaying the hideous aliens and rescuing the beautiful princess. All to soon however the lunch bell rings and returns him to his bitter reality.

All of the solitude has begun to take a toll on him. Most days at some point he will find himself in a graffiti filled stall quietly sobbing tears of despair. He has become so desperate for attention that he has begun to wish that the bullies would pay atleast notice him. Give him a wedgey. Tape a "kick me" sign to his back. Trip him in the hallway. Though he knew that it was a wasted wish for some reason he was not even worth the contempt of the bullies.

Being a realist he knows that many teenagers, who found themselves outcast, broke and fell into drinking, drugs and even suicide. Others broke and brought a gun to school ensuring that everyone would soon be paying attention. He was more fortunate than either group. He may be a nobody at school but he has a very good reason for living.

Each afternoon when he returned from he would find her looking out the front window watching for him. She was his older sister whose body had been so ravaged by disease that she could no longer even communicate. Tossing his books aside he would give her a kiss and sit at the foot of her wheel chair. Her still bright eyes would light up as he filled her with tales of his scholastic adventures. Not the truth of course. Outside the house he may have been a nobody but to her he was and always would be somebody.