I walked to school on the cold morning. School was the thing that I hated most. It wasn’t like other student’s hatred for school. Mine was the bullying. Not hatred for there being too many assignments or too much homework.
As I approached the school, the students side-eyed me. Acting like I was some disgusting animal. They all stayed away from me, whispering to other people that I was here. Someone pushed me from the back, and said;

“Hey, Alien!”. Everyone laughed at me.

“LOSER!” One of them shouted out at me.

I walked inside, and I was greeted by a tug on the hair, followed by a push to the ground. I looked behind me, and of course, it was Johnny. I got up, and continued walking to my locker.

“Look at you. Disgusting alien. Get out of here.” a girl named Loren said.

I turned around and slapped her across the face. I didn’t realize what I did until a few seconds later.

“You.. Slapped me? You PIG!” She said. I saw everyone starting to corner me, but I managed to shove my way out and run.

I ran away, out the school gates and onto the sidewalk. My feet stomped on the concrete with my bag weighing me down, bouncing on my shoulder. My black hair bounced with it. The jacket in my hand dragged behind me until I stepped on it and I tumbled to the ground. My knee was scratched, and stung, but I got back up and kept on running.

I had run quite a ways from the school now. Noticeable since I was panting

like a dog. I threw my bag against a tree and sat down next to it, pulling my

sketchbook out of my bag, along with my pencil. My knee was bleeding, but I

patched it up with the bandaid in my bag.

Breathing deep, I could feel my heart rate slowing. I flipped through the sketchbook, letting its scenery calm me. I’d filled it with some landscapes and portraits, but, mostly, the pages were covered in eyes.

I found a blank page toward the back and began doodling. Slowly, another eye appeared. It grew out of the middle of the page, and it was crying. Her veins popped out, but instead of the lines, there were rude comments shaded perfectly, written thin enough to look like lines. Only when you looked closely, could you see what was written.

“Too bad you’re gay.”

“Your talent goes to waste when you’re so disgusting.”

This was me right at this moment. Everyone called me names, and the only way that I could cope with that was my art.

When you’re bullied by everyone every single day, those words are the only things you think about. They’re the only thing that you see. They’re carved into you and into the way you look at the world.

I couldn’t leave her like that. Pathetic and sad, like me. I sketched a quick crown on her head and a dress that made her look like a wood queen. Then I put my sketchbook down, and rested my head on my knees. Those hateful words flowed out of me until my knees were wet with my tears. I wanted to run away forever. Away from all of this. It was a warm afternoon. My eyes felt heavy and I let them close. The sunshine and pollen filled breeze carried me to sleep.

I didn’t know what time it was when I opened my eyes, but I was supposed to have gone home right after school. My mom would be furious.

I stood up quickly, grabbing my sketchbook and looked around for my bag to shove it in. That’s when I finally noticed.

This was not the forest that I fell asleep in.

I was leaning against the same exact tree that I fell asleep against, but nothing else was the same. The first thing I saw was a giant city across a bridge. Why was there a bridge? There wasn’t even supposed to be a river here.

I don’t know why I called out. I didn’t really expect anyone to be around, but I didn’t know what else to do. I was lost.

“Hello?”

I almost screamed when someone answered.

“Who’s there?”

It was a girl. She poked her head around the trunk of the tree where I’d been sleeping. She looked fairly human. Her skin was pale, and the small wooden crown on her head was wrapped in vines and leaves. The design on her dress made it look like it was made of wood. Her thick, brown hair cascaded down her back, and shimmered like a stream running under dappled sunlight.

She was right in front of me. I could have reached out to touch her. Until she ran away.

“Wait!” I yelled, but she just kept on running. How could my drawing come to life? She was an exact replica, but three dimensional and seemed… human.

She popped up again, behind another tree, and I ran after her. She ran again. It was like a game of Whack-A-Mole. I kept trying to catch her, and after I got close to her it was like she disappeared. We kept going and going until.. She stopped. She walked towards me. She came close to me, and I reached out to touch her. She was definitely real, and human. I looked behind her, and there was my school.

“Come.” she said. She reached her hand out to me.

“No” I said. “You don’t know what goes on in there.” I didn’t know what I expected to be in there. There could be no one in there, but I wouldn’t want to go in there anyway. The memories I have of that place are horrible.

“Yes I do. Come with me.”

I hesitated, but I grabbed her hand. Her soft hand wrapped around mine, as she led me inside. She opened the door.

There were students, but frozen in time. She looked at me, and led me towards them. I didn’t want to, but I followed her. Johnny, the boy who bullied me the most and gave me the hardest time, was there. I took a closer look and saw some lines around his eyes. His eyes looked detailed, and the rest of his body looked not as detailed and not as colorful. It reminded me of my drawings. The lines around his eyes had words in them, just like my drawing eyes. I looked closer, and read the words.

¨You lost your job again? You idiot! My mother was right. I never should've married you. Where will we get our money now, huh? Answer me!¨

The girl I drew looked at me.

¨Thatś what Johnny experiences on nearly a daily basis. His parents yell at each other because of their financial problem.¨

I wanted to help him. I didn't know why, but despite all of the things he did to me… I felt bad for him.

Another student was next to him, Loren, the girl I slapped. I read the words surrounding her eyes.

¨Look at you. Your belly always hangs low. Why can't you be like your cousins? Pretty and petite. Instead I got this elephant of a daughter.¨

“Remember when Loren was gone for almost a month?”

“Yes.” I responded. “And what about it?”

“She was in the hospital recovering from anorexia.”

I was taken aback.

“I think you know enough now.” She said. “I think that it’s time for you to go. You know what to do. ”

“Wait!”

Before I knew it, I was out of that place.

It felt like I had just woken from a deep sleep. I looked around. I was back to

the forest I had ran away to. I would have to make it home as soon as possible, my mom is probably so angry. However.. The sun didn’t seem like it had moved much. I checked the time on my phone, and it was still 8:20am.

Did time freeze when I went to my drawing’s world? I opened my sketchbook, and looked at the page of my drawing. It hadn’t moved at all. Until in the corner of my eye, I saw something start to write by itself on the bottom. It said; ‘Help Them.’ in tiny handwriting.

Right before I left the world, she told me that I knew what to do. Is this what she wanted me to do?

###

I arrived at the gates of the school, the place that I dreaded. It was probably passing period by now, perfect timing. I walked down inside, and I was right. Johnny and Loren were right next to their lockers, and right when I walked in, they were the first ones to see me.

“Well, well, well. Who do we have here? A gay? Ha! You don’t belong here.” Loren said. Everyone started looking over at us, snickering.

“Yes.” I said. “I am gay. Don’t bully me because of your own problems at home. Ask for help!” I said. They both looked confused for a second until they joined in, laughing with the other students.

“I’m serious, do not pretend like you don’t know what I am talking about, or else I’ll say it all right here.”

Immediatly, Loren started crying.

“I’m… sorry.” She immediatly came in for a hug, while Johnny just stood there in silence.

“I’m sorry.” He said.