Daniel's Dream

Daniel watched the black second hand of the clock slowly move up another minute until three o'clock. Ever since spring break, the days at school seemed to be longer and longer. He decided he would rather eat yucky brussel sprouts than sit in a classroom when it was sunny outside.





Fifteen more minutes.



He grabbed his pencil and started doodling on his sheet of notebook paper. Even though he knew he should be doing math right now, he couldn't force himself to concentrate. He issued a small 'thank you' to God that there was only one more week of school left this year. He couldn't wait to be off for summer vacation. He was excited to go swimming this summer. Uncle Josh and Nick had promised him that they were going to buy him one of those fancy blow-up pools from Wal-Mart so they could swim all they wanted this summer. It was going to be awesome!



"Daniel?"



Daniel looked up and into Mr Thompson's kind eyes and his face flushed guiltily. Gosh, he hated it when he caught doing something he wasn't supposed to do.



"Yes, sir?"



"Will you and Andrew take the erasers outside and dust them off for me?" Mr Thompson asked as he glanced at the page that Daniel had been doodling on.



His face burned with embarrassment, and his tongue itched to tell Mr Thompson that he didn't want to go anywhere with Andrew, but he found himself nodding reluctantly instead. He didn't like being around Andrew. He was mean.



Daniel stood up and started gathering the erasers from the bottom of the chalkboard. He glanced over and noticed Andrew doing the same. He groaned inwardly as he walked to the door and waited for the other boy to join him.



Everything about Andrew made him nervous. From his spiky black hair to his stocky build, Andrew was the strongest boy Daniel had ever seen. Plus, Andrew excelled in sports and by far was the smartest kid in class. He wanted to be Andrew's friend, but the popular boy hated him for some reason and when he wasn't making fun of Daniel, he ignored him.



Andrew really was a butthead.



He pushed past Daniel as he walked through the door. Of course, Andrew had to be first out the door. Andrew had to be first at everything.



Daniel's heart beat faster as he followed Andrew out of the classroom and down the hall until they reached the front of the school. Once they were outside, Andrew stopped and turned around, and Daniel tripped over his feet to avoid running into him.



A lump formed in Daniel's throat as the boy's icy blue eyes glared back at him. He had hoped that Andrew wouldn't say anything mean to him, but it looked like that hope was going to be in vain.



"Hey Dan-yell... Mr Thompson caught you spacing out again, didn't he? You know the only reason he's lettin' you do this is because he feels sorry for you because you're such a freak. What were you thinking about anyway... your fag uncle and his boyfriend?" The boy sneered as he started banging two of the erasers together. Chalk dust rose from them making Daniel cough.



Daniel's heart lodged in his throat as he looked down at his scuffed up white tennis shoes. He shrugged, wishing he had the nerve to tell Andrew to shut up and then bang one of the erasers over the top of his black spiky hair.



The thought of Andrew covered with chalk brought a small smile to his face.



"What are you laughin' at, fag? Thinking of having a boyfriend for yourself? I oughta slap those freckles off of your ugly face, you freak." Andrew threw the erasers down and took a threatening step toward him.



Daniel hated being the shortest boy in his class and to make matters worse, Andrew was not only bigger, he stood a couple of inches taller than him. He heard himself whimper as he took a quick step back and away from Andrew's angry presence.



"I'm n-not l-l-laughing at y-you," Daniel managed to stutter out as he reluctantly dragged his eyes up to meet Andrew's angry blue ones.



Andrew's eyes widened and he bent over at the waist and started laughing cruelly. After a few moments of hearing Andrew's fake laugh, he straightened up and took another threatening step toward him.



"P-p-p-oor D-D-Dan-yell...c-c-cat got y-y-your t-t-t-ongue," he mocked and then snickered at his own joke.



Daniel had never been good at standing up for himself. Plus, he was used to being around people who liked him. He had never been around someone as mean as Andrew. As much as he wanted to defend himself to Andrew, fear and uncertainty kept his mouth shut and he stood frozen in front of this angry boy. Daniel knew no matter what he did it would never be okay with the bully standing in front of him.



"God, Dan-yell, you really are a wimp, aren't you? I guess livin' with those fags made you a sissy, too." Andrew nudged Daniel's shoulder roughly with his own, causing Daniel to stumble back a few steps.



Daniel took a deep breath. It irritated him that Andrew said hateful things about his family. He didn't understand why Andrew insisted on saying such hurtful words about two of his favorite people. He knew for certain that if Andrew had ever taken the time to know him and his family, Andrew would like them and never say things like that.



"Don't talk about t-them like that."



Daniel didn't know who was more surprised that he spoke up, him or Andrew. But, as quick as his open-mouthed, shocked look appeared, Andrew shook it off, his blue eyes gleaming with an angry light.



"I'll talk about them any way I want. Daddy says that we'd all be better off without people like you and your family. Why don't you just do us all a favor and move somewhere else? Your kind isn't welcome around here," Andrew yelled. He bent down and picked up his erasers and started hitting Daniel all over with them.



Daniel couldn't believe this was happening. He stood stunned as his attacker continued to hit him all over his body and top of his head with the dusty erasers. Soon he was covered with chalk dust and wheezing. He dropped his erasers and held his hands out in front of him to ward off the vicious attack, but it didn't help. Andrew continued to taunt and smack him until a male voice shouted.



"What in the world? Andrew Knight, stop that this instant!"



At those words, Andrew stopped his attack. Daniel looked up through the chalky air and saw Mr Thompson glaring at the other boy.



"Andrew, march yourself right to the principal's office right now. You know we don't tolerate any form of violence or bullying at this school." Daniel had never heard Mr Thompson's voice sound so angry before.



"Aww... Mr Thompson, Daniel and I was just playin' around. Isn't that right, Daniel," Andrew coaxed. He smiled innocently at Mr Thompson before he reached over to dust the chalk off Daniel's shirt.



Daniel jerked away from his hand.



There was no way he was going to let Andrew ever touch him again.



Mr. Thompson shook his head and pointed to the glass doors. "No, Andrew. I watched you hit Daniel with the erasers, so I know you weren't playing around."



Andrew looked beseechingly at Daniel. "Tell him, Daniel. Tell him that we were just playin' around."



Mr. Thompson put his warm hand on Daniel's shoulder. That gentle grip somehow gave him courage to answer honestly. He cleared his throat and glanced up into his teacher's kind face and then back to Andrew's pleading one.



"Andrew said some mean things about me and my family. Then he hit me with the erasers for no reason."



Andrew's eyes widened and his face turned beet red. "You little fag! How dare you lie and get me into trouble." He jumped toward Daniel with his fists clenched and raised. Mr Thompson grabbed Andrew's arm and pulled him back before his fist hit Daniel's face.



He watched Mr Thompson escort Andrew back into the school before a few parents who had witnessed the whole thing surrounded him. They were waiting for their children to be dismissed from school for the day.



"Are you all right, boy?"



"Did you see that?"



"Do you need to see the nurse?"



Questions came at him from everywhere, confusing him. Daniel's face burned from humiliation and his vision blurred from unshed tears. He wouldn't be able to answer any of the questions because if he tried, he'd start crying, and that was last thing he wanted to do in front of these strangers.



"Danny? Oh my god! Are you alright?"



Nick's voice had never sounded so good. He broke through the circle of people and ran into Nick's open arms.



"Oh, Danny... I'm sorry. I tried to get to you as soon as I saw what happened, but I was parked too far away to get to you in time. Are you okay?" Nick hugged him close, and within the warmth and safety of his friend's arms, Daniel could breathe again. But he still couldn't talk, so he nodded.



Nick was here now and he would make everything all right.