Not a continuation of the other Salvis I swear
My heart pounds, it has been about 7 weeks since Sally caught me crying in the bathroom. Iâm sure he was just pitying me when offering a place in his group, not like any of his friends like me. Although they allow me to sit with them, Iâm scared that they will eventually remember who I am. I know Sally read my letter, it scares me to think he saw the vulnerability written there. It makes me hate me.
I walk to my locker, my eye hurts. I look at the crumpled pieces of paper scattered in my locker, all notes I was planning on giving to Sal, but at the time I couldnât even think about giving one to him. I stare at the new note I was planning on giving him, it wasnât much, I had pretty much used bits and pieces of my old letter to make this one.
I jump at the sound of my name, âhey Travis.â I shove the note quickly in my locker, and close it to see Sally standing about 7 inches from me. âWhatâ do you want,â I say aggressively, I notice his eyes crinkle angrily under his mask. I felt mild guilt, I shouldnât be a dick, he was trying to help me. âSorry, That was mean. Um, hey Salâ I said, albeit hesitant.
His eyes soften, I really like his eyes. âItâs ok, um, how are you?â He asks, I give a halfhearted smile turning back to my locker, âIâve been better, I guess, Iâm a bit, nervous.â I say glancing at him, I could hear a small chuckle come from him. âWhatâ I ask in confusion, his eyes crinkle again happily this time. âThe idea of you nervous, I mean Iâve seen you nervous once, and that was when you approached me to start hanging out.â
âYeah.â I reply. âItâs about something different this timeâ he walks up to me and puts his hand on my shoulder. âYou wanna talk about it?â I look at him, this was my chance, but I didnât want to do it in the middle of the hallway. âYes, but not here, and not right now.â He nods, âalright, after school then, maybe we could hang out after.â I nod giving a smile.
I stand outside school nervously, the note sitting almost heavily in my pocket. I start to think about how stupid this is, I cross my arms in anger, he doesnât need my anger. Before I got the chance to act on these fears Sal shows up. His hair bounces lightly as he walks over to me, I couldnât stop the blush from creeping onto my face.
âHey Travis, Iâm here.â He says happily, his voice is smooth and deep, but not to deep. âSo what did you want to talk about?â I shift my feet nervously, before looking into his eyes. They shone a bright blue, one slightly duller than the other. I take a shuddering breath, âum, I... just hereâ I take the note out and shoved it towards him. He looks at the folded piece of paper in my hand and reaches up and takes it carefully.
He unfolds it slowly, as if he were afraid he was going to tear it. It took him a while to read it, even when it wasnât that long, and after a moment his shoulders slump. I knew it, I fucked up one of my first real friendships cause I caught feelings. He looks back at me, his eyes under his mask sparkling sadly. âDo you mean it?â He asks lightly, I nod, my heart racing a mile a second. He looks down at the paper again, then once more at me.
âTravis, youâve only seen this mask, not me, Iâm glad we did this here and not in the hallway.â I give him a confused look, âwhy would that matter? I like you for you, youâre face shouldnât be an issue.â I reply slowly, he just shakes his head, âyou donât understand how it is, everyone who hasnât known me has reeled away from me because of how I look, and sometimes even my friends have. They just see the scars and run, Iâve even made someone scream before.â
I notice his eyes tearing up, itâs hard to notice underneath the mask, he took in a sigh, before, making direct eye contact. âYou know what Travis?â I cringe, but ask âwhat?â He walks just the tiniest bit closer âIâll give you a chance, on one condition.â My heart leaps to my throat, âwhat would that be?â I ask curiously, I could see his eyes shift underneath his mask. âYou need to see my face, and I will give you a chance based on the reaction. If it truly doesnât matter, you wonât change your mind.â
I nod in understanding, itâs only fair. I had created his face based on his eyes, it wasnât anything special, but I know it wonât be anything close to my imagination. He takes one more large sigh before unclipping the bottom clips, then the top. He hesitated before taking it the rest of the way off.
My breath caught in my throat at the sight of it, on the right side of his face, he had a large scar going from the bottom of his chin all the way up to his eye, making it to where he couldnât close his mouth all the way. he had two smaller scars on the left side of his mouth. He didnât have a nose, and he had large claw marks going up each side of his face. Something I didnât know about his eyes is his right one droops because of the scar. Most of his face looks like scar tissue with a small amount of his face his skin color. I wasnât going to lie, I could see why people would run.
I stayed silent for probably longer than I should have, but he was being patient. I eventually got the knot out of my throat, âIâm not gonna lie, itâs something Iâd definitely have to get used to.â He looks down, and for the first time I could see his expressions, he starts to bring his mask up, âyou donât have to put that on yet,â I say quickly, he looks back at me suspiciously, before nodding, and clipping the to top clips to the side of his bag, before gesturing for me to follow.
We walk over to a bench and sit down, he seems jumpier, as if all his confidence leaks away as soon as the mask comes off. After a moment, he starts to laugh, I look at him in confusion, his face contorts differently because of the scars, but he still looks joyful all the same. âWhat?â I ask, it takes him a moment to calm down, âI just find it hilarious that youâre the one to have a crush on me. I mean I donât mind it, but it wasnât necessarily a secret now that I think of it.â
I blush deeply, âhow was it not a secret?â He looked down sheepishly, âI read a note on the floor next to the garbage can, and it was in your handwriting. I had a feeling it was one of us cause we were the ones you bullied most.â I chuckle, âI heard someone open the paper.â We sit there for a bit more, before I had to go. âI had funâ I say quietly, he nods, âIâll let you know tomorrowâ I nod, before kissing his forehead. He seemed startled by it, but leaned into it as if he craved the small touch. âSee you tomorrow.â
The next day Sal told me heâd give me a chance