I Made Him Smile

I Made Him Smile

The hall swarmed with faces that I saw everyday, but yet, I knew none of them. At least I had friends, scratch that, I had tons of friends. When you go to a high school with 3,000 students it isn’t that uncommon to not know someone. I stood with my back against the cool metal of my locker, waiting for my friend to show up. I stared into the sea of people in front of me, and Grey walked by. I didn’t know Grey personally, but I will tell you how I knew Grey’s name.
He was known as the school’s “emo-kid.” In other words he had long black hair, never smiled, never spoke, had no friends, and came across as very depressed. I don’t blame him for feeling the way he did. No one even acknowledged his existence, and if rumor was true he was a foster child. I would typically never dare talk to a kid with his reputation, for fear of ruining my own, but I decided that I would try something new.
My back left the lockers, and I strode towards Grey, who had stopped at his locker across the hall. I walked beside him, and leaned my shoulder on the locker next to his.
“Hey Grey,” I said, trying to sound like I wasn’t trying to make fun of him. He just ignored me, still rummaging through his locker, which was filled with different band pictures.
“Look, just leave me alone. I’m not in the mood.” He said this sternly, never taking his eyes away from the items in his locker.
“I’m not…” He cut me off.
“I said buzz off. If you’d like to make fun of me at least wait until tomorrow!” This time he was almost shouting, and several heads turned in our direction. A hand grabbed my shoulder facing the hallway.
I turned and it was Kate, the girl I was waiting for, my girlfriend to be precise.
“Hey what’s up?” I asked her, turning my attention away from Grey.
“Not much.” She shifted her gaze away from my eyes, and to Grey, still sifting through the objects in his locker. “Why are you over here with…him?” she asked coolly?
“I was just saying hi, is that a problem; and why did you say him with that tone of voice?”
“It’s not a problem; I just didn’t know you chose to spend your spare time with freaks.” Her boldness sent anger down my spine.
“Look, he’s not a freak, and if you can’t respect him for who he is, then we are over!” I was shouting. I was furious. She took the hint.
“Then I guess we are over,” she said sternly, and stormed off in the other direction. I was in utter shock. Did this really just happen?

Two hours later I walked into the cafeteria, and this time even my friends seemed not to know me. I guessed Kate had already brought them the “terrible” news. For once I didn’t care what people thought of me, I didn’t care if I was in the “in-crowd”. All I could care about was Grey, and how he felt after Kate’s obnoxious remark.
I spotted him at the end of a table, sitting all by himself, as he always did. I made two bold moves that day; 1.) I said hi to him, 2.) I decided to sit with him at lunch. I took my seat across from him, and watched as he stared at his empty tray.
“Already ate?” I asked, trying to get him to talk. No response. “Look, you know I’m not trying to poke fun at you, you saw how she bro…” He cut me off once more.
“She broke up with you, and it’s my entire fault - just another reason for the world to hate me.”
“The world doesn’t hate you Grey, they just don’t understand, and I’m trying to understand. All you have to do is let me in.” I said this as sympathetically as I could.
“Well…” he trailed off, looking as if he was pondering over what I just said. His black hair covered one of his eyes, and the other one was staring down. “I guess I could try. What’s your name?”
“My name is Kyle, and I’m glad to make a new friend.”
“Me?” he asked. I swore I heard a hint of excitement in his voice.
“Yes, you,” I said chuckling.
He looked up, exposing both of his eyes.
“Thanks, this means a lot.” He said this, but followed by a smile. I hadn’t seen this boy smile in the entire 2 years I had gone to school with him.
“Anytime,” I said simply. I was ecstatic. I made him smile. I made Grey, the “emo-kid” smile.