User blog:Simon7055/Sam's Ordeal - Chapter 3

Chapter Three - The Loneliness 

'''“Hi, Bridgett!” Sam cheerfully greeted as the former turned the combo to her locker. Bridgett didn’t answer, though. Sam could see a look of visible confliction on Bridgett’s face. They’ve been best friends for years. The two had more sleepovers than they could count. They attended each other's birthday parties. Sam would call her whenever she was feeling overwhelmed from taking care of Simon, or just needed somebody to talk to. Bridgett did the same.'''

'''Bridgett had no problem with Sam being gay. It didn't bother her in the slightest. But she heard what was going on. The whole school was shutting Sam out, and Bridgett was scared of what would happen if she went against the grain. She afforded Sam a small smile as she turned away, but she couldn't help but feel incredibly guilty. Sam had always been there for her. But as of now, Brigitte had to look out for herself.'''

'''That was weird, Sam thought. Maybe she's just distracted.'''

"Hey, Luke! What's up?” Sam asked. But Luke walked right past her, only flashing a quick smirk. Sam shrugged and proceeded to her first class of the day. As she took her seat, she tried smiling at her neighbors, but got no response. Shrugging, she started reading the novel she carried with her until the teacher came in and commenced roll call.

'''The rest of Sam’s day felt just as odd. She talked to her teachers about normal matters like her grades. She was doing pretty well. She wasn’t exactly a perfect student, but her grades in most of her classes ranged from A- to B’s. Frankly, her teachers were pretty satisfied with her work. '''

'''But that wasn’t what was odd. What was odd was that none of her classmates seemed to acknowledge her presence. It felt as if they were deliberately ignoring her. Sam sat at her usual spot in the cafeteria, hoping that Luke, Bridgett and Estelle would join her. They never did. When the day came to an end, Sam felt very confused, and a little betrayed.'''

'''Maybe they were busy. Maybe they were distracted. Maybe a lot of things. '''

'''But she had always been there for them. When Luke's girlfriend was cheating on him. When Bridgett found out that her parents were getting divorced. When Estelle needed help figuring out what to say to the boy she liked. Sam never abandoned her friends.'''

'''Sam sighed, as the bell signaling the end of the day rang. First, she had to pick up Simon from school. She’d gotten a text that he had detention after school today. '''

'''But before that, she had violin practice on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Fridays. The music teacher, Mr. Scovario, said she was getting pretty good. '''

'''Sam went to her locker to get her violin, only to find it was gone. There was a note instead:'''

If you want your stupid violin back, come to room 304

'''She rushed up the stairs as quickly as she could. Her mother had bought her that violin. It was very expensive. It was her Christmas gift that year. It cost over 700 dollars. Sam had been practicing with a school violin up to then and had gotten pretty good, so her mom spent the money to buy her her own violin. She couldn't let anything happen to it.'''

Arriving at Room 304, Sam walked in, and saw to her horror, her violin in splinters all over the floor, with another note in the same handwriting.

Enjoy, b****

#lol

'''Sam couldn't believe it. The violin her mother had saved up for so long to buy… The violin that Simon loved listening to… The violin that her mother had worked so hard to pay for was gone… '''

'''Smashed into a million pieces. Sam collapsed to the floor, sobbing miserably, her hands shaking as she picked up the pieces. The violin hadn't just been broken. It was destroyed. There was no way to fix this. She moaned, eventually recollecting herself, and, throwing the pieces in the garbage, walked out, down to Mr. Scovario's office.'''

"Um… M-M-Mr… M-Mr. Scovario… I-I…"

'''"Miss Sharp…" he said, looking at her with immense concern. "What's wrong? Come, sit down…" he said. Sam gulped, sitting down, unable to look him in the eye. He loved his instruments so much… He treasured musical instruments as works of art. How could she tell him that she let hers be destroyed like that?… She had to tell him, though.'''

"What happened to your violin? Did you forget it today?"

"I… N-no… It got b-broken…"

'''"An accident? Did you drop it?" He asked, not once seeming angry.'''

'''"I-I don't think it was an accident." She said, handing him the two notes she had gotten. He read them one after the other, and shook his head.'''

'''"I see… Do you mind if I keep these notes? Maybe the school can find out who wrote them. There's no excuse for what they did… Vandalizing your property like that. Do you have any idea who might have done it?" He asked. Sam shook her head.'''

"M-Mom bought me that violin for Christmas… I-it was special! It cost her so much money… We can't just replace it…" Sam sobbed.

'''The fact that her friends ignored her all day no longer registered. All she could think of was that she had let her violin be destroyed. '''

'''Her mother would never forgive her… What would Simon think? '''

Mr. Scovario smiled gently at her.

"Miss Sharp… It will be alright… I have spare violins that you can use for now. It's always good to have your own instrument that you trust and understand… But for now, using a spare won't kill you."

'''Mr. Scovario always talked about instruments like they had a soul, like the user could bond with them, and sometimes said that the greatest musicians were the greatest because they knew their instruments the best. That they were able to bring out the most in their instrument and the instrument worked hard for them as well. '''

'''It was a very spiritual concept that Sam didn't necessarily agree with. She never particularly believed in any kind of higher power.'''

'''But she could see that every instrument, even two violins or guitars could be slightly different, so knowing the individual instrument well would mean that picking up a different violin would feel strange. It wasn't spiritual. It was just practical. Still, she picked up the violin and immediately felt it. It was too heavy. It wasn't balanced right. She played with Mr. Scovario for a while, but she wasn't feeling it, so he let her go a bit early.'''

Sam hurried over to Simon's school, rushing in only to crash into a dark-haired student.

'''"Hey! Watch it!" He shouted.'''

"Oh! Sorry…" Sam said, helping the boy up and going to the principal's office to wait for Simon.

'''"Are you Miss Sharp?" A middle-aged woman asked. Sam nodded.'''

'''"Sister of Simon Sharp?" She asked.'''

'''"Yes." Sam replied again.'''

"Can you spare me a minute? I won't take up any more of your time than necessary. Then you can collect your brother and head home."

"Okay… Is he alright?"

"Yes… Though the boy he got into a fight with wasn't so lucky."

"What? Simon got into a fight?… That doesn't sound like him. He's always been a tad mischievous, but never violent…"

"Well… He said that he fought the boy because he was making slanderous remarks about you. The boy who’s been making the remarks has been recommended for counseling, and placed on suspension for a week. Simon’s been given a month of detention."

"I see…" Sam said quietly.

'''“Has Simon been having any trouble at home lately? Any that you know of?”'''

"No…"

"What about you? He seems to be very protective of you. Has something happened recently?”

'''"I don't see how that's your business…" Sam said, immediately shutting down. The principal nodded.'''

"Okay… Well, you can take your brother home now. His detention should be ending soon. Just make sure he has a talk with someone about his…aggressive streak.”

'''"He does NOT have an aggressive streak! He just got into one fight with some jerk who couldn't keep his mouth shut! That doesn't make him a problem student!" Sam said, thinking that she would definitely have a talk with him.'''

She waited in the foyer until Simon came out.

"Hey, Simon… How'd detention go?"

'''"Great… I really connected with that girl who kept shooting spitballs at me. I think we're gonna be real good friends." Simon said sarcastically. Sam laughed, rolling her eyes at her brother's humor.'''

'''"So… Talk to me, Simon… What happened?" Sam asked, as she brushed Simon's hair back, seeing a slight bruise around his left eye, and some crusted blood under his nose.'''

"Jacob Sanderson happened. He was bad-mouthing you! Calling you a dyke! He was making fun of you!"

'''"So?" Sam asked, raising an eyebrow.'''

"So?? Nobody gets away with talking about you like that!"

'''"Simon… Simon, calm down." Sam said as they arrived home, taking Simon inside and kneeling down in front of him.'''

"Listen, it's… really sweet that you were willing to do that for me… But I don't want you fighting on my account… Ever… If it's a fight worth having, I'll take care of it myself…"

'''"No, you won't! You're such a pacifist! You never fight!" Simon snapped.'''

"It's never worth it. If someone I love is in danger, I'll fight. But mean words? They're not worth fighting over, and it would only make things worse. People can't insult you if you don't let them."

"But… He called you…"

"I don't care what he called me. There are certain people whose opinions I care about. Jacob Sanderson's is not one of them. He's nine. I doubt he even knows what the word 'dyke' really means. There's a Sanderson at my school. They're probably related and he heard my Sanderson talking about it."

"...H-how did your day at school go?"

'''"Oh… It was…alright." Sam muttered. Simon scowled. She way lying. Why was she lying to him? Didn't she trust him? He sighed and went up to his room to do the rest of his homework.'''

'''"Hello, Sammy!" came a voice from the kitchen.'''

'''"Mon? What are you doing home at this hour?" Sam asked.'''

"I took a different shift at the hospital today. I'm just… getting ready to go to my evening job…" Amanda said, yawning.

'''"Mom, d-do you… have a moment to talk to me?" Sam asked, feeling very vulnerable. "I… I need to tell you something… It's kind of important…" Sam said. She had to come out to her parents eventually. It might as well be tonight, right? '''

'''Amanda looked at the clock. "I'm sorry, sweetie… I'm already late in getting out… I'd love to be able to talk to you, but I…" '''

Sam sighed.

'''"Don't worry about it… Maybe another time." Sam said, heading up to her own room. She tried to do her homework, but she just couldn't concentrate. After spending a few hours sitting in her room, having been stuck on the same math problem for over thirty minutes, she decided to give up. She’d just take detention the next day or whatever. She didn't even care. She was about to leave her room and head downstairs, when Simon stopped her.'''

'''"Can we talk, Sammy?" Simon asked. Sam nodded, going back into her room. He sat on her bed with her, sighing happily as she held him close to her chest, gently stroking his hair. People said that they were way closer than siblings should be. But it never bothered them.'''

'''"Why did you lie to me, Sammy? Do you not trust me anymore? Did I do something to make you angry?" Simon asked nervously. Sam shook her head.'''

'''"You didn't do anything wrong, Simon… I just had kind of a bad day… You don't need to worry about me. I'll be fine. I'm sure it'll all pass." Sam said. Simon put a hand on Sam's cheek.'''

'''"What happened?" He asked. Sam sighed.'''

'''"None of my friends would talk to me today. None of them even looked at me… I-I tried to give them the benefit of the doubt… Maybe they're just distracted or something. But when they didn't even sit at the same table as me at lunch, I knew something was wrong. Then, after school, somebody had destroyed my violin…" Sam muttered, tears stinging her eyes again. Simon looked up at her. She never cried. It wasn't until she came home yesterday after Saoirse turned her down that he had ever seen her cry. Why did it hurt so much to see her like this? He turned himself around, hugging her tightly.'''

'''"It'll be alright, Sammy… I'm sure things'll get better." He said, kissing her on the cheek. She often kissed him, but he couldn't remember ever kissing her. It felt weird. He was sad for her, and he just wanted to make her feel better.'''

"But… Mom spent a lot of money on that violin… It wasn't easy for her to afford…"

'''"I know… It was the only gift you got that year. It meant a lot to you, didn't it?" Simon asked. Sam nodded.'''

'''"I'm sorry they did that to you. I've got some money saved up from taking care of our neighbors' pets… I could help you buy a new one…" Simon said. Sam smiled at him.'''

"That's so sweet of you… But I can't accept your money… You worked hard for it. No, I'll figure something out… I… I just wish I could've talked to Mom tonight."

'''"You were hoping to come out?" Simon asked. Sam nodded, looking surprisingly vulnerable.'''

"It's alright, Sammy… I'm sure whenever you tell them, they'll still love you just as much…"

'''"I hope so… What if they don't want someone like… Well, like me? What if they disown me? Where would I go? I'm only 13…" Sam whispered, shivering slightly. Simon held on closer to her.'''

'''"I won't let them. If they kick you out, they'll have to kick me out, too… I'll never abandon you." he said. '''

'''Sam smiled with tears in her eyes. "Thanks, Simon…”'''