Off the Deep End

by Lucinda Berry

Except Isaac. He was the only person who wasn’t uncomfortable around me. And I wasn’t uncomfortable around him. We were the perfect match.

It was weird to hear it ring. Nobody ever called on the house phone. We only had it for emergencies, and most of the time, I forgot it was even there.

Lol facts

I give him my most alluring smile. Demure. Like a cat. If he touched me, I’d probably purr.

He’d ignited a huge media storm over the effects of bullying on school shootings, and all the media outlets had been trying to get us on board with their platforms. To speak out against bullying and ask schools to take a stronger stance, but we hadn’t done it, and we weren’t going to. Kids were mean to Isaac, and unfortunately, for whatever reason, he’d always had a target on his back. Except it didn’t matter how awful those kids treated him: none of them deserved to die. Lots of kids got bullied. Many of them way worse than his experience, and they didn’t go to school and hurt innocent people. Even if people were mean to you, they didn’t deserve to die.

Sometimes life gives you a second chance at love because you weren’t ready for it the first time.