فصل نوزدهم

Chapter 19

Everything returned to normal.

Bradley scribbled, cut up bits of paper, and taped things together. He hated everyone and everyone hated him. That was the way he liked it.

He shuddered whenever he remembered that he actually had almost done his homework. He couldn’t imagine anything more horrible than that!

And he was glad Jeff wasn’t his friend anymore. He realized he was better off without friends. In fact, he never was friends with Jeff! I was just pretending to be his friend.

He decided he’d never pretend to be anybody’s friend again.

Jeff was normal now too. That was what he told Carla. He walked into her office and announced, “I don’t need any help anymore. I have eight friends now. We play basketball every recess and lunch, and I’m the best player.” “Good for you, Jeff,” said Carla. “I’m very proud of you.” “How many friends have you made?” he asked.

“I don’t keep score,” said Carla.

“I’ve made eight,” said Jeff.

“I’ve always considered quality to be more important than quantity when it comes to friendship,” said Carla.

“Eight,” Jeff repeated. “And I’m not friends with Bradley anymore either.” “I’m sorry to hear that.”

“Why? I’m not. I hate him. In fact”—he looked around the room—“I gave him a black eye!” He quickly glanced at Carla to see if she knew he was lying, then looked away.

“What happened?” Carla asked.

“Oh, you know, he wouldn’t stop bothering me. I kept telling him to get lost, but he kept hanging around. I never liked him. No one does. Then he said to me, ‘Give me a dollar or I’ll spit on you!’ Well, no one threatens me and gets away with it! I don’t take that from nobody. So he tried to hit me, but I ducked, then punched his face in. I didn’t want to do it, but I had no choice.” That was the short version. Jeff had told that same story to his eight new friends, but he usually made it much longer.

“So I don’t think I need to see a counselor anymore,” he said, “since I have eight friends.” “Okay, Jeff, if that’s how you feel,” said Carla.

“They might think I’m weird or something,” he explained.

“Well, we can’t have them thinking that.” “Does that mean I can go?”

Carla nodded. “But anytime you want to talk again, please feel free to come and see me.” She smiled. “Even if you just feel like getting out of class for a while.” He left, glad to be out of there.

On his way back to class, he walked past the girls’ bathroom. He stopped, shook his head, and chuckled to himself. It seemed like it was such a long time ago when he accidentally went in there. I used to be such a jerk, he thought.

He smiled a strange smile. He stretched his mouth so wide, it was hard to tell whether it was a smile or a frown.