He handed it over to Maria, who looked at it, then at him, and smiled softly. "At least with that you can keep your pictures!"
"T-thanks…" Maria smiled, very faintly.
He was genuinely concerned. That was so weird.
Timothy smiled back, putting the camera corpse on the rock next to Maria, but then, he frowned, and looked back at where the guys had ran away.
"I can't believe it! Why did they do that?" He scoffed with indignation, picking up the glass pieces from the ground.
Maria looked at her feet. Her large, dumb ugly feet.
"They… they don't really like me, I guess…"
Of course they didn't like her.
Timothy had a weird hiccup, as his eyes widened, and he looked back up at Maria. "Why, though? Why would they hate you?"
Maria sniffled, and inhaled sharply. "I-I don't know… I'm just weird and dumb and ugly, I guess they just- they just want to-" she rubbed her eyes under her glasses, and sighed. "I probably deserve it…"
Then, Timothy did something Maria wasn't expecting. He pulled her in, and hugged her. "No. Don't you say that, alright!" He exclaimed.
It felt warm, comforting, being in his large, strong arms… When was the last time she'd ever gotten any sort of physical affection from anyone, other than her parents..?
"You're really cool, alright! If they're being so shitty it's their own damn fault, not yours!!"
He let go of her, but kept his hands on her shoulders. "You don't deserve to be tormented and laughed at, alright! These people, they're just- just…" he bit his lip, eyes scanning the ground as he was searching for an insult. "They're just shallow!!" He then spat out.
Maria swallowed, eyes wide. She didn't really know what to say here.
"What, just because you look different, or don't fit in the mold, suddenly that gives them the right to bully you?? No way!"
She could feel tears border on her eyes. She shouldn't cry. Not in front of him. If she thought she looked ugly normally, it was worst when she cried.
"T-thank you…" she mumbled, rubbing her eyes, then pushing her glasses up on her face.
Timothy smiled softly, and ruffled her hair. He then sat next to her, and opened up his bag. "I could try spending more time with you if you want, like between classes and stuff. I don't want any of this to happen again, y'know?"
Maria played with the hem of her scarf, and sighed. "I-I guess…"
Would he really be doing all this, just for her? She didn't deserve that…
Taking a sandwich out of a ziplock bag, Timothy cleared his throat, and sighed.
"What were you doing? Before your camera broke, I mean."
"I saw a blue jay. I was going to take a picture of it but… it flew away..." she frowned, clutching her scarf.
"Oh. Well, I'm sure you'll get to find another! Plenty of birds out here."
He stayed quiet for a second, and then smiled. "Y'know, I could buy you a new camera."
Maria gasped, and stared at him. "W-what?? B-but, they're really expensive, and-"
"It's alright. I don't use my money much, would give me an opportunity to. Better that than a car, right?" He winked, and chuckled.
Maria couldn't speak. Her vision was foggy, and her head felt light. He was going to buy her a new camera. This guy, who only knew her for less than a week. He would do that, for her?
"I'd rather you buy something useful to yourself..." Maria mumbled shyly.
"Well, it is useful! Without a camera, how else would you be able to take pictures? I really like looking at them, y'know?"
Timothy answered, smiling innocently.
That was it. Final blow. Maria's heart skipped as she felt a few tears drip from her cheek, and quickly turned around, so he wouldn't have to see.
She felt his hand pat her shoulder, but didn't turn around.
"It's okay, really… it's okay..." He said softly, his hand going back and forth on her shoulder.
Oddly enough, that alone helped her calm down a bit. She forced herself to breathe slowly, and, after a minute, she calmed down, wiping her eyes and turning back.
"Thank you… you're really kind, you know that?"
That compliment made Timothy blush a bit, and he chuckled. "Oh, heh, w-well, I'm only doing this because you're my friend and all, yknow?" He stuttered. Maria smiled softly, and started to eat. Gaining an appetite, apparently?
But, Timothy's expression darkened a bit. "Y'know, in swimming class, those girls said some things about you… I was wondering-"
"No. I don't wanna talk about it."
They might be getting along right now, but she wasn't ready to tell him this. Not yet.
"Oh."
He frowned a bit, but then his expression softened, and he smiled. "That's okay. You can tell me when you're ready."
Holy shit!? He didn't mind??? That was rare. Usually people would pressure her to tell them. And get angry when she said no.
Timothy cleared his throat, and took a peek at Maria's bag.
"Oh, uh, I saw you doodle in class. I was wondering, uh…" he took a bite out of his sandwich. "What's your dream profession?"
Smooth transition.
"I wanna be a professional nature photographer. Put out my pictures in magazines and stuff." Maria answered shyly. "I just like drawing the birds I photograph sometimes is all."
Timothy chuckled, and smiled. "You're pretty good." He leaned over to look at her. "It's impressive."
Maria blushed a bit.
"T-thanks… usually people think it's weird that I like birds so much…"
Timothy sat back straight, and took a sip from his juice. "Really? Why?"
Maria shrugged. "Weird obsession, I guess…"
Timothy sighed. "Damn. I think it's cool. It's like, you're a, a uh…" he frowned, nibbling on his straw, searching for the right word. "T-the job where you study birds." He then simply said, giving up.
"Oh, an ornithologist?" She laughed softly, which made Timothy smile a bit. "No, no. Birds are interesting, but I wouldn't want to make them part of my entire career."
She then sighed and placed her food on her lap. "I guess… I like birds because they're just… so different from what I am."
Timothy cocked his head, curious.
"Birds are beautiful… they're colorful and bright… and if there's any danger coming their way, they can just fly away… everyone likes birds. They're so cute and they come in all shapes and form and yet all of them are as equally respected and admired as the other..."
Timothy smiled sadly, and huffed.
"If you were a bird, what would you be?"
Maria thought for a second, and then smiled. "A mourning dove."
Timothy chuckled "I'd wanna be a peacock, they're cool as hell."
Maria smiled. He did have a way to make her feel better, she had to admit.
The bell rang, but Timothy didn't stand up. "I'm following you. So uh, ready to go?"
Oh yeah. He did say he'd stick around more.
Maria couldn't help but feel it was a bit of a funny thought. He was like a bodyguard, wasn't he?
Maria stood up, taking the remnants of her camera and reluctantly shoving them in the bag, then packed up the rest of her things, and walked off, Timothy right next to her.
That felt nice.
The rest of the day went without any major incidents. A few whispers here and there could be heard, but nobody directly approached her. Which was very satisfying.
By the end of the day, Maria felt happier than she'd felt in a while.
And, the week after, once she got her new camera given by him, she couldn't feel any better than that.
She could only thank God for the blessing in the form of Timothy Gallagher she just got gifted.
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