I don’t think anyone ever really talked to her, ever really bothered trying to get to know her, because they were too busy making her into the monster they wanted her to be.

She earned the nickname Rattlesnake, but so many thought it was because she seemed as vicious as one. I saw it as that she gave the people who were upsetting her a warning before she lunged at them. A name that she grew into so easily, seeing as she had no friends at all to help drive her away from it.

Me? I was the lone wolf of the school, and I figured she would never want to even look at me, much least let me talk to her. So here I was, the boy with maybe one or two friends, watching on the sidelines as Rattlesnake continued to get egged on into fights, withstand the bullying, and saw that no one ever came to her aid. No one, except for me that one fateful day.

She’d gotten back from a heart transplant, and was told to stay on the bleachers during gym instead of playing basketball like everyone else. A perfect time apparently, for a bully to strike. And one happened to do so. Markus, the exact definition of a stupid jock that thought he owned the entire place, anyone who thought differently be damned.

I could tell that eventually that Rattlesnake was about to snap, seeing her clenching her fists and making a few witty remarks back at Markus. Her usually warning as to say ‘you’re about to find yourself down on the ground begging for mercy’. Which those remarks she made caused Markus to raise his fists, obviously ready to hit her.

I don’t know what came over me, but I did something that would cause everything to change for not only Rattlesnake’s life, but mine as well. I threw the basketball I was holding at Markus with enough force to knock him down to the floor. I rushed over, rage filling me up to the brim.

“LEAVE HER ALONE! SHE DIDN’T DO ANYTHING TO YOU! SO WHAT IF HER EYES ARE TWO DIFFERENT COLORS?! SO WHAT IF SHE PREFERS TO COVER UP ALL THE TIME?! AND HONESTLY, SHE JUST GOT BACK FROM SURGERY! DO YOU WANT HER TO DIE?!”

Markus looked at me in complete and udder shock, and so was Rattlesnake, but confusion was mixed in her multi-colored stare. The coach came over, asking what happened, and I told him before Markus opened his mouth. We all got sent to the office of course, and while they were questioning Markus, I was sitting outside the room with Rattlesnake, who still looked extremely confused.

“Why did you do that?” She finally said, her black bangs covering her eyes and shielding her face.

“Because,” I said with some confidence. “There’s only so many times a person can be pushed to their limits before they snap completely.”

After that day, the two of us became friends, chatting while we were suspended for a week, and feeling relieved that Markus had gotten expelled, since that had been his last time getting kicked out before they had to get rid of him for good. Rattlesnake eventually opened up to being more than her nickname. She loved music, games, animals, and she even was trying to become an independent musician.

Though really, I should be calling her Charlotte or Charlie. Because now, that broken girl, is now my beautiful wife, and the mother to both my kids. Not the snake that has to hide in the grass and gives off a warning before it bites. Because eventually, if I hadn’t have done what I did, she would’ve snapped completely.