"He was born that way.  He can't help it,"  Odessa said with a scoff. 
Johnny threw his hands up.  "Again with the girlfriend speaking for you. I'm surprised she doesn't have her hand up your ass."
"I was born with a cleft lip.  This is the scar from the
surgery,"  Eli explained calmly,  giving the girl by his side a look that said it was okay and that he could handle it.  
"You mean it was worse before that?  Or did the doctor just screw up? Because if this is the after photo,  that sucks,  man.  You should sue."
"This is what we're paying you for?  To bully people?"  Grayson spoke up, not believing what he was hearing.
"Can we please change the subject?"  Eli quickly said. 
"You don't think I want to?  It's tough when it's right in
front of me,"  said Johnny with wide eyes.  "If you wanna be something other then a nerd with a scar on his lip,  then you gotta flip the script.  Get a face tattoo or gouge your eye out.  We'll call you patch,  all right?"
Miguel and Odessa looked at each other at the same time and he mouthed a small I'm sorry to her. 
"No, don't do that.  You'd still look like a freak."
That was the last straw for Eli as his eyes filled with tears and he walked off into the back hall where the bathroom were.
"Oh, great. Another quitter?" 
Odessa glared at the man and she followed Eli to the back room. The door was closed but his cries were clear. "Eli?" She spoke softly and put her hand on the door. "Eli, please open the door."
"I can't do it, Dess. I thought I could but I can't." The poor boy cried and she felt her heart break even more.
"Let me in,  Eli?  Please?" 
She heard the lock on the door turn and she twisted the handle to open it,  seeing Eli on the floor with his knees pulled to his chest.  She crouched in front of him.  "Eli?"
Eli's face was in his hands. "I don't know why I thought I could be different.  I'll always be the freaky kid with a weird lip.  I'll always be a loser."  He cried.
Odessa put her hands on the sides of his head.  "I don't think that. I'll never think that. You're so much more than what everybody tells you." Eli slowly lowered his hands from his face, revealing his teary eyes. "Since I met you, I didn't care about your scar. It's apart of you. It doesn't define you. You're kind, Eli. You're smart. You can be anyone you want to be but you're amazing just like you are. You don't have to change for them."
There was a warmth in him as she talked to him. Her hands were hot against his temples and they moved down to his cheeks. He stared straight into her eyes and shook his head. "Why are you doing this?  You can have anyone in the world. Why are you here with me?"  He spoke barely above a whisper. He wanted to cry again.
Odessa swallowed the lump in her throat. "There's nobody else."
He believed her. She moved and sat beside him on the floor. She wrapped her arms around him and Eli leaned into her, his face hiding in her hair as he cried. There was nobody else. Just them. Odessa let me cry to her and she didn't judge him. She just held him close. 


























When she got home that night, she found her mother sitting at the kitchen table with a glass of wine and a book in her hand. Her hair was up and messy and her face was makeup free. She smiled at her daughter. "Hey,  babe,  how was karate?" 
"Same as yesterday, I guess." Odessa responded and sat on the island chair. "Sensei Lawrence is. . . tough."
Thalia hummed and sipped her wine. "You mean loud,  judgement, thinks he's funny but he's really just hurting other people?"  She named off.
Her daughter looked shocked. "You know him?"
"Of course I know him." Her mom laughed. "I haven't seen him years, not since your father and I had you, but I've known him since high school."
"So he's always been like this?"
"It was worse when we were in school," she informed. "He was a popular kid."
Odessa scoffed.  "That explains it."
The woman grinned. "He was your dad's best friend."
Her eyes widened. "Wait, really?"
Thalia nodded. "They did everything together. I was always the third wheel in that friendship, but, Johnny's a good man. He's just had a rough life."
Odessa nodded as she listened and twiddled with her fingers. "Hey, mom?"
Thalia hummed.
"How did you know you had feelings for dad?" 
She quickly looked up and paused her reading.  She sat down the book and wine glass.  "Why do you ask?  Is there another boy?"
Odessa cringed at the word another. "Um, yeah,  we go to school together.  He's extremely sweet,  like,  the sweetest boy i've ever met,"  she said with a growing smile. 
Thalia gave her daughter a look.  "Is it one of the boys that spread rumors about you?"
"No! No, no, no, definitely not. He's different."
"Are you sure?"
"I'm positive, mom." Odessa promised.
Thalia sighed in relief. "Okay. So, tell me about him."
Her smile returned.  "His name's Eli. He's so great, mom. He really is—"
Her mom listened to her talk about the boy and she smiled softly. "Does he know you like him?"
Odessa shrugged. "I don't know. We haven't really discussed it."
"Well,  why not?"
She looked down at her nails and picked at the cuticles.  "I guess i'm scared he'll turn out to be like the others." 
Thalia frowned and got up from her chair. She stood in front of her daughter. "You're beautiful,  you know that?"  She tucked her blonde hair behind her ears 
Odessa lifted her head and grinned. 
"You're a beautiful person, Odessa. You're so kind hearted. You're smart. You've overcame things in your life that not a lot of young kids do.  Any little boy that can't see that or doesn't appreciate that doesn't deserve you."