Tags
books, bullying, friendship, He Was Weird, relationships, schools
As weeks turned into months, Sean began to relax more. He had established a genuine friendship with Scott and the two seventh graders, Arnie and Sam. However, one day after school, Estelle got him on his own. “Do you know Chloe really likes you?”
“She does?” Sean responded in surprise.
“Yes she does. I thought you might have noticed that when she gave you that big hug at the first meeting,” Estelle identified.
“I always thought it was because of what I did to Klimkowski,” Sean returned.
“That might be part of it,” Estelle admitted, “But don’t you notice how she sits near you at the meetings and why she nominated you for president? What you did to Klimkowski made you a hero in her eyes but she really likes you and thinks you’re cute.”
“Oh,” was all Sean could muster as he tried to take it all in.
“Besides,” Estelle continued, “I hear the other girls talk and they all thing you’re a sicko because of what you did to Klimkowski.”
“Do you think I’m a sicko?” Sean asked in all honesty.
“No, I think you’re a nice guy and I loved how you put Klimkowski in her place. She’s nothing but a bully. As for me, I’m a Leversee Lady.”
“A what lady?” Sean inquired.
A Leversee Lady,” Estelle reiterated and further explained, “Leversee Ladies are devoted fans of Mark Leversee.”
“What the kid who shot up this school?” Sean’s puzzlement plain to see.
“Yep, I think if I had known him ten years ago, I would have been able to help him. But do think about what I said about Chloe. She really likes you.”
“Okay, I will,” Sean reassured before they parted company. The conversation gave him a lot to think about. However, when he got home, his thoughts weren’t on Chloe’s crush. His thoughts on what Estelle had said about the Leversee Ladies and he wanted to know more. As soon as he put his books down, he fired up the computer, which couldn’t warm up fast enough. When it was ready, he immediately went to Google and typed in “Leversee Ladies.”
What he found completely astounded Sean. Here was a complete website dedicated to Mark Leversee, the boy who eleven years earlier, went into Sean’s school with a gun and killed seventeen kids and wounded twenty-eight more before turning the gun on himself.
First, he read the ‘Welcome to the Stite,’ piece which was written by a woman named Lisa Farmer, who met Mark Leversee at a summer camp the year before he carried out his atrocity. She remembered what a great boy he was and how they both found comfort in each other’s arms that week. Her main regret was that she wished she hadn’t live so far away from Mark because they would have been a support for one another. She concluded by stating how Mark’s actions gave her the courage to fend off her bullies and suggested that girl and boy victims of bullying should get together so they can support each other.
As he read further, he was even more surprised by the large number of women and girls who followed the site. At that particular moment, the total number of followers was at 54,391. He began reading the comments of some of the followers. A fifteen year old girl from Louisiana wrote, “I wish I had known Mark, I would have been a great comfort to him.”
There was a more darker comment by a fourteen year old girl from North Dakota, “I know what it’s like to be bullied that bad. If I had been with you, Mark, I would be been by your side helping you shoot all those nasty kids. After that we would have made passionate love by the dead bodies.” Sean saw that Lisa responded, “He was a good kisser and very comfortable to lay on.” All Sean could think of at that moment, “Are they for real?” All he heard about over the past eleven years was what a psycho madman Mark Leversee had been.
Then a sixteen year old girl from France, after her comments were translated to English, commented, “We don’t have bullying like that in France, Mark could have came to my town and I would have held him in my arms.”
After that, he skimmed over a number of other comments. There were some negative comments as well saying that Mark was a lying psycho but each comment was responded by the Leversee faithful who defended their hero, some even hurled abuse at the poster. Finally, he came to his objective, the comment by a Seagirl12NJ whom he guessed to be Estelle. She wrote, “I live in Ramsgate, New Jersey and I know what Mark Leversee went through. Ever since it happened, people here have been trying to play the bullying part down but the bullyng still goes on here.”
Reading about the Leversee Ladies made Sean think more about what Estelle had told him about Chloe and the other girls at school. He had to admit, he enjoyed Chloe’s tight embrace and sure, she might have had Downs Syndrome but that didn’t make her unattractive. He also thought about what Estelle had told him about the other girls at school thinking he was a sick pervert because of what happened with Stacy Klimkowski. All the muddle made his head spin, therefore, he decided to talk with the one person he knew he could go to.
“Mom, can I talk to you?” Sean asked when he found his mother in the living room.
“Sure, what is it?” Mother inquired, her voice being forever reassuring.
“There is this girl in school who likes me,” Sean informed.
Mother smiled at her son, “Oh, do you like her?”
“I think so, I’m not really sure,” he confessed.
“Well tell me more about her, what’s her name?” Mother instructed.
“Her name is Chloe Levin, she’s a seventh grader and she’s in the Helping Hands group with me.
Mother further probed, “How do you know she likes you?”
“Another girl in the group told me,” Sean imparted. “But she always sits near me at the meetings and she was the one who nominated me as president of the group. At the first meeting, she came up to me and gave me a hug because I stood up to the Klimkowski girl.”
“Well, why aren’t you sure if you like her or not?” Mother continued.
“Because I only found out today.”
“Oh,” Mother realized. “Do you think she’s pretty or does she have a nice personality?”
“I guess so,” Sean shrugged. She seems nice but she does have Downs Syndrome.”
“What does that matter?” Mother fired back. “It’s no matter if she’s got Downs Syndrome or five heads, it’s what you think of her and if you are worried about what people might think because you like this girl, then don’t worry. It’s they who have the problem.”
With these words of wisdom to ponder, Sean thanked his mother and went off to think about what she had said.
Peaceful Rampage 
I love the fact that Sean has a support system. A support system has ways of buffering the pain of bullying. And it does take your mind off it, which is a good thing! So far, your sequel just gets better with each part.
Thank you Cherie, what was your impression of the Leversee Ladies?