I was late for class again, but this round with a note from the principal himself. I drugged my legs and feet along the hallway corridors, hoping the first lesson would be over soon. If my guess was right, it was math’s class. Whether I attended the class or not, it didn’t matter. One class wouldn’t change or improve my grade in any way. My ties and relationship with math had been cut off even before I was done. They had literally been cut off when I was still an infant inside the womb. No matter how hard I tried, nothing good ever came out of my math class, exams or exercise book. I reached the door as usual and it was indeed math. I pulled the door open and all the students seemed to be bored, the mood of the math teacher was also down in the dumps. That was very typical at Maslow High School, no one cared. The students didn’t care, the teacher didn’t care. The moment Mr. Thomas saw me, his mood lightened up abruptly as he stopped whatever he was doing and arranged the rulers and
I closed my math exercise book and sat back angrily. What more was I supposed to do to rase my grades, nothing good ever came out of anything I did. The only time I proved useful was when I was breathing out carbon dioxide to be used by plants in the environment. I took out my planner that was halfway filled and was glad today was filled. It was science once again. As much as I loved science I freaked out at the mention of the subject and teacher because of one thing. His favorite phrase was group yourselves. Also, one of my worst nightmares. ‘‘Let us all head to the lab,’’ the teacher announced out of nowhere. I grunted in dismay as I packed my books slowly and waited for everyone to head out so I could do the same. It was better if I stayed behind and walked behind everyone else, that way no one would see me and make any jokes. I thought it was awesome plan until I arrived last and found everyone already grouped into their own tables. ‘‘Miss Shaley,’’ the Science teacher called
My favorite and worse bells were the ones that run at lunch time. For one I would get a chance to savor the sweet taste of food in case the bullies forgot about my existence for a short while and decoded t live and concentrate on their lives for once. The best parts of my lifer were always spent eating, with my mouth stuffed with food as juices dripped down my throat towards my digestive truck. The other happy parts were spent when I was sleeping and dreaming of no one in particular. Dreaming of no one and nothing as dear sleep took me to wonderlands I had never visited before. After the science teacher had finished his glory speech about potassium symbol being K, and advising me to take ten minutes of my time at the hallways and school gate every day to study the chemical symbols on the wall, the bell rung. It was a huge sigh for me, because finally I would stop feeling stupid and at least start feeling better. The hallways were crowded as usual and I matched towards my locker on th
‘‘You are a gem and you shouldn’t be seen with trash like her.’’ I wasn’t even surprised, I already knew who I was, I was a door mat and no matter what I would never be a doormat or rise to the ranks of a face towel. It was only good that someone got to remind me of who and what I was. I bit back tears that were threatening to come out of my eyes and breathed in and out as I looked down. ‘‘This doesn’t scare you; this doesn’t scare you, you have been through worse, you have been through hell and blazing fames, but you still came out alive,’’ my inner voice whispered, pleading with me to stand up and fight for myself, pleading with me to be a human being for once and defend myself Infront of the bullies. I was weak, I couldn’t do it, never could, I wasn’t man enough, or woman enough. It is crazy how I always planned one hundred outrageous things that I would do to the bullies everyday and fail to do them. How I had fantasized about killing Vince and wiping his DNA from the face of t
When you see your bully and greatest enemy suffering, the first instinct should be to cry out in joy, to thank the heavens and Gods, to whisper a thank you prayer to whoever made it happen. It is the natural law of the universe. When a competitive business that challenges yours goes bankrupt and calls, the first instinct should be to celebrate. This should have been my reaction, absolute happiness, the loudest scream and cheer when he got flipped. But this all sounded and looked like a dream. It wasn’t the first time that I was daydreaming, it was my talent, since I couldn’t live happily in the world I could comfortably do it inside my head. I rubbed my eyes and confirmed the events. It was the bully caught up in a brawl, with my newest friend Cage. Six minutes ago After Vince was doner with his mighty speech about trash and gems, taking sides and Barbra crossing over if she wanted to stay in this school, he made a you turn with his full team. His walking style was the usual one,
‘‘What is going on here?’’ the principal asked as he made his way trough the crowd of students. Wea all stepped aside and I looked down as he passed next to me so he could not remember my face and laugh loudly. ‘‘Step aside, can you all stop gathering here like uncivilized people,’’ he added as he entered the clearing. ‘‘Sir, I have been, I…’’ Ryan pretended as he began introducing himself, as a prefect, the fakeness of his speech was what awed me the most. Why did people find it so easy to pretend. One could go ahead to pretend so much, so much to an extent that they forget about their real identity or selves. Or perhaps like a famous writer and orator I couldn’t remember placed it, most of the time, the lies people tell, reveal more about them than the truth. Funny. The fight was still on of course. No one was ready to conceded to admit that they were finally defeated. Vince drugged Cage towards the wall as Cage pulled him back attempting to lift his weigh in a commando move and
‘‘Hey, they you are,’’ Barbra greeted. ‘‘Oh yeah,’’ I replied. She settled on the table next t me and we continued eating quietly. She looked like she had a burning desire to say something, something that she thought would change things and my situation as a whole. ‘‘I’ve never loved boiled chicken, I like fried or roasted, marinated chicken,’’ she declared. ‘‘Oh okay,’’ I played dumb, acting like I didn’t know whatever she was trying to insinuate with that statement. ‘‘You want some?’’ she asked. I didn’t lift my head up but kept on chewing my food in that posture. What was she trying to insinuate, it was very clear, Barbra thought I was fat, too fat that the amount of food helpings being served wasn’t enough for me. Sick right. It was a sick world but I didn’t care anymore, thy could do anything to me and I still wouldn’t care. I still wouldn’t give a damn about it. ‘‘No, I am okay, very okay,’’ I shot back. It wasn’t about what she said, it was the way she ad said it, like
Something tapped the ack of my head and I continued eating ignoring it. Ignoring it as if nothing had happened. I continued eating and some giggling caught my attention. I turned around to find Sasha and her friends giggling as she licked some jam with a wooden spoon. I didn’t inquire about what they were giggling about and instead just turned around to continue doing my own things. As soon as I was back, some stuff I couldn’t tell began hitting the back of my head again. I touched the spot and felt some warm and sticky substance. I couldn’t tell what it was and as I turned around Sasha and her friends took pictures of me frowning at the sight. I had never looked good n any picture. Pictures exaggerated my ugliness, they made sure to magnify all my imperfections and add salt to them. I hated images, pictures or anything that created a reflection or another copy of me. I turned back to my food and gobbled it up. Food was my only sense of happiness and I wasn’t going to let any of it