Hello My Name Is...
A Twist Of Fate
Late evening....
Alice was laying on her bed, finishing up her homework. She hated it, but knew it was necessary to do it in order to succeed in life. But concentrating on it was another matter this evening, with all that had happened in one day!
First, that scuffle between Davey, Clay, and that skater guy. She was late to class for helping Clay to the nurses office. She would later find out he was sent home with a sprained ankle and needed to get crutches. She knew he must have been upset, for he couldn't play sports for the rest of the season. She felt bad for him, but yet she felt he got what he deserved in some shape or form.
She sighed, which then turned into a long yawn. She stretched herself out and decided to take a break. She headed downstairs to see what everyone else was doing. As usual, her father was watching TV, while her mom sat there and did sudokus. Alice could never get into those sorts of things, too much concentration.
"Hey sweetie, how's the homework coming?" her father asked, not looking away from the TV screen.
"Just fine," Alice replied, taking a seat in the available easy chair.
"I heard about Clay today, poor boy!" her mother said with a frown.
Alice knew her parents loved Clay all because him and his family went to their predominantly white christian church. Everyone thought Clay was 'Mister Perfect'.
But after today, Alice lost a lot of respect for him.
"I heard some dirty punks jumped him at school, and intentionally broke his ankle so he couldn't play for the school," Alice's mother continued.
"Yeah, why haven't the police gotten involved? I mean, this is a serious matter, when a star athlete isn't safe walking to class without some thug or gang beating him and mugging him!" her father added angrily.
Alice heard enough, it made her mad that they were making half assed assumptions of what she herself had witnessed! She went to go back upstairs, but her mother stopped her.
"Is everything okay dear? What's wrong? This whole Clay incident must have really upset you huh? I know, he's an outstanding young-."
"It's not like that mom!" Alice shouted angrily, "Clay wasn't jumped, or mugged, or even broke his ankle! I'm sick of people making uneducated accusations about things that don't concern them!"
Her mother and father looked at each other, then at her. Her father spoke up first.
"Now listen Alice, I'm sorry that you're upset, but you have every right to be. If you know something about what happened to Clay, you can tell us, so we can tell the police. This is a serious matter, and if anyone has threatened to hurt you if you speak-."
"Just stop it daddy! Just...stop! You want to know what happened?! Clay was beating up a kid, and two other guys came and defended the kid getting beat up. All they did, was push Clay down, and it sprained his ankle! Nothing was broken, no one was jumped, Clay started it!" Alice screamed at them.
She knew it was a lie though, Clay hadn't started it. She had. She had taunted and jeered at Davey, and even set him up for a beating by whining to Clay. She felt even worse for what had happened later.
Her father shrugged, "Maybe that kid who got beat up by Clay deserved it?"
Her mother shot him a narrow eyed glance, "Oh stop it honey! Clay is a good boy, he'd never hurt anyone intentionally. I'm certain that other boy started it and Clay was just protecting himself is all, you'll see on Sunday when we see him. You can ask him yourself."
Alice pounded her hand on an easy chair cushion, frustrated, "You're not listening to me here! Clay isn't as nice as you'd like to think he is! To be honest, it wasn't until today, did I realize how much of a egocentric jerk he was!"
Her parents looked at each other with concern, then back at their enraged daughter.
"Honey, is there something you're not telling us? Cause I've never seen you this upset since that time you didn't get that new sidekick remember?" her father said.
"Arggghhh!!!" Alice shrieked, "It's not like that! You just don't understand do you?! You'll never understand! You just think everything is great and pretty in your black and white little world don't you?! Just forget it!"
With that, Alice ran back upstairs to her room, slamming the door. She collapsed on her bed and sobbed. She wasn't really sure why she was so upset over him, over Davey.
EARLIER THAT DAY.....
"Come one Davey, stay with me!"
Davey was limp, his eyes closed and unmoving. Alice tried her best to carry him, but it was too difficult. She kept stumbling and nearly dropping him on the hard floor. What happened? Why was he passed out in the middle of the school hallway bleeding to death? Did one of those thugs jump him? A revenge prank from the preps gone wrong? She didn't have time to ponder this, he needed help, fast.
His blood was soaking her left shoulder, where his ruined hand rested. Blood stuck to her hair and skin, his weight making things even more difficult. For once in her life, she didn't care about her designer clothes, or her hair, or her makeup. She wanted this quiet, sad looking boy to live. Absent minded, she started talking to him, apologizing for all the ignorant things she'd said and done earlier in the day. She screamed for help, but they were in the music wing, everyone was playing a loud instrument in their respective classrooms. Why was the nurse office so far away?
She suddenly slipped and fell, bringing Davey down with her. He hit his head hard on the floor, making Alice grimace from the impact. He didn't move or stir, and now she truly feared she was dragging a corpse along. A student came running up the hallway towards them, the school nurse close behind. The other student knelt down and helped Alice pick up the pale and pasty boy, his life now slowly dripping away. The nurse helped them back to the office, wrapping fresh gauze bandages over the wound.
"My God, he's cut a major vein in his hand!" exclaimed the nurse as she finished wrapping the bloodied hand and elevating the limb.
"Keep pressure, elevate and apply pressure to his pressure point. That there, by his elbow, yes!" the nurse instructed calmly.
They gently laid Davey onto the bed, the nurse picked up the phone and dialed 911.
"Yes, we have a seriously injured student in my office, send help immediately!"
As the nurse gave them the needed information, the jock who had helped carry Davey rose to his to leave.
"Where are you going?!" Alice asked.
"Back to class, the teacher told me to come back as soon as I dropped him off. I'm outta here!"
Alice wiped a frustrated tear from her cheek, smearing the boys blood. She didn't notice it until later, after the ambulance came and took Davey to the ER to get an emergency blood transfusion.
BACK IN ALICE'S ROOM....
She was crying now, going over the fear, the helplessness, the sight of seeing that boy being wheeled off on a stretcher. Emo or not, he was still a person, a human. She wouldn't know how he was doing until tomorrow morning. She heard a knock on her door, and her father walked in.
"Everything okay?" he asked, going to take a seat on her bed.
"Just please, leave me alone okay?! A lot has happened today, and I just want to finish my homework and go to bed alright?!" Alice replied, turning away from him.
"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked, moving in to get closer.
"No! I don't want to talk about it okay?!" Alice screamed at him.
"Okay, okay. I'm sorry sweetie, I'll leave you alone. When you're ready to talk about what happened..with Clay and all, I'll be waiting," he said as he rose to his feet and walked out of the room.
"Just how dumb are they?!" Alice thought to herself, "How close minded are they to think that Clay is perfect and never messes with people and-."
She ended her thoughts there, only just now realizing it. She wasn't any better. She thought and acted the same way before the days occurrences had happened. She had been just as close-minded and ignorant and mean to anyone outside of her social class. She was no better than Clay or her parents or anyone else who was prejudiced. This upset her even more.
But she couldn't stop being friends with her friends right? What was she to do?
Alice was laying on her bed, finishing up her homework. She hated it, but knew it was necessary to do it in order to succeed in life. But concentrating on it was another matter this evening, with all that had happened in one day!
First, that scuffle between Davey, Clay, and that skater guy. She was late to class for helping Clay to the nurses office. She would later find out he was sent home with a sprained ankle and needed to get crutches. She knew he must have been upset, for he couldn't play sports for the rest of the season. She felt bad for him, but yet she felt he got what he deserved in some shape or form.
She sighed, which then turned into a long yawn. She stretched herself out and decided to take a break. She headed downstairs to see what everyone else was doing. As usual, her father was watching TV, while her mom sat there and did sudokus. Alice could never get into those sorts of things, too much concentration.
"Hey sweetie, how's the homework coming?" her father asked, not looking away from the TV screen.
"Just fine," Alice replied, taking a seat in the available easy chair.
"I heard about Clay today, poor boy!" her mother said with a frown.
Alice knew her parents loved Clay all because him and his family went to their predominantly white christian church. Everyone thought Clay was 'Mister Perfect'.
But after today, Alice lost a lot of respect for him.
"I heard some dirty punks jumped him at school, and intentionally broke his ankle so he couldn't play for the school," Alice's mother continued.
"Yeah, why haven't the police gotten involved? I mean, this is a serious matter, when a star athlete isn't safe walking to class without some thug or gang beating him and mugging him!" her father added angrily.
Alice heard enough, it made her mad that they were making half assed assumptions of what she herself had witnessed! She went to go back upstairs, but her mother stopped her.
"Is everything okay dear? What's wrong? This whole Clay incident must have really upset you huh? I know, he's an outstanding young-."
"It's not like that mom!" Alice shouted angrily, "Clay wasn't jumped, or mugged, or even broke his ankle! I'm sick of people making uneducated accusations about things that don't concern them!"
Her mother and father looked at each other, then at her. Her father spoke up first.
"Now listen Alice, I'm sorry that you're upset, but you have every right to be. If you know something about what happened to Clay, you can tell us, so we can tell the police. This is a serious matter, and if anyone has threatened to hurt you if you speak-."
"Just stop it daddy! Just...stop! You want to know what happened?! Clay was beating up a kid, and two other guys came and defended the kid getting beat up. All they did, was push Clay down, and it sprained his ankle! Nothing was broken, no one was jumped, Clay started it!" Alice screamed at them.
She knew it was a lie though, Clay hadn't started it. She had. She had taunted and jeered at Davey, and even set him up for a beating by whining to Clay. She felt even worse for what had happened later.
Her father shrugged, "Maybe that kid who got beat up by Clay deserved it?"
Her mother shot him a narrow eyed glance, "Oh stop it honey! Clay is a good boy, he'd never hurt anyone intentionally. I'm certain that other boy started it and Clay was just protecting himself is all, you'll see on Sunday when we see him. You can ask him yourself."
Alice pounded her hand on an easy chair cushion, frustrated, "You're not listening to me here! Clay isn't as nice as you'd like to think he is! To be honest, it wasn't until today, did I realize how much of a egocentric jerk he was!"
Her parents looked at each other with concern, then back at their enraged daughter.
"Honey, is there something you're not telling us? Cause I've never seen you this upset since that time you didn't get that new sidekick remember?" her father said.
"Arggghhh!!!" Alice shrieked, "It's not like that! You just don't understand do you?! You'll never understand! You just think everything is great and pretty in your black and white little world don't you?! Just forget it!"
With that, Alice ran back upstairs to her room, slamming the door. She collapsed on her bed and sobbed. She wasn't really sure why she was so upset over him, over Davey.
EARLIER THAT DAY.....
"Come one Davey, stay with me!"
Davey was limp, his eyes closed and unmoving. Alice tried her best to carry him, but it was too difficult. She kept stumbling and nearly dropping him on the hard floor. What happened? Why was he passed out in the middle of the school hallway bleeding to death? Did one of those thugs jump him? A revenge prank from the preps gone wrong? She didn't have time to ponder this, he needed help, fast.
His blood was soaking her left shoulder, where his ruined hand rested. Blood stuck to her hair and skin, his weight making things even more difficult. For once in her life, she didn't care about her designer clothes, or her hair, or her makeup. She wanted this quiet, sad looking boy to live. Absent minded, she started talking to him, apologizing for all the ignorant things she'd said and done earlier in the day. She screamed for help, but they were in the music wing, everyone was playing a loud instrument in their respective classrooms. Why was the nurse office so far away?
She suddenly slipped and fell, bringing Davey down with her. He hit his head hard on the floor, making Alice grimace from the impact. He didn't move or stir, and now she truly feared she was dragging a corpse along. A student came running up the hallway towards them, the school nurse close behind. The other student knelt down and helped Alice pick up the pale and pasty boy, his life now slowly dripping away. The nurse helped them back to the office, wrapping fresh gauze bandages over the wound.
"My God, he's cut a major vein in his hand!" exclaimed the nurse as she finished wrapping the bloodied hand and elevating the limb.
"Keep pressure, elevate and apply pressure to his pressure point. That there, by his elbow, yes!" the nurse instructed calmly.
They gently laid Davey onto the bed, the nurse picked up the phone and dialed 911.
"Yes, we have a seriously injured student in my office, send help immediately!"
As the nurse gave them the needed information, the jock who had helped carry Davey rose to his to leave.
"Where are you going?!" Alice asked.
"Back to class, the teacher told me to come back as soon as I dropped him off. I'm outta here!"
Alice wiped a frustrated tear from her cheek, smearing the boys blood. She didn't notice it until later, after the ambulance came and took Davey to the ER to get an emergency blood transfusion.
BACK IN ALICE'S ROOM....
She was crying now, going over the fear, the helplessness, the sight of seeing that boy being wheeled off on a stretcher. Emo or not, he was still a person, a human. She wouldn't know how he was doing until tomorrow morning. She heard a knock on her door, and her father walked in.
"Everything okay?" he asked, going to take a seat on her bed.
"Just please, leave me alone okay?! A lot has happened today, and I just want to finish my homework and go to bed alright?!" Alice replied, turning away from him.
"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked, moving in to get closer.
"No! I don't want to talk about it okay?!" Alice screamed at him.
"Okay, okay. I'm sorry sweetie, I'll leave you alone. When you're ready to talk about what happened..with Clay and all, I'll be waiting," he said as he rose to his feet and walked out of the room.
"Just how dumb are they?!" Alice thought to herself, "How close minded are they to think that Clay is perfect and never messes with people and-."
She ended her thoughts there, only just now realizing it. She wasn't any better. She thought and acted the same way before the days occurrences had happened. She had been just as close-minded and ignorant and mean to anyone outside of her social class. She was no better than Clay or her parents or anyone else who was prejudiced. This upset her even more.
But she couldn't stop being friends with her friends right? What was she to do?