Waiting to Exhale
Good Amidst the Bad
Valerie’s POV
Another day, another nightmare, I sigh to myself. I heave my locker closed. I turn around and almost jump out of my skin. My eyes travel up to rest on the face of Carson Phillips, jock and jerk extraordinaire. Fantastic. I try to move past him but he moves to block me. The smirk on his face is frightening and I feel my eyes widen.
“Hey, Valerie,” he drawls lazily.
“Hello,” A knee jerk reaction. Damn it. I just had to reply didn’t I? I try to move past him again. Pain shoots though my back as he pushes me up against my locker. I close my eyes, not wanting to see his face, and wait for this to be over. His hand pulls the collar of my shirt towards him.
“You need to eat lunch elsewhere. I have business there and you are getting in the way,” I felt his hot breath on my cheek. Okay, ew. “Got that?”
“Yes,” I say sort of breathlessly. He was half choking me by holding my collar that way.
“Good,” he sneers and slams me up against the locker one last time before moving down the hallway. Tears immediately spring to my eyes as I sink to the ground. Slowly move away from the locker and wince at the pain. I was definitely going to have a bruise or two there. I stand up and move outside. Now I was going to have to find a whole new place to sit. After my argument with Layla and Mikey, I had not been welcome at their table anymore. Likewise with the table where Jay and the rest of my once “friends” sat. I tried sitting with the other people, the Math kids, the Drama geeks, the Band nerds. I just didn’t fit in. The very last group I had tried to sit with had been the “emo” kids. I know I hadn’t been very nice to them before. Jay had always bothered them relentlessly and I went along with it. I had just hoped that they would accept me as a social reject and take pity on me. No such thing. The sneered and rejected me. I had found a spot in a tucked away corner outside that no one ever went to. Guess I was wrong.
I pushed the door outside open with my hip and stepped out into the sunshine. Sun. Whoopdedoo. That’s like the only weather that exists in San Diego. Today was even worse, though. The humidity was smothering. Shielding my eyes, I scanned the grass for an available space. Seeing none, I made my way across the field and away from the groups of people. As I made my way past the “emo” table, someone stuck out their foot and tripped me. I hit the ground with a thud and laughter erupted on all sides. My face burning, I stood up, only to fall again. The laughter threatened to break the sound barrier. I picked myself up yet again and this time managed to make it past the table and into the “natural” area beyond. I just kept walking until the laughter and cries of “WHORE” faded behind me. I stopped dead. Where the hell was i? I had never been in this part of the area before. I’d always thought it was filled with rose bushes, just begging me to trip and fall into them. What I had found was a small space, surrounded completely by trees and non-rose bushes. The clearing in the center was just large enough to be comfortable. I smile. How perfect. I was pretty sure no one knew about this place; I had never known about it and I had been exploring this school since I was a kid. I sat down and began eating my lunch.
The rest of the day passed by somewhat uneventfully. Snickers and whispers followed me wherever I went but at least Carson didn’t bother me again. I counted that as luck. I walked home in a pretty good mood. Today had been similar to all my other days but the discovery of my clearing (yes, MY clearing) put me in better spirits. I had taken the longer way home to avoid the direction that Carson had walked in. Then I noticed it. The tucked away little store. I cautiously entered and was greeted by a by a boy a little older than I was. He barely looked up as I entered, returning at once to the book he was intently reading, his brown fringe falling to cover his face. I turned away from him and walked among the racks. My heart was pumping faster by the second as the adrenalin of such an idea hit. Calm down, I told myself, buy only what you need. Ha, like hell! I was soon rushing through the store, grabbing whatever I could that I could. I feverishly payed for the things and rushed home, arms loaded to put my hasty idea into use.
Another day, another nightmare, I sigh to myself. I heave my locker closed. I turn around and almost jump out of my skin. My eyes travel up to rest on the face of Carson Phillips, jock and jerk extraordinaire. Fantastic. I try to move past him but he moves to block me. The smirk on his face is frightening and I feel my eyes widen.
“Hey, Valerie,” he drawls lazily.
“Hello,” A knee jerk reaction. Damn it. I just had to reply didn’t I? I try to move past him again. Pain shoots though my back as he pushes me up against my locker. I close my eyes, not wanting to see his face, and wait for this to be over. His hand pulls the collar of my shirt towards him.
“You need to eat lunch elsewhere. I have business there and you are getting in the way,” I felt his hot breath on my cheek. Okay, ew. “Got that?”
“Yes,” I say sort of breathlessly. He was half choking me by holding my collar that way.
“Good,” he sneers and slams me up against the locker one last time before moving down the hallway. Tears immediately spring to my eyes as I sink to the ground. Slowly move away from the locker and wince at the pain. I was definitely going to have a bruise or two there. I stand up and move outside. Now I was going to have to find a whole new place to sit. After my argument with Layla and Mikey, I had not been welcome at their table anymore. Likewise with the table where Jay and the rest of my once “friends” sat. I tried sitting with the other people, the Math kids, the Drama geeks, the Band nerds. I just didn’t fit in. The very last group I had tried to sit with had been the “emo” kids. I know I hadn’t been very nice to them before. Jay had always bothered them relentlessly and I went along with it. I had just hoped that they would accept me as a social reject and take pity on me. No such thing. The sneered and rejected me. I had found a spot in a tucked away corner outside that no one ever went to. Guess I was wrong.
I pushed the door outside open with my hip and stepped out into the sunshine. Sun. Whoopdedoo. That’s like the only weather that exists in San Diego. Today was even worse, though. The humidity was smothering. Shielding my eyes, I scanned the grass for an available space. Seeing none, I made my way across the field and away from the groups of people. As I made my way past the “emo” table, someone stuck out their foot and tripped me. I hit the ground with a thud and laughter erupted on all sides. My face burning, I stood up, only to fall again. The laughter threatened to break the sound barrier. I picked myself up yet again and this time managed to make it past the table and into the “natural” area beyond. I just kept walking until the laughter and cries of “WHORE” faded behind me. I stopped dead. Where the hell was i? I had never been in this part of the area before. I’d always thought it was filled with rose bushes, just begging me to trip and fall into them. What I had found was a small space, surrounded completely by trees and non-rose bushes. The clearing in the center was just large enough to be comfortable. I smile. How perfect. I was pretty sure no one knew about this place; I had never known about it and I had been exploring this school since I was a kid. I sat down and began eating my lunch.
The rest of the day passed by somewhat uneventfully. Snickers and whispers followed me wherever I went but at least Carson didn’t bother me again. I counted that as luck. I walked home in a pretty good mood. Today had been similar to all my other days but the discovery of my clearing (yes, MY clearing) put me in better spirits. I had taken the longer way home to avoid the direction that Carson had walked in. Then I noticed it. The tucked away little store. I cautiously entered and was greeted by a by a boy a little older than I was. He barely looked up as I entered, returning at once to the book he was intently reading, his brown fringe falling to cover his face. I turned away from him and walked among the racks. My heart was pumping faster by the second as the adrenalin of such an idea hit. Calm down, I told myself, buy only what you need. Ha, like hell! I was soon rushing through the store, grabbing whatever I could that I could. I feverishly payed for the things and rushed home, arms loaded to put my hasty idea into use.
♠ ♠ ♠
hello all my darlingssorry for the wait.
i was skiing (and crashing into trees...and falling off cliffs...) for the past few days.
this is really short though. ill try and update tomorrow.
oh and here is what the place she finds kinda looks like.
i dunno if that exists in san diego, but whatevs its the closest i could find to the image in my head =) dont forget to hit the comment button on your way out =)
all my lovelee
Lacy
