Pain in the Head!
Science Class and Lunch
If I stay quiet maybe she'll get bored and stop. Talking will just antagonize her...
As my heart began pounding faster and faster, and I could feel my face turning red from embarrassment, I realized that I was still holding the beaker in my hand. It felt unusually cool against my skin. I stared down at the glass, trying to will it to absorb the heat spreading through my body.
"Naw, she bought it!" yelled a boy from the other side of the room. "Whored herself to get the money."
"Yeah, that's right!" added Nancy. "How much did they pay you? Ten cents? Five cents? A penny?"
Pay her no attention. Just look at the glass.
My headache pulsed, suddenly increasing intensity. It was all I could do to not clutch my head and scream out in pain.
Look at the glass
Nancy's pretty face twisted into a strange combination somewhere between a sneer and a smile. She leaned in close so just the two of us would hear what she said next. "Or was it your mother that played the whore? We all know your mother is just a filthy slut!"
Look at the glass
Look at the glass
Look at the....
The beaker shattered in my hand and the shards fell to the floor with a clink.
For the first time, the teacher that was in the room looked up from the test paper mountain he was grading. He failed to notice Nancy and her cackling laughter, looked straight past the tears running down the face of an obviously distraught girl, sighed and said "You really should be more careful Miss Williams.... Well don't just stand there, get a broom and clean the mess up."
________________________***
It was lunchtime. As always I ate alone, sitting on a rusty bench in a forgotten corner of the schoolyard. Going into the cafeteria was too dangerous, and eating in the library wasn't allowed, otherwise I'd never leave. The library, that is. Most of them never went in there unless they really had to, which wasn't often.
My sandwiches sat untouched. The headache was really putting me off of food. There was a throbbing cut in the center of my right palm; a shard of glass had cut into my hand when I broke the beaker. I continued to look down at my hand, thinking about the moment when I had broke the glass. Surely I hadn't been squeezing the beaker that hard, right? My headache had flared just seconds before it happened.
Maybe that was it? Maybe I cracked it with my mind... I shook my head, laughing at myself for even thinking something like that. This was real life, not some cheap horror novel. Things like that just don't happen... But still, it was freaky.
I was brought out of my thoughts when I sensed someone approaching my table. Thinking it was Nancy or one of her followers, I immediately began staring at my shoes. Waiting for them to ridicule me. When it never happened, I cautiously raised my head only to see a pair of chocolate brown eyes looking down into mine. I recognized the boy they belonged to. He was the one person who wasn't laughing when Nancy was tormenting me in class. I put my head back down and we sat in silence for a few moments before he spoke.
"Why do you let them tease you like that?"
I stared at him incredulously. "Are you talking to me?"
"Who else would I be talking to?"
It was a moment of silence as my brain tried to process that the fact that someone was talking to me. The sitting beside me laughed lightly.
"I'm Erik," he said.
"Katharine," I replied shaking his outstretched hand.
As my heart began pounding faster and faster, and I could feel my face turning red from embarrassment, I realized that I was still holding the beaker in my hand. It felt unusually cool against my skin. I stared down at the glass, trying to will it to absorb the heat spreading through my body.
"Naw, she bought it!" yelled a boy from the other side of the room. "Whored herself to get the money."
"Yeah, that's right!" added Nancy. "How much did they pay you? Ten cents? Five cents? A penny?"
Pay her no attention. Just look at the glass.
My headache pulsed, suddenly increasing intensity. It was all I could do to not clutch my head and scream out in pain.
Look at the glass
Nancy's pretty face twisted into a strange combination somewhere between a sneer and a smile. She leaned in close so just the two of us would hear what she said next. "Or was it your mother that played the whore? We all know your mother is just a filthy slut!"
Look at the glass
Look at the glass
Look at the....
The beaker shattered in my hand and the shards fell to the floor with a clink.
For the first time, the teacher that was in the room looked up from the test paper mountain he was grading. He failed to notice Nancy and her cackling laughter, looked straight past the tears running down the face of an obviously distraught girl, sighed and said "You really should be more careful Miss Williams.... Well don't just stand there, get a broom and clean the mess up."
________________________***
It was lunchtime. As always I ate alone, sitting on a rusty bench in a forgotten corner of the schoolyard. Going into the cafeteria was too dangerous, and eating in the library wasn't allowed, otherwise I'd never leave. The library, that is. Most of them never went in there unless they really had to, which wasn't often.
My sandwiches sat untouched. The headache was really putting me off of food. There was a throbbing cut in the center of my right palm; a shard of glass had cut into my hand when I broke the beaker. I continued to look down at my hand, thinking about the moment when I had broke the glass. Surely I hadn't been squeezing the beaker that hard, right? My headache had flared just seconds before it happened.
Maybe that was it? Maybe I cracked it with my mind... I shook my head, laughing at myself for even thinking something like that. This was real life, not some cheap horror novel. Things like that just don't happen... But still, it was freaky.
I was brought out of my thoughts when I sensed someone approaching my table. Thinking it was Nancy or one of her followers, I immediately began staring at my shoes. Waiting for them to ridicule me. When it never happened, I cautiously raised my head only to see a pair of chocolate brown eyes looking down into mine. I recognized the boy they belonged to. He was the one person who wasn't laughing when Nancy was tormenting me in class. I put my head back down and we sat in silence for a few moments before he spoke.
"Why do you let them tease you like that?"
I stared at him incredulously. "Are you talking to me?"
"Who else would I be talking to?"
It was a moment of silence as my brain tried to process that the fact that someone was talking to me. The sitting beside me laughed lightly.
"I'm Erik," he said.
"Katharine," I replied shaking his outstretched hand.