Passive
Wednesday
“Have you done your homework?” I asked anxiously, looking up at my friend at where she sat on the wall. As she jumped off, her black hair glowed in the sunlight. She casually flicked it out of her eyes and looked at me.
“Of course, I have, silly. Can you imagine my Mum’s face if I hadn’t?” She pulled a grotesque version of her Mother’s face, wide and ugly. We were only joking. The one time her Mother had found out she hadn’t done her homework; she had battered her hard, leaving bruises on her chest and upper arms. I had had to sign a note she’d written to get her out of PE. My Mother never hit me, she knew how to bide her time too well.
“Come on, we have RE next!” she ran fast across the playground, her long skirt coming up so you could almost see her knickers.
“Rebecca!” I yelled after her, imagining what would happen if either of our Mothers had been walking past the gate and seen. At the thought, I turned towards the fence and scanned the gate cautiously. I stopped breathing for a second as I spotted a thin woman with white blonde hair. But it wasn’t her, the eyes were brown and she dressed in skinny jeans and a leather jacket. I tried to imagine my Mother in anything except her blouses and long skirts and shuddered at the thought. Despite how I was bullied for the way my family dressed, I loved wearing my long skirts and buttoned up shirts, they made me feel safe from the bad things in the world that Mother always talked about.
“Hurry up, Isabella,” a loud voice which could only have been Rebecca shouted after me. ‘My bad friend’ I thought, smugly, we were allowed to be friends because her family went to the same church as ours and sometimes our Mothers had tea together. Though my Mother usually complained about the size of Rebecca’s Mother and about how many slices of cake she would eat when they visited our house. I giggled but then blushed red at the idea of Rebecca somehow reading my thoughts.
“ISABELLA!” I ran her after her, my red face going even darker at the volume of her voice. I caught up with her and we walked into RE together.
Mr Harrison glanced up from the register and gave a pretend tut which made us laugh before gesturing to our seats. I liked Mr Harrison; he was my favourite teacher mostly because he taught my favourite lesson. Though I knew all the bible stories back to front anyway, I enjoyed refreshing my knowledge and taking part in the discussions which mostly just involved me, Rebecca and Mr Harrison.
“Okay, class. Today we are learning about the story of Adam and Eve,” he spoke in a kindly tone for the members of the class who were a little less clever than the minority of us. My ears perked up and as I turned to Rebecca, her eyes seemed to light up as I could feel mine also doing. I loved this story and when Mr Harrison asked for volunteers, my hand shot straight up in the air along with Rebecca’s to read.
“So, Isabella you start, then Rebecca, then … I’m sorry, dear. What’s your name?”
“Wednesday,” she whispered. The class suddenly came alive with whispers and laughter at such a ridiculous name. Most necks craned around to see the new girl who was sat right at the back of the class but I stayed facing the front. Nothing was going to distract me from one of my favourite Christian tales. Especially a girl with a stupid name like Wednesday.
“Settle down class! Now Wednesday you shall read last, okay?” She must have nodded as Mr Harrison pointed his finger at me to begin. “God took some clay from the ground and made the shape of a man. Then he breathed gently into the shape. The man's eye's opened and he began to live. God called him Adam. The Lord made a beautiful garden for him to live in. The garden, called Eden, was full of many wonderful things. Beautiful flowers grew everywhere. Birds sang in the trees, streams flowed through the valley and animals roamed across the fields. God had made the man in his image to keep him company and look after the world. God brought all the animals to Adam one at a time to be given their names. "Elephant", he would say, or "Tiger", or "Porcupine". But God felt sorry for Adam. "None of these animals is really like him," thought God, "he needs someone to share his life. Someone who cares for him and who he can care for." That night, God took a rib from Adam's side and made a woman. When Adam awoke the following morning, he found a wife, Eve, lying asleep beside him. Adam was so happy. He took her hand and she woke up. She looked up at him and smiled.”
“Thank you, Isabella. That truly was a beautiful reading! Now, Rebecca please continue,” Mr Harrison smiled at me and turned to Rebecca, who began with the same enthusiasm as I had but perhaps not as steadily as I had done. No matter, I had begun once again to immerse myself in the story when my eyes fell upon Brandon. His focus was clearly somewhere else, facing the back, leaning backwards on his chair with his eyes locked on a space behind him.
I turned towards what he was staring at and my jaw dropped. He was looking at Wednesday and I could see why immediately. Her eyes were fixed carefully on the reading, trying to ignore the fact nearly everyone in the class was staring at her. The eyes were big and seemed to be a colour of deep purple. But purple wasn’t a nice enough colour to describe them. Indigo, yes, deep indigo with small black pupils dotted in the centre. Her hair fell in front of her eyes but she didn’t lift her hand to move it straight away. Instead the tendrils of dirty blond fell onto her cheek and curled themselves over her high cheekbones, meeting in strands at the bottom of her school blazer. My eyes drifted back to her face where her skin contrasted beautifully with the colour of her eyes. The makeup she wore was black and thick which only outlined her large doe-like eyes. Her nose was petit and her lips were full and stained with a bright pink. She mouthed the words as Rebecca read them, her small pink tongue leaving small shadows across her face as she formed the shapes with her mouth. My eyes left her face and moved down to meet her neck which was decorated with at least ten different necklaces. I spotted my beloved cross which was draped with all colours of the rainbow, from the darkest of purples, not as dark as her eyes but close, to the palest of pinks, matching the rose colour of her cheeks. As my eyes were beginning to explore her body some more, a hand touched my shoulder and made me jump.
“Isabella, it’s your turn to read,” whispered Rebecca next to me, her eyes a little concerned. I was about to ask if Wednesday had read when my eyes met hers as she looked up from her page. We kept eye contact for only a second when all of a sudden she winked at me, her eyelid sliding back up. Her lips bared her teeth, a pure white before her eyes left my face and looked back down at her reading.
“Isabella!” Rebecca spoke, a little louder so that a few other members of the class had begun to turn towards us when I swirled around in my seat. I began to read, a little slower as I tried hard to concentrate and occasionally stuttered to a halt at even some of the simplest words. I finished the piece and looked down so as not as catch Rebecca’s eyes, which I could feel looking at me throughout my reading.
“Okay, now I’m handing you a worksheet with…” Mr Harrison’s voice was over shadowed by Rebecca’s voice whispering in my ear.
“Is something the matter? Your face is really red!” She smiled widely, her lips looking pale and slightly cracked when compared to her’s.
“No, I’m fine, honestly. Just feeling a bit sick,” She frowned slightly, obviously not believing me but deciding to leave it for now. I looked at my worksheet for the rest of the lesson, staring at the words until they went blurry. At the end of the lesson, Mr Harrison came to collect the sheets. He looked down at my uncompleted sheet.
“That’s not like you, Isabella. Didn’t you understand?” His face seemed to mimic Rebecca’s face when she’d been watching me during the lesson. I plastered on a smile and stood up to pack my bag.
“I just didn’t understand it. Sorry, Mr Harrison,” I pretended to look down at the table, a little ashamed.
“It’s fine! We’ll go through it next lesson, okay?” He smiled at me before moving on. Both, me and Rebecca packed our bags and stood side by side in silence, unlike anyone else in the class, waiting for dismissal.
“Off you go now.” The words began the usual stampede for the door. I turned sharply catching Rebecca with my bag but not caring, as I stared after the thin shape with dirty blond hair which moved quickly out the door.
“Of course, I have, silly. Can you imagine my Mum’s face if I hadn’t?” She pulled a grotesque version of her Mother’s face, wide and ugly. We were only joking. The one time her Mother had found out she hadn’t done her homework; she had battered her hard, leaving bruises on her chest and upper arms. I had had to sign a note she’d written to get her out of PE. My Mother never hit me, she knew how to bide her time too well.
“Come on, we have RE next!” she ran fast across the playground, her long skirt coming up so you could almost see her knickers.
“Rebecca!” I yelled after her, imagining what would happen if either of our Mothers had been walking past the gate and seen. At the thought, I turned towards the fence and scanned the gate cautiously. I stopped breathing for a second as I spotted a thin woman with white blonde hair. But it wasn’t her, the eyes were brown and she dressed in skinny jeans and a leather jacket. I tried to imagine my Mother in anything except her blouses and long skirts and shuddered at the thought. Despite how I was bullied for the way my family dressed, I loved wearing my long skirts and buttoned up shirts, they made me feel safe from the bad things in the world that Mother always talked about.
“Hurry up, Isabella,” a loud voice which could only have been Rebecca shouted after me. ‘My bad friend’ I thought, smugly, we were allowed to be friends because her family went to the same church as ours and sometimes our Mothers had tea together. Though my Mother usually complained about the size of Rebecca’s Mother and about how many slices of cake she would eat when they visited our house. I giggled but then blushed red at the idea of Rebecca somehow reading my thoughts.
“ISABELLA!” I ran her after her, my red face going even darker at the volume of her voice. I caught up with her and we walked into RE together.
Mr Harrison glanced up from the register and gave a pretend tut which made us laugh before gesturing to our seats. I liked Mr Harrison; he was my favourite teacher mostly because he taught my favourite lesson. Though I knew all the bible stories back to front anyway, I enjoyed refreshing my knowledge and taking part in the discussions which mostly just involved me, Rebecca and Mr Harrison.
“Okay, class. Today we are learning about the story of Adam and Eve,” he spoke in a kindly tone for the members of the class who were a little less clever than the minority of us. My ears perked up and as I turned to Rebecca, her eyes seemed to light up as I could feel mine also doing. I loved this story and when Mr Harrison asked for volunteers, my hand shot straight up in the air along with Rebecca’s to read.
“So, Isabella you start, then Rebecca, then … I’m sorry, dear. What’s your name?”
“Wednesday,” she whispered. The class suddenly came alive with whispers and laughter at such a ridiculous name. Most necks craned around to see the new girl who was sat right at the back of the class but I stayed facing the front. Nothing was going to distract me from one of my favourite Christian tales. Especially a girl with a stupid name like Wednesday.
“Settle down class! Now Wednesday you shall read last, okay?” She must have nodded as Mr Harrison pointed his finger at me to begin. “God took some clay from the ground and made the shape of a man. Then he breathed gently into the shape. The man's eye's opened and he began to live. God called him Adam. The Lord made a beautiful garden for him to live in. The garden, called Eden, was full of many wonderful things. Beautiful flowers grew everywhere. Birds sang in the trees, streams flowed through the valley and animals roamed across the fields. God had made the man in his image to keep him company and look after the world. God brought all the animals to Adam one at a time to be given their names. "Elephant", he would say, or "Tiger", or "Porcupine". But God felt sorry for Adam. "None of these animals is really like him," thought God, "he needs someone to share his life. Someone who cares for him and who he can care for." That night, God took a rib from Adam's side and made a woman. When Adam awoke the following morning, he found a wife, Eve, lying asleep beside him. Adam was so happy. He took her hand and she woke up. She looked up at him and smiled.”
“Thank you, Isabella. That truly was a beautiful reading! Now, Rebecca please continue,” Mr Harrison smiled at me and turned to Rebecca, who began with the same enthusiasm as I had but perhaps not as steadily as I had done. No matter, I had begun once again to immerse myself in the story when my eyes fell upon Brandon. His focus was clearly somewhere else, facing the back, leaning backwards on his chair with his eyes locked on a space behind him.
I turned towards what he was staring at and my jaw dropped. He was looking at Wednesday and I could see why immediately. Her eyes were fixed carefully on the reading, trying to ignore the fact nearly everyone in the class was staring at her. The eyes were big and seemed to be a colour of deep purple. But purple wasn’t a nice enough colour to describe them. Indigo, yes, deep indigo with small black pupils dotted in the centre. Her hair fell in front of her eyes but she didn’t lift her hand to move it straight away. Instead the tendrils of dirty blond fell onto her cheek and curled themselves over her high cheekbones, meeting in strands at the bottom of her school blazer. My eyes drifted back to her face where her skin contrasted beautifully with the colour of her eyes. The makeup she wore was black and thick which only outlined her large doe-like eyes. Her nose was petit and her lips were full and stained with a bright pink. She mouthed the words as Rebecca read them, her small pink tongue leaving small shadows across her face as she formed the shapes with her mouth. My eyes left her face and moved down to meet her neck which was decorated with at least ten different necklaces. I spotted my beloved cross which was draped with all colours of the rainbow, from the darkest of purples, not as dark as her eyes but close, to the palest of pinks, matching the rose colour of her cheeks. As my eyes were beginning to explore her body some more, a hand touched my shoulder and made me jump.
“Isabella, it’s your turn to read,” whispered Rebecca next to me, her eyes a little concerned. I was about to ask if Wednesday had read when my eyes met hers as she looked up from her page. We kept eye contact for only a second when all of a sudden she winked at me, her eyelid sliding back up. Her lips bared her teeth, a pure white before her eyes left my face and looked back down at her reading.
“Isabella!” Rebecca spoke, a little louder so that a few other members of the class had begun to turn towards us when I swirled around in my seat. I began to read, a little slower as I tried hard to concentrate and occasionally stuttered to a halt at even some of the simplest words. I finished the piece and looked down so as not as catch Rebecca’s eyes, which I could feel looking at me throughout my reading.
“Okay, now I’m handing you a worksheet with…” Mr Harrison’s voice was over shadowed by Rebecca’s voice whispering in my ear.
“Is something the matter? Your face is really red!” She smiled widely, her lips looking pale and slightly cracked when compared to her’s.
“No, I’m fine, honestly. Just feeling a bit sick,” She frowned slightly, obviously not believing me but deciding to leave it for now. I looked at my worksheet for the rest of the lesson, staring at the words until they went blurry. At the end of the lesson, Mr Harrison came to collect the sheets. He looked down at my uncompleted sheet.
“That’s not like you, Isabella. Didn’t you understand?” His face seemed to mimic Rebecca’s face when she’d been watching me during the lesson. I plastered on a smile and stood up to pack my bag.
“I just didn’t understand it. Sorry, Mr Harrison,” I pretended to look down at the table, a little ashamed.
“It’s fine! We’ll go through it next lesson, okay?” He smiled at me before moving on. Both, me and Rebecca packed our bags and stood side by side in silence, unlike anyone else in the class, waiting for dismissal.
“Off you go now.” The words began the usual stampede for the door. I turned sharply catching Rebecca with my bag but not caring, as I stared after the thin shape with dirty blond hair which moved quickly out the door.