Hidden

Rose petals fell upon my fingers, the silk reacting with my senses, playing around in the palm of my hand. I smiled brilliantly allowing the sun to dance across my pink cheeks and create pictures with the shadows as the wind was the accompanying narrator, and it was a sweet story; cheery and full of happiness that I couldn’t imagine because I would never be as free as they were, and I could never find such a perfect companion as they had found each other. Reaching out, the petals drifted at their leisure to the velvet meadow floor while I stood to take an apple from one of the stretching branches of the elegant figure of the tree. Before I could bite into my apple the sky began to tear open and where the welcome yellow sun once was, a red, angry circle has replaced it.

So it wasn’t to my surprise that I didn’t know what to say when Mr. Delaney asked why I wasn’t paying attention, why my ‘head was in the clouds’ and where on earth I thought I was. Which to me made no sense, because if he thinks I’m in the clouds, why would it matter where I thought I was? While I racked my ever absent brain for excuses I decided it would help if I sat up and opened my eyes instead of looking like I was half asleep sprawled across my chipped desk.

“Sorry Sir.” I mumbled grabbing for my notes only to find they’d been snatched up by my teacher, who, as well as standing over my desk and turning a ferocious and violent shade of red had a vein crawling across his forehead, it reminded me of a worm, though I figured now wasn’t the best of times to point that out.

“Wait behind after class, I’m getting sick of this.”

The rest of the lesson wasn’t exactly a joy ride, though I finally had my notes thrown back at me they were now creased and the ink had smudged, my sister always said it was a bad idea to use an ink pen instead of a biro, I should have listened, but I didn’t, just like I never did.

Sometimes I think I’m too harsh on my sister, I know she has to go through a lot but I can’t help myself with this whole ‘teenage angst’ thing, maybe it’s part of growing up, maybe it’s just me. When I have time to myself, to think about everything that’s happened, I hate myself for being so rebellious against her, I want to shut myself up and give in, to just be nice to her be cooperative considering she cares for me.

A hand waved in front of my face breaking my train of thought bringing me back to reality, Ellie faithfully back on keep-me-awake duty.

As the bell rang Ellie signalled she’d wait outside the classroom for me before we would go to lunch. I practically threw my notes and threadbare pencil-case into my second hand school bag, I’ll just say me and my sister are currently a little low on funds right now.

“Mira, what’s going on?”

“I’m sorry Sir, what do you mean?” Puzzled a rested my bag onto a desk, I though
t about sitting on it, but they aren’t exactly well known for being the world’s sturdiest tables.
“Twice in one week I’ve caught you daydreaming and not paying attention to my classes, and your grades are slipping below the average for the class, if you can’t keep some steady grades I’m just going to have to move you down.” Whilst he was calm for the moment I knew Mr Delaney’s temper wasn’t going to stay locked up for much longer, and by the way his fingernails were creating dent marks in the varnished wood it would more than likely be one of his worse outbursts.

“I’m sorry, I’m just having a hard time at the moment.”

“Well if you don’t want things to get harder you’d better buck up your ideas because I’m not going to take any of your nonsense anymore. Now get out, I want you back here at the end of the day, and ring home, tell someone to come in and collect you at 4:30.”

“An hour and a half’s detention! You can’t…”

“Out!” That vein was dangerously close to bursting through his skin so I thought I’d better make a run for it before my mouth led me into a much worse situation.

Shutting the door with a louder slam than intended I grabbed Ellie and told her to make a quick getaway for her own good.

“Mira. Mira? Mira! These are our lockers!” I managed to hear her before I sped straight past them. I felt the dam in my eyes about to over flow and sank heavily down onto the cheap blue linoleum. What was I going to do? My sister was going to hate me for this, she told me not to get into trouble, to keep myself to myself, which she can’t argue I wasn’t doing, I mean who can I bother while I’m asleep? I reached for my phone staring blankly at the bright, sterile screen.

“Mira, what happened back there?” Ellie’s soft calming voice grew closer as she set herself next to me.

“It’s not that bad, I’m being held back after school. I’m just scared about what my sisters going to say. She’s going to think I’m good for nothing after last week.”

“Well I have to admit, taking off in her car making her miss work and almost have a panic attack because you didn’t come home isn’t what I call getting into her good books.”

I relaxed tilting my head to rest against the lockers while I closed my eyes and told myself to calm down. “I know it wasn’t the best of ideas, but I was just so angry, if I’d have stayed I just would have done something that I knew I was going to regret, and I’ve done enough of that to last me a lifetime.” I looked Ellie in the eye, I could see her concern, if she didn’t know me this isn’t the kind of thing she’d ever have anything to do with, she was good and innocent, but in a nice way; unlike Stacey who, to the face of authority, acted as innocent as cherry pie while she is actually off being the school bicycle, everyone gets a ride.

“Where did you go?”

“You know Leight Beach across the moors? There’s a cave there, I just stayed there all night.”

“So you just sat there in the dark all night? Weren’t you cold?!”

“Of course not. I took a blanket and some candles silly. I made a little fire as well, but when it got dark I put it out so I could look at the stars.” I allowed myself to slip back into the memory.
“Mira, I wish I could be more like you.”

“Trust me you don’t.”

“No, really. The way you just do things without worrying about what the consequences will be, just dealing with it when it happens. It’s like you live in a fairy tale, just sitting in a cave and watching the stars, it’s your own world that you live in. I wish I could just escape from reality like you can.” For a moment I thought I’d completely lost her as Ellie just stared at the blank wall across the corridor from us, it was like she was watching the paint dry.

“Yeah, well my own little world gets me into trouble sometimes. I’ve got to ring my sister before dinner ends, wish me luck.” Holding my phone back out I called for my sister but was greeted by her answer-phone, I was hoping I would be, it’s easier to talk to technology than my sister at a time like this. “Ellie, I’ll catch you tomorrow I don’t think I’ll be coming out of the house tonight.”

“Okay, good luck with your sister, and try not to get into any more trouble.” Leaving me to sit a while longer she wandered off to her next lesson early.

I don’t know how I can explain this to my sister. As I ran through best and worst case scenarios I sat through the next two hours in morbid silence and a mixture of wondering what I would have to do after school the worse thing, which would also by far be the most disgusting thing I would have to do in my entire life, is scratch the gum off from under the desks in the classroom. It’s completely degrading and saved only as one of the more severe punishments, and it’s quite clear that I’m not one of Mr. Delaney’s favourite students so I wouldn’t put it past him.

Then the bell finally rang, the noise reverberating, resounding and rebounding from every wall, every person, every inch of the classroom, obviously trying as hard as it could to make me remember my detention. Leaving Art I headed back through the hallways to Mr. Delaney’s classroom with ‘my head in the clouds’ once more, so it was probably my own fault I didn’t see or hear a pair of baby pink, three inch stilettos heading my way , or indeed pass straight by me close enough to almost knock me off my feet.

“Mira, you know with your head so far away in that special little self-consumed world of yours, it’s no surprise you don’t notice when someone much more important and admired comes walking your way. You shouldn’t let your mind wander so far, it’s much too small to be out all on its own. Oh, and I’m sorry, did I accidentally knock the books out of your hands? Here let me help you.” Stacey Flanagan; tall, blonde, gorgeous and a downright slag. When the day couldn’t get any worse, the devils spawn charges right into me with an extra sting in her tail. As she kneeled down to pick my tattered books up for me she simply spat onto them then bounced back up to glare me straight in the eyes. “You’d better watch what you’re doing ginger nut.”

As usual I ignored the jibe about - in my opinion – my beautifully coloured hair and collected my continually disregarded books which were gradually turning into scrap paper, found a tissue to wipe the vipers venom off and had to run to my detention which I still ended up being late for.

“Sorry.” I managed to mumble as I sat down out of breath. Not knowing what to do I just tapped my foot and pursed my lips together waiting, and it was fifteen minutes before Mr. Delaney even bothered to look at me and acknowledge I was even in the same room.

“Why is it that you just can’t seem to stay in reality for more than two seconds? While you’re off daydreaming and dilly-dallying the world is falling to pieces, your grades are slipping and you don’t care. How do you expect to get anywhere without your exams?” I’d never really given the matter much thought. I was probably too busy ‘dilly-dallying’ around. This man comes up with some stupid phrases, why does he even care anyway? What happens to me isn’t any of his business, and I’m just one less student he has to worry about if he just left me alone, he’s really not doing himself any favours. “Well now you’ve got all the time you want to daydream. You’ll spend the rest of the week in after school detentions.”

“But that’s not fair! When Nate hit out at Ben last week all he got was an hour off dinner and an essay on how he should control his anger!” Unwillingly I stood up knocking the desk over which toppled into another chair, I automatically fixed the room but Mr. Delaney didn’t seem all too impressed.

“Shut up! You don’t control the punishments around here, I do. Unless you want a suspension I suggest you jolly-well shut your mouth until whoever it is that’s coming picks you up and drags you back home!”

“I’d rather have the suspension.” And I immediately wished I hadn’t opened my mouth. The next thing I knew he’d burst into a fiery ball of irritability and I could almost see the smoke sizzling from his ears. He didn’t look at me, he headed straight down the corridor into the head teacher’s office.

Half an hour later he and Mrs. Hartford returned to the classroom, they were closely followed by my sister. The fact that two teachers were in the room didn’t bother me any longer, I knew my sister would handle the situation in her own way and deal with me later.

“Thank you Mr. Delaney, but I’d like to talk with Mrs. Hartford now if that’s okay.” Blossom’s voice was effortless enough to succumb to without her using other purposes to control the fuming teacher. In an instant he seemed to return to his usual colour settle down then agreed to leave the room, apparently he had some paper work to do in the copy room, but I knew better.

“Miss Stewart, you know why you’re here don’t you?” My head teacher bore her eyes into mine like a knife through butter, I had to answer, or else burn through hell with Blossom later.

“Yes Miss. I was daydreaming in class today, again.”

“Well, I don’t agree with Mr. Delaney’s choice to suspend you but I’m afraid I have no choice. While he was very much inclined to give you an entire week’s suspension I’ve decided to whittle it down to just three days.” While she looked at me, I nodded but I wasn’t looking back at her, I was instead concentrating on my sister who in turn was glaring straight into the back of Mrs. Hartford’s head. “Sorry, my mistake just one day’s suspension. We’ll see you back here on Thursday Mira.” She spun on her small, fat, chunky heel and I grabbed my bag and followed Blossom out to the car.

I was suddenly backed up into the car and cowering under my sister. Unlike Mr. Delaney, she had different kind of anger, Blossom was that calm before the storm kind of anger which scares me a lot more than an outburst. The short blonde hair which surrounded her face was laced with purple, she had two inches on my height so it was simple for her to overpower me. Being so tall suited her well, the patterned white dresses she wore suited her name and her personality came as a box set. No one would ever suspect her harbouring a secret.

“Mira, why did you let that happen again? Why can’t you just concentrate and escape with the fairies at home?”

“Because I’m not like you! I can’t make people change their minds; I can’t even control my own! If I could see the future or, have super strength maybe I wouldn’t be like this. It’s easy for you, if you do something wrong you can just change it.”

“Mira I can’t help it! I use what I have to my advantage, and you should do the same. Just get in the car I don’t want to get into this again. You should just learn to accept it and move on, who knows? Maybe you’ll find some sort of magical superhuman power and I’ll be jealous.”

I knew she was right, I wasn’t going to magically change overnight, I had to use my resources, for now that meant concentrating in school.