January 12, 1939

Today, the school was supposed to be uneventful and boring, as  always. There was nothing much to do. As the temperature dropped, the likelihood of us going to school the next day did too. In the morning, we had a moment of silence for Adobe. After that, the class was very tiresome. Ms. Moore informed us that we had independent work to do. I did not understand the problems on the paper, but my partner did. His name was Aiden. 

"What did you get for number four?"

"Seventy-two."

"Five?"

"Eighty-one."

"And six?" Aiden casually rolled his eyes, covering his paper with his thin arms. "Stop cheating. I knew you were dumb, but this is ridiculous," he said, using a hard tone. I flapped my paper in his face. Ms. Moore stuck her finger out, pointing at me accusingly. "Focker,  not today."

"Fine, I will figure it out myself." Sometimes, I do not understand what numbers and letters have in common. I try to solve the problem, but my brain just does not understand. It's gets complicated to quick and at this point, I want to give up. The stress spreads through my mind like pencil on paper. I took in deep, ragged breath before placing my hands, enclosed together, onto the desk. I bit my bottom lip hard, squeezing my eyes shut. At this point, it was time to wave the white flag. I could feel my hand slowly raising up in the air. It was a sign of defeat.

"Ms. Moore, I need help." Ms. Moore's mouth hung up slightly as her eyes lit up. She was not the only one staring at me. The whole class had their eyes on me. Even Aiden, with his weird dotted face. The teacher's demeanor was off, and it took her a second to regain a proper posture. She had mastered her fake smile, right down to the wrinkles around her eyes. "Of course, thank you for asking." She stumbled to my desk, her hips hitting the edge of it. She did a weird dance trying the brush off the bruise, but it only made her look like she had ants in her pants. There was a high pitched scream from one of the students and everyone began laughing. To be honest, it wasn't all that funny, to begin with. Ms. Moore tried to join in the laughter, but it only made her look weirder. She sounded like she had something in her throat as she laughed. It was strained, verging on the sound of someone choking, and obviously fake. 

I began to notice that there was always laughing going on between the walls of the classroom, but it rarely happened once school was over.

"What do you need help with sweetie?" Sweetie? Okay...

I had to admit, Ms. Moore's teaching style was more than average. For the first time, I did not feel as stupid as everyone had let on. She said, "See, that was not that hard, right?"

"No. I think I can solve the rest on my own. Thank you." She smiled again, this time it seemed genuine. She simply walked back to her desk and started to write on the board again. Class resumed as normal. Aiden had not taken his eyes off me for the longest time. It was annoying.

"What? Is there something on my face?"

"No, I just thought you were too stubborn to ask for help."

"I was." I retorted.

"What changed?"

"I don't know." That was the honest truth. My mom had encouraged me to do something with my life that others had not. I felt different about school. Maybe, it was Adobe. I wanted to show them that we weren't just a bunch of dummies. We had potential. They were wrong about us. I felt silent tears rolling down my cheeks, falling onto my worksheet. I quickly put my head down and stayed that way until lunch. I decided to skip it altogether because I lost my appetite. Instead, I went to the bathroom.

The bathroom was small, enough for five people to fit in it at once back to back. There were only two stalls and one sink which did not make any sense. There was a small window in the corner of the bathroom, but it was always shut. Spider webs had gathered at each corner of the bathroom. The lights would flicker on and off every once in a while, but I did not complain.

I heard someone pissing in the stall, but I did not pay much mind to it. I sat on the sink, looking at the injuries I had gotten from Jack. My abdomen had not completely healed. My skin had discoloration marks an inch below my belly button. I did not feel any remorse for the marks. It made me look manlier. I thought about showing it off to Adobe, but that thought was suddenly crushed by reality. My attitude became bitter, again.

"If you want to jerk off, there is a stall right there. I don't want to see that," Aiden said, walking up to the sink. He washed his hands and turned in my direction.

"I was not jerking-. Nevermind." I quickly pulled my shirt down. There is an awkward silence between us. Aiden taps his fingers on the sink, moving back and forth.

"So...do you want to hang out sometime?" My mouth was almost too dry to speak.

"I can't. I have to get my hair cut after school." A noise came out of his mouth, somewhere between annoyed and disappointed. We cast uneasy glances at each other.

"I saw you crying in class today. I wanted to make sure you were okay. I heard about your friend. I am sorry for your lost."

"Thanks...I guess. I don't know what I am supposed to say."

"You can say that you will hang out with me tomorrow. My brother can cut your hair for free. He does not have many customers since it is getting colder outside."

I washed my hands and walked out the bathroom with Aiden. A few people looked at us when we walked into the lunchroom, but nothing serious. He invited me to sit with his friends. I recognized most of them. I initially thought they were his siblings, but I was wrong.

"We came from the same city but got along on the way here."

"Why did you move to this city?"

"It's the safest one for miles," Aiden said, grabbing a piece of his chocolate cake. "Duh." Someone was on the lunch lady's good side.