“What am I supposed to do with him? He’s a delinquent!”
The doctor was silent for a moment, before muttering, “He might hear you, miss.”
“Oh please, he’s fast asleep!” She certainly knew I might be playing possum.
“Well… I suppose you could... therapy or counseling,” the doctor murmured, so I wouldn’t hear, but I still picked up on the important stuff.
“Yes, but would that be expensive?” she asked, so predictably.
“The school should… students...”
“Does the counseling help?”
“If it doesn’t, he’ll... for kids like him.”
There was a feeble knocking on the door, and as it creaked open I heard his voice: “Can I see him? Even if he’s still asleep.”
He was here. I almost broke my cover with a groan. His soft shoes made sounds only trained ears could hear, but his presence was irritatingly strong. The other two left the room, by the distinct sounds of their shoes. Now alone with him, I glared those guiltless blue eyes down. He held my gaze, safe, mocking me with a smile.
“Are you okay?”
“I'm in the hospital. No.”
“No, like, mentally,” he said, pointing at his own head. I rolled my eyes.
“I’m. Fine.”
“I don’t think you are,” he persisted.
“Why do you care all of a sudden? I thought you were fine just ignoring my existence like mom.”
“I’m trying-”
“You’re not! You’re not doing anything for me, so don’t act like it’s my fault!”
He was, for a good while, speechless, but he took a step closer and said, “I’m sorry, but if you’d stop doing stuff like this, I could help you.”
In an instant, I was on my feet. I had no challenge grabbing the collar of his shirt, so he couldn’t get away. “You’ve only heard his side of the story, haven’t you? Why do you think he brought a knife to school?”
Paul skittered back from my grip, to no avail. “But couldn’t you have just told a teacher instead of get into this mess?”
“They won’t listen to me!” I tried to reach forward with my free hand, but there was a sharp return of pain in my side, so sudden my knees buckled. I guess I must have yelped, because in an instant those two had come back inside, my mom all over Paul in an instant. The doctor was kind enough to help me up, at least. I hugged my side, staring down at the floor, clenching my teeth. There was nothing I could do.
~
I stood before the wide prison doors patiently, watching my breath disappear in the crisp air. I couldn’t stop shivering, but I was used to that by now. A menacing yellow bus pulled in by the entrance, humming noisily. The door squeaked open, and students flew down the stairs and into the school. I calmly immersed myself into the noisy crowd, following them into the building. Once we were safely inside, I split off, going into the library.
I studied the area. Behind a few rows of generic wooden tables, the room was adorned with bookshelf after bookshelf. Against a nearby wall was a long row of computers that actually looked new. There were a few people here and there, wandering among the rows aimlessly. The librarian smiled at me in greeting. To everyone here, I was just another student.
I wasn’t usually one for literature, but with no video games to play I resorted to searching for something in the fiction section. Few of the books seemed remotely interesting, but I ended up picking out a romance novel and glancing over the cover. My interest captured, I looked for a place to sit down.
One table, independent from the rest, had one girl sitting there. Oddly enough, though, her head was resting atop the table, her hands half-grasping a book before her. Locks of her blonde hair lay askew on the table. Taking a few steps closer, it was apparent she was fast asleep. Her breath was rhythmic, and a small pool of drool had formed by her lips. I could only stare in awe. How could she still be holding the book up in her sleep?
I slipped the book from her lazy hands, curious at what she was reading. The characters seemed to be having a picnic or something. It sounded kind of corny, but I continued curiously.
“Hey,” the girl muttered, words slurred sleepily. She rose her head and brushed the hair out of her face. Her face was short and pale, but she had almost no acne.
“Oh, good morning.” I smiled at her, not sure what else to do.
She wiped the drool from her mouth, reading the clock. She then turned to me. Her grey eyes were unnerving, but she still seemed half asleep. I covered my mouth with my hand, as though I could suppress a smirk that easily.
“What’s so funny?” she snapped, standing and grabbing the book from my hand. Now I could see that she was actually taller than me. Mocking words like midget and vertically challenged bounced through my brain but I was too focused on delivering my next line to feel hurt.
“You just… looked so cute,” I explained.
Her eyes sharpened into an annoyed glare She turned and dropped the book into her backpack, huffing. Now that was pretty funny, actually.
“Why’re you in such a hurry?” I asked as she shouldered the bag on.
“Class is about to start, idiot.”
“Oh, of course…” She started to walk away. Rude. “Hey, wait… what’s your name?” I called before she could get away.
“Avery.”
I gave her a thumbs-up. “I like it. I’m Authur.”
She stared at me for a second. “A stupid name for a stupid person, huh?”
I glared passive daggers as she nonchalantly went on her way. Once she was out of my sight, I made my way to the bathroom and waited there a few minutes while classes began, her words still ringing in my ears. I wasn’t sure if I liked her or not, but I guess it didn't matter. After a good chunk of time had passed, and I was sure no teachers were lurking in the halls, I went in search of a map of the school. There was one hot-glued to the wall of the office rather inconveniently. The map was practically unreadable, however, so I approached the lady at the front desk with a good-guy smile.
“Excuse me, where could I find the locker room? I’m new here, and I haven’t been to my gym class…” I explained.
She smiled and gave me directions. I wasted not a second heading there. As I’d hoped, there was a side room with a row of showers lined towards the back, void of students. I undressed, my only modesty a towel, just in case. Even though it was a bit cold, the water felt really nice, so I idled despite my time limit. There was no soap, but the water was enough to wash off a good amount of the grime I adorned.
I eventually grew bored of the shower, which wouldn’t rise from a slightly-too-cool temperature. I snatched another towel and dried myself off. As I was doing so, the door creaked open. Shit. My whole body started up suddenly, but there was nowhere to hide, so the most I could do was pull my underwear back on before the room was flooded with sweaty, chatty... girls.
“Wha- Hey!" One of them yelled as they caught sight of me. "Can you read, dumbass? Hold up, everyone, there's some nasty boy in here!"
My face was hot and I was shaky with fear as I pulled my clothes on over my damp body. The girls all stared at me with disgusted looks and muttered.
I tried to push past and leave quickly, but the big girl who had initially apprehended me stepped into my way. "You're not just walking away, pervert." Her hand wrapped around my wrist. Tightly. So tightly. Any tighter and it might bruise. I was filled with adrenaline already. When I threw my fist into her arm, my knuckles popped. I took off, arms first to shove people out of the way, and darted out the door, and out of the school. I settled down once I'd reached the protection of the woods. The pain in my hand was starting to rouse. That was scary. That was scary...
So far, my time at this school had been awful, but at least I’d found a place to shower. I figured I’d come back tomorrow morning, though, just for fun. It was something to do.
~
When you live in a tent with only a few books and two dead electronics, you learn a lot of patience. So waiting thirty minutes for this girl to come back was no big deal. At first I was going to scare her, but then I decided just being in her seat would be enough. She’s probably the type to sit in the same spot every morning from 8:00 to 8:20 before reporting to her class and having five good minutes to get ahead, even though she’s the last one in the room who needs it.
Finally, she was here, sagging under the weight of her backpack as any good high-school kid should be. She made no indication of my presence, sitting in the seat beside me and pulling out her book. Normally, if someone did this to me, I would hover by them and read along, possibly even mutter what I’m reading just to throw them off. But I was tired, and I wanted to make friends.
“Do you come here every morning?” I asked her.
“Do you?” she muttered, obviously paying little mind to me.
I gave her an overbearing smile. “I remember your name, Avery.”
“Forgot yours.”
“It’s Authur.”
“Have you gotten any of your works published?”
“I’ve heard that one a thousand times.”
“Okay, Arthur.”
Her attitude only solidified my determination to become her friend. “What’s the book about?”
“It’s about you bothering someone else.”
“I'd prefer it be a romance novel, then,” I said suggestively.
“I see what you did there, Artie.” Maybe she was paying attention to me. She hadn’t turned the page yet, after all.
“Are you in any clubs?” This time she didn't answer. I crossed my arms over the table and laid my head down. “I can't come here very often. Can't you at least talk while I'm here?”
“Reading.”
Okay… I fell silent, run out of ideas. I couldn't resort to being annoying. However…
“Ugh. Girls are so boring.”
“Nothing wrong with being gay.”
“I was just joking.”
“What was your goal?”
“To piss you off?”
“Try again.”
Damn it. This was becoming frustrating. She knew exactly where I was going with that, didn't she? I'd never met someone so brutal. She had no pity for anyone. I cleared my throat, but she immediately stood up, methodically placing the book in her backpack. “You have no dignity, do you?”
I shrugged. “I never remember having any.”
“What are you hoping I do?” She shouldered on the sack.
“Talk to me.”
She stared at me for a moment. Her eyes were scary, but I didn't mind. They were also rather interesting, after all. “Grey eyes are the rarest color, aren't they?”
“Grey eyes are just a type of blue eyes. Green are the rarest.” She began to walk away with absolutely no warning or goodbye.
“Are we friends yet?”
“You’re gonna miss class.” She said, not even turning to face me.
Once again, I watched her walk away. I decided I'd come maybe next Wednesday. It was a change of pace, after all.
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