"Hello? Ms. Myers, can you hear me? Ms. Myers!" I jolted awake out of blissful sleep only to be met with a pounding head. I peeled my eyes open and found a set in front of mine, irritation clear in their gaze.
Where was I exactly? And why did my head hurt so much? "I hope you slept well, but now is certainly not the time to be doing that." Huh? "This is the third time this week, no less! I've already given you multiple chances and I hoped I wouldn't have to do this, but we're going to have to get your parents involved."
My brain slowly digested the information, creakily whirring around like old machinery. Something about sleep and parents... maybe Mr. Clark noticed that I hadn't gotten much (any) sleep in the past few days and was going to talk to my parents about it. It was their fault after all: it's hard to sleep with the constant yelling. But then, why did he look so mad? Well, what if he was mad about the fact that I hadn't gotten sleep. That at least made a bit of sense: only if you didn't know that Mr. Clark didn't like me that is. So then why on Eart-- "Ms. Myers! Have you been listening to a single word coming out of my mouth?"
I opened my mouth to respond but he ran right through me. "That's it! Go to the principal's office right now, young lady!" For the first time since I'd woken up, I noticed my classmates. Some snickered, some whispered, and some looked on with sympathy. Not one of them offered to help. Not one of them cared.
I slowly stood up and pulled my backpack off from my seat, gripping the straps with an iron fist. I didn't bother trying to defend myself as I left the room, there was no point. Mr. Clark wouldn't believe me even if I told him what was really going on. And how would I even tell him? "Hey Mr. Clark, I'm sorry I was sleeping in your class, it's just that thanks to my parents' toxic relationship I don't get much sleep. It might be because I stay up worrying if I'll wake up to two parents. If dad will finally lose it. If he'll go off in a fit of rage and kill her. But I promise I'll stop worrying so much and get some sleep so I can learn how to find the area of a slope. That will surely help me overcome my problems." Yeah, that 'ought to do it.
I trudged down the halls, a lump sitting suspiciously in my throat. I wiped at my eyes to get rid of the sting, probably from dirt. I ignored the fact that my finger shimmered with liquid. An illusion. Sometimes I wished I was an illusion. I dreamed of being unseen. Or was it the other way around? No of course not. I wanted to fade into the shadows, to blend with society. I didn't want to stand out, to draw attention. I didn't want to be seen. But for some reason, that's all I seemed to be.
Principal's Office. A seemingly perfect sign. At least, that's what it looks like at first glance. Look closer and you'll find a small crack on the upper left side. I made that crack on my first day of school when I had bounced a ball a bit too hard. It didn't seem possible but that's just how the world works-- the most impossible things are sometimes the ones most likely to happen. I didn't get in trouble for it though, Jake covered for me. He said it was his fault and even went to detention for it. I waited for him the whole time he was in there and bought him ice cream afterward. He loved ice cream. Almost as much as I loved him.
I knocked on the door and waited for a short two beats before the muffled voice of Mr. Stein called, "Come in." I turned the handle before pushing the door in, revealing a large oak desk stacked full of piles of paper. There were two wooden chairs sitting in front of the desk, tilted slightly towards each other. A burly, grayed man sat behind the desk, his wide-rimmed glasses perched on the tip of his nose. "Ah, Abby. What might you be doing here?" Mr. Stein was nice, one of the few people I knew who were.
"Mr. Clark told me to go here." He gave me a knowing look and gestured to one of the chairs before me. I took the hint and sunk down on the one of the rights.
"So, let's start with why Mr. Clark sent you here."
I didn't want to tell him. If I told him then he would ask questions and if he asked questions he could learn things he wasn't supposed to learn. But the words came out anyway. "I was sleeping in class."
He didn't bother masking his look of surprise. "Sleeping? I hardly think sleeping in class one time calls for being sent to the principal's office." He spoke sympathetically, a real look of worry on his face, which I found was quite uncommon in the world. Not many others even attempted to care, it seemed almost miraculous to find one who did.
I shifted uncomfortably in my chair. "Well, you see, uh, this was my third time doing it...this week." My hopes of getting away from this unscathed quickly died when he got a regrettable look on his face.
"Abby, that's not okay. I can understand one time, I've done it myself, but three times is unacceptable! And in one week, I-I think I'm going to have to give your parents a call. I'll do it after school today." He sighed and gave me a long look. "You know Abby, if there's a reason for this whole thing there are people you can talk to. If you want you can--"
I cut him off before he could go further. "No thank you, Sir. Now, um, if that's all, can I please go?" I knew that wasn't how people were normally dismissed, but I couldn't afford to have him pry. He remained silent just long enough for it to grow uncomfortable before finally nodding. I don't think I've ever left a room quicker.
When I heard the door click closed behind me, I let out a sigh of relief. But even with that I still felt a gnawing ball of dread curled up inside of me that refused to leave. It was most likely because of the fact that my parents would be getting a call later today. I always tried to do good in school and keep my parents happy for the most part. I tried to make it so the least amount of attention was drawn to me as possible. But now...now they had something to focus on. And it scared me, I'm not gonna' lie. Though probably not as much as it should have. If only I knew what awaited me when I got home...
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