I nodded to Alexis, but for some reason, I could not help but feel sorry for this kind of life that she led. It wasn’t like she was unhappy or anything, but sometimes I wished that there were better things that she could have led her life with—maybe there were other ways that she could mend herself from this struggle.
“Well, I’d best be going off,” I said as I started walking away. I’m not sure if Alexis really saw me go away because she did not even acknowledge me as I moved out of her presence. With careful steps, I moved into the surrounding forest away from my new friend.
***
“Honey, I just wanted to let you know that I probably won’t be back from work until four,” my mother said as I was starting to head out the door. I carried a strawberry pop-tart in my mouth as I made my way out the door.
At school, I decided to study the camera that Alexis had given me. I looked at all the complexions of the unique markings on the side of the camera. Close to the bottom of the camera, I could see a strange, zig-zag looking engraving on it. I’ve never seen a camera that looked exactly like this, I thought to myself.
“Hey, girlfriend.” I looked up to see Rachel and the gang looking down on me. I slipped the camera into my backpack before I confronted them.
“What do you want Rachel?” I asked.
“Just curious with what you were doing looking at that…thing,” she said. How dare you call it a thing, I thought in my head.
“Look, I just want to get out of your way. I really don’t want to get into any more fights with you.”
“Oh no, bean sprout. I’m not interested in getting into fights. I actually want to be friends with you,” Rachel said. She extended my hand for me to shake. I looked at it. There was something really tempting inside of me to just grab the hand and shake it. I never wanted to have any form of conflict with anyone in my life-time for as long as I live.
“You can keep the hand for yourself,” I said. “I think I can take care of myself from here.” Rachel gave a bit of a “hmph!” before she and her lady-friends started walking away from my table. Something about that made me feel just terrible inside of me, but I kept the emotions to myself. For once, I actually felt kind of glad that I had managed to fend off the devil myself.
How little did I know that the most of my troubles was not over.
***
Out of my locker, I saw a note fall out. Opening it out, a pile of words spilled onto my face. Initially I read the first short paragraph; however, as I traveled more and more down throughout the letter, I could not hold back my breath.
I folded the letter into two and walked down the hallway to my next class. I could see John catching up to me.
“Hey, wait up!” he called. I turned around. What did he want?
“Not now,” I replied in a very angry tone of voice.
“No, but Lauren, I just wanted to ask if you were willing to walk down the hallways together,” he said. No, leave me alone! I wanted to say, but I thought about it for some time.
“Thank you for volunteering to walk down with me,” I said. Together we walked down the hallways. The hallway cleared out as the two of us walked through.
Oooohhhh, look at the two of them holding hands.
Man, whose that chick? Who does she think that she is in holding hands with that retard?
I kept clutching my hands tighter and tighter as I struggled against the voices.
“Are you ok?” asked John.
“I’m fine,” I replied. John kept talking. I would have rather to have let him keep talking instead of paying attention to how I was doing.
“I’m really looking forward to sports season!” he said. “I think I might try out for the men’s basketball team.”
“Interesting,” I replied.
“You know, you don’t seem to be your usual self lately,” he said. “Are you ok?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, you seem to be really down in the dumps a lot, and I don’t know, it just doesn’t seem like you when I first met you.” I thought for a second before responding to his reply.
“There’s just a lot going on inside my mind,” I replied. He kept looking at me with that look. Maybe he was concerned and stuff, but it was none of his business to go nosing around with what people had in store.
“Look, I’ve gotta get to class,” I said. “Sorry if I came across as kind of cold or unfriendly, but…it’s just…I’ve gotta go before I cause anymore trouble here.”
“Ok…” he said as I speed-walked past him to my next class.
I nodded to Alexis, but for some reason, I could not help but feel sorry for this kind of life that she led. It wasn’t like she was unhappy or anything, but sometimes I wished that there were better things that she could have led her life with—maybe there were other ways that she could mend herself from this struggle.
“Well, I’d best be going off,” I said as I started walking away. I’m not sure if Alexis really saw me go away because she did not even acknowledge me as I moved out of her presence. With careful steps, I moved into the surrounding forest away from my new friend.
***
“Honey, I just wanted to let you know that I probably won’t be back from work until four,” my mother said as I was starting to head out the door. I carried a strawberry pop-tart in my mouth as I made my way out the door.
At school, I decided to study the camera that Alexis had given me. I looked at all the complexions of the unique markings on the side of the camera. Close to the bottom of the camera, I could see a strange, zig-zag looking engraving on it. I’ve never seen a camera that looked exactly like this, I thought to myself.
“Hey, girlfriend.” I looked up to see Rachel and the gang looking down on me. I slipped the camera into my backpack before I confronted them.
“What do you want Rachel?” I asked.
“Just curious with what you were doing looking at that…thing,” she said. How dare you call it a thing, I thought in my head.
“Look, I just want to get out of your way. I really don’t want to get into any more fights with you.”
“Oh no, bean sprout. I’m not interested in getting into fights. I actually want to be friends with you,” Rachel said. She extended my hand for me to shake. I looked at it. There was something really tempting inside of me to just grab the hand and shake it. I never wanted to have any form of conflict with anyone in my life-time for as long as I live.
“You can keep the hand for yourself,” I said. “I think I can take care of myself from here.” Rachel gave a bit of a “hmph!” before she and her lady-friends started walking away from my table. Something about that made me feel just terrible inside of me, but I kept the emotions to myself. For once, I actually felt kind of glad that I had managed to fend off the devil myself.
How little did I know that the most of my troubles was not over.
***
Out of my locker, I saw a note fall out. Opening it out, a pile of words spilled onto my face. Initially I read the first short paragraph; however, as I traveled more and more down throughout the letter, I could not hold back my breath.
I folded the letter into two and walked down the hallway to my next class. I could see John catching up to me.
“Hey, wait up!” he called. I turned around. What did he want?
“Not now,” I replied in a very angry tone of voice.
“No, but Lauren, I just wanted to ask if you were willing to walk down the hallways together,” he said. No, leave me alone! I wanted to say, but I thought about it for some time.
“Thank you for volunteering to walk down with me,” I said. Together we walked down the hallways. The hallway cleared out as the two of us walked through.
Oooohhhh, look at the two of them holding hands.
Man, whose that chick? Who does she think that she is in holding hands with that retard?
I kept clutching my hands tighter and tighter as I struggled against the voices.
“Are you ok?” asked John.
“I’m fine,” I replied. John kept talking. I would have rather to have let him keep talking instead of paying attention to how I was doing.
“I’m really looking forward to sports season!” he said. “I think I might try out for the men’s basketball team.”
“Interesting,” I replied.
“You know, you don’t seem to be your usual self lately,” he said. “Are you ok?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, you seem to be really down in the dumps a lot, and I don’t know, it just doesn’t seem like you when I first met you.” I thought for a second before responding to his reply.
“There’s just a lot going on inside my mind,” I replied. He kept looking at me with that look. Maybe he was concerned and stuff, but it was none of his business to go nosing around with what people had in store.
“Look, I’ve gotta get to class,” I said. “Sorry if I came across as kind of cold or unfriendly, but…it’s just…I’ve gotta go before I cause anymore trouble here.”
“Ok…” he said as I speed-walked past him to my next class.
ns 15.158.61.54da2
