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"Look at her", Peggy Sue whispered to her best friend Delilah Hamlet with disgust, "She's so obnoxious."
"What do you mean?" Delilah replied, "She's not doing anything."
"She's just sitting there listening to music while we're working on a test."
"You know, you're talking while we're working on a test."
Peggy slumped back inter her chair, continuing to shoot dirty looks at the misbehaved stranger. No one knew her name. She didn't talk to anyone but the baseball team. It seemed to be the only thing she cared about. It's a wonder how her grades haven't affected her ability to play on it. But the coach and principle agreed that no matter how many F's you had, everyone deserves a chance to join a sport.
Delilah finished her test first. Like usual. She had her eyes out the window, studying the cherry blossom tree, swaying in the wind like it was waving back at her. The pedals fell gracefully from the tree to the ground. The wind carried them gently till they reached the soft, swaying grass.
Peggy Sue Smith was Delilah's only friend. But Peggy had many friends. Delilah was an introvert, and didn't like to meet new people. She knew Peggy since third grade, and they stayed friends ever since.
Peggy always dressed up for every occasion. Today she wore a light yellow dress with a lace on the waist and a bow in the back. The dress was baggy, and the short sleeves were puffed.
Meanwhile, Delilah had on a blue dress. It looked more like a casual t-shirt, but extra long.
Delilah tilted her head ever so slightly in blank-minded awe of how beautiful the pedals looked. The only time I can remember her mind was blank, rather than full of stressful thoughts as she kept her composure frighteningly well.
*****
The bell chimed, and Delilah scooped her bag up off the floor, hoisting in onto her arm. Her friend, Peggy, stomped her foot, and pouted as if she were throwing a tiny tantrum.
"Why do we have so many pop quizzes?" She complained, "my folks are going to kill me when they see my grades. It's so stupid how they don't give us time to study first!"
Delilah thought this was cute. She chucked while Peggy sue continued to ramble on about how much stress her family gives her.
"You think you got it bad?" Hamlet laughed, "try having a helicopter mother who won't even let you dye your hair. The woman thinks if I get so much as a nose piercing, I'll end up doing drugs or something!"
Peggy was already scoffing, her face in absolute shock, "No way."
"I'm not even kidding," Delilah said, still making fun of her mother while being frustrated at the same time, "It's ridiculous. She won't let me hang out with any of my friends. I'm not even allowed to talk to boys!"
"Why?"
"I don't know. The lady is crazy."
"There's no way you'd say that to her face." Peggy sue challenged.
"Are you kidding?" Delilah scoffed, "no way! She'd kill me! As much as I bad mouth my mother, I'm terrified of her."
"I get what you mean. My dad scares me. You should see him try to help me with my homework."
Delilah giggled again, "I'll see you Monday, alright?"
Peggy sue nodded, and started out the door while Delilah stayed behind to collect her homework.
As she carefully placed everything in her binder, she began humming to herself. Head Over Heels by Tears for Fears was a song she'd heard on the radio weeks before. It had been stuck in her head ever since. She hummed the melody so softly. Delilah had the most beautiful voice you would ever hear. She shuffled her papers into place, and stacked the rest of it into her binder.
Then there was a noise.
It didn't take much to startle Delilah. Not unless she was watching a scary movie. Which she did often.
Going against her mother's wishes from time to time, staying up late before she got home, and watching everything horror related. Her favorite movie was Ouija. She always wanted to try out a sport board ever since she had first seen it. Delilah loved being scared.
Until now.
Now she was frozen solid, looking up at the desk where the noise came from. A ruler had fallen off the desk, and hit the floor. Fallen from the uneven stack of papers sitting on the edge.
"Hello?" Delilah called, not expecting an answer. She was just being crazy. There was no one there.
You could vaguely hear her mumble, "I'm losing my marbles. Just like my mother."
That's when the weird kid with the paper bag over his head stepped out from behind the desk.
"No you're not."
The pretty girl let out a short shriek, as she tumbled back, falling into a sitting position. The boy slowly stepped closer with his hands gesturing to calm down. That he wasn't going to hurt her.
"I'm sorry," he said, "I really didn't mean to scare you."
Delilah stood to her feet, and faced him, still startled.
"I have to go now," She said, debating whether she should confront him or not. No. She just wanted to get out of there. Though she'd never admit it, this boy disgusted her, and he knew it. He saw how scared she was. How uncomfortable he made her. He might've talked to her if he hadn't said something to early.
Delilah was gone by now. The boy was left standing in the empty classroom before he had a chance to say anything more. Left in the dim, yellow light of the window, constantly—but slowly—shifting to the movement of the cherry blossom tree.
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