From Weakness to Strength

Two Weeks of Hell

Darla was awoken the next morning by the sunrise. As soon as a spot of gold hit her face, her eyes shot open and she looked over to her window. The sun was rising. She looked to the clock hanging on the wall. It was only 5:30. Darla tried to get up, but, it still hurt pretty bad. Now all she could do was wait for Ms. Kraut or someone to get her out of bed. 

To pass time as she waited, she just stared out the window and looked at the colors of the sunset. She tried her hardest to remember Ponyboy's poem, but it couldn't come to her. 
Right around when the sun was almost completely up, there was a slight knock on the door and the door opened revealing Ms. Kraut. 
"Good morning, Ms. Jackson. Good. You're up. Let's get you dressed and downstairs and to breakfast. Then it's chapel and classes." Ms. Kraut explained. 
Ms. Kraut got Darla out of bed and and got her changed into the uniform. She placed a headband in her hair and wheeled her out of the room once she got her shoes on. Ms. Pan was at the end of the hall, waiting. She had a very stern look on her face. She didn't say anything as she grabbed one end of Darla's wheelchair and helped carry her down the stairs. Ms. Kraut rolled her towards the dining hall where all of the girls were waiting. 
Ms. Frank was serving porridge. Darla HATED porridge. It was slimy and gross and she hated the bland taste. 
When Darla got her bowl of porridge, she tried her best not to gag at the sight of it. Ms. Pan saw Darla's expression and pulled out a a container from her pocket, she poured a couple of pills in her hand and placed it next to Darla's glass of water. 
"Here. It'll help your nausea and hopefully avoid a repeat performance of yesterday." 
"I don't even think pills are going to keep this down. I hate porridge." 
"Take the pills and eat your porridge. Or it's the chair for you," Ms. Pan muttered under her breath so only Darla could hear. 
"I'm already stuck in one chair, do you think placing me in another is going to change my liking to porridge?" Darla asked. 
"Just. Eat. Your. Food." 
"The faster you eat it, the faster it'll be over and done with," Ms. Krauth whispered to Darla from the other table, for she overheard what was going on at the other table. 
Darla thought about if for a moment as she saw the other girls eating their porridge. Ms. Krauth was indeed right. Therefore, Darla took the pills, drank some water and down the porridge as fast as she could, using a trick Ponyboy taught her whenever Darry made something she didn't necessarily like. She downed the bowl in less than a minute, earning eyes from all the girls in the room. 
"There. Done," Darla said, wiping her mouth. She then gulped down the water to get rid of the bland taste. Darla then burped really loudly. The girls burst out laughing. 
"Enough!" Ms. Pan exclaimed, quieting the girls. 
"What do we say, Ms. Jackson?" Ms. Pan asked. 
"Was that a good one or what?" she asked. The girls laughed again. 
Ms. Pan shot her a look. 
"I mean...excuse me," she said with a mock of innocence. Ms. Pan glared at her. 
"Finish your meals and quietly make your way to chapel," Ms. Pan told the girls. 
The girls quieted down and continued their meals. 

They went to the church for chapel. The session was short, but felt like a lifetime for Bella. She stared at the cross at the front of the room because it reminded her of Dally's necklace. 
Once it was finally over, they headed back into the building where Darla was placed in a classroom with girls her age. There were ten girls in the class, including her. Every now and again, she would be stared at and whispered about among the girls. Darla wanted to stand up for herself, but she restrained herself since she didn't have the strength. 
There was a french class and Darla raised her hand. 
"Yes, Ms. Jackson," said the teacher, who was in this case, Ms. Krauth. 
"It's Hood. Why are we learning french and not Spanish?" she asked. 
"Why would we learn Spanish?" she asked. 
"We are on the lower part of the spectrum, more towards Mexico. So, it would be more logical to learn Spanish than french, whereas if we were on the higher half of the spectrum near Canada where they do in fact speak french, then it would be more logical to learn french on that side of the country," Darla said. 
"Hm, I've never thought about it that way. Thank you for bringing that into to my attention, Ms. Hood."
Darla smiled. Ms. Kraut was a lot nicer than Ms. Pan by a million.