Clash

Chapter nine - April

I smile at the parents looking around the school as I walk through the corridor back from my cello lesson. They smile back at me, then walk straight past. As soon as they look away from me they've forgotten about me. I guess that's just the way I am, boring old April. I have no distinctive features, I'm just a completely plain and ordinary person. A jolt pulls me out of my deep, deep train of thought. I fall the floor, just as I realise that there isn't another step at the top, just air. I hear someone laughing from down the hall. I already know who it is before I look up and see, you guessed it, India. There she is, perfect princess, with her 2 inch skirt, her long tanned legs, her blonde plait trailing over one shoulder. She has one hand on her hip and a conceited smile on her face. I pick myself up and inpsect the bruise which has already started forming on my knee. When I look back at India she's walking towards me, that same smile on her face. Just as I think she's about to talk to me, she walks past me, bumping into my shoulder on the way, making me stumble backwards and almost fall down the stairs. "Hey!" I call after her. She ignores me and carries on walking, "Hey!"I shout again, "What is wrong with you?"
She turns around this time, an innocent look on her face, "Did I do something?" she asks,
I roll my eyes, "Do you want me to recite the list?" I say sarcastically. She smiles at me,
"Listen, April. I'm sorry about what's going on between us, but can't you just forget about tit and leave me alone? We're not friends, and we haven't been for a long time,"
That hurts. A lot. "What about in Sicily?" I say desperately, "You had fun then, didn't you?"
"The sun was nice," she says, "And the pool," 
"Oh my god!" I almost scream, "What the hell is wrong with you? Do you have some kind of problem? Why is it so important for you to be a bitch the whole time?!" She almost looks hurt. Almost. And there is still a ton of anger inside me waiting to be let out, "I would have left you too," I hiss. I know I've gone too far, but it's too late. I might as well keep going. "I'm not surprised your dad left. What happened? Remind me, didn't he spend a while yelling, packed up a bag, left without saying goodbye and hasn't talked to you since? Honestly, I don't see why he didn't leave earlier! I would have left the minute you were born!"|
Now the anger has gone, leaving behind a pit of regret. India is staring at me, her mouth making an O shape. Tears are filling her eyes. "I... I'm sorry India, I..." I begin, but she is storming up the stairs towards me. "You are nothing, but a stupid, insignificant little bitch," she whispers, then slaps me hard across the face. I am stunned for a second, then raise my hand to my cheek. It's stinging, but not as much as I am hurting inside. The anger has poured itself back into me, and is bubbling and boiling furiously. Without saying a word. I push her hard. She gasps as she stumbles backwards. And next thing I know she is lying at the bottom of the stairs, a pool of blood spreading around her head. Oh god. What have I done?