The Unseen (ONC 2023)

One (Nina)

This is a fresh start.

This is the mantra I recite in my head as we pass a sign that says "Welcome to Hell, Michigan". I scoot down further in the backseat actively avoiding my father's look of disdain. I am a magnet for bad luck, it's the reason we had to pick up everything and move.

~***~

It started out as normal day at school, I studied for weeks for my midterm exams. I walked into my American Literature class with confidence, I should have known better. I tripped over my own feet, hearing a chorus of snickers coming from the popular kids. I hunch my shoulders, hiding behind my curtain of raven black hair.

The teacher hands out our exams. I reach into my bag for my pencil pouch, my heart stops mid-beat, my phone slides out of my pocket. Mr. Mafi looks over his shoulder, his eyebrow raised in a silent question. I pick up my phone, grab my pencil pouch, and start my exam. The minutes begin to tick by, I can feel someone tapping on my shoulder. I refuse to look back at the captain of the lacrosse team. There are whispers amongst our fellow classmates that he's failing this particular class. Rumor has it, if he fails this exam he won't be allowed to play in the big game against our rival school. With the athletic department on the brink of financial ruin they're banking on our star athlete to pull off a miracle.

"Hey nerd, switch exams with me."

I ignore him, my eyes stay glued to my paper. His girlfriend sits next to me, captain of the cheerleading squad. The biggest cliché in the hierarchy that is high school. She glances over her eyes narrow.

"Are you deaf?" She hisses.

I reach into my bag for my beanie, pulling it over my head to conceal my ear buds. Mr. Mafi grades his papers occasionally he scans the room. He gives me a disapproving look, but makes no move to call me out. By now Mindy, the cheerleading captain is getting agitated. Curtis, the lacrosse captain continues to tap my shoulder.

"Leave me alone." I whisper.

"Switch exams with me." He whispers back. "Come on nerd, you don't want to be the one responsible for your dad losing his job, do you?"

I turn up my music, refusing to take the bait. My dad is his coach, sports are his passion. In fact, when the doctors told him I was a girl he was disappointed. He wanted a son, his belief being that girls couldn't play sports. To him, a woman's place was in the kitchen learning to cook, to clean, and to wait on a man's every wish. My mom didn't believe in such things. She believed in independence, that we girls could do anything we wanted to. It was the cause of many arguments and many night spent with my headphones on max.

"Fifteen minutes left." Mr. Mafi raises his gaze to the class, scanning the rows.

I finish my last question, setting my pencil down. My heart begins to race, my hands begin to shake. I am horribly uncoordinated, like clockwork I manage to trip every time I get up. I pray this time is different. I move my bag underneath my seat, setting my test off to the side so I don't get a sweaty handprint on it I steady my feet and slowly get up.

"OH, MY GAWD NINA! ARE YOU LETTING HIM COPY YOUR EXAM!"

The room falls deathly silent. My heart plunges straight into my stomach. My chest tightens as I struggle to breath. I lose my footing crashing to the floor. The classroom erupts into fits of laughter. Curtis has the nerve to look embarrassed, there's a greedy glint in his eyes his pencil flying across his paper filling in the answers. Mr. Mafi confiscates my paper, his eyes filled with disappointment.

"Ms. Winters, Mr. Ryan to the principal's office."

I reach for my bag, tears in my eyes. My arms and legs are bruised and scratched up from my frequent falls. The doctors always seem to get the wrong idea. Curtis follows behind me a smug expression on his face. Our parents are called in, I keep my eyes to the floor hearing Curtis lie straight to the principal's face.

"She kept whispering me the answers. I told her I didn't want them and then she just shows me her test. It was a good thing my girl was looking out for me." His chest puffs out with pride.

"Is this true Nina?" the principal stares me down.

My father gives me a look that clearly says to keep my mouth shut. He needs Curtis to pass the exams, tears fill my eyes, and I nod.

"Yes sir." I say the words quietly.

"We have a zero-tolerance policy for cheating Ms. Winters."

"That's not all she did sir." Curtis says the evil glint in his eye. I slide down further in my chair. He's going to make me pay for not giving him the answers right away.

"She's been bullying my girlfriend all semester." He says eyes locked with mine daring me to speak up against him. My father would defend him, the son he always wanted over his klutz of a daughter. "I have the screenshots to prove it."

He hands his phone over to the principal, my father looks livid his hands are shaking at his side. Our principal sighs heavily, running a hand over his auburn beard. His eyes meet mine.

"Our school has a zero-tolerance policy for bullying as well Ms. Winters. I'm afraid I have no choice but to expel you." He stands up. "Mr. Ryan, you will face in-school suspension as we punish both parties responsible."

"What about the big game?!" My father roars. "This is absolute bullshit, punish my daughter she's the one who fucked up. Curtis did nothing wrong."

"Mr. Winters your language both on and off the field is unacceptable. I'm afraid I have no choice but to relieve you of your position here." He opens the door to his office.

"Let's go Nina." My father's voice is tightly controlled.

~***~

"We're here."

I look up, my father parks in front of a beautiful ranch style home with a fenced in backyard. He gets out of the truck, slamming the door harshly behind him. After his outburst in the principal's office, he totaled the principal's car. He was now in court ordered anger management classes and therapy. Mom turns in her seat, reaching into her purse to give me a journal. It has a white moleskin cover with a tree on the cover, resting on one of the branches is a blackbird.

"I understand things have not been easy, blackbird." She calls me by my nickname bring a small smile to my face. "When the spoken word fails, the written word speaks volumes. Write your story."

"Thank you, mama." I whisper, holding the book to my chest. I feel a spark ignite underneath within my chest. I step out of the car, for the first time ever I don't trip.