Her Story: October Ivory

3

                The Next Day...

           My eyes were swollen from all the crying I did the night before and I had a slight migraine coming on.

            "What the hell going on with your eyes?" My mom asked when I walked downstairs.

           "Just allergies."

            "Oh okay." I don't even have allergies. "Go on before for you miss the bus again. And make sure you clean the bathroom when you get home from school."

             "Yes ma'am. Love you."

              I ended up missing the bus. It had came five minutes early so I was stuck walking. My head was pounding by the time I got to school. I went through the breakfast line and got another biscuit like yesterday. They also had cereal bars so I picked up a few.

             "Hey! You can't do that. Only grab one." It was the lunch man. People started laughing.

               I put them back in embarrassment, only keeping one. I was gonna save them for later so that I could have something to eat but one'll be fine. At least I'll have something to eat overall. I disassociated as I ate. Just thinking about life and how it seemed to never get better for me.

          I threw my trash away once I was done. The bell had already rung before I even got here so I knew I would be late. Despite having a bad day yesterday and feeling depressed today, I decided to greet Lee. I could get hurt over and over again and a small part of me would still be hopeful.

              "Hey," I say sitting down, not bothering to look at her. She said nothing, so I glanced at her, realizing that she hadn't looked my way either. She was ignoring me. I just put my head down for the remainder of class.

***
               "How the fuck my paper rip?!" The girl now known as Zay screamed at me. We were outside for lunch. Well really they were and Zay waved me over.

                "It was an accident. I'm sorry." She pushes me and I stumble back.

               "You not getting paid. Try again next time. Fuck away from our table." I avoided looking at all of them, including Lee and went to the bathroom. I just wanted to go home at this point.

              The door opened and I jumped, turning to see Nyana.

              "You wrong as fuck for ripping my friend paper. Jus' cause she asked you to tie her shoe?"

            I quickly shake my head. "That's not—" She punches me hard in the face and I fall into the wall, my lip stinging.

"We not the fuckin' ones to mess with. Play like that again and see what happens." She left and I silently cried as I held my lip. A few more girls came in and I quickly rushed into the bathroom, sitting on the toilet. I ripped off some tissue and held it to my lip as warm tears continued to fall.

***

            "What the hell happened to your mouth?" My mom asked as I took off my shoes.

           "Nothing," I mumble.

            "Yes the hell it did. Come here!"

            I listen, standing in front of the couch she was sitting on.

           "Who the hell did this?"