The list of sinners

...Celia...

"Here's another week of school", I said in front of the mirror, exhaling deeply.

It wasn't that I was complaining about school, but it saddened me that I felt like an outcast in the auditorium. Most had formed groups with two or more students, while I only had my phone that I occasionally checked to seem busy. I searched for the class schedule on my phone. I walked in and muttered a "good morning" that, like every day, went unnoticed. I dropped my bag on the second row chair and sat alone as usual. Sometimes I glanced at the other students, sometimes out the window. Truly, there wasn't much to see outside that window, but my mind wasn't there at all.

When I was younger, and my mother was still with me, I was bullied every day, often with physical marks on my body. But coming home and knowing that someone else like me existed, knowing that there was another curly-haired girl out there, eased the pain and wounds of bullying. But when my mother passed away, I lost the place where I found comfort for all that I endured at school.

I never told my mother or my father the truth about the marks that stained my body. I would say I fell during gym class or that I scratched myself at night. Even today, I don't tell my father about the things that trouble me because I know his heart is already broken.

We spent almost four to five good hours in class every day. Though we sat still and were not physically tired, as the hours passed, it felt like the fatigue increased, accompanied by a loss of interest that led to a growing sense of exhaustion, until you saw your head drooping on the desk. It was the final hours, and I would glance at my phone to check the time, but strangely, in school, those minutes never seemed to pass at all.
I wasn't motivated anymore. My eyes were heavy, and my hand tired from taking notes. I placed my pen on the open notebook and rested my tired head on my hands.

"I'll study at home," I said to myself.

School had already begun, and I was thinking about the packed schedules I had. Every second now mattered to me, and I probably wouldn't even have time for a meal. It was suffocating. I buried my head in the arms crossed on the desk. I felt the need to calm down a bit, but the drowsiness that overcame me grew even deeper.

"Finally, it's over, the blabbering..."

"Sometimes it gets boring."

"I wouldn't be surprised if I never entered it at all," I hear a muffled voice. "Anyway, Vicky, are you going to start taking notes in the afternoon?"

"Of course, dear; maybe this is something new."

"Hey, Vicky..."

"Yes?"

"Look at that... should we say something to her over there?"

"What do you mean?!"

"I was thinking something like, 'Hey, what's up, class is over, go home.'"

"Maybe she wants to stay alone."

"Or maybe not."

"Anyway, Tian, if you don't do yours, it's pointless."

"We won't lose anything anyway," a male voice said. "Em, Vicky, you think she's dead? Hey, are you alive?"

I could hear voices scattering like sea foam, but I reassured myself that those voices were in my head, just in a dream or something. My consciousness returned from a tremor I was feeling in my sleep. A shiver ran down my spine, and I opened my eyes, trying to adjust to the room's light.

"She looks alive."

I lifted my head, not knowing what was happening around me. As my vision cleared, I saw two students staring at me intently. I was saddened by that gaze in my sleep. I adjusted my posture a bit to gather myself. I didn't know what was happening. I gathered myself on the bench, waiting for any signs of bullying from them.

"Hey, um..."

"I-i-if you're asking if I'm okay... I'm fine, and now I'd really like to leave."

I wanted to leave the auditorium as soon as possible. I was afraid the fragments of high school might repeat themselves.

"I didn't want to scare you..."

"You didn't."

I started stuffing my notebook and pen into my bag. The only thing that kept beating like a drum was the need to leave as soon as possible.

"I just wanted to tell you that the class is over."

"Well, thank you for noticing me because no one has ever noticed me my whole life."

The boy next to me turned and looked at the girl who was packing her stuff and making faces. I took the phone in my hands and checked the time.

"Oh God!"

"What's wrong?!"

"I'm a little late for work."

I threw the bag over my shoulder and walked between the rows created by I took the tray with soup and walked between the rows created by the benches.

-Working?

-Yes.

-Where?

-Moon's cape.

-Moon's cape?!

-Yes, but now...

-We go there almost every weekend, - the boy threw in. It's like a second home for us.

-Really, I have to go.

I started speeding up my steps as I was leaving the door.

-Hey, what's your name again?

-C-celia.

-Well Celia, I am Tian and this is Victoria. But you can call us Vicky and Ti.

I heard, behind my back, Tian's voice calling from the auditorium door, the nicknames of him and his friend. I was running as fast as I could. It seemed like for me, the clock had struck midnight and the magic was about to break, but a smile lit up my face. Two names brought a ray of hope to me. Maybe this was a good start.