Secret Walls (Under Editing)

Chapter Six

Eboni groaned. Her left hand was clenched into a tight fist, and her cheek rested on it. The classroom was almost vacant, but she has come to English class early today since Chyna didn't come to school. From their brief conversation on the phone that morning, Chyna said something about feeling a bit under the weather.

Eboni pursed her lips at the thought. Life couldn't get any worse that what it was. Eboni's mother hadn't let her out of sight since she snuck out, and Chyna was grounded for a few days but her mother got over it. Eboni, was only grounded for an extra day. Although, Eb had a feeling her mother understood the reason behind why she snuck out. Or that's what Eboni tried to get across in her mother's mind. You can't ground a child of their birthday then expect them to just go along with it. That was outright ludicrous!

Eboni's English teacher, Mr. McClinton sat at his desk and organized his paperwork, while students filed into the classroom. One by one or two by two, thirty-two out of thirty-five students showed up. Eboni counted each one, and studied their mannerisms. But she never said a word, and Chyna never showed up.

Eboni leaned backwards in her seat, and stalked each student with her eyes while Mr. McClinton wrote sentences on the board. Once the late bell rang out, Eboni began to drum a faint rhythm on the top of her desk with a pencil. She slouched in the seat then sat up straight, which became a repeated process. Since Chyna wasn't around, there wasn't much for her distract herself from the lecture.

Eboni's eyes danced across the classroom until they fell on Brianna. She sat at the front of the class, and stared out the classroom window at the heavy downpour of rain. Since their fight, Brianna had been keeping great distance between them. Eb was grateful for that because, confrontation never really looked good on her. The swears and punches did nothing to solve the issue, but it got the point across that Eboni was not a storm to reckon with.

The drumming her desk received from her pencil abruptly stopped, when Mr. McClinton cleared his throat. Eboni turned her attention to the front of the classroom, and met her teacher's annoyed gaze. As class began, Eboni ran a hand down her face. Mr. McClinton babbled on about Shakespearean culture, and a few other things that Eboni didn't understand. The foreign words lapped at her ears, and the dialect ran circles around her head. Often than she thought she should, Eboni looked at the clock for answers door, and groaned under her breath. It was now one forty-five, and school didn't end until three-fifteen.

Eboni ran her fingers through her hair and turned the page in the Romeo and Juliet novel. She jolted in her seat when she heard someone call her name.

Mister McClinton asked, "Eboni, may you please read the next line of Shakespeare? And stand up when you do."

Eboni smacked her lips under her breath, and rose from the seat. Why did he find the need to pick her out of the crowd of misfits to read? Not that she couldn't read, of course. I mean really, it just had to be her that goes first in the class. Typical. Eboni shifted her weight to one side to stand comfortably in front of the class.

"O, swear not by the moon, th' inconstant moon, That monthly changes in her circle orb, Lest that thy love prove likewise variable."

Everyone in the room applauded, but as she was accepting her seat Mr. McClinton called on her once more. This guy had one more time to bother her! Like please, just let her sit down already!

"Good job Eboni, but can you explain to the class what you just read?" He asked.

Sweaty trickled down Eboni's hot, rosy cheeks as few students whispered amongst themselves or laughed at her. Her heart slammed against her rib cage and before now, she never noticed how loud a heart beat could get. Did anyone else here the thumping-thump repeatedly like she did? When did Karen Trusdale get bifocals?