Diversity

Day One

Evelyn clutched her binder tightly, attempting to steady her breathing. The test was today, and she knew that her class would be loud. As usual. Every time, her biology class ended up a wreck. She herself loved biology.

She loved science; she was absolutely amazed at microorganisms, DNA sequences, learning every aspect of chemistry or physics. It could have almost been considered her favorite subject.

Except for it not only was difficult, but her class didn't care. While her teacher's back was turned, the students whispered and threw paper. The teacher was constantly having to manage the class. The only students in the class who weren't savage were herself and three others. Out of twenty-four students.

Evelyn stepped in, ready to brace against the wall. Ms. Hudson was harshly talking to the students. A few more shoved behind Evelyn, and she bit her cheek, ignoring them. After the other students got into their seats, Evelyn headed over to her desk.

Ms. Hudson explained the rules before she and the para handed out the tests. A few times a loud SMACK! could be heard. Evelyn didn't lift her head. Ms. Hudson sometimes had to use her ruler against a student's desk.

Once Evelyn received her paper, the private conversations began. People around her giggled and chatted. People were tapping their pencils and whistling. Evelyn felt like her head was going to explode.

She read the first question.

A change of DNA in an organism that results in a new trait is known as what?

A. A problem

B. A mutation

C. Physical Change

D. Deoxyribonucleic

Yes, Evelyn thought to herself. An easy question. She circled B and continued on to the next question. She got to question five before a student started pushing her seat forward. She growled, and move her feet flat against the ground to keep the row from moving.

The student just tried harder. She almost turned around, or told the teacher, but was too angry to speak. The student laughed quietly, snickering among her friends.

Then the bell rang. Evelyn was free to go to second class. Everyone else was out the door by the time Evelyn had gotten out of her seat. She walked through the halls and down the two staircases. She smiled, somewhat forcefully, when an acquaintance waved. Then she stepped into the art room.

Art was heaven. She couldn't draw as well as the others, but she could express herself freely. And the class was actually quiet. It's a big improvement on the other classes.

She sat down. The whole class period was spent on shading. She had two friends out of six friends in that class. Monique and Sydney.

Monique had dark brown hair, green eyes, and a big smile. She loved to sketch and paint, and she played the clarinet. At times Evelyn was jealous of Monique, but Monique was so generous that the jealousy was pushed away quickly.

Sydney had curly, blonde hair, blue eyes, and always had a cute hedgehog barrette in her hair. She loved rainbows and animals. She was always helping her friends out.

Evelyn cherished both of them, knowing that they were how she got through everyday of her life.

When art was over, she walked over to pre-algebra. Then to orchestra. English. Health. And finally, the dreaded PE.

Evelyn's knees turned inward - not severely, but enough that it made it harder to run. On the other hand, her knees turned inward possibly partially due to lack of exercise.

Evelyn went into a stall to change. She felt very uncomfortable changing in front of others, up to the point of crying. That day she didn't even want to change in a stall. She walked out of the locker room a little earlier than most of the students. "Evelyn!" Evelyn turned her head, and felt better. Carrie got switched to her class.

Carrie had bronze hair in a ponytail and blue, starry eyes. Evelyn didn't know that much about her, but from what she did know, Carrie was a good friend.

A smile crept onto Evelyn's lips as Carrie said, "I guess I've done badly enough that they've moved me to Hell." Evelyn laughed (just barely, as her laugh was more of a strange sniffing noise).

Mr. Jordan at least was a nice gym teacher. Mr. Harrison, one of the other gym teachers, hated children. He picked a select few to be his favorites, and the rest he tormented.

During class, Evelyn jogged ahead of Carrie during laps, trying to get Carrie to hurry. Carrie was whining by the end, but Evelyn knew she wasn't totally serious.

After school, Evelyn first grabbed her instrument before saying bye to her friends and hopping into her mom's car.

Her mom asked, "How are you sweetie?" "I'm fine." For the rest of the ride, they made small talk. What's for dinner tonight, when are we going to go to the farm.

When they stopped, Evelyn walked up to her house and opened the door. The cats rushed over to greet her...or just attempt to get outside. Either one. She kicked one out of the way, threw her stuff on the ground, and hugged the other. Her mom came in from behind, smiling as she shut the door behind them. Evelyn played video games with her brother, Alex, until night. Then she took her medicine, brushed her teeth, and went to bed.

She went to bed, but not to sleep. She wrote down her fears before sleeping. Every night she wrote down her thoughts before bed. There was a large pile of thoughts by her bed. She wrote a long list, added it to the ever-growing pile, and slept soundly.