Closed Windows, Opened Doors

Locked Away

"Rosemary, do you have a seating preference?" Mrs. Wright asked.

"I prefer to sit in the front," she said quietly.

The boys in the back of the room whispered to each other; her request to sit near the teacher was an indicator that she was intelligent or had a desire to learn. The boy who had been so convinced that beauty and brains didn't go hand in hand had been proven wrong, as the embodiment of both was standing in front of us.

"I see. Would you mind sitting in that open desk over there?"

She was pointing to the empty desk that was on my right.

"No, not at all," Rosemary replied, smiling. She walked over to the desk, smiling at me, but I avoided making eye contact, staring down at my textbook. Sitting down, she pulled an array of brand new school supplies out of her bag and set them on her desk.

"Good. If it doesn't work out, let me know."

She nodded.

I still couldn't bring myself to look at her. She knew too much about me already; she'd seen into the darkened corner of my heart that I tried to keep everyone out of. She'd begun to undo the chains on my heart, which I'd locked away.

I was certain that if our eyes met again, she'd know everything.

And if she saw what I hid, she'd hate me.