A Piece of Gum

Chapter 3

No one had cackled. I guess I was really hearing things. But why was Delilah questioning our friendship when it had been so long?

I continued to chew on my gum but quickly realized that it was losing flavor. I pulled the wrapper out of one of my many pockets and spit the gum out as discreetly as possible.

Delilah shifted and turned my way. 

"Why won't you give me a tissue? she asked, looking a bit hurt.

"I don't have one, okay?" I said a bit sharply, and picked up my bag and moved more towards the back, grabbing a string to hold on.

"Okay," she said quietly. I instantly felt bad for being so rude to her, but then again she had been talking about me behind my back. Or thinking about me behind my back, or whatever.

I focused my eyes on her again to try and see what she was thinking now. I concentrated and kept staring at her.

Nothing.

I shook my head and pushed my hair out of my face, squinting at her again.

"Are you okay?" A voice beside me asked.

I glanced in the general direction of the voice, but everything was blurry so I just nodded.

I kept squinting but my vision just kept getting blurred. I always chew gum when my vision is blurred, and luckily I had my own strawberry pack, but when you're offered gum you don't just turn it down.

I took my eyes off of Delilah and reached into my purse for some more gum. When I popped a piece into my mouth the blurriness went away immediately. I took a deep breath and tried again.

My eyes were starting to hurt from all this squinting, but I was determined to read her mind again.

~she doesn't like me I guess~

~well I don't like her either~

Well then. But how had I heard her again? I tried to retrace my steps. 

She offered me a piece of gum and I took it.

I started to hear her thoughts.

Other people's thoughts got in the way. But wait, the other people's thoughts- the people were chewing gum! Finally, I'm on to something, I thought.

Then I spit the gum out.

And I stopped hearing thoughts.

It must be the gum!

Just then, I heard another cackle in the distance. I looked around, but again, no one had cackled. Strange.

I looked around for someone else chewing gum and saw one of my classmates, Eliza. She was chewing gum, with her mouth open, might I add, orange flavored.

I made my way over to her.

"Hey, Eliza! What do you think of my outfit?" I stood there with one hand on my hip and the other hand holding on to the pole. I focused intently on her face.

She smiled and said, "It's very nice." Then she turned away and resumed her chat with her friends.

Hmm. I hadn't picked up her thoughts. But why?

I was chewing gum.

She was chewing gum. Check.

I was focused on her.

She was focused on me. Check.

I was stumped. We were both chewing gum, so what could possibly be the difference?

Maybe I'm just tired and imagining things,  I thought. But I had gotten a good night's sleep, it's only this morning that had me stressed out.

The bus was almost at the stop, I realized after peeking out the window. I zipped my book bag up and hoisted it onto my shoulders, pressing the stop request button.

It was too early for this.

The bus came to a stop, and I pushed the doors open, the cool breeze hitting my face. It wasn't as chilly as it was earlier. Now the wind was just refreshing.

I kept walking. Delilah came up to my side and matched my steps. I don't know why she was following me if she didn't like me.

"So, I guess I'll see you this afternoon?" she said as we neared the school entrance.

"Yeah, I guess," I muttered as I pulled out my phone.

Going in school, I typed. 

Then I shut my phone off and put it in my pocket. I headed into school and walked up to the security desk. Sighing, I put my bag down and slipped my phone into my purse when no one was looking. We weren't supposed to have our phones out in school, but it was too cold to put it away outside. Plus, I didn't want to have to talk to Delilah until I'd cleared my head a bit.

Then, I took my coat off and threw it on the desk. There was no guard there, the desk was empty because school hadn't officially started yet.

I tugged my scarf off from around my neck and stuffed it into one of my book bag pockets. Then I zipped everything up and headed into the cafeteria, where we waited for our teachers to come pick us up.

Honestly, I found that a bit babyish because we were teenagers, not little elementary school kids who needed eyes on them at all times. We moved in our homerooms and our teachers walked us to every class.

But, I guess that was good because some people can't keep control of themselves.

I scanned the room for my friends. Lila was with the seventh-graders, and Delilah, well, honestly I didn't care where she was at this point as long as it wasn't near me.

I didn't see anyone from my class, because they always get here a bit later than I do.

I walked over to an empty table and plopped down by myself. I kind of needed to be alone at that point so I could gather my thoughts.

I chewed on my gum as I thought.

"Young lady, why are you chewing gum?" Ms. Velara walked over to me.

"I'm sorry, I was chewing it on the bus and I forgot to-"

"I don't care, just spit it out." She walked away.

I rolled my eyes, dragging my feet to the trash can and spitting my gum out. Now I would get written up. Ms. Velara was already on her phone, typing something into Engrad, the school's grading system. Probably my write-up.

I sighed, wishing that I had remembered to spit the gum out before I came in school.

But, then again, I needed to see what was up with the whole thought hearing thing. I slipped my hand into my bag and felt around for the gum, closing my fingers around a piece.

I put it in my mouth and quietly chewed it to get the flavor going. I looked around the room and saw that my friend Alissa had arrived. I beckoned her over here.

"Hi, what's up?" she asked breathlessly, looking like she'd just ran a mile, which she probably did to catch the bus.

"Have a piece of gum," I said, holding a piece out to her.

"Ooh, thanks!" she exclaimed, slipping it into her pocket.

"No, eat it now," I whispered.

She looked at me strangely, but shrugged and said, "Okay." She was the kind of girl who would get in trouble for a friend. She put the gum in her mouth, clasped her hand over her mouth, and started to chew.

I gazed at her, trying to pick up her thoughts.

~why did she give me gum to chew now~

"Because I wanted to read your thoughts," I said as I broke my concentration, eyes widening as I realized the full extent to what I'd just said and done.

"Say what now?" cried Alissa.

"Oops," I gulped.