Prep School

Chapter 25

The next morning rushed by. I was already running through the school's door after kissing my dad on the cheek, gripping a piece of toast in my hand.
I hurried and unpacked my stuff, and ran down the hall.
Schist.... Late, late, LATE!
I ran faster, looking at the room numbers as I ran.
"MS. BLACK!" I hear a voice boom behind me.
I turn around, out of breath.
"Yes?"
Harmswell storms up to me.
"Running in the halls? Shameful. Detention today. I guess you didn't learn your lesson after your last one ."
Ah, yes, the last one. He made me organize his file cabinets by grade, size of folder, AND alphabetically.
"Yes, sir," I grit my teeth.
He walks away, his greasy hair flapping.
I grind my teeth as I speed walk to English.

"Detention, again?" Gianna props her head in her hand as I tell her what happened in Music.
"Talking about the wonderful Beatles, I hope?" Mr. Cogges hovers over us.
"Yes, sir."
"Well, I hope you know that the Beatles' first beautiful album was released in April 1964. And that-"
"Yes, sir, very interesting," I wave my hand at him.
He huffs and goes off to annoy someone else.
Gianna looks at me.
"That sucks."
"Doesn't it?"
We pack up our stuff and wait for the bell to ring.
"So what's up with you and Zane?"
"Hmmm? Nothing. We're just good friends."
Gianna raises an eyebrow.
"Fine, really good friends. What about you and Cace?"
"He's sweet. And he's a good friend, you could say," she winks at me.
I giggle. Then, it fades away.
"Been having dreams lately?"
Gianna nods slowly. "I think it's getting worse. I can barely sleep."
I rub her shoulder. "It's gonna be ok."
My stomach clenches at the lie.
The bell rings and we rush off to Math.

"That killed!" Gianna sits down at the lunch table, rubbing her neck.
"I know! Three pages of solid math." I rub my wrists.
"And then three more pages for homework!"
Zane plops down next to me.
"I think I died in there. Can someone call a grim reaper or something? Or like Death himself. Either will do."
Zane winks at me.
I grin back.
Gianna rolls her eyes," So freaking dramatic. Honestly, you'd think he'd just been murdered by a math book."
She gets up and goes to meet Cace in the lunch line.
Roxanne sits down across from us.
"Sup peeps. Where's Gigi?"
I point her out and Roxanne goes over to her.
Rocky comes up a few seconds later, and swivels his head around.
"You guys see Roxanne?"
Zane and I glance at each other.
Zane gets up and shows him where she is.
I open up my burrito wrap, and dig in. When the others get back, I'm full and in desperate need of a toilet.
"I'll be right back," I say to them.
"Hurry up, ok? Bell's about to ring in five minutes."
I hurry down the hall and get into a stall. After I'm done, I wash my hands and look at the mirror.
I see something shine.
I whirl around and see Lilo and a few other girls standing behind me.
"Uhh..... Hi....." I smile weakly.
Lilo steps forward. "You think you something special?" Her voice is raspy and makes me feel like I've just scratched my nails against a chalk board.
"Have we met?"
"Don't get smart with me, Black."
"I wasn't. I don't know you. And I doubt you know me."
"What? You think you're something special cuz you can put a few lines on a piece of paper and get away with calling it art? Or cuz some people talk to you? Or cuz a guy talks to you? You think you're something special?"
"Not really."
"Liar. You're an arrogant freak. I can see it in the way you walk, your body strutting down the hallway like its a runway."
"I wasn't aware that I strutted." I keep my voice calm and level, focusing on how I breathe.
Lilo rushes forward and slams me into the stall door. Spots fly in front my eyes.
"I said don't get smart with me!"
"I heard. Can I go now?"
That was obviously the wrong thing to say. Which of course, being me, is exactly what I said.
"Freak," she spits at me.
She pushes me into the stall again-hard.
Her girlfriends grab me and slam me into the wall, hard enough that they're swimming in front of my eyes. My head hurts and I feel something trickle down my forehead.
They start punching me and digging in with their nails. My face, my arms, anywhere they can reach.
Then someone slaps me.
Reflexes kick in; control kicks out.
I blink; everything's red.
I grab an arm and twist backward. The arm cracks. The owner screams.
I kick another one in the knee, snapping it backward. The girl shrieks and falls.
I still see red.
I could barely hear the girls' shrieks or screams.
All I see is red.
I kick and punch until only Lilo's standing in front of me.
Her eyes are wide and she's shaking as she backs away from me.
"Hey, h--hey, I n-never-," she stammers.
I don't listen.
I pull my fist back, and I feel my face contort. I feel my fist fly forward and hit her face. Her nose cracks and her lips split. Blood pours down her face and she falls, crying.
Blood cakes my knuckles.
Shame, I took a shower this morning.
I can see waves of black pour off my body like sweat.
Lilo's blood drips off my knuckles.
Control kicks back in.
I look around and look at the girls' fallen bodies. Most of them have already scrambled up and ran out of the bathroom.
I feel my heart pound and the blood roar in my ears.
Aria..... WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO?!
I back up, breathing heavy and run out of the bathroom.
I run hard and my vision's still tinted red.
I bump into someone.
I look up and see Zane picking himself off the floor and dusting himself off.
"C'mon Aria, we have to stop- ," he looks at my bruised face.
"Aria, what the hell happened to you?"
He grips my arm, and looks at me seriously, his blue eyes intense.
"Aria.... Who hurt you?" His voice is soft..... And angry.
I push past him and run harder, my lungs feeling like they're gonna burst.
I don't know where I'm going. All I know is to run.
I run out the school doors and run around the block.
I run around another block.
And another.
And another.
The whole time, my thoughts are jumbled together.
What did you do? Why didn't you calm down? She deserved it. Still. CALM DOWN. You could've killed someone. Again.
I slow down and sit at a huge oak tree.
I slide down and lean against it. I tip my head back and look at the leaves.
A tear slips out of my eye and its burns the bruises on my face.
I close my eyes and let the tears slide down.
I talk a deep breath and relax my muscles.
Calm down.