To Be Weird, strange and different.

Laughter

It’s the cause of joy, happiness and excitement. Especially a Childs laugh, full of innocence, honesty and peacefulness.

But the laughter I was now hearing was full of the harsh reality that I was different, so there for I was picked on. Life doesn’t always give us what we want like the perfect body or the wealth you need to be able to buy the designer clothes. And as soon as your put in the category of weird, different or strange. You are instantly downgraded to the ‘unpopular’ group. Were you will spend the rest of your high school existence being invisible.

I am in that group of people, and can I tell you this. I am weird beyond measure, different for the better and stranger then all of my friends. Well when I say friends I mean friend as only have one but by the looks of it she has now decided to join the dark side. She is at the moment laughing at the prank she deemed funny, but hurt like hell.

I know how I said laughter was full of joy, happiness and excitement. Well I take it back there is no possible way laughter is the same as what was happening this very moment. My best friend was standing there next to my lifelong bully, Ruby, laughing at me. Now I’ve had some pretty bad moments in life but this was probably the high point. Because I realised in that moment I no longer had a friend to call my own, and the fact that I was lying at the bottom of a stair case with cheese pasta all over me.

“Get up loser!” someone nearby shouted only causing the whole hallway to laugh more. Now it takes a lot to knock me down. This was a lot. I run to the bathrooms as fast as possible praying that I don’t slip on the cheesy floor. I slide through the bathroom door avoiding all eye contact and look at myself in the mirror. I notice all the little features on my face that cause me so much hatred. The long brown hair, dull green eyes sunken in with years of torture and the small frown that constantly sat upon my face. This is me Abigail Litghtengal.

I lean over the sink and start washing my hair of the pasta and cheese, who knew that pasta can get in every crevice without even trying. Suddenly, making me jump, someone comes out of the bathroom stall; I look wondering who the intruder was and whether or not I should be protecting myself. A girl taller than me with shocking red hair comes out walking towards the sink, she stops noticing me and smiles. “What you got in your hair silly, your meant to eat food not wear it!” she says giggling. What? She sees my puzzled face and continues.

“My names Dani, I just moved here with my family. This is my first day, that’s probably why you don’t know me. Stop looking at me like that, the wind will change and that stupid look on your face will stay!” I look at her a smile.

“Abigail Litghtengal” I say shaking her hand. She looks at me strangely, as if to ‘say why the hell are you shaking my hand’ but then goes with it and shakes back.

“I have a feeling Abigail that were going to be good friends. Now come here and let me help you get that out your hair. It’s best to use really hot water so the pasta and cheese just slide out.” She mumbles as she grabs my head and pushes it into the sink.

“Speaking from experience?” I say.

“Yes, actually, it’s worse when it’s got some sort of sauce in it, gets in your ears.” she says pulling a face.

After about 10 minutes of washing and class having already started we decided to ditch. I have never ditched in my life which was making me kind of jittery. I was constantly playing with my hands which I could see was starting to irritate Dani.

“Come on will go down the road to the coffee shop.”  Trying to direct my nerves in to conversation. “Have you seen much of the town yet?”

“No, but I found this really cool place behind my house. There’s this train line and because it comes out of a tunnel you can’t hear it till it’s right there. Can I show you its 5 minutes away well get coffee after! Please please please pretty please with a cherry on top?” she was jumping up and down and pulling me down the road.

“Okay okay, fine.” I say smiling. It’s funny, only half an hour ago I was sitting at the bottom of a stair case with pasta on me and now I’m strolling down the road with my new best friend. I think this is the best I’ve felt in years. We come up behind a house and true to her word there’s a tunnel.

“Wow that’s so cool.” I say peeking in.

“I know right, it’s so deep too I went in yesterday and still couldn’t reach the end.” There’s a glint in her eye that tells me she’s up to something.

“I thought you said there were trains?” I questioned

“Yeah but it’s fun!” She takes a step into the tunnel.

“What are you doing?” I start to worry, what if a train comes. “Get out now, you’ll get hurt.”

“Live a Little” smirking she walks into the tunnel.

“Seriously Dani come back, it’s not funny” panicking I make my way in after her. The tunnel is so dark that I can only just make out the outline of my hands. It smells of mould and metal. “Dani?”

“Yes?” she replies right next to me.

“Dude! Don’t do that.” I try and keep my heart from jumping out my chest.

“Do you like it?” she says. I can’t see her bat I can feel her move forward. I start to follow.

“Yeah its actually pretty cool, but maybe we should go back were quite a way in now.” I start to walk back when she grabs my hand through the dark and drags me to her.

“Just a bit longer, Please?” she whispers. What is it with this girl and tunnels?

“Fine.” We wonder on for another 5 minutes and I stop. “This time I’m serious were going back there is no way if a train comes we can make it out fast enough!” We start to walk back when we here the whispers of wind making their way past us. We turn back and see train lights.

“RUN!” I scream. But we were too late with one last look at Dani in the light of the train, the sheer panic evident on her face. And we knew we were going to die.

And we laughed.

Then we laughed no more.