Short Stories

April 2016

This was a school assignment following our in-class reading of "Sula". Has anyone read that book? It's such a weird book... Anyway, for this creative writing assignment one could choose between the themes of exclusion and clash of cultures. I chose exclusion, and in a spasm of inspiration named my text "Exclusion". The main character is based on my own personality and life; I wrote this story as a kind of reflection on how constantly reading cut me from normal social life. That was essentially in elementary and middle school, and since then I've made good progress :) Also, Julie is a completely invented character.

Enjoy!

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Exclusion

"Hi, how are you?"

"Fine." And you? Those two last words hung in the air, but she either ignored them or didn't see them.

"What's your name?"

"Chloe." And you? again resonated in my head but not in her mouth. It was the beginning of a new year in a new school; I was approaching different classmates to get a feel of my new class.

"Well, I'm Julie."

Chloe simply nodded, not meeting my eyes. She seemed like a nice enough girl, but my first impression was that she was being provocative. Then after further conversation, I thought she might have communication problems.

And then I realized how much she read.

Saying Chloe loved books was probably an understatement; she read whenever she could, wherever she could. By the third week every teacher had asked at least once for her to put her book down in class, and once she settled down at recess nothing could make her look up from her page. Classmates said that reading was Chloe's passion, but to me it seemed less healthy than that. To me it was either an intentional barrier or an addiction.

After a couple weeks I realized how much I was observing her, studying her; no one else seemed to care all that much about her. She was just the weirdo with good grades and that was all we knew. I think it frustrated me because I like to approach people and know what they're like, and never before had I been confronted to such a blank wall. No one had tried to truly talk to her yet, and eventually I told myself I'd be the first.

So on one morning recess I gathered my courage. I hadn't prepared anything to tell her, I'd decided to simply improvise depending on her reaction...

"Hi."

Chloe briefly lifted her nose, before plunging it back into her hardback Eragon book. It felt like she was being deliberately indifferent, as if I were a nuisance that would go away if she didn't make contact.

So I pushed on.

"Do you remember my name?"

She looked up for a couple seconds this time, apparently making the effort of actually figuring out who I was. Then she looked down again with a slight shrug.

"Not really, sorry."

That was slightly irritating, since unlike others, I had presented myself. Besides, in three weeks she'd had plenty of occasions to hear the teachers call on me...

"Well, how many names do you remember?"

Chloe put her book down between her knees. I could tell she didn't appreciate the intrusion, although I couldn't judge by her face, she was most always expressionless. I did get a hint by her head slightly cocked to the side as she eyed me — and her tone.

"Well, if you insist, I know there's Mathiew, Louise, Emma, Frederick... I have a couple of names outside the class too, if you really want to know... What is that question supposed to mean?"