Miss Make-Believe

Chapter 11

May was keeping a watchful eye on me at school.

She was watching me like a hawk. Her penetrating gaze felt like an X-ray machine on wheels. In fact after a few times, her eyes seemed like a physical presence on my body. To say that her stares blended with her venomous personality were unnerving would be the biggest understatement of the century.

I was getting used to silence on my part. Talking to Noel and Manuel seemed kind of impossible due to May Sanders. The situation was precarious as well as hilarious since both of them wondered whether I was back to avoiding them.

One pleasant morning, walking on the sidewalk with a blank face and mind I peered around me casually to inspect the surroundings. Three children around the age of ten were buying candy with their mothers in a candy store. An old lady was walking down the sidewalk across from me with a cane in her frail hand. A shopkeeper was putting up the sign of ‘Open’ on the outer part of the door. A man was walking his pink poodle while talking on the phone which emitted a loud laugh out of me. Cars were whizzing past me on the road. Breeze whipping through my loose hair felt amazing.

In the midst of a Christmas-y atmosphere, my mind suddenly strayed off limits, in the ever-bitchy section. May’s threat started echoing in my ears like Church gongs and the temptation to cover them with my bare hands was almost impossible.

I was cognizant of the nugget of information that May was a resourceful girl. The wicked witch knew her ways to devastate her enemies, make their lives miserable.  She was better as a friend than a foe.

Friend.

The idea that struck my brain was nothing short of brilliance. Imagining me and May as allies was pretty much unlikely and bizarre. My body shuddered at the unusual thought. But so as to win the bet I would have to consider the angle with a calm demeanour.  Given the peculiar situation I was glued to, I couldn’t afford to lose any of my friends, neither Manuel nor Suzanne. But May was the thorn in my bush of fresh roses.

Again the thought of cutting the thorn off from those beautiful roses was nearly irresistible. Devising a plan against May was time consuming, impossible and yet exhilarating. Also, the fact that May and Noel had familial ties wasn’t helping my poor condition.

What to do? What to do?

My phone decided to buzz right at that second, startling me. I looked around me swiftly once again, jolting back to the world devoid of my personal, petty soap drama and sighed shortly before plucking the phone out of my shorts’ pocket. The caller Id read my boy toy’s name.

“Hey!” I said distractedly.

My mind was stuck on May Sanders and her flare for viciousness like a broken record. Manuel’s words briefly registered my brain and I didn’t fret over the fact that my arrangement with Suzanne was toying with my head. “Hey!” He sounded exhausted.

I should’ve asked him about his well being, at least mused about it a little. But I didn’t even kick a stone, let alone move mountains in worry. He must’ve realized that I wasn’t going to utter a word anytime soon, therefore he continued in a tired voice. “I don’t think I’ll be able to make it. Got stuck in a situation here!”

I frowned and stopped walking instantly. Then, I gazed around me once again and whilst the world around me was filled with vitality, I found myself induced with paralysis.

What is he talking about?

“What are you talking about?” I repeated the question verbally. But before he could possibly reply to me, I knew I had the answer with me.