Keep My Soul

Chapter 3: Wake Up

*Nevaeh's POV*

    Place the cards on the table. Throw in a few chips. Fold. Guess what dad...looks like you lost your Ace. Oh wait, you never cared about losing...only thought about winning. Guess what dad...he flushed you out. Oops! But you can still win right? Guess what dad...you lost more than a just a game.

You lost me.

     ***

I dreaded going to school the next day. To wake up and realize that this wasn't just a nightmare. It was all real. Painfully real. The pain was persistent, a monster that refused to give up. The worst thing was how disappointed the school would be. Most people liked me at the school. The ones who didn't like me respected me. Why? It all happened on one night. The night that's now one of my favorite memories.

I was walking down the hallway, gripping a book on Anatomy. My hair was pulled up in a pony tail, and I made sure to keep my head lowered. Slowly, I entered my next class, Algebra, and quickly rushed to my seat, cracked open my book, and sat there waiting for class to start. Our teacher, Mr. Hart, was one of the teachers who believed that kids who lived in the Projects should stay stupid. He hated me, because I was smart, and I tried hard. I passed all of his exams, and he always pulled me aside telling me that I would never make it. Shy, I would just nod. In my head I was cussing him out profusely.

The class filtered in, and Mr. Hart started to distribute out a quiz he took the day before. When he handed it to Alex, the head cheerleading Captain, he frowned at the grade. She had made a ninety-eight. Ecstatic, she turned around to her friends, laughing and smiling. Then all of a sudden, Mr. Hart plucked the paper out of her hand and ripped it in half. She stared up at him, stunned. "You think you're smart Alex. Think you can leave the Projects just because you can jump in the air and lift up your skirt, and barely pass classes so you can get in college." He sneered. I could see tears forming in her eyes.

"N-no. I mean yes. I'm smart, and I w-want to go to college!" She shot back. He tilted his face back. His face was wrinkled, and he had bags under his eyes. His lip always seemed to tremble. I swore I saw dust line the creases in his face. Laughing he bent down and yelled into her face.

"ALL YOU'RE GOING TO BE IS A WHORE! That's all you're ever going to be! You can't go to college. That's what all you cheerleaders are going to be. WHORE'S!" Screaming at her, she flinched, and a tear slipped down her cheek. I couldn't take it anymore. For the first time, I spoke up.

"Mr. Hart. Your daughter is a cheerleader." I cried out, watching his body stiffen.

"What?" His voice hit me like a whip, and I spoke calmly.

"Your daughter is a cheerleader, and she wears even shorter skirts than we do. I don't think it's fair that you call all cheerleaders whores, because then you're calling your daughter one..." I trailed off when he walked over to me, his fist clenching around the quizzes.

"You think your so smart. Wanting to be a doctor," he sneered grabbing my book, "but let me tell you something...you can't be a doctor unless you know how to treat an injury." Then he raised my textbook and swung with all his strength towards me. Cringing I waited for the impact, but it never came. I looked up to see the textbook an inch from my face, and he cruelly laughed. Then Principal Williams stormed in, anger written all over her face. Unlike other Principals, she actually cared about this school. She wanted the kids to pass. She wanted to show New York City, that even people living in the Projects could still be smart.

"Threatening a student. Demeaning a child. Abusing a child. Mr. Hart, not only are you fired, you're facing a ten year prison sentence. Police. Arrest him." She ordered, watching as he fought the police, and cursed all of us out.

"Thank you Alex, for sending the video to my office." Principal Williams genuinely commented. Alex smiled at me, then the Principal.

"No problem." She replied.

That day I had earned not only respect, but a hero status. I was no angel. I've done enough keg stands, but I was trustworthy. I was the one you went to if you need some tutoring. I was the one you'd go to if you wanted to know a quick way to get rid of alcohol in your system. People came to me to ask about remedies they heard of. No, drinking a teaspoon of bleach will not flush out the drugs in your system. It will most likely kill you. I was the one Pedro came to, in order to avoid going to jail, to help take out a bullet in his left shoulder. To this day he and his gang owe me. Mrs. Janet came to me when her baby was sick with a fever, and she didn't have enough money to go to the hospital. I was loved, liked, and respected.

I knew when I got to school all hell would break loose. Some people would feel betrayed, others would fight back. Haven High School was built on trust, and now that I would disappear in less than two weeks...the school would be heartbroken. Who would Pedro go to next? Who would Mrs. Janet call?

Miserable, I forced myself to get up, throw away my ripped up book my Chemistry teacher loaned me, and put on a depressing hoodie. I ignored my parents, and stalked out of the house, shack really, as fast as I could. Walking to school took twenty minutes, and I dreaded every step closer. I didn't want to say goodbye. I didn't want to cry again. I didn't want anyone feeling sorry for me. All I wanted to do was curl up and waste away. To bury myself alive. To pull the trigger. To mutilate my body so no one would want to buy it. Mutilating wouldn't work though. They now have Stem Cell Research in which they could easily heal my skin.

Looks like death was the only real option.

I didn't want to die.

I just want my body.

My face hardened, and a smile touched my lips.

Pedro and his gang still owe me...