Runaway Man

Chapter 8: The Rotten Apple

Chapter 8: The Rotten Apple

"I can't believe he actually asked for your number." Diana giggled for the one hundredth time today as she unravelled one of the sweets that she'd earned from Trick or Treating. It was a bounty by the looks of it but she ate it quickly so I didn’t really get chance to see it.

"I find it hard to believe either but it happened. I was a big idiot because I didn't ask him for his in return so I'm waiting for a text or something. He could be a day, a month, a year... who knows," I looked around the canteen to see everything was just the normal. Seniors pushing into the queues, teachers talking to people that don't want to be talked to. Yeah: the normal school stuff.

"Are you two still going on about that?" I heard Linda snarl from across the table, "Boys ask me for my number weekly. Do you need a medal for your one-off experience? Should it be made from crap or weight watchers?" I glared at her but she didn't take any notice of it because she was too busy admiring herself in her pink fake gemmed pocket mirror. She pushed her almost white hair behind her ears to reveal three fresh piercings in each. Up until now, she had been avoiding me because of our last conversation where my locker made contact with her pretty little nose. I grinned at the thought, perfect if she was to dress up as Rudolf sometime.

"Omegle perverts don't count," Diana saved me from wasting my breath, "Especially after you've given them a webcam show. Nobody here likes you."

The crowd of students around us in the canteen all made an "Oooooh" noise to signify the burn Linda had just received.

"You think you're so cocky, you fat bitch," the poison was dripping from Linda's tongue every word she said, "When in fact people do like me and I'm better than you all. Diana has a rectangle figure and my pet horse is prettier than you. Both Katie's think that they're the centre of attention, Jenny smells of fish... and you Sophie, you think you're so innocent when you lost your virginity five or six years ago." I observed everyone to see their reactions: Diana looked very pale, Jenny's face was buried on her arms and Sophie's eyes were about to release a waterfall of tears.

"You cow, leave," I stood up with my fist clenched in the air. I was angry, upset and I couldn’t get why she was acting like a bigger bitch than normal today.

"Fight me then," She spat. Her salvia landed onto my half eaten ham sandwich.

And without thinking, my fist met her face. Right after my blow, a massive purple bruise formed on her right cheek. Linda gritted her teeth so hard that if she did it more often, her teeth would be wrecked. She threw a swear word and a kick at me but missed. The table we had all been sitting at turned onto its side. Loads of plates and bowls were smashed. I’m guessing that we would have to pay to get them all replaced later.

"In your face," I stuck out my tongue and squatted just in time because she had swung a punch at me. I kneed her in the stomach then ripped out a clump of her hair by accident. Well, my aim was to hurt her but to not actually pull it out! Her scream echoed through the canteen and I threw the tangle of hair onto the floor.

Mr King, who was on duty at the time, raced towards us to try stop the fight. The 'girlfriends' went lovesick as he drew closer. Even when it came to serious times, the girls still thought of him as their Romeo.

"Florence. What's going on? His hands were holding me back as I tried to escape from his grip so that I could kill Linda at least three times. I didn’t care how I did it. I wanted her to be in pain because her words hurt like an arrow through the chest.

"She's being a mega bitch to us!" I wailed. I was so furious that tears were flooding out of my eyes. I watched as loads of other teachers were running onto the battlefield. Even my English teacher, who looked so old that she could die of a heart attack at any minute, came to the scene.

One of the P.E teachers, Mr Francis, was holding Linda back. I stared at the tensed muscles in his arms before being dragged away to a place I'd never want to be never ever.

The head mistress' office.

I waited all lunchtime sitting outside of it for her to become free and let me into the hell. Because of her wounds, Linda's wait was held in the medical room with an ice pack pressed up against her face.

I almost shit my pants when the deputy head invited me inside. I adjusted my shirt's collar on my way in and pulled down my skirt a bit just in case she'd say it was way too short. Now, with most teacher's I wouldn't bother to sort out my clothes but Mrs Diamond was absolutely petrifying.

Her face had wrinkles engraved all over it and her lips were so thin that she must've had some plastic surgery on them to make them look how they did. She was wearing a brown blazer and a checkered scarf to match it. That made her even more sincere!

"Miss Florence Harriet Daniels," her words were so cold that my back automatically straightened, "From what I recall, you have had a little bit of a rumble with Miss Linda Patterson." I gulped and nodded my head. My throat felt so dry that I couldn't answer her. For a moment, there was complete silence and I forced down the lump in my throat.

The door swung open and Mr Francis walked in with Linda trailing behind with her arms hidden against her back. If Mrs Diamond’s scary brown eyes weren't looking at me, I would have hissed and maybe treated her with another slap. Although I didn't move, the corners of my mouth curled at her bald patch, which was located near the front of her head.

"Daniels, face me," Mrs Diamond snapped, "I'm afraid that this incident will not be unnoticed and there will be some consequences for the pair of you. You will be excluded for a week after I've informed your parents." My heart skipped a beat. Phoning home? The thought of my mum finding out made me want to drop down dead. Linda however seemed to think it was funny because she had to stop herself from laughing by poking out her pierced tongue in between her teeth. It was probably because she rarely went to school as it was and now she had an excuse for not being there. Either that or it was because she knew my parents wouldn’t take it lightly.

"Understand?" Mrs Diamond barked. I nodded my head, still unable to form together words, "I said, do you two understand?

"Yes miss," Linda said confidently. Mrs Diamond glared at me, waiting for an answer. I managed to open my mouth and my tongue unrolled by itself.

"Yes miss," I croaked like a frog.

After that, we were led out of the room. My exclusion would start as soon as possible so that would mean I would have the rest of the afternoon off of school. It would last a week and I wasn’t looking forward to it one bit.