Paralysis

Chapter One

  "Olive, we're gonna be late!" Georgia exclaimed while waiting impatiently outside of the women's restroom near their school's admissions office after they picked up their class schedules for the year.
"Alright, I don't think it'll kill anyone if I take a few more seconds." Olive tightened her ponytail while her cello case was resting upright against the front of her body. She grabbed the case from its handle and rested the weight of it on her hip. She then walked out to greet her impatient best friend after throwing the arm of her backpack at her opposite shoulder.
"We're about to risk being late on the first day." Georgia complained, tapping her left foot with her arms crossed. Olive found the sight to be enjoyable, making a guess beforehand that that's how Georgia would've been standing—and she was right,
"Hey, no one asked you to stick around." Olive joked, grinning at Georgia.
"But then who would keep you company?" Georgia added, giving Olive a playful smirk.
"Oh, that's right, no one likes me." Olive forced a pout while speaking sarcastically.
"That's not true." Georgia laughed, admitting that Olive's statement was somewhat incorrect.
"Seriously?" Olive smiled sardonically, rolling her eyes before giving Georgia a look of disbelief with half lidded eyes.
"Well, you're somewhat right. Most of the students in our grade are all just lousy chicken shits that can't do anything better except run their mouths and use the same insults they did when we were all twelve. Give them a break, their brains are missing a few pieces." Georgia responded cheekily, making Olive giggle.
"You have such a way with words." Olive went on, raising her eyebrows and cooing at Georgia as a wisecrack.
"Have I ever told you how much I love your sarcasm?" Georgia teased. Olive smiled cheekily over her response.
"All the time, but I do agree with you."
"They're all not even worth your time, Olive." Georgia expressed, warmheartedly. Olive forced a nod to show her agreement. Olive knew Georgia was right, though the thoughts would always gnaw at her.
"Who do you have for homeroom?" Olive asked, changing the subject. Georgia understood the need to switch up the conversation.
"David fucking Howard." Georgia's mood diminished as soon as she heard the question.
"Shit, I'm sorry." Olive snickered, covering her mouth to stifle her laughter.
"I don't think I'll make it through the week." Georgia groaned immensely, throwing her head back in protest.
"You're such an over exaggerator." Olive tittered, vaguely shaking her head.
"Like hell I am. That shit-lord gave me an F last year." Georgia sneered after recalling the factor.
"Well for one, math isn't necessarily your strongest subject, and plus, I highly doubt he has a vendetta out for you." Olive attempted to reassure Georgia, suspecting that he wasn't that awful. Olive knew she never had Mr. Howard as a teacher before, yet she wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt.
"Yes he does. He even failed all three of my brothers. Gabriel and Charlie graduated a few years ago and even they told me how immature he was regarding their grades. Jakob even thought of having our mom enroll him under her maiden name so that he wouldn't receive the same treatment as Gabe and Charlie. The school wouldn't let her to do it, so he was failed as well." Georgia scoffed, reminding herself of what else she needed to say.
"Jakob didn't have Howard's class until almost three years after Gabe and Charlie graduated, so that tells me that he does have something against my family for god knows what fucking reason. Now, here I am, four years after Jakob, and six years after Gabe and Charlie being wrongfully treated the exact same way as they were." Georgia rolled her eyes, catching her breath after saying such a stressful mouth full. Olive nodded in agreement, even making a point to acknowledge Georgia's frustration by softly patting her on the back.
"Why not just ask him why he wants to punish you along with your brothers? There has to be a reason behind it, because that's way too suspicious for it to be random. As childish as he clearly is, it can't just be nothing. Have a conversation with him about it." Olive suggested, giving Georgia some words of encouragement. Georgia sighed.
"Not that he'll even listen to reason but I'll take on the challenge." Georgia had considered the idea.
"It wasn't a challenge, it was a suggestion. You're not training for the Olympics, you're asking an asshole why he hates you and your brothers so much." Olive chuckled, amused by Georgia's humorous take on the situation she was in.
"Whatever you say, but I know damn well that prick isn't going to tell me anything. He'll probably even send me to the office and make up some lie that I'm being disrespectful or 'insubordinate' as he would call it." Georgia shrugged, rolling her eyes once again while she added a mocking tone to the words she always heard Mr. Howard utter. Olive was vaguely shocked.
"Has he sent you to the office for that before?" Olive questioned, concerned. Georgia nodded.
"Yeah, but I denied everything. I wasn't punished for it, but he 'let me off with a warning'. Can you believe that asshole?" Georgia cursed, raising her voice a bit as she explained.
"Jesus, what a douchebag." Olive commented, though she was simultaneously entertained by Georgia's outbursts. Olive still felt bad for what Georgia was dealing with, hoping that she could figure out a way to get the situation taken care of.
"I'll even start problems by going to the principal if I have to. There's no damn way I'm gonna let that jubelåsna get away with failing me for no damn reason." Georgia insulted. Olive couldn't stop herself from releasing a boisterous laugh.
"Did you just call him a female donkey?" Olive asked, still guffawing in the process. Georgia chuckled along.
"I did, and I'm happy to hear that you've been brushing up on your Swedish insults." Georgia responded, elated to see how amused Olive had become.
"Oh my fucking god, I can't breathe. That's hilarious." Olive held her chest, catching her breath as a few giggles still made their way out.
"Well, this is his class." Georgia stated begrudgingly, halting in front of Mr. Howard's classroom. Olive stared into the classroom for a moment before speaking.
"Alright, I'll talk to you later." Olive responded, readying herself to depart from Georgia.
"See ya." Georgia pressed her index and middle finger against her temple to mimic a gun before she walked into Mr. Howard's classroom. Olive chortled, smiling as she headed to her own first period class. Olive had French first period and her teacher was a Bordeaux, France born citizen. Olive found this much more endearing than a native English speaker teaching the class. Olive enjoyed seeing many people moving to the USA from all throughout the world just like her and Georgia's parents did when they were younger. While Georgia and her siblings, along with Olive and her younger brother being born in America, their parents raised them with their family traditions and languages as well.
Through the first few periods, Olive was somewhat engaged with the type of work load her teachers discussed that they would go over through the year. Walking to and from different periods while hearing snide comments from her peers wasn't a new experience for Olive. She simply bit her tongue and walked through the smoke screen of puerile beings that wished to egg her on in hopes she would snap. She knew it was just a matter of time, but she wanted to try her best.