My Life Being Dead

My Life Being Dead, Chapter 4

 The next two days I couldn’t stop looking for the writer of the note. I almost smiled, but stopped myself. I let myself hope, and now it was time to forget about it. The writer hadn’t written back or said anything else, so there was nothing else to be said about it. I was sitting in Biology when my day was ruined.

“Alright everyone, partner up!” Our teacher called from the front of the classroom.

I sat still while everyone shuffled around pairing up with their friends. I usually just sat and waited for the leftover people that didn’t have any friends in this class. I saw the boy that called me “freak” at the locker coming towards me but didn’t realized he was coming to me until he sat down.

He murmured, “No other partners left.”

Go figure I had to be paired with the incredibly sexy guy that can’t stand me. There is a God, and he’d sent me to hell. Not that I didn’t deserve it.

“Of course.” My tone was apologetic.

Our teacher passed out stethoscopes and sphygmomanometers and gave us our assignment. We were to take each other’s blood pressures. We had already learned how last year. The guy next to me groaned with distain and looked me up and down from the corner of his eye. I shrunk back from his glare and hid behind my hair.

He picked up the instrument and grabbed my arm. Searing heat stung me and I ripped my arm away from his burning hand. I rubbed my arm with my other hand and shivered as the cold I had not even realized was there settled back over me. The guy stared at me like I was crazy, and for a second his eyes shone embarrassed.

“Umm.. Okay. You can go first then.” He sounded afraid of me. My heart pounded and hurt against my ribs. I wrapped the blood pressure device around his temptingly big arm and tried my hardest not to touch his skin. I absently wondered if everyone’s touch was hot to me. It’s not like I touched people everyday, so how would I know? It honestly scared me.

His blood pressure was 140 over 97. High for a teenage boy. I didn’t comment on it however. I just marked it down and hesitantly reached my arm out. The boy looked equally uncomfortable, but more annoyed with me than anything.

As if he knew where my discomfort had come from, he was careful not to touch my bare skin the second time. It was over very quickly. My blood pressure was 100/70. Normal for me, low for other teenage girls my age.

While the teacher came around collecting our results, it was awkward at the table between us. A guy turned around from the table in front of us and leaned towards the boy next to me.

“Soccer this afternoon, O’Malley?”

“You know it!”

He guy in front of us scoffed and turned his eyes towards me briefly. “You always get the crazies, Adam.” He turned back around.

I felt my cheeks redden and I put my head down. Adam just laughed to himself and started conversing with a girl a row across from us.

I was used to this sort of humiliation, so I wasn’t sure why it bothered me so much.

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The next day I got another letter. It was taped to my locker in the hallway.

Don’t let these idiots get you down. They don’t know you. Stay strong.

I nearly fainted. Before I could come down off my cloud, someone slammed my locker shut. I jumped and turned to see Adam, and some pretty girl next to him sneering at me.

“Oh my god you were right, she is hideous. I didn’t believe you.” She shook her head in disbelief. Adam smiled at her and looked at me like I was cat vomit.

“Don’t get too close. It might rub off.” He led her down the hallway, and before he turned the hallway he looked me in my eyes. It was a sad look. Like he felt bad for me.

I was happy about the note, but that blow just cut through too deep. I went to the ladies room and cried my eyes out.