Hushed

Chapter Three

Suddenly, the students around me shift. Ah. The bell. Better get my things then. Backpack. Purse. Phone and wallet. A glance at the window. Dang. It's still raining. Pouring actually. Mum's gonna be ticked.

Run. She'd find me. Hitchhike. What? Anything to get away. You can't. You'll never get away. She'll never let you. If you leave, they'll find out she's not perfect. She'd never allow that.

Fine. I'll go home. I'll face her again. At least I can't hear the yelling.

I walk the pavement across the lot to my car. Gosh, people, could you not stare so much? I mean, I have a nice car, but I can feel you staring. I turn, flicking my perfectly bouncy hair over my shoulder in a classy girl kind of way. Some eyes immediately turn away, as if they never looked to begin with. Others blatantly continued. And one-ooooh shoot he's coming towards me. He's tall. Muscles. Dark hair. He's...

Gorgeous....

Oh wait I'm deaf. No nononononono shoot shoot shoot shoot no.

Hey! He calls. I act as if his loud call alarmed me. Cute, oh-it's-you, breathy laugh. (Hope that's what it sounds like anyway.) I'm normal.

Hey so I saw you in class and I realized... His lips began.  Cheesy, I-get-all-the-girls grin. I don't even know your name.

Blink. I let my face fall into a really?-that's-the-best-you-can-do face. He laughs.

I know. I know. It's not a good lead. But maybe... He steps closer.. You'll forgive me?

No no stop. I jump back against my car, throw a flustered look on my face and nod. Then shake my head. He laughs again.

D***, I heard you were shy. But d***. Maybe we can get you more comfortable around me.

My face is hot. So's my head. I don't need to fake my anger. I shove him. Hard.

Oh he's fallen. Into a puddle. Oops.

I start to worry whether he's okay or not. But then he gets up. Cocky grin.

Feisty, aren't we? He says. Anger swells in me again. I turn sharply, forcing my long hair to slash across his face. Thanks for making me have long hair, mum. I understand now it's for safety reasons.

I stomp to my car, not looking at him so I can ignore whatever nonsense he's spewing right now. Get in the car. Get. In. The car. GET IN THE CAR.

Okay. I'm in the car. You're okay. Calm down. He doesn't know. Calm down. You're normal. I'm normal. You're normal. Okay.

I glance out of the windows of my car. He's standing awestruck. People are staring. Amused. Shocked. Indifferent. And I...

I want to laugh. Heh heh. Serves him right. Heh heh heh. Fire up the engine. Steer. I turn the wheel sharply, sloshing water all over him,  smiling as I drive off.