Friends

Act 3: Pinky Promise

Act 3

Pinky Promise

I didn’t know if I could even step into school that day. It was the second day of school and from what I learned, news travelled pretty fast in high schools. I was afraid that I'd have to face a sea of whispering and gossiping and glances the moment I stepped through the door. I knew that I was deaf so I wouldn’t be able to hear the more than subtle whispering but I could still see. And what I would see that day was most definitely the eyes probing me as I walked past them and lips moving behind hands cupped to ears. I dreaded walking through the front doors but dad wanted me to go to school that day. I couldn’t say no to dad: I respected him too much to disobey.

My palms were cold and clammy and I sweated profusely, just like yesterday in the car. We were completely silent as dad drove me to school. He knew what had happened the day before because I told him and Eli what’d ensued over dinner. I begged dad to let me stay home for a week or so for the news to settle and grow cold but I knew he wouldn’t let me. It was false hope.

I stared up at the school building, fearing the worst as I bid goodbye to dad and walked up the pavement. The moment I stepped through the school gates everybody stopped talking and turned to face me. I ignored them pulling the hood of my jacket over my head, successfully covering my face and the bruise on my right temple. I trudged up the walkway and sure enough, I could see people whispering, pointing and trying to get a good look at my face. I diligently disregarded the stares I attracted and brushed off the fact that almost a hundred pairs of eyes were riveted on me. I walked as quickly as possible to homeroom, trying to avoid eye contact with anybody plodding along the corridors. I pushed open the door to homeroom and as quietly as possible, sat in the chair at the back corner of the classroom, struggling to ignore curious stares from my classmates. I took out a pencil and notebook and started drawing circles. I was never good at drawing so I never tried to sketch. In a minute, the first page of my notebook was a complete mess of black scribbles.

Someone tapped my shoulder. I almost screamed but remembering screaming drew attention, I bit my tongue and twisted my head to the side to see who it was.

“Hey.”

I sighed inwardly and whispered,” Why are you here, Josh? You aren’t even in my homeroom.”  “I am. I sat in front yesterday so you didn’t see me. I see you like the back.” He said nonchalantly.

“Whisper, Josh!”

“Fine, fine,” he raised his hands in submission, lowering his voice to match mine,” I just wanted to check on you, you know, see how you're feeling? I know that people here are giving you a hard time.” “You think?” I said sarcastically,” people here stare at me like I'm a diva or something. Maybe they think I'm a monster. Hey, Josh? To be frank, I don’t want us to be friends okay? I don’t feel like having a friend. You go hang out with pretty girls. You're popular. Don’t be seen with a pariah like me. Go away, Josh.”

He just smiled and pulled the hoodof his jacket up, covering his own face, "Look. I know you c worded yesterday. You're probably in pain inside,” he said, pointing to his chest, the place where his heart vaguely was,” But I won't pester you about it. You definitely need a friend at time like this. I promise I won't dig deeper than necessary, okay? I'm just going to be here for you. I'm always a good friend to have, so will you think about it? I’ll give you all the time that you need. I sometimes go to the roof of the school to eat during lunch. You can find me in the cafeteria if you want me to bring you there. The roof is my peace treaty with this school and I’ve been keeping it a secret for years now.”