Dreams Do Come True

Busted

School. Mason and I arrive and as soon as I get out of his car, I see Clara and Gavin. They're looking at me. I ignore them and walk to my classroom. Everyone is looking at me. Unusual, because most people didn't even know I exist. They're whispering. When I pass them, they stop and stare. When I'm a bit further away, they start whispering again. Without making a lot of eye contact, I enter the classroom and take a seat in the back. Now and then some heads turn. Some people start laughing. Some whisper. And then, there's Clara. As she wants to sit down in front of me, she says:' Is it okay if I sit down here? Or will I RUIN your view, ma'am?' 

I roll my eyes and look down at the paper in front of me. Just ignore her. Just ignore everyone. They're not worth it. 

Gavin enters and makes the same kind of comment. They both keep doing it the entire day. 

When the final bell finally rings, I stand up and pack my things as fast as possible. 

'Don't forget you have an essay due tomorrow', Ms. Von Breven says.

Ms. Von Breven is my Dutch teacher. I don't really like her because she is quite severe, but I have a feeling that she can be very nice aswell. Most students don't like her, but I can see right through her. I know she's a sweety, she just doesn't act like it in class.

She leaves the classroom, just like most students and right when I want to grab my pencilcase, someone puts his hand on it. I look up and see there are several people standing around my desk. I didn't notice them, as I was too busy thinking about leaving as fast as possible.

'In a hurry?', Gavin asks while snapping the pencilcase off my desk. 

'Um.. not.. um.. really.. no..um..I..', I mumble.

'Don't have such a big mouth anymore, he?', Clara mocks.

'I.. um..'

'Let's see what we got here', Gavin says while opening my pencilcase. He starts emptying it out on my desk, looking for secret notes or something. He also throws some things on the floor.

'Please don't..', I quietly say.

'What was that? Please continue? Okay', Clara says and she opens up my backpack. 

I try to push her hands away but, once again, Robert grabs mine. Clara takes a look in my bag and starts taking some stuff out. She takes my biology book and starts ripping pages out and throws them around. I tell her to stop, but she ignores me. She takes out my math notes and colors them in with an alcohol based marker.

'Just adding some color, dickface. Don't worry, your notes will look amazing when I'm done with them', she says in a sarcastic tone.

Next, she takes out my bottle of water and pours it straight into my backpack. I keep yelling louder and struggle more and more, but they don't listen. Like I'm not even here. Like I don't exist. I look at how the water comes through the bottom of my bag and starts to spread on the desk. My notes soak up the water, just like I used to soak up their behavior. Used to? I think I still do...

The door opens and Mrs. Von Breven enters the classroom again.

'Forgot my boo-', she looks at us and her mouth falls open.

'WHAT IS GOING ON HERE!?'

'We.. um..', Clara stutters. 

Robert slowly lets go of my hands. Mrs. Von Breven looks at me and sees the tears in my eyes. I calm down as I look deep into hers. She takes a deep breath and calmly says:' Clara, Gavin, Robert: principal's office. Now.'

The three leave the room. Mrs. Von Breven comes closer and wipes away my tears. 

'How long has this been going on?'

'Since the day I first met them.'

She sighs. 'Why didn't you say anything?'

I lift my shoulders and look away. She starts picking up all of the pages from my books and I empty out my backpack so it can dry. Mrs. Von Breven hands me a big plastic bag to put all of my books in, so I don't have to use my wet backpack. As we clean up the classroom, my teacher asks me a lot of questions. She has a very calming voice and I kind of feel save around her. For the very first time, I'm completely honest and I tell her everything. Except for one thing. The bridge. I tell her that it's my favorite spot, but I don't say why. I don't tell her what happened there. I haven't told anyone yet. Only John knows about this. 

When we are done, I take my plastic bag, my wet backpack and I thank Mrs. Von Breven.

'If you ever need to talk about anything, you know where to find me. Okay?'

I nod and walk away. I decide not to pass by the principal's office, so I take the long way out. I really don't want to bump into them right now. 

What will happen to them? Will they take it out on me? Will they get suspended? Will they get detention? Will they come to my house? Will they bother me even more? Will this situation make everything worse? What if it does? What if-

'Anna! What happened?'

I turn around. 'You!? What are you doing here?'