The Girl With Blue Hair

Chapter 3

I struggled to fall asleep. I tossed and turned all night. The moment kept replaying over and over again in my head.

It was haunting me.

Every time I closed my eyes, I saw the blood splatter on the wall. I saw her lifeless body on the tiles. I saw the ambulance lights and heard the sirens. I heard the gunshot.

And the night never seemed to end.

When the morning finally came, I struggled to get out of bed. I felt dirty. I felt empty.

There was a soft knock at the door and my mother slowly walked into the room. She sat beside me on my bed and stroked my hair. I closed my eyes and felt a gentle kiss on my forehead. A tear fell from my closed eye.

"You don't have to go to school today, Honey." she said.

"I'm not weak." I said, with a lump in my throat. I wanted to cry so badly. "I don't want them to think I'm running away from this."

I could tell my mother didn't want me to go to school that day but, after 16 years of being a stubborn child, she knew she wouldn't get through to me.

I got up when she left. I took a quick shower and got dressed in all black. It was the least I could do for The Girl With Blue Hair.

Wow.

I felt like I was disrespecting her by not knowing her name.

I had poetry club after school, so I planned to find some of her work. She'd never published it or read it in assembly.

The guilt refused to leave me. I had to find who she was and why this had to happen to her.

***

I stood at my locker, shoving all my books for the first three periods in my bag. My best friend, May, came up to me.

"Hey, Ly. How are you doing?" she asked, concerned.

I slammed my locker shut. "Fine." I snapped, then walked away. She ran after me.

"Did you sleep at all last night? You look tired."

"I didn't... I called Adrian last night." I was trying to change the subject.

"Really? How... is he?" she asked.

"What? Why?" I asked, worried.

"You know... after the breakup?"

"Oh, yeah. Worse than when it happened." I sighed.

I broke up with Adrian the day before the incident. I felt uncomfortable in the relationship. I still had feelings for him (and he, for me) but he was violent.

It was late after school when I told him; most of the teachers and students had left. I explained everything and he got so angry that he slapped me across the face. A bunch of guys passing by had to hold him down while I ran home, crying.

"Worse? How can it get worse than that?" May questioned. She was angry. I don't think she has ever been so upset over someone abusing me.

"I wish I knew."

May looked at me like I was talking giberish. I made no sense trying to protect my ex.

***

In the last period, I had to go to that classroom again. It was clean. The blood was gone; the body was gone, but the memory was still there.

I sat down in my seat in the middle of the class. As I watched the students come in and find theirs, I saw the one empty seat.

The seat where The Girl With Blue Hair sat.

How hadn't I noticed her before?

She had the brightest blue hair. She had the most brown eyes. She had the most gentle soul.

But I couldn't picture her in that one empty seat. I could only see her on the floor in the front of the class.

I couldn't concentrate in that class. I just waited for the period to end so I wouldn't have to think about The Girl With Blue Hair.