Palpable | Latent 2

Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Dustin

As much as I loved the winter, I didn't really like when a snowstorm hit the town. Part of me did, because it could mean there was a snow day, but the other part of me didn't because it meant I couldn't go out anywhere without feeling like my limbs were going to freeze off.

It was worse when it wasn't actually a snow day, so I still had to go to school. I didn't want to drive because the roads were too icy and the snow was coming down to fast, so I had to settle with walking.

And my limbs almost falling off.

"I am freezing cold," Sophronia said as she walked over to our locker, where I was currently putting my jacket in.

"Yeah, same here," I said. "At least they have heat in the school, because I really don't want to be wearing this jacket in the middle of class."

"True," Sophronia said as she took off her jacket and hung it up into our locker. We took off the rest of our winter clothes -toques, gloves, and scarves- and placed them in our locker as well before closing the locker.

I intertwined my hand in hers as we headed to the gymnasium for our first class. Gym used to be my favorite, but now, it was slowly inching its way to the bottom of the list, especially when I almost get injured every day.

Thanks a lot, Asher.

When Mr. Harris announced that we would be playing basketball, I sighed quietly. Yet another day of being injured. I couldn't wait until this unit was over.

Mr. Harris made the teams and I already came up with the conclusion that I was going to get injured.

And I was.

Not even five minutes into the game, I was on the floor with a bloody nose because Asher slammed his elbow into it, like always. Sophronia was soon by my side with a tissue for me. I thanked her and held it to my nose to stop the bleeding.

This time, thankfully, Asher was sent to the principal's office because Mr. Harris finally realized that Asher wasn't hurting me by accident. Asher tried objecting, but Mr. Harris didn't want to hear any of it.

Sophronia's team wasn't on the court at the moment, so she sat down beside me on the bleachers. "I had to start keeping tissues in my backpack just in case it happened again," she said.

"Thanks," I said. "I don't know why I didn't think of that. I see it coming almost every day. Asher needs to chill. I don't even know what he has against me."

"Tell me about it," Sophronia said. "You know what I love, though?"

"What?" I asked.

"I love that you don't get angry about it," she said. "You don't yell at him or try to fight back. You... you just let it happen."

"There's no point of getting mad over it," I said. "He isn't worth my time."

Sophronia smiled slightly and rested her head on my shoulder. "Good for you."

When Sophronia's team was called to the court, I told her I was going to clean my nose since the bleeding stopped.

Right as I walked out of the washroom, I ran into Brooke, so I sighed. "What do you want, Brooke?"

"To talk," Brooke said. "You're always ignoring me."