Buried

Music

I was walking down the halls - music in, of course. The whispers safely blocked out. The whispers are too much on a good day, well, what I call a good day. Someone else would have a very different opinion of a good day. When I got to my locker and started grabbing my books, one of my headphones fell out and the whispers became louder.

"There's the girl."

"She tried to kill herself?"

"What about her arms?"

"I've seen them. Littered with scars."

"I can't believe you used to be friends with her."

I put my headphones back in and turned up the volume.

I can't believe you used to be friends with her.

Tears stung my eyes as I pushed them back and walked to my next class.

Emma was the worst person in school. There wasn't some big cliche falling out; we just grew apart. She was nice to my face, but she knew I could hear the whispers. She knew I could hear her talking about me. She went to the popular crowd, well, more popular than me. I was more of the loner type, which I hate to say due to the connotations attached to the word.

I pushed the tears back that Emma had caused. Even though she I hated her with a passion for her fake niceness and low blows in the form of whispers not directly spoken to my face.

As I walked into the classroom, I shrunk back when I saw that Emma was also in this class, having heard her boisterous voice entering the classroom. I didn't need to look up to confirm it was her; I had spent too many years listening to the same laugh that filled my ears at that moment. Moments after first hearing her voice, the sound of the bell interrupted her words.

"All right class, today we will be cov - Eve, take out your headphones!"

The only thing that could have made this day worse had just occurred. Mrs. Tawney was my first hour teacher. The class laughed at me.

"For the first day back, we will have a pop quiz."

Too enthusiastic for the first day of second semester.

I hadn't paid much attention to who my teachers were, only the classes. Of course I knew Mrs. Tawney was the teacher, but it hadn't hit me until the moment she spoke.

She passed out the quiz as I took out my headphones, which only invited further whispers.

"I can't believe she heard that. I could hear her music from over here."

"I know! I bet she was listening to pathetic emo music about how no one understands her."

They laughed.

Tears pricked my eyes again. Prodding me to sneak my headphones back into my ears and put the chord where no one could see it.

"Mrs. Tawney, I thought there were no headphones in class?"

Fuck. Emma.

"That's right, who has headphones in?"

"Eve."

"Eve!"

She walked over to my desk in the middle of students.

"I'll give them back at the end of the day. I'll also be calling your parents."

This day couldn't get worse.

"Thank you Emma."

"I'm only standing up for the teachers who deserve respect."

Bullshit. I know the second Tawney turns her back Emma will be on her phone texting Sam.

Sam was her boyfriend and my other ex-bestfriend.

He hated me just as much. We used to be the three musketeers, but that all changed freshman yeah when they learned that to be popular, or at least survive, you have to be mean.

Thank you so much to xLily_Writezx for this plot!!!