Wheels

Chapter 4: First Day of School

          I wake up at 6:30 and sit up, rubbing my eyes. "First day of school... yay..." I mumble and sigh, getting dressed. Ben knocks on my door "everyone decent in there?" He asks with a laugh.

          "Yeah, I'm decent" I say and giggle softly. Ben comes in and rolls my chair over to my bed. I wrap my arms around him and he picks me up, setting me in my chair. I thank him then go to the bathroom to fix my hair.

          My dad comes and stands in the doorway as I finish doing my hair. "You look great sweetheart" He says and smiles when I turn around. "Thanks dad" I smile back and follow him to the living room.

          We eat a quick breakfast then I get in my brother's car so he can drive me to school. My dad waves as we pull out of the driveway. We pull up in front of the school and Ben puts me in my chair. "Have a good day sis" He says and kneels down, hugging me. "I'll try to" I smile and hug him back.

          After Ben drives away I roll into the school, instantly getting a few looks from other students. I ignore and go to the office to get my schedule. I go back into the hallway, with schedule in hand, soon realizing that with everyone in the halls, I can't see any of the room numbers.

          "Great... How am I supposed to find my first class?" I say softly, looking around aimlessly. I try to move down the hall, but no one gives me any room to get my chair through.

          "Need some help there?" I hear a girl ask me so I look up. I see a girl with ginger hair that went just past her shoulders, emerald green eyes, and a beautiful smile adorned with bright red lipstick.

          I realize I'm staring, so I blush and quickly look down. "Um... Yeah, that would be great. Thank you" I smile shyly and bite my lip, holding up my schedule for her to see.

          "Marley... Beautiful name" She says and smiles when she sees my name on the top of my schedule, looking down at my first class. "Ah. Creative writing, room 202. I can definitely get you there" She smiles and hands me my schedule, starting to push my hair before I get the chance to ask her to.

          "Thank you" I smile and look up at her slightly as she pushes me to my first class. "No problem. I'm Rory, by the way" She says and gives me another beautiful smile.

          "It nice to meet you, Rory" I say and smile back at her. "Its nice to meet you too, Marley" She says and stops in front of my first class, moving so that she's standing in front of me.

          "How about we save each other's numbers? Just in case you get lost again" She says teasingly and giggles. "Alright" I say and giggle softly. We trade numbers before I go into class.

          I get a text from Rory right when I get to my seat. I look at my phone "See you at lunch?" She asks. I smile and quickly text her back before putting my phone away "Yes ma'am".

***After 4th period***

          I'm rolling down the hall to meet Rory in the cafeteria when a football player runs into my chair. "Watch where you're going, wheels" He says in frustration and roughly pushes my chair. My chair swerves before I can stop it, making me crash into a set of lockers.

          I cuss under my breath and notice that my arm is bleeding from hitting the lockers so hard. Instead of going to the nurse, I just go to the bathroom to clean myself up. Luckily, no one else was in the bathroom. 

          I hold back my tears as I clean my arm, biting my lip hard. My phone rings when I finish so I quickly answer it, not bothering to see who it is. "Hey. Where are you? Are you okay?" Rory asks through the phone, concern obvious in her voice.

          "I-I'm fine... I'm in the bathroom by the gym..." I say almost in a whisper, unable to stop the tears from rolling down my cheeks. "I'll be right there" She says and hangs up.

          A minute later, she walks into the bathroom, instantly kneeling down in front of me when she sees that I'm crying. "What happened?" She asks and bites her lip when she notices the long scratch that goes from my wrist to my elbow.

          "A guy from the football team shoved my chair, so I ran into some lockers. I couldn't stop my chair" I say and look at Rory, sighing softly. "Did you see what number he is?" She asks and softly wipes my tears away, hugging me.

          I hug her back and smile slightly "Number 77" I sigh. "McCarty. I'm not surprised" Rory mumbles and stands up. "Let's go tell my dad" She says and pushes my chair for me again. "Your dad?" I ask, looking up at her.

          "My dad is Coach O'Connelly" She says and smiles, heading toward the locker room. I nod and rub my arm, wincing softly. We go into his office and he gets up to greet us. "Hey sweetie" He smiles at Rory. "Who this?" He asks, smiling at me.

          "Hey dad. This is Marley, and we need to talk to you about something" Rory says, gesturing to my arm. "How did that happen, Marley?" He asks me and sits down, looking at the scratch on my arm.

          "McCarty did it" Rory says and sighs. I tell him exactly what happened and what McCarty said to me, including the fact that he called me Wheels. "I'll have to suspend him from the team. Thank a you for telling me girls" He smiles and Rory hugs her dad before we go.

          She takes me to my next class. "I'l see you after school" She says and smile before walking away. I smile back and go into class.