Just a Scratch

Chapter Eleven

"Sonya." Will stood up and there was nothing in his voice that suggested he'd give his sister mercy for what she just said.

He's dyslexic.

It made sense though. Studying with Mr. Howard, not letting me see his writing. About 20% of people are dyslexic so I didn't really understand why it was such a big deal but everyone has their demons, I figured this was one of his.

Will's older sister didn't answer him. There wasn't any worry on her face and instead she let the corners of her mouth slowly turn up. Sonya looked between Will and me before getting up and leaving the room.

It was silent.

Will sat down and I finally dared to look at him. His face was red. Like, hella red. I really wanted to comfort him but I didn't know what to do. I mean, we weren't really friends. I was just some girl who scratched his car and then was partnered with him for an English project. If it was Alexa or Emilee who was in this situation then what would I do?

"Hey, you know it's okay to be dyslexic-"

"Stop."

"What?"

"Just stop," his face was dark, "you can leave. The project is pretty much done."

"No, really. It's fine. We'll just finish it h-"

"No," he looked straight into my eyes, "it's fine. You can leave."

He was right, the few things that were left could easily be completed on our own and I didn't feel like it was my place to discuss family problems with him.

"Do you remember the way out?" He asked while I gathered my things.

"Yeah," I said, totally not remembering the way out. I just didn't want to bother Will any more than I needed to. Plus it probably wouldn't be that hard to figure it out.

I left the room without anything else being said between us but I didn't really mind. It was hard to imagine having a sibling who would stab you in the back like that.

The hallway led me towards what I assumed was the entrance but before I could reach it I crossed paths with Sonya. Just looking at her made me frown. Such a beautiful woman with such a terrible heart.

I really tried to keep walking and just leave this cold, giant house but the idea of Will, or anyone, being made fun of for a learning disorder made my blood boil. So, instead of going on my way and leaving this family to deal with their problems on their own, I let myself do what I thought was right.

"Hey," I said, getting the attention of Sonya.

She circled around and gave me a sly smile, "oh hi. It's you."

Deep breath.

I took a step forward and looked her dead in the eye. "That was a real dick move you made back there."

Her smile drooped and her eyebrows furrowed, "what?"

"Talking about Will's dyslexia when it was obvious he didn't want you to mention it." My heart pounded against the inside of my chest. Fight or flight was kicking in and I forced my body to fight.

She scoffed, "well he should learn to take it like a man. Besides, I don't really know if any of this is your business."

Take it like a man? I hated that phrase.

"Well you made it my business."

Sonya examined me and then said something I certainly didn't expect, "stop being a stereotypical angry black girl. It doesn't look good on you." She flipped her long black hair over her shoulder and walked away from me. I was too stunned to move. Too stunned to say anything. My mouth hung open in shock and I felt a flurry of negative emotions.

Did she really just say that?

What did my skin color have to do with anything? Why did standing up for something make me a "stereotypical angry black girl". My entire body stung. My eyes especially, and I left the giant mansion before someone caught me crying.

I raced to the curb where my car was parked and immediately got in, riding away from the finely pruned yards and houses that were much too extravagant. When I got far enough away from their house, I parked again and texted into the group chat with Alexa and Emilee, asking if either of them were free. Em was busy with a student council thing but Alexa said I could hang at her house.

I made my way over to where she lived and knocked on her front door. There were a group of four bikes on their front lawn and I assumed her two younger brothers had a couple friends over.

Alexa opened the door, "what's up bi-" she stopped talking when she saw my face and quickly ushered me to her room, past the four boys that were yelling over some video game. Once Alexa shut her door and sat me down she gave me a tight hug, "what's wrong?"

I explained what happened, from Sonya being mean to Will, without mentioning his dyslexia, to our confrontation in the hallway. Alexa's face became distorted with anger.

"She really said that?"

I nodded.

Alexa closed her eyes and drew in some air before answering, "I understand. Being Mexican comes with lots of stereotypes that I don't particularly like. People assume certain things because I'm Latina, like no. I'm just me. Ooo and I hate that housekeeper stereotype too. Like, asshole I will not clean up after you. I understand you girl, it sucks." She pulled me into another hug and I buried my face into her shoulder. "I just think about how sad that person is to degrade someone because of their race or ethnicity."

I'd heard mean things about my race before but it never becomes any less upsetting.

We sat on the floor of her room, comparing unfortunate stories until we started comparing good stories about our families.

"Wanna get some ice cream?" Alexa sat up after an hour of heart-to-heart.

"Sure," I smiled at her and we went to go get some ice cream. Because despite the offensive things people could and would say, I was still me. And that was okay.

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