Where The Shadows Rise

~ Chapter 2: Part 5 ~

Driiing

My head started to ache as the bell rang. To my ears the bell ringing didn't stop, it went on forever and ever until someone shouted for my name.

"SHADE", someone exclaimed.

The ringing stopped. My head was flat down on the table with my arms covering the top of my head. I slowly lifted my head off from the table.

I saw the teacher in the class walking up to me. My hands were shaking as I tried to pick up my bag. She walked up to my table and stood in front of it. She slowly placed one hand on my back as I was pulling my bag off of the ground. "Hey are you okay, you seem a bit startled," The teacher said as she tried to comfort me.

"I'm so-o-ory. It-it wasn't any-thing." I stammered while putting my bag on my shoulders. "I-i should get go-o-ing". The teacher then lifted her hand off of my shoulder.

I walked out the door and didn't bother looking back. I slowly walked to the cafeteria, shaking. I thought my ears were ringing at first, but it was more than that.

The sound of the bell, the third time caught onto my senses. The cafeteria was loud the moment I entered. People waited in line for food, people chatted amongst themselves, people played on their laptops, and others just sat.

I entered the cafeteria watching each step I took. I placed one foot then the other. My mind drifted to the moment in which rain clashed on the ground, to the sirens going off and to when she was laying on the wet ground. I walked at a pace in which I tried to reach her until the illusion was disrupted by me bumping into the cafeteria line.  I snapped out of the traumatic rainstorm. I picked up a tray and the weight of it pulled my whole body down.

I refrained myself from dropping and moved towards the lunch lady. Food, various types of filled each steel bucket. From deserts to fruit, vegetables and even dishes like Mac and cheese. I wasn't in the mood for anything big, so I grabbed a bottle of water, cherry juice and a packet of mixed apples. I moved down the line and noticed a cake. My mother and I always used to eat cake on Mondays, there was no specific reason for it, it just became an unusual tradition.

I asked whether the cake was heavy or light. The lunch lady said light. I picked up the small cake slice, then slid the tray over to the cashier lady and paid for my lunch.

I walked away from the cashier and scanned the area for a free table. As I was searching for one, I by accident bumped into somebody with my back. "Yo!! What the heck!" exclaimed a jock. I stammered, "I-I am so so-o-ory"

Everyone in the cafeteria turned towards me and the angry jock. "Right!", he said sarcastically.

"Take some responsibility for this, you little piece of shit. Idiots like you will always be at fault. Stupid new girl", he said with anger as he stomped out of the cafeteria towards the field.

My body started to shake. It began at the hands then slowly coursed all the way down to the feet. Those words that alluded out of his mouth sent a shiver down my spine. The wording brought the final weight onto my body. The guilt feeling off what happened that day. Rapidly blinking my eyes, I froze. It felt like the room began to close in but it was the people.